i'm currently living in the states but i'm thinking of coming home next summer and backpacking through europe for a month or two,just wondering if anyone on here has ever done it and has any recommendations on places to go to?
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i'm currently living in the states but i'm thinking of coming home next summer and backpacking through europe for a month or two,just wondering if anyone on here has ever done it and has any recommendations on places to go to?
you cant go too far wrong using the train system. it's a good way to get through europe. u can get anywhere you want and can hop on and hop off. you can either drop into europe somewhere. use the trains and find accomodation on the fly or plan out a route and book accomodation before you leave. i'd say just pick a route through countries that interest you in europe and roll with it from there !Quote:
Originally Posted by lim abroad
did interrailing 3 years ago.
brilliant.
monthly ticket for all the zones are about E400.
well worth it.
theres a few extras though, youl be charged anywhere from E3-E15 to reserve a seat/sleeper.
barcelona valencia rome are lovely cities.
id avoid paris (far too dear for backpacking and its a ****e hole-i hate the place) prague (tacky and sleazy at night) bruxelles (boring)
turin milan naples and venice are dumps
thanks lads,appreciated
I think garykelly has the right idea...stick to the trains. Whenever I'm backpacking through mainland Europe, I plan my journey via a map of the rail network. Staying in hostels is also a great way of getting to meet people from all around the World. I've found Germany to be a great destination, with very hospitable locals...although avoid Frankfurt, as it's primarily a business town with very little for tourists. I disagree with the previous poster regarding Paris...I think it's a great city.
..........Quote:
Originally Posted by anto eile
:eek:
Get the sleeper trains, the are a good price and you can wake up next day in a different country.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eoingull
Regarding Cities, you can always (from Ireland anyway) fly to A'Dam Paris Brussells etc., therefore I'd recomend going east and travelling that area. Munich is a good port of call as alot of the trains from different eastren countries go through there but it is fairly easy to get around by train. There are a few sites which would discuss the interrailling and it's worth doing reading on them.
I think Italy has fairly cheap trains tickets anyway so I don't think the interrailling ticket gives you much by way of a discount so if you are only doing two Blocks (tickets are charged by the amount of block you'll be traveling in) I'd not include Italy.
Those inflatable neck rests waist of money just bring a pillow, you'll use it worry not.
Berlin Budapest Krackow would of been my top tree cities, it is almost 4 years since I visited them so how they have changed I don't know.
Bring a deck of cards!! you'll meet loads of people on your travels, and enjoy.
I did this 4 years ago after the World Cup. It's a great experience, make sure you make the most of it.
I heard the following towns, most of which are neglected by tourists, are really worth checking out.
Timishaora - Arad, Romania - the countryside is supposed to be really good around here.
Tulcea - Romania - the Danube Delta, where it meets the Black Sea, supposed to be nice.
Belgrade - A great city.
Kotor, Montenegro (also near Croatia), very nice, hard to get to though.
Thessaloniki, Northern Greece.
Odessa / Krym Ukraine - this is supposed to be a spectacular place to go from what I've heard.
If I were you I'd go to Eastern Europe, it's more vibrant, and chances are you'll end up going to places like Berlin, Paris, Barcelona (all great places) when youre in your 30s etc.
Search here aswell, there was an old thread on back packing here aswell a while back.Quote:
Originally Posted by lim abroad
yes they areQuote:
Originally Posted by A face
I'll be honest, i haven't been to Naples but i've been to all there others and loved them, obviously there is good and bad everywhere, and no two journeys the same, but to say all of them were bad i just thought it was a bit funny, by that i mean i have never heard someone saying that before.Quote:
Originally Posted by anto eile
What happened to you man, was it people/cost/food ?? What time of year were you there? Just wondering like?
milan and turin are just boring industrial cities. with little on offer,also the amount of seedy looking gougers hanging round drinking on the streets in one part of milan i stayed was a turn off
naples is like a thrid world city.only went for a napoli game.id return though but the city is filthy (you can taste the dirt in the air) poor , over crowded etc
venice is smelly , claustrophobic, expensive and full of tourists.**** hole imo
You do realise that you were a tourist there too yeah?:confused:.Quote:
Originally Posted by anto eile
im aware of the irony. but id rather visit a city that wasnt jampacked with 100,000 tourists outnumbering the local population by 10-1
Napoli's nice, agree about Milan and Turin though both very unspectacular - most of Italy north of Tuscany is average, except the coast around Genoa which is nice.
milan is a kip, personally i hate paris too, in fact yould should just avoid france altogether. and anto's right about bruxelles, theres nothing in it outside of central plaza, but if you want to see anything of belgiun go further north into flanders- ghent and brugge are great cities- lots of history, arcitecture and a decent night life, plus your only 2-3 hours by train from amsterdam which is a must-see. you should def to the interrailing thing tho, well worth it, and if you get a chance visit barcelona, which is, in my opinion the best city in europe.
Parts of it are like that alright but man there are other parts that are great, Milan has a great street with a river running through it (name escapes me right now) with restaurant barges etc. on it .... both sides are full of restaurants, bars, clubs etc. if you are on that street any night the atmosphere is completely unreal, i kid you not. Also the area around the Lulapalooza bar (again name escapes me right now)Quote:
Originally Posted by anto eile
And Turin, parts of it are complete stunning, you can clearly see wealth that was there in the last 1000 odd years.
I know what you're saying though, parts of it are factories with bleak dusty road all round them. Thing is though, every single city in the world has both kind of areas.
There are some areas alright that are nasty, some of the parks i would totally advise you to keep your shoes on at all times if you want to stay alive. But have to say you were in a bad area there.Quote:
with little on offer,also the amount of seedy looking gougers hanging round drinking on the streets in one part of milan i stayed was a turn off
Haven't been, dont like the sound of that though so i might never go !! :pQuote:
naples is like a thrid world city.only went for a napoli game.id return though but the city is filthy (you can taste the dirt in the air) poor , over crowded etc
The smelly part .... what time of year did you go? If it was in the middle of the summer then its bound to. They are currently spending billions to keep the adriatic sea out so it doesn't wash away their town. The forces of nature and all that ... best you can do is pick a better time of year to visit.Quote:
venice is smelly , claustrophobic, expensive and full of tourists.**** hole imo
Costy, I have heard that alright but in most tourist cities, the first bar will be an arm and a leg, the one around the corner will be half the price and the one down the end of that street will be a fraction of both the last ones and probably far better quality and way better craic .... you just have to be cute and pick them out. I know Venice very well and there are some really really good reasonable places to eat, with no touristy búllshít.
Again, i take your point there but do you know what fúcks it up for everyone .... dumb Americans going in like bulls in china shops, not having a clue about tact or common sense. It not that they dont have it, its just they just dont not care a tack about it.
Just on the volume of tourists, man i dunno ... pick a quiet time of year or something but to be fair, there is not alot you can do about it.
i'm definitely on for backpacking next summer,have a mate who's a teacher so it looks like he'll come with me,we're talking about mainly eastern europe.
i was in venice twice, 2000 and 2003. didnt like it either time.
stayed in lido de jesolo the first time. went in february in 2000. and september in 2003
stayed in some mad camping park the ssecond time. full of aussies.drinking pints of some mad mixture of curacao, schnapps,vodka,rum, a wkd type of thing and various other shots hepaed into it. E8 a pop but legless on 3 of them .didnt remember getting home but woke up and the door was open and the caravan thing was soaked (nothing stolen thugh)
a good night actually
If your travels do take you thro Belgium head to Bruges....one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in. France is great and sometimes you can get really cheap accommodation in Convents! Arras/Lens/Lille in the north east of france are really friendly places and you can get a beavis and butthead type laugh as you arrive into Arras....
Holland is great but not just Amsterdam....the Hague is one hell of a city for having everything....great beach at Schevning (sp) and a truely cosmopolitan city centre.
I love Paris...everyday is like being in an old french movie....just love it for its cliches and it will stay in your heart forever.
As someone said the Hostels in Germany are top notch and resonably cheap. You will meet someone who knows someone you know in at least one hostel! The small world syndrome really comes into its own in Germany for some reason! Head up into Bavaria (but dont miss out Cologne and Dusseldorf if u want to do some good shopping!) and Austria.
Not mad about spain or portugal but thats just me. Havent been to Italy so cant tell u anything there.
Main thing is take as little luggage as poss. U will always get a laundrette where ur clothes are clean within an hour or 2 or do them at the hostel... a few lost hours doing laundry is much better than a sore back from carrying too much unnessecary **** around.
Am soooo jealous....I went interrailing in 92 and would give my broken right ankle to go again.....
Enjoy every second bud and just go with the flow! If you dont get to go everywhere u want they will still be there when you come back sometime in the future!