Back Packing through Europe

[jus89]

Hey.


Me and my mate are going to backpack around Europe at the end of the year start of next.
Question is what can we expect in terms of cost? Apart from the airfares, we have that sorted. Can anyone suggest how much it be to get around Europe?

Best ways? Buses, trains, flights?

Cheers

 

[casanovawa]

That's a big question eh... depends how you want to get around and how far afield you are planning to travel??? flying with easyjet and ryan air can be good for getting further afield or if you want to jump back and forth over the med along with a few others like Aegean airlines etc.... how long are you planning to go for???

flights can be cheap and u can often spend less time on the flight/airport than driving in a bus or on a train for half a day or full day if its a long leg... but to get the cheapest airline tickets you often have to book 2-3 months before which cuts down your flexibility....

booking a Eurail pass for maybe 10 days of travel in any 2 month period gives you much more flexibility to travel on the days you feel like it and stay longer... but they aren't all that cheap, depends how many days of travel, how many countries or regions etc you want to visit... but the german and spanish trains are very nice and fast, also no doubt the french and other countries... the Hungarian train i was in on the way to Budapest didn't quite measure up.. sometimes booking individual tickets might be cheaper, again depends how far you want to travel...

In Paris i did run into a couple of aussies that were using this hop on/hop off busabout service which seemed fairly reasonable, very flexible, you take the buses on the days you feel like it, so that might be something to look at??? Budget Europe Travel Busabout Adventure Coach Travel Europe i would consider using it...

so pros and cons to each option and probably best to use a mix of them... like i said, depends how much flexibility u want to keep and how far afield you want to travel if you have any idea... also where you want to stay, in backpackers or couchsurfing or some people even buy like a combi van and go around and live out of it...

 

[Maca44]

It is going to be cold so you will need to pack warm clothes, and with this comes the possibility of excess luggage charges, but not if you pack wisely. As mentioned, you could fly but you see a lot of the various countries if you travel by train, and the other advantage is that train stations are usually in the centre of the city whereas you normally have to bus in from airports. The Eurail pass is great, and have heard good reviews about busabout. Try and avoid driving on the icy roads. It all depends on your budget, but pack wisely because what you pack you have to carry.

 

[jus89]

how long are you planning to go for???
Lookin at about 2-3 months.

We'd most likely get around by train as flying would defeat the purpose of backpaking in my opinion. ha!

I've heard of that eurail pass and it sounds pretty good.

What kind of hostels did you stay in?

 

[RB]

Maybe you can have a look on Thorn Tree & also refer to Travel on a Shoestring. The forums there should let you get a handle on how much people on similar style of travel are spending. I guess you would be aware of hostelbookers & similar sites- a lot of backpackers I have come across travel by bus & train at night as they see that as a way of saving a days room cost.

 

[casanovawa]

I travelled for 6 weeks around Europe in Nov-Dec 2008 (so autumn/winter) by train and then did 6 weeks around Europe in May-June last year (so spring/summer) by plane... I have to say spring/summer beats autumn/winter, its warmer, weather is nicer, instead of the sun setting at 4.30pm its up till 9-10pm so much more sight seeing time etc although obviously in winter its less busy, better availability of places to stay and probably lower season surcharges...

some of the pre christmas festivities were nice in some of the cities i visited though, so if you get into all that roasting chestnuts and hot drinks in the snow stuff its good... i like the warmth myself...

Travelling around on ryanair/easyjet i usually budget for around A$70 a flight, some are cheaper, others more expensive, so about 10 flights or so shouldn't be too much over A$700 if you get them early or choose the cities which are most cost effective... and yes they can get expensive if you have heavy luggage, i usually always over pack so the usual routine was to wear about two pairs of pants/jeans, 5 shirts/tops and stick as much stuff in the pockets as possible before boarding to get luggage weight down...

Trains are good, but although Europe looks small on a map it was like 14 hour train ride from Budapest to Venice, it was an overnight train but i was woken up for passport checks like every 2 hours by the Croatia police, so if you go out of the EU countries those border crossings are a bit of a PITA... i was going to do a train from Florence up to like Monaco then down to Barcelona etc but after looking at timetables it was going to be the better part of a day or more travelling... in the end i opted for like a 3 hour plane trip to Porto in Portugal for a couple of days then a 2 hour or so flight to Barcelona... those trips would have been long by train or bus... to get from Munich to Geneva took me three connecting train trips so that again took at least half the day if not more like a full day...

so again, depends if your wanting to see cities/countries located fairly close to each other or are happy to spend long stretches on trains (the scenery between Zurich and Salzburg was pretty spectacular as you climbed through the snow capped mountains)... sleeper cabins in trains aren't necessarily that cheap and many of the hostels i slept at (just looked at www.hostels.com and the like) were often only around $15-25 a night so not always a great saving... the couchsurfers that hosted me were free and they have greater availability of places in autumn/winter as well...

In Egypt i was in a hurry and so did travel on sleeper trains to leave my limited days open for exploring... here's Eurail's website (Eurail Pass - Prices and Info about the Eurail Passes & Tickets) they have lots of options but the more you travel and the more countries you include the more expensive it gets especially if you aren't under 26...

With planes you do open up a lot more cities to be reached in reasonable times so the width and breadth of Europe and top of North Africa if your interested, but trains/buses you do get to look at the scenery and have this non-flying backpacker mystique but not necessarily that much cheaper... so swings and round abouts...

if you have any specifics queries to ask, or any questions about an itinerary let me know...

 

[Cynicor]

A tip that probably won't save you money in overweight luggage charges (anyone dedicated enough can avoid those) but will save your back: Buy a decent set of cold weather clothing from a good outdoor store and you won't have to lug around tonnes of heavy layers. The clothes are usually more smell resistant and easy to clean.

The difference between standard cotton and merino is amazing but once you understand layering you should be able to get by with less than half the weight of 'normal' clothing. My Arcteryx shell was outstanding in both Tokyo and Niseko, completely water and wind proof and light as a feather.

They also last forever so while the initial outlay can be quite high they will be with you a while. Shop American websites for the best prices, sierratradingpost.com etc.

 

[RB]

Trains are good, but although Europe looks small on a map it was like 14 hour train ride from Budapest to Venice, it was an overnight train but i was woken up for passport checks like every 2 hours by the Croatia police, so if you go out of the EU countries those border crossings are a bit of a PITA...



..

There are lots of good points in this post but I am confused as to what the Croatian security would have been doing on this train?

 

[casanovawa]

When travelling through the EU you can cross borders with hardly a sideways glance, but Croatia isn't part of the EU.. To get from Budapest to Venice the train had to cross Croatia and Slovenia i think to get to Italy... The train pulled out of Budapest about 5pm and reached the border about 11pm/midnight at that time the Hungarian border police had to come through and check tickets then passports then guys came in and looked through train, in ceilings of carriages if i recall correctly, then Croation border security came on and checked through passports/documents then they another mob checked tickets etc...

a young asian lady (i seem to recall) asked after about the 4th time papers were demanded why they kept needing to be checked, i was wondering the same thing but thought discretion the better part of valour... anyway they told her to get off the train at the station in some god forsaken little town in the middle of no where in the middle of the night... she didn't get back on my carriage anyway before the train pulled out so i wondered what happened to her but didn't get any details off her to report in case somethign happened to her... at several other stations through Croatia about 2am and 4 am etc more surly Croatian security types got on to check papers/passports before we reached Venice about 7am...

although i have a good friend who is Croatian the whole thing put me off ever visiting the place to be frank, although i may do a trip through the Balkans next year...

 

[jus89]

Thanks heaps for all this info so far.

I'm definitely considering trains for most of it. I never considered North Africa, but seeing as we'll be there at least 2 months I'm definitely gonna try and find time for it.

I've never heard of couchsurfing, but my guess is, it's basically sleeping on someones couch yea? haha

How do Hostels work? Do you get private rooms to leave you stuff in, so you can go out sightseeing without carrying everything you own with you?

Sorry, for all the questions.

 

[SamR]

A tip that probably won't save you money in overweight luggage charges (anyone dedicated enough can avoid those) but will save your back: Buy a decent set of cold weather clothing from a good outdoor store and you won't have to lug around tonnes of heavy layers...

The difference between standard cotton and merino is amazing but once you understand layering you should be able to get by with less than half the weight of 'normal' clothing.

This. Merino thermals are fabulous. I am an avid dragon boater and my merino thermals keep me toasty warm and dry when I'm out on the water, at night, in the middle of winter. They're perfect as an underlayer in a European winter.

I got mine on eBay and didn't pay much. If you're on a tighter budget than even that, you can buy polypro thermals. Synthetic, but still warm, wicking and water resistant. Kathmandu has a good range for reasonable prices.

 

[casanovawa]

That's cool about the questions, people helped me out and gave me advice and i like to return the favour...

I think a mix of travel modes will probably get you the best results and allow you to see the most stuff... the countries you want to visit will dictate best modes of travel, but the more modes you consider the more opportunities there are...

Just for instance my 2008 mainly train itinerary was Amsterdam-Cologne-Munich-Geneva-Zurich-Salzburg-Vienna-Budapest-Venice-Florence-Pisa-flight to Porto-flight to Barca-flight to London... my 2010 mainly flying trip was Athens-Cairo (down into Egypt by train and up again)-bus to Jerusalem-flights to Istanbul-flights to Madrid-flight to Marrakesh-flight to Paris-train out to Normandy and back-flight to Dublin-flight to Edinburgh-then bus down to Manchester/Oxford/London...

So the second trip would have been impossible by train/bus, but the first trip made much more sense to do as fairly closely connected and in a linear direction for most of it...

Couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org) is a community where you can join and then yes, search a city you are going to head to and look for hosts that are willing to let you sleep on their beds, matresses on the floor, couches or what ever arrangement they are offering... some hosts will have language barriers with you, some female hosts request only female surfers, some people aren't able to host you but are willing to meet up for dinners or drinks, city couchsurfing sites also have get togethers, events etc so really good when getting into a new city to maybe have people to meet/activities to do etc... they can also give you good tips on how much say a taxi from the airport might cost or which taxi companies to use so you don't get ripped off etc... the stay is free and so can really cut down on your costs... it is a different experience to backpacking and both probably have their pros and cons...

With hostels, u go on say a site like www.hostels.com or hostelz.com or whatever and search a city for so many nights on a certain date, they will show you what all the hostels/hotels etc that available and u click on them and then further through the page to see all the rooms they have on offer for those nights and the costs... they can be from single room with ensuites to 14 bed dorms, i stayed in both and the nightly charge varies with how many you share with obviously...

You can also look at what the reviews have been left on different hostels on these sites (people can leave comments etc)... you can also seach the comments left on couchsurfing hosts on that website as well from people who chose to stay with that host and the host leaves comments on the surfer as well... the hostels also offer different levels of security and internet access and breakfasts and all... many have lockers in their rooms so you need to take a padlock to lock up your valuables... or lock up your luggage etc... but yes, you leave your luggage often in the room each day as you go out...

 

[medhead]

I'll chime in on the train situation. One point is that the many of the trains, especially the premium high speed trains, require a seat reservation in advance that is separate to your ticket (the eurail pass). One exception is that the german trains don't need pre-booking but can be standing room only. This can cost some if needing to do these reservations. So that is a consideration. By way of example 3 years ago french trains were like $10 to $15 for a reservation and spanish were like $40. We puzzled about the spanish cost, but turns out we got a full meal service on board with 2 or 3 passes of the drinks service as well.

Night trains also require reservations, of course. These can also be a bit more expensive. The other think to note about the night trains is that they can be slow, because they are basically on a set timetable. Typically, a late night train will leave at 11pm and arrive at say 6am. If you on a route that would take 3 or 4 hours during the day that night train is going to go slow and will may even sit somewhere of a little while.

You also need to make decent plans with the trains. Break things up into steps and don't try big jumps as that will just cause trouble. Someone mentioned Florence to Barcelona - that is obviously much to far. it should be broken down. I did Barcelona to Nice then Nice to Rome a few years ago. Even that was probably too big a jump, if time wasn't running out I might have included a stops in Avignon and say Milan. So take your time and enjoy.

You can also be aware of things like the bavaria pass in Germany. This is a day pass that allows a full day train travel in Bavaria, including Salzburg, for about 20 euro. So if you wanted to go from Munich to Salzburg, don't waste a day on the eurail pass get a bavaria pass. There are also similar passes for other german regions, I think.

I would just reiterate do your planning. Oh and enjoy!