Has anybody ever been backpacking through Europe?

**CanuckG** · 03-26-11, 02:53 PM

I haven't personally done this but 4 of my friends just did this and they said it was amazing. The pictures alone that they uploaded on Facebook made me jealous. How much you expect to spend is basically up to you. There are so many variables(entertainment, alcohol, sites, food, etc.)

Just get a Eurail pass, cheapest airfare and stay in hostels and the rest is up to you. I've been to Barcelona, Vatican City and London and those were my favourite spots.

**C-Gold** · 03-26-11, 02:59 PM

Originally posted by CanuckG

I haven't personally done this but 4 of my friends just did this and they said it was amazing. The pictures alone that they uploaded on Facebook made me jealous. How much you expect to spend is basically up to you. There are so many variables(entertainment, alcohol, sites, food, etc.)

Just get a Eurail pass, cheapest airfare and stay in hostels and the rest is up to you. I've been to Barcelona, Vatican City and London and those were my favourite spots.

Funny thing is I've already been to much of Western Europe except UK and Spain. I think the cheapest flight across the pond will be to London or Paris so those might be good starting and ending points but I do want to go to new places.

**ngates815** · 03-26-11, 03:02 PM

Yea we did it back in the day...3 of us.

We just took the train all over the place....From hostel to hostel. Hooked up with girls, until they drugged us one night, and we woke up in a dungeon. There were men with masks on that apparently paid to kill us, but I was the only one that escaped. Went with 3 and came back just me. The other 2 kids parents got arrested 4 months afterwards, apparently they were the ones that paid to kill there own sons.

Fuckked up, but it was a good time otherwise.

Enjoy it.

**Poppa K** · 03-26-11, 03:24 PM

Stay on the paths when venturing thru the dells... Walk quietly.

**jayc88** · 03-26-11, 03:32 PM

i did sth similiar 2 years ago
went with a friend and started in france bordeaux ,
after that we stayed two nights in paris and drove to the west coast of france ,
france is a beautiful country, but you have to be aware of that if you like to stay near the coast and prefer camping , most camping sites are full during the summer holidays.
One time we even had to leave the place we wanted to stay because there wasnt one single camping site or hostel which wasnt full.
We also went to Italy and Venedig , but the best time we had was on corse.
You can take a ferry and get to corse from either italy (genua ) or france i think and its well worth the time and money.

**xxplosive** · 03-26-11, 03:34 PM

Sounds like an awesome time I have done many backpacking trips none in europe though

**Dirty Sanchez** · 03-26-11, 03:34 PM

You can make your way From England and through Poland by training and living in hostels very cheaply...Europe is awesome

**C-Gold** · 03-26-11, 03:53 PM

Dirty sanchez, how cheap, give me some tips?

**King Mayan** · 03-26-11, 03:57 PM

Backpacking is for liberal hippies....

**LVHerbie** · 03-26-11, 03:59 PM

Given your budget and willingness to hitchhike I would drop the train pass as you can always get on a bus if you get in a bind and double your spending budget... Your per day amount should also depend where you are planning on going as the cost goes up or down significantly depending on where you are traveling...

**C-Gold** · 03-26-11, 04:07 PM

Originally posted by King Mayan

Backpacking is for liberal hippies....

Wouldn't mind banging some of those hippie chicks along the trail.

**Dirty Sanchez** · 03-26-11, 04:11 PM

C-Gold check this place out:

http://backpackingthrougheurope.net/

**pavyracer** · 03-26-11, 04:15 PM

I'm thinking on doing this next summer. How big of a backpack should I need? I'm 6'-2".

**Joe Sharp** · 03-26-11, 04:55 PM

I backpacked for 21 days in 2005 and i'm going for 12 days this June.

21 day route:
Flew into Dublin, Ireland (3 days - couple of day trips)
Flew via Ryan Air to the Netherlands (2 days)
Train to Paris, France (3 days)
Overnight Train to Munich, Germany (3 days - One day trip)
Train to Salzburg, Austria (1 day)
Train to Florence, Italy (3 days)
Train to Rome, Italy (3 days)
Flew back to Dublin for a day and then back to Boston.
** A couple of days in there were spent traveling **

When I go in June:
Flying to Iceland (2 days)
Flying to Prague, Czech Republic (3 days)
Train to Munich, Germany (3 days)
Train to Paris, France (3 days)
Flying back to Boston (from Paris)

**Dirty Sanchez** · 03-26-11, 05:01 PM

Been to Iceland...biggest travel is from the airport (Keflavik) out to the Glaciers and Geysers....In June you'll have almost 20 hours of light as the Sun barely clears the horizon at 1:00 in the morning. You can also hike towards the volcano..not sure if they'll let you get really close. I saw guys teeing off at the coastal golf course around midnight in late June

**whatagoal1** · 03-26-11, 06:06 PM

50 Dollars a day is very little, nowdays prices in europe are much the same in the bigger cities anyway. Blame the Euro for this.
In London you will be paying at least $7 for a drink in a bar/pub, and it isn't much cheaper elsewhere.

When I visit the states I always figure all in all I need 2/3 of what I need for a similiar euro trip

**MendozaLine** · 03-26-11, 06:33 PM

1.) yes, twice. I have been just about everywhere
2.) Are you planning on spending any time in England or Ireland? If yes, start in the united kingdom and work your way down. I would recommend something like London, Paris, Barcelona, Monaco (french riviera), Rome, Florence, Venice, Vienna, Munich, then end in Amsterdam. That's just a rough idea. I have been to every one of those cities.
3.) I loved staying in hostels. Stay in hostels. You'll meet great people. I had the most fun when I stayed in hostels. You're probably going to do a lot of partying and sight seeing. No need to waste money on a hotel. Stay in hostels.

Oh, and here are a few of my favorite cities that are somewhat off the beaten path. Not that they're unknown, but not as trendy as a place like Paris, Barcelona, or Rome

Tyrol, Austria
Innsbruck, Austria
Bordeaux, France
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Riga, Latvia

Originally posted by C-Gold

I'm going to have some time off and always wanted to go on an adventure like this.

Thinking of flying in to a main city, buying the Euro train pass for 600 to 700 bucks and bouncing around. Staying in various hostels and maybe a hotel here or there for when I need a good shower and rest. I sort of do NOT want to have a set plan so that I could just do whatever I feel like. If I like a city I could stay there a few extra days or just get the heck out if I don't like it. If I meet some cool people in a hostel then I could go with them, so I don't want to have set dates and places to go. I'm looking to spend between 2-3 dimes and to be gone 14 days to maybe 21 days max. A girl MIGHT come with me but I'm probably going solo.

1) Has anybody ever done anything like this?
2) Your suggested route, favorite places to go?
3) Your experience with hostels?
4) How much to expect to spend?

- I don't mind cheap hotels or hostels since I'll never be in the room. I do need to eat though, and I don't mind hitch hiking, I'm a big dude and can physically take care of myself. Depending how long I go what if I spend $600 flight/there back, $700 train pass, and 700 bucks would be $50 per day for 14 days to put me at a bare bones $2,000 on a very low budget. So realistically I'm looking at more like $2,500.

One day I was waiting for the public transit in my city and there was this middle class looking Asian kid with a bunch of travel bags and he asked me for bus fare. Now I do NOT give money to hobos and I don't buy their stories but I could tell this was a good kid in a bind. I would have wanted somebody to help me if I were him. So I gave him the 2 bucks or whatever and it turns out he was just coming home from a 6 month Euro trip and he ran out of money. He had just graduated college and went backpacking through Europe before he started working in the real world. He told me his stories and it was amazing. I want to go on my own trip and make my own stories.

**zam77** · 03-26-11, 07:06 PM

Originally posted by C-Gold

I'm going to have some time off and always wanted to go on an adventure like this. Thinking of flying in to a main city, buying the Euro train pass for 600 to 700 bucks and bouncing around. Staying in various hostels and maybe a hotel here or there for when I need a good shower and rest. I sort of do NOT want to have a set plan so that I could just do whatever I feel like. If I like a city I could stay there a few extra days or just get the heck out if I don't like it. If I meet some cool people in a hostel then I could go with them, so I don't want to have set dates and places to go. I'm looking to spend between 2-3 dimes and to be gone 14 days to maybe 21 days max. A girl MIGHT come with me but I'm probably going solo. 1) Has anybody ever done anything like this? 2) Your suggested route, favorite places to go? 3) Your experience with hostels? 4) How much to expect to spend? - I don't mind cheap hotels or hostels since I'll never be in the room. I do need to eat though, and I don't mind hitch hiking, I'm a big dude and can physically take care of myself. Depending how long I go what if I spend $600 flight/there back, $700 train pass, and 700 bucks would be $50 per day for 14 days to put me at a bare bones $2,000 on a very low budget. So realistically I'm looking at more like $2,500. One day I was waiting for the public transit in my city and there was this middle class looking Asian kid with a bunch of travel bags and he asked me for bus fare. Now I do NOT give money to hobos and I don't buy their stories but I could tell this was a good kid in a bind. I would have wanted somebody to help me if I were him. So I gave him the 2 bucks or whatever and it turns out he was just coming home from a 6 month Euro trip and he ran out of money. He had just graduated college and went backpacking through Europe before he started working in the real world. He told me his stories and it was amazing. I want to go on my own trip and make my own stories.

If you want further detail on any of this route or any of these places let me know, but here is the breakdown of my trip which was 6 weeks long and it was great.

From Laguardia airport Flew into Heathrow and spent a couple days in London.

Took a ferry to Ireland and stayed in Dublin for a night then trained to Gallway where we got destroyed for 4 or 5 days.

Flew to Amsterdaam... spent a week there. Beyond the drugs and whores, this place is a must... it's really cool and has a lot of history and museums and shit. Lots of bikes.

From amsterdaam we took a train to Berlin and went to Lovefest (craziest party I've ever been to) for a one nighter. (didn't even stay in a hostel) Awoke in a some huge park in the middle of the grass in broad daylight with people sleeping all over the place. Insane!

From Berlin we took the train to Interlockin Switzerland. Absolutely gorgeous... camped in the Swiss Alps one night near Saxateen. Spent 5 days and nights or so in Interlocken. Did some adventerous stuff here. Was really cool and has a really nice hostel.

From Switzerland, took the train Prague and then Budapest, where we spent another 7 or so days. Was the slowest part of the trip... a lot of chilling out. Weather here was not very good. Cool place but we spent too long here and it was sorta depressing and boring.

From Budapest flew into Athens, Greece and took a ferry to the Greek Isle of Naxos. Spent 2 weeks hanging out in the Greek isles of Naxos, Paros and Ios which was absolute paradise and the best part of the trip by far. If you want to turn your 2 to 3 week trip into a 4 or 5 week trip, this is where to spend the last 2 weeks. It's bliss.

This was back in 2001... before the Euro so financially speaking I have no idea what the cost would be to do this, but I spent around $3K during this trip not including the flight overseas which I think was around $600/$700. Stayed in hostels the whole time... partied my ass off. Worst part of the trip was eating... just different food than what I was use to (even mcdonalds tastes different) but regardless eating wasn't really where we spent our money anyway... if you want to eat well you can, but you'll spend a lot more.

**Bettingbabe** · 03-27-11, 11:13 AM

There's so much to see and do in Europe. Get a Eurorail pass and be adventurous.
My favourite city was Barcelona, they have great accommodation for all price ranges.

Have fun!

**svenodds** · 03-27-11, 11:21 AM

Must see Scotland with Eurorail pass

**Dirty Sanchez** · 03-27-11, 11:25 AM

Many folks don't realize all the great cities throughout Europe to see. Last Summer I spent time in Poland visiting the death camps and spending time in Krakow....what a great city and people

**GOIRISH** · 03-27-11, 11:49 AM

After watching hostel, theres no way i would do it