europe questions and plan

[chelseafc05]

hi,
i plan on backpacking around Europe for 2 months starting in July 06 i intend buying a eurail pass the 15 day in two months flexi one, my budget will be around 50 euro a day for accommodation, food etc
before i ask the questions i give you some idea about my travel route any suggestion would be greatly appreciated

i plan to fly into Amsterdam to start:

Amsterdam 5 nights,
Brussels 3 nights,
(maby cologne) for a night or so,
Paris 1 night
caen/normandy 2 nights
Paris 4 nights
Munich 5 nights
salzburg 2 nights
Vienna 4 nights
cesky krumlov 3 nights
Prague 6 nights
Dresden 2 nights
Berlin 5 nights
hamburg 2 nights
odense 2 nights
Copenhagen 4 nights
Goteborg 3 nights
Stockholm 4 nights

and if i get an open jaw ticket fly out of Stockholm or backtrack to Amsterdam

now for the questions

Are there passports check etc evrytime you come in out and out of each country by train?

From Paris is there an overnight train to Munich? do they swap trains at the border? if so the overnight train is the only time i should reserve my seat or a bed in the couchette rooms when catching a train from country to country?

how should i go about getting from Vienna to cesky krumlov then onto Prague? because the Czech republic is not part of the eurail network is it not?

also from getting out of Prague then onto Dresden?

and from Berlin to denmark onto stockholm does the train take you to a port where you board a conecting ferrie then back onto a connecting train?

and finally is this the best route i could do or does anybody have any other suggestions?

now onto accommodation

when i backpacked around south east Asia it was not necessary to pre book any accommodation because there was many hotels/hostels with people tring to get you in and i was able to pick and choose and had the freedom being able to move onto the next city when i wanted

so from what i have had read it is necessary to pre book accom in Europe especially in the peak season? the problem is i don't want to pre book all these hostels decide to change route or stay somewhere longer then lose money on the credit card coz i already pre booked hostels

are there plenty of hostels to choose from that will have a vacant bed? even if some are crumby

any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated

regards Daniel

[foofiter]

I would reserve hostels. You only put down 10% and lose it if you cancel at least 24 hours before you get there. If you don't cancel they charge you for the first night and you are done with it. So its not a total loss with some timing.

You will always have to pay for a reservation on overnight trains. You also usually need to reserve a seat on any highspeed trains. I suggest you check out Rick Steve's train guide as it is the most thorough and easy to understand:

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/rail_menu.htm

I used this for my trip and it was spot on correct in every aspect.

Always get your train reservations in Europe. They are cheaper there.

Sounds like an awesome trip!

Foo

[space virgin]

Okay, I've got a few answers for ya. But first of all, welcome to the boards!

Are there passports check etc evrytime you come in out and out of each country by train?

You will have your passport checked when you are traveling to/from a non-EU country OR if you are arriving from the UK into continental Europe. Other than that you likely won't experience any border stops/passport checks within the EU. Sometimes it may happen but it's unlikely.

From Paris is there an overnight train to Munich? do they swap trains at the border? if so the overnight train is the only time i should reserve my seat or a bed in the couchette rooms when catching a train from country to country?

Yep, there sure is! I know this because I took it. I'm almost positive it departs from Gare de l'Est (very close to Gare du Nord) around, oh, 10 or 11pm. My friend and I had a first-class couchette car to ourselves. And it was my birthday.

how should i go about getting from Vienna to cesky krumlov then onto Prague? because the Czech republic is not part of the eurail network is it not?

What I would recommend is checking out this REALLY bitchin' place inside the Hauptbahnhof in Munich called "Euraide". They can book ANY rail ticket for you for anywhere in Europe, and they'll give you tons of advice on what to do if you need to book something yourself at a later date. Seriously-- they made my r/t trip into Bratislava via Salzburg and Vienna a snap! If for some reason you can't get ahold of the lovely folks there, it's still not hard.. if your rail pass covers Austria you'll just have to pay for the portion of the train trip from the Austria/Czech border onto Prague. You can do the same thing when heading from there onto Dresden-- you'll only have to pay for the portion of the trip to the German border and it really won't be expensive at all. This sounds more complicated than it is, trust me. But definitely try to hit up Euraide while in Munich, they will also be able to advise you about Berlin to Denmark to Stockholm. I'm almost postive there's a ferry or several from Copenhagen or elsewhere in Denmark.

As for booking hostels, well, try to book in advance wherever you can... e.g. if you're in Munich and you want to go on to Salzburg-- try to book your Salzburg hostel at least a couple of days prior either online or by phone. That way you're not stuck to a completely outlined itinerary, but you're also not going to be sleeping on the sidewalk, either. If you were traveling in the fall, winter or early spring you'd have a little more flexibility-- i.e. you could almost certainly count on landing in a city and finding a bed for that night-- but in the summer it's just way too crowded for that. *shrug*

Good luck! Let us know if you have any other questions.

[chelseafc05]

thanx for the info guys

just another question when are the different seasons in europe? ie "the fall"


im now thinking of maby leaving till late september through october. what is the weather like during these months? from looking at weather website today around europe is sunny and around 20 is this the average for these months

thanx again

daniel

[kingcrazylegs]

Originally posted by chelseafc05@Oct 5 2005, 12:55 AM
thanx for the info guys

just another question when are the different seasons in europe? ie "the fall"
im now thinking of maby leaving till late september through october. what is the weather like during these months? from looking at weather website today around europe is sunny and around 20 is this the average for these months

thanx again

daniel

[snapback]79932[/snapback]

depends on the country, but it will be fall mostly.

and welcome

[carol.]

Hi,
I've never been travelling before and I'm planning to start travelling around europe in early '06, I was wondering if anyone knows anything about working in the eu. Do eu citizens needs working visas or anything like that to work in the eu???

[Chocolaty Claire]

Originally posted by chelseafc05@Oct 4 2005, 11:55 PM
thanx for the info guys

just another question when are the different seasons in europe? ie "the fall"
im now thinking of maby leaving till late september through october. what is the weather like during these months? from looking at weather website today around europe is sunny and around 20 is this the average for these months

thanx again

daniel

[snapback]79932[/snapback]

Yep September/October is still a good time to go, but I wouldnt go any later than this.. it can get rather nippy!

[bluepea]

Are there passports check etc evrytime you come in out and out of each country by train?

Actually, throughout a lot of countries there are. Unless they have an open border, such as Germany/France, you will have have some sort of check. And yes, they swap trains at the border. Never take an overnight train that doesn't require reservations!! You could spend an entire night sleeping on the floor by the bathroom. ( ).


how should i go about getting from Vienna to cesky krumlov then onto Prague? because the Czech republic is not part of the eurail network is it not?


I'd definitely take SV's advice, but I also read that with the railpass you get a huge discount on rail fare in eastern/central Europe. Just check out the Eurail page for more information.

and from Berlin to denmark onto stockholm does the train take you to a port where you board a conecting ferrie then back onto a connecting train?

Again, there's more information on this on Eurail, but some of the trains actually go on to ferries, but I'm not sure which ones.

[mark-0]

You left out Nurnberg. I was on the road in Europe for a month this summer and spent time in Frankfurt, Nurnberg and Munich when I was in Germany. Nurnberg is WAY cooler than Munich. The hostel I ended up staying at was insanely fun and the people who worked there partied with the residents and there were people awake in the common room until 5 am every night talking. It's also just an amazingly beautiful and fun town. If you can, try and visit even if it's just for two or three days.

In regards to a train from Paris to Munich, I took the train from Paris to Frankfurt, which is several hours away from Munich by train. That train took approx. 7 hours to get to Frankfurt, so getting to Munich straight from Paris would be a long ride, probably and extra 5 hours or so not including any stopover time, and I would assume that a trip that long would have at least one train change. However, you don't change at the border, at least if you're headed to Frankfurt it's the same train the whole way. Anyway, that probably doesn't help very much, but...ENJOY THE TRIP!!!