Backpacking Europe Trip Advice... May I have some?

[Synful*Luv]

Hey,

So i'm planning to backpack Europe (have been planning this for awhile now) and i'll probably be able to get this done hopefully next year but depending on how long it takes me to prepare an itinerary as accurately as possible I might wait until 2009.

Anyways... anyone ever done anything like this? How was it?

I'm planning on visiting Ireland, UK, then maybe Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Perhaps Austria and Switzerland as they're on the way to Italy...

I'm looking at this stuff online and lots of it makes no sense to me

Here are my question...

1. What's the difference between Hostels and Hotels? Is a hostel like an American Motel? What the hell is this "curfew" thing?

2. Is American currency taken in all the above mentioned countries? Can I just take a Visa or Mastercard instead? Do the hotels, hostels, public transportations facilities, etc take credit?

3. Okay, that train.. the Eurorail? Or is that what the pass is called? Does it go through all of Western Europe? Is it an efficient way to travel? Would it be easier to rent a car?

4. Any idea about how much all of this might cost? Would about 5-6 thousand dollars be enough or no?

Hmmm, I think that's all for now...


Please don't come into the thread and list places to visit.. that's the least of my concerns right now. Costs, culture, transportation and travel is my only concern at this stage is planning the trip.


Thanks a lot
Me

 

[Pittsey]

A hostel is a cheap place where you share rooms.... Like a dormatory (sp?).... Basically it's cheap and basic.... And there will be many people in a room.
Curfew means... You aint in by that time... You are locked out.


No-where will take US dollars except airports.... Most European countries are Euros.... Not all... England doesn't... Eire (Ireland) does. Mastercard is accepted world wide... AMEX isn't. Most places will take credit cards, but probably not the smaller 1's.

Not sure how train links work. The Eurostar links England with France and Germany... But a plane is cheaper and easier, most of the time.


Dunno about prices... You could do it cheap... And could do it under $6K if you wanted.... A large part of your budget will be needed in London...

 

[The.Menace]

Is American currency taken in all the above mentioned countries? Can I just take a Visa or Mastercard instead? Do the hotels, hostels, public transportations facilities, etc take credit?

No, american currency is not taken, u better get you some Euros. Most places accept credit card of course.

3. Okay, that train.. the Eurorail? Or is that what the pass is called? Does it go through all of Western Europe? Is it an efficient way to travel? Would it be easier to rent a car?

There are tickets that allow you to travel in all europe by train, I guess that is what you're lookin for. Good thing is you can go where ever u want and without no plan - bad thing is you'll spend a lot of time on a train. Well. It would be cheaper than travel by car or airplane, of course.

4. Any idea about how much all of this might cost? Would about 5-6 thousand dollars be enough or no?

Depens on how you live, if you don't mind to cut short here and there (cheap hotels etc) it should be easly enough.

 

[Bobby Sands]

1. What's the difference between Hostels and Hotels? Is a hostel like an American Motel? What the hell is this "curfew" thing?

I guess a hostel is similar to a motel.There aren't that many in Ireland.They are mostly in town or city centres.You will get hotel accomodation here for pretty cheap though.

2. Is American currency taken in all the above mentioned countries? Can I just take a Visa or Mastercard instead? Do the hotels, hostels, public transportations facilities, etc take credit?

I think American currency is taken at the airport but it wont be taken anywhere else.Its just as easy to convert to euros anyway.Its the same currency for every country you listed except the UK(They have to be awkward of course lol.).Id imagine that Visa or Mastercard will be accepted anywhere.

3. Okay, that train.. the Eurorail? Or is that what the pass is called? Does it go through all of Western Europe? Is it an efficient way to travel? Would it be easier to rent a car?

Well,the eurorail doesnt come near Ireland anyway.You would probably be better off renting a car in Ireland.The only other option would be to rely on buses or the train.But it depends on where you are going and if you are staying for long.Remember that we drive on the opposite side of the road to ye.Ryanair might be a good cheap option for flying around Europe.They serve all the countries you have listed although they might not fly directly to big cities.They usually fly to smaller airports outside big cities.e.g they dont actually fly to Milan in Italy,they fly to Bergamo which is a smaller city north of Milan.Please fly to Shannon airport when you come to Ireland.

4. Any idea about how much all of this might cost? Would about 5-6 thousand dollars be enough or no?

I dunno,it depends on how long you plan to stay here.Things are pretty expensive in Ireland nowadays.

btw,i made a post to you in that Freepost your asses off thread in VIP Lounge.

 

[Synful*Luv]

A hostel is a cheap place where you share rooms.... Like a dormatory (sp?).... Basically it's cheap and basic.... And there will be many people in a room.
Curfew means... You aint in by that time... You are locked out.

Ahh.. That explains the bunk beds.. like a homeless shelter here in America then? Just an open space and lots of beds? LOL, i'm okay with that. It'll be fun to meet new people. Is the curfew for a certain age or is it for everyone? You get locked out even if you paid already? What about if your stuff is in the room still? Around what time is curfew usually?

No-where will take US dollars except airports.... Most European countries are Euros.... Not all... England doesn't... Eire (Ireland) does. Mastercard is accepted world wide... AMEX isn't. Most places will take credit cards, but probably not the smaller 1's.

Really? I would've figured most places take US currency. I guess because I usually just go to the Caribbean and they take it with no problem. So... outside of England I'll be able to use Euros everywhere else? Do you know if hostels take credit cards?

Not sure how train links work. The Eurostar links England with France and Germany... But a plane is cheaper and easier, most of the time.


Dunno about prices... You could do it cheap... And could do it under $6K if you wanted.... A large part of your budget will be needed in London...

Seriously? A plane would be cheaper? Thats great and gives me a lot more sight seeing time as opposed to the long train rides How about renting a car? Is that even a feasible idea or no?

 

[Bobby Sands]

Really? I would've figured most places take US currency. I guess because I usually just go to the Caribbean and they take it with no problem. So... outside of England I'll be able to use Euros everywhere else? Do you know if hostels take credit cards?

Yea,they take credit cards everywhere here anyway.


Check out ryanair.com:

http://www.ryanair.com/site/IT/

 

[Synful*Luv]

No, american currency is not taken, u better get you some Euros. Most places accept credit card of course.


There are tickets that allow you to travel in all europe by train, I guess that is what you're lookin for. Good thing is you can go where ever u want and without no plan - bad thing is you'll spend a lot of time on a train. Well. It would be cheaper than travel by car or airplane, of course.


Depens on how you live, if you don't mind to cut short here and there (cheap hotels etc) it should be easly enough.

Nope, don't mind at all. I'm not planning on staying at any 4 star hotels or anything, lol. The person i'm planning on coming with actually wanted to "backpack" as in sleep outside every night

No thanks


Hmmm, so which is cheaper... plane or train? Pittsey said plane you say Train?

How do you get off the island into the mainland? Is there really a train?! Or is it a ferry? Do you know? Oh yeah, which train connects through all of those countries... if any?

 

[Sebastian]

Hmmm, so which is cheaper... plane or train? Pittsey said plane you say Train?

Usually plane.

Do you know? Oh yeah, which train connects through all of those countries... if any?

Its not one single train. Every country has its own private train. But its no problem to travel via train through europe.

 

[Synful*Luv]

I guess a hostel is similar to a motel.There aren't that many in Ireland.They are mostly in town or city centres.You will get hotel accomodation here for pretty cheap though.

Okay then, that doesn't sound so bad. By "in town" do you mean in the major cities or like some small little village or something?

I think American currency is taken at the airport but it wont be taken anywhere else.Its just as easy to convert to euros anyway.Its the same currency for every country you listed except the UK(They have to be awkward of course lol.).Id imagine that Visa or Mastercard will be accepted anywhere.

Yeah it won't be hard for me to convert to Euros... I just didn't know that the countries didn't accept dollars... glad I know now The UK won't accept Euros at all? That's interesting

Well,the eurorail doesnt come near Ireland anyway.You would probably be better off renting a car in Ireland.The only other option would be to rely on buses or the train.But it depends on where you are going and if you are staying for long.Remember that we drive on the opposite side of the road to ye.Ryanair might be a good cheap option for flying around Europe.They serve all the countries you have listed although they might not fly directly to big cities.They usually fly to smaller airports outside big cities.e.g they dont actually fly to Milan in Italy,they fly to Bergamo which is a smaller city north of Milan.Please fly to Shannon airport when you come to Ireland.

Is Shannon airport cheaper? That's not by Dublin though.. is it? Thanks for the site.. will definitely check it out. That's right, forgot about the other side of the street thing ... perhaps its not safe for me to drive, lol, plus the cars are all annoyingly small

I dunno,it depends on how long you plan to stay here.Things are pretty expensive in Ireland nowadays.

btw,i made a post to you in that Freepost your asses off thread in VIP Lounge.

The bad thing is the main countries I want to visit are Ireland and the UK and it seems thats where all of my money is going to go

 

[Bobby Sands]

Okay then, that doesn't sound so bad. By "in town" do you mean in the major cities or like some small little village or something?

No a town is a big urban area but it isnt big enough to be classified as a city.

Is Shannon airport cheaper? That's not by Dublin though.. is it? Thanks for the site.. will definitely check it out. That's right, forgot about the other side of the street thing ... perhaps its not safe for me to drive, lol, plus the cars are all annoyingly small

Not too sure if it is cheaper.Dublin(capital of Ireland) is on the east and Shannon is on the west.Dublin is the biggest airport and Shannon is the second biggest.I live very close to Shannon and i worked there for the past 6 years.I guess im doing a bit of advertising here lol.Continental,American Airlines,Aer Lingus and Delta fly to Shannon and Dublin from America.The west of Ireland is more popular amongst tourists especially Americans.I recommend that you travel up along the west.The south and south east is nice too.You can compare flight information between the two airports here:

http://www.shannonairport.com/index.html

http://www.dublinairport.com/

The bad thing is the main countries I want to visit are Ireland and the UK and it seems thats where all of my money is going to go

Well we dont call Ireland rip off republic nowadays for nothing.Its not too bad i guess.London is probably far worse.

 

[The.Menace]

plane or train? Pittsey said plane you say Train?

depens on what you wanna do. If you want to go from place A 2 B plane will be cheaper, easier to handle. If you want to see a lot of different places and u know, travel a lot, train will be better - mainly cause u can decided where u wanna go right on the spot. U can stay as long as u want and if u don't like the weather somewhere u jump on the train and just leave. That's one way 2 travel.

 

[Pittsey]

Ahh.. That explains the bunk beds.. like a homeless shelter here in America then? Just an open space and lots of beds? LOL, i'm okay with that. It'll be fun to meet new people. Is the curfew for a certain age or is it for everyone? You get locked out even if you paid already? What about if your stuff is in the room still? Around what time is curfew usually?

They have a time when the receptionist or whoever goes to sleep.... Some will be 24Hrs.... Curfew is for everyone, depends on the hostel. It's a european thing, There aren't really done in the UK, we usually have bed and breakfast. They are designed for travellers.... Think "Hostel" the film.

Really? I would've figured most places take US currency. I guess because I usually just go to the Caribbean and they take it with no problem. So... outside of England I'll be able to use Euros everywhere else? Do you know if hostels take credit cards?

Depends on the Hostel... You'll have to plan your route.

Seriously? A plane would be cheaper? Thats great and gives me a lot more sight seeing time as opposed to the long train rides How about renting a car? Is that even a feasible idea or no?

What The.Menace said... If you are travelling from say France to UK... A plane is usually cheaper than the plane... From Ireland to England a Ferry is probably cheaper.

 

[The.Menace]

what I tried to say is that there are traintickets that count for whole europe or western europe etc and u are totally free to go when and where u want. it's cheap u come around but of course u spent a lot of time in the train..........

 

[hizzle?]

1. What's the difference between Hostels and Hotels? Is a hostel like an American Motel? What the hell is this "curfew" thing?

Hostel is like a cheap place to sleep overnight.

You will most likely meet a lot of people who are traveling the same way you are (backpacking europe). And you will probably meet a lot of cool people there and make friends who you might meet again in another country.

So yeah hostels are awesome for that. Besides, most of the time you get so drunk in them that you don't even care where you fall asleep.

Curfew means that they lock the doors at a certain time and if you are outside, its not their problem.

2. Is American currency taken in all the above mentioned countries? Can I just take a Visa or Mastercard instead? Do the hotels, hostels, public transportations facilities, etc take credit?

No it's not, and if I was you, I wouldn't show the American currency in souther europe because the gypsies might attack you.
But seriously, no one is accepting American currency. And actualy, even though I was joking, hide it in Italy and try not to look like a tourist because the Italians are really amazing at pickpocketing. And if they see you are American, you are an easy target because you guys are really naive.

3. Okay, that train.. the Eurorail? Or is that what the pass is called? Does it go through all of Western Europe? Is it an efficient way to travel? Would it be easier to rent a car?

All I can say is fuck the rent-a-car. European cities are nothing like Chicago and you might get lost easily, you might crash it somewhere, you might get it stolen... Just too much trouble.

Eurorail is easily affordable if you are a student. The tickets are a lot cheaper for students

4. Any idea about how much all of this might cost? Would about 5-6 thousand dollars be enough or no?

It really depends on what you want to do. But you can come along nicely in europe with 6000$ which is 4500 Euros...

 

[Pittsey]

what I tried to say is that there are traintickets that count for whole europe or western europe etc and u are totally free to go when and where u want. it's cheap u come around but of course u spent a lot of time in the train..........

I got it.... and I agree.

 

[hizzle?]

Nope, don't mind at all. I'm not planning on staying at any 4 star hotels or anything, lol. The person i'm planning on coming with actually wanted to "backpack" as in sleep outside every night

you'll end up as a prostitute in Moscow if you want to sleep outside every night.


And if you want to go to England, go by plane. My sister's BF just went from Belgium to London for 14 euros.

Thing with Ryan air is that they go from small airports to small airports so they don't pay taxes on the big airports. They don't even serve food in the plane, you just bring your own food. which is not that of a bad thing.

If you want to go from Paris to Rome for instance... you'll have to go to some small airport outisde Paris and you'll land on some small airport outside Rome.

You do the rest by train.

But like I said... Rent a car is awful. Only use it if you want to do small distances.

In Croatia it's really useful and it works well, because theres so much tourists there that the price for the rent a car is really really cheap. You have tons of companies.

But I just thought about it and... your choice of countries is really not going to do any good on your wallet you know... You picked the most expensive places.

 

[hizzle?]

Well we dont call Ireland rip off republic nowadays for nothing.Its not too bad i guess.London is probably far worse.

London is awful... Don't buy anything there... Eat some little sandwiches you buy is markets and that's all...

Norway is far worse though... I asked my sister to buy me a footy scarf there, it was the equivalent of 100 Canadian Dollars

 

[hizzle?]

There aren't really done in the UK, we usually have bed and breakfast. They are designed for travellers....

your bed and breakfast is bullshit.

I spent a night in london for I have no fucking idea how much in a bed and Breakfast near the Victoria bus station... I couldn't believe how much I payed for nothing.

I was with my cousin.. It was two beds really squeezed in the room. The toilet was awful and I may continue for hours.

Ah and it was owned by ukranians. mother fuckers.

 

[Synful*Luv]

depens on what you wanna do. If you want to go from place A 2 B plane will be cheaper, easier to handle. If you want to see a lot of different places and u know, travel a lot, train will be better - mainly cause u can decided where u wanna go right on the spot. U can stay as long as u want and if u don't like the weather somewhere u jump on the train and just leave. That's one way 2 travel.

That's very true and a good point. Its one of those things that we'll have to just decide on... if we want to go to point A from Point B really fast or see all the sites inbetween but it'll take a little while longer. Thanks for adding extra insight. I hadn't thought of that.

They have a time when the receptionist or whoever goes to sleep.... Some will be 24Hrs.... Curfew is for everyone, depends on the hostel. It's a european thing, There aren't really done in the UK, we usually have bed and breakfast. They are designed for travellers.... Think "Hostel" the film.

Ahhh, I see. That makes a lot more sense. Thanks. Is it with the hotels too or just the hostels? I'll have to watch that again but then I might change my mind about visiting Europe

 

[Synful*Luv]

Hostel is like a cheap place to sleep overnight.

You will most likely meet a lot of people who are traveling the same way you are (backpacking europe). And you will probably meet a lot of cool people there and make friends who you might meet again in another country.

So yeah hostels are awesome for that. Besides, most of the time you get so drunk in them that you don't even care where you fall asleep.

Curfew means that they lock the doors at a certain time and if you are outside, its not their problem.

Yup, I get that now. It sounds okay since I won't be alone. Otherwise I probably wouldn't consider it. I don't get drunk.. so thats out... But I can go quite a few days with little to no sleep and be just fine so that works in my favor. Around what time is this curfew thing usually? What countries have it?

No it's not, and if I was you, I wouldn't show the American currency in souther europe because the gypsies might attack you.
But seriously, no one is accepting American currency. And actualy, even though I was joking, hide it in Italy and try not to look like a tourist because the Italians are really amazing at pickpocketing. And if they see you are American, you are an easy target because you guys are really naive.

LMAO! Gypsies?! Seriously?! I thought Borat was lying!!! Hahahahaha! Meh, I resent being called American although there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not from America and prior to my adult life in America I lived in the hood...so... I'm far from being naive and I can handle my own. Not trying to be arrogant or cocky... but i'm not the typical spoiled arrogant American.. I actually despise the typical spoiled arrogant American.

All I can say is fuck the rent-a-car. European cities are nothing like Chicago and you might get lost easily, you might crash it somewhere, you might get it stolen... Just too much trouble.

Eurorail is easily affordable if you are a student. The tickets are a lot cheaper for students


It really depends on what you want to do. But you can come along nicely in europe with 6000$ which is 4500 Euros...

Do they have public cars? Like in the Dominican Republic we have Carros Publico that tourists or residents can get around the cities in.

Even if I'm a student from another country i'll still get a discount?