Input Needed for Solo Route Through West-Europe

[Travis]

Hi all!

I'm in the process of planning a trip through Europe. My intended partner has bailed on me, so I'm gonna go it alone. I've been researching like mad and have come up with a rough plan. This is my first big backpacking trip so any input from experienced backpackers would be very appreciated. To be honest I'm little bit overwhelmed.

I intend on hitting a lot of countries in a somewhat short period of time. I'm planning on between 4-5 weeks as follows: Scotland, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands (and back to Edinburgh for my return flight). I would like to spend about 4 days per country and plan 1 day in between for traveling to the next country/finding accommodations. I'm going to travel by rail with a Eurail pass.

My days per country are somewhat flexible and will be determined by how much I enjoy the area. I also intend on spending only about 2 days per city.

Is this too much for this amount of time? Is Eurail they way to go, as opposed to flying? Also, what are recommendations for booking hostels as opposed to just showing up? I'll be leaving in mid to late June.

Thanks in advance!

[offhegoes03]

Welcome to the boards, Travis!

Most people on the boards recommend at least 3 days per city so that you don't burn yourself out traveling all over the place and so that you can really enjoy the city. Some cities deserve more days and some cities you can see in a day or two. You might be able to get away with the number of countries you're planning on seeing as long as you don't plan to see too many cities in each country. What cities are you interested in seeing?

I really liked traveling by Train. Sure, it takes a little bit longer, but all of the countries you are going to are pretty close together and you can minimize traveling time if you carefully plan your route. I've never tried the budget airlines like ryanair or easyjet. I hear you can get really cheap flights, but I also hear that they kill you on all sorts of other charges for baggage, etc. Also, they usually fly to more remote airports, so the taxi or whatever to the city you want to go to might end up costing you the same amount of money and time. Again, I haven't personally tried this style of traveling, so maybe someone else can chime in here.

As far as hostels go, if you're traveling in peak travel season, the good hostels go pretty quickly. If you really are set on a particular hostel that sounds like it would be a ton of fun and would be an amazing party, you would want to book those hostels online at least a week and sometimes even further ahead of time. The only downside to this is the fact that you will lose a sense of spontaneity and your whole itinerary will be set in stone. My advice would be to book a hostel ahead of time for the first city or two that you plan to hit. That way you know you at least have somewhere good to sleep the first few nights or so that you're in europe. I would also sign up for a couchsurfing.com account to give you some more flexibility. I wasn't able to use couchsurfing much on my trip, but you can definitely experience a city from a local's viewpoint. The worst case scenario: if a hostel is booked up, you can change your plans slightly. Last summer, I was planning on going to Munich until I saw that every single cheap bed was completely booked up. Instead, I booked a hostel in Berlin, got my train ticket and had an amazing time and met some awesome people.

Good luck!! I know it can be intimidating, but once you step foot overseas, everything just seems to fall into place!

[expatben]

if you're doing Europe then go by train as you get a lovely view.
When I was in Berlin I stayed at a place called the Heart of Gold hostel and it was pretty cool.
Ryanair is OK just know that where they take you is not actually the city you wanna travel to-like Berlin is in Schonfeld and Brussels is in Charloit.
Easy Jet is much better for this but is more expensive.

[MeTurk]

The problem with air travel is the security and you might end up having to dumb valuable stuff if you forget to check it, you've also got the problem of extra hidden charges however the EU and media have clamped down hard on airlines over this. It still only works out if you need to cover large distances in a short amount of time.

With all the hassle of getting out to an airport checking in, doing security then doing it all again when you land it makes it no better than a train at times, as trains always leave from the city centre.

Having said all that the airlines in Europe are desperate for business. I'm going to Amsterdam soon and every time I check the aerlingus website for prices they've gone down even though our schools are getting their summer holidays next week which is usually when the prices sky rocket but not this year.

What planes do allow you to do is finish up your tour on the far side of Europe and fly back so your not restricted to where you can go. If your city hoping the high speed trains around central Europe just make it much more convienient to get around and with a plane as a back up you can literally go anywhere.

[pinknic38]

I think it's do-able as long as you're realistic. Research the places you want to see (wikitravel.org = great resource) and understand that 3 days per city is a general average... I wish I had 3 days in Munich versus the 1.5 or 2 I spent there but I wished I'd only spent the day in Koln versus the 2 days I spent there.

I traveled all through the Rhinelands of Germany and it was BEAUTIFUL, especially taking the train places and traveling right along the river... the trip from Koln to Heidelberg was the most beautiful thing I've seen thus far in my life.

In my opinion, rail is the best way to go - get a rail pass, and then fly as needed. That's what I did... I railed Germany and then flew to Poland (Krakow) and then back to Germany. The bigger gaps (as in, changing countries) sometimes it's easier to fly but then depending on your itinerary and where you'd like to go, rail might be quicker.

What I did when I planned my Euro trip I took last summer, I wrote down all the places I wanted to see for sure. Then I got on wikitravel and typed in the countries I was going to and clicked around the cities on there. I googled pictures, yada yada yada. I got some cool off the beaten path stuff!

I've been to one of the countries you're going, so here are my recommendations:
Germany: Munich is a must-do, Heidelberg is BEAUTIFUL (favorite city I've ever been to- it's small, so it's a great day trip, I wish I had more than 1 day there - don't go on a Sunday cos a lot of the stuff is closed!), Stuttgart was really nice, and Koln was gorgeous also (if you do 2 days there, hop on the train and take a trip to Dusseldorf - it's a 40 min train ride up the Rhine). I didn't get a chance to check out northern Germany but everyone always recommends Berlin. If you need any hostel recs for those places, let me know!

I wanted to make it down to Zurich, it's not a very far train ride from Frankfurt, and I am SO mad I didn't go (the Euro 2008 was going on then and I was on a budget and knew prices would be through the roof there), so check Zurich out if you get the chance.

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, so I'll prolly post more later!

[Dig]

Great suggestions ^^

I would suggest looking at train tickets without the pass. I know it was not a good deal for my wife and I (we are both over 25 and no longer qualify for cheaper passes). You will also get stuck with reservation fees that do add up. Scotland and England also do not work with the europass, if I remember correctly. There is also the option of a bus, especially in the smaller countries. Buses are much cheaper also, but you are on a bus with no food car or bathroom sometimes. Once again, as meturk mentioned, bus stations are usually in the city center.

Ryanair sucks. They are cheap, but if you are traveling for a long time then you will have a lot of crap, i.e. surcharges on your bags. Imagine a southwest flight, or normal 727, with about 3 more rows crammed in. The seats are very tight. But in a pinch they are an option. And as Expatben mentioned their airports are not close to the city you want. The Brussels airport is 70km away.

[Travis]

Thanks for all the input!

Reading everyone’s responses and doing some more research I’ve decided on getting the eurail pass. I think seeing the scenery by train will really be cool. I just hope I don’t get hit too hard with reservation fees. I’m under 25 so I can get a youth price on the pass. I’m looking at the select pass that includes 4 countries over a 2 month period. I’m just slightly concerned about only being allowed 10 days worth of riding. Going over that number would be a total drag.

I’m not completely sure which cities I intend on visiting. I think the capitals at a minimum. I’m really interested in seeing both Glasgow and Edinburgh and also Munich and Berlin. I’m still trying to figure exactly what I want to see in Edinburgh, so I haven’t got to the other countries yet. Pinknic thanks for the tip on wikitravel.org. I’ll definitely use it.

So far I can’t seem to find a flight (between Toronto and Edinburgh) online for cheaper than $1 000 CAD. Does this price seem a bit high? I’ve always assumed travel agents would be more expensive. But I think I’m gonna check one out to see. Anyone have any experience with them?

Also, I have my master list of things-to-bring completed. I’ve put everything into a pile and tried fitting it all in my school bag (32L). I’ve determined that I’ll be bringing about 55L worth of gear/clothes etc. So I’m planning on picking up a 60-65 L pack. Does that size seem reasonable to you guys? Although the pack I really like is 70L with a 17L daypack attached, is that way to enormous?

Thanks again!

[pinknic38]

as for reservation fees, in germany, it was 4 euros per reservation (this was just making them on the little kiosk), but the only times you REALLY need a reservation is if you travel during commuter hours (7am-9am, 4pm-6pm) when the train is packed. take a train in the middle of the day, you'll have your pick of seats, even in the summer. I wasted a lot of euros on reservation fees when you don't really need them. cos you don't need a reservation to get on the train - you just hop on and show them your rail pass, they punch it, and move on.

[MeTurk]

The cheapest flights from the US to EU are usually to Amsterdam, Dublin, Shannon or London. You'll pay a premium trying to fly into any place else. You should look into flying into Ireland or London and getting a connecting flight from Dublin to Scotland (Ireland - UK has some of the cheapest airline seats in Europe) or flying into London and getting a train/bus up to Scotland

[expatben]

have you tried Canadian Affair?

[Travis]

Originally Posted by expatben

have you tried Canadian Affair?

Ya I have. They are pretty much on par with everyone else at $1 134CAD, taxes and surcharges in.

[travelpunk]

What about flying into JFK first, then on to Edinburgh?

When traveling from city to city within a country, the regular train fares could be cheap and you may not need to use one of the days on your Eurail pass and instead pay with cash/credit. Use your pass for the longest/farthest routes that would most likely be the most expensive if you paid cash at the station.

It sounds like you extended your trip from the original 4-5 weeks to about 8 weeks. In this case, that amount of countries should be fine.

For me, I would pick one or two top spots on my list and stay for a week each and just veg. You may meet locals in that time who will take you to spots you won't find in guide books and it will take your trip to another level.

Maybe you won't, but it will be harder to have those experiences in any city with a 2-3 day time frame per city.

Sounds like you have a great trip in the making!