Hey im a 20yr old Australian planning a 2 month trip throughout Europe. I will be travelling on a budget/backpacking and staying in hostels or anywhere cheap. I will be flying to London to meet 2 friends who will be nearing the end of their Euro trip, so i will chill with them for abit then set off by myself, possibly with another friend. I have a rough idea of where i wanto go:
Fly from Melbourne to London.
From london i wanto see, amsterdam, rotterdam/utrecht, berlin, copenhagen, paris, lille, napoli – sorrento, barcelona, Hamburg, Milan, Italy.(not in that order)
Could someone please help to plan a rough route? or suggest which places i shouldnt bother with or other places i should.
I wanto travel by train with the flexibility of staying and leaving places whenever i want, and not sure if i should buy a eurail pass or point to point tickets?
How do i go about money in europe? can i just bring my ATM card and withdrawl money from atm’s throughout europe?
I have a digital camera with a reasonable size memory card but if i wanto put pictures from my camera to a USB memory stick can i just bring that and transfer them over at a internet cafe? also would the best way to charge my camera be by taking the charger, buying an adapter and just charging it at hostels etc?
Im sure i have alot more questions but cant think of any at this point. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.
I like to make a loop when I travel, but that’s just me. Maybe you could head south before it gets too hot, then make your way back up north as the summer progresses? I wonder if you could get a cheapo flight from London to Barcelona, and then slowly make your way north.
I like your destination choices, though I would probably do Venice instead of Milan.
Hi and good luck, Although i have not been to all the places you mention. They are all rather expensive city’s and country’s within Europe. You have not given an idea of your budget but spending a couple of month’s in western Europe can be rather costly. You could easily spend a few days in London then drift through France, Spain, Italy and Germany within a month depending on your pace of travel and how many destination’s you wish to visit. Then perhaps go in to eastern Europe where you can find cheaper destination’s and have an equally good time if not better on some occasions. Just an idea to consider at the early planning stage.
Personally although i like Italy i did not find Milan to be that interesting and rather disappointing. Do you also have any particular reason for wanting to see Rotterdam / Utrecht?
If you are just staying in western Europe Rail passes are a big plus especially if your doing allot of travelling. If you venture more into eastern Europe point to point tickets will often work out more value.
Generally yes you can just go to an ATM the same as you would back home and take out Euro’s or whatever the currency is. Just check its an internationally recognised card. i.e. Visa, Mastercard etc. Some banks may also like you to notify them if you are using your card abroad for fraud purposes.
As for downloading on to a USB memory stick that all depends on the individual internet cafe /Hostel. Hostels are generally quite relaxed regarding this. Its also easy to charge up camera’s etc. in hostels.
Have a search of the forums and around the internet i am sure you will find alot of answers and you can never do too much research.
Zadar, Croatia
thanks heaps much appreciated, ive been doing ALOT more research since i posted. ive researched into a few places and will update with a more concrete route and info soon. thanks for your help.
If it’s any help to you…
My husband and I leave on September 30th to backpack and budget travel for a year or so. We start in Rome, because my brother is getting married in Italy in October. We are planning on staying in hostels and doing everything on the cheap.
Feel free to learn from our mistakes, be entertained, or ask us a question if we are in an area of Europe you are interested in. www.nomadbackpackers…
Hi J1, I read your post and it seems like a very exciting trip you are planning for next year. I wish you all the bast with it and hope you enjoy it. As Davy says you can never do enough research and you’ll find as you study each country that you are interested in it will all fall into place. Once you are on mainland Europe it will be easier to get from country to country by train and the most convenient ticket would probably be the Eurorail pass. Train travel can be expensive in some countries. However don’t dismiss the idea of using cheap airlines on occasion to get around. They can be cheaper than rail sometimes and can save you a lot of time. Time is precious when you are travelling.
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine
Thanks for the advice! We just booked flights with RyanAir yesterday. Comparing it to the rail passes we are saving hundreds of dollars.
You rock!!!
Please let me know if you have been to any of the cities we now have on our itinerary and if you have any pointers for us: www.nomadbackpackers…
Thanks again Mike!