Before College Trip

**Mikiez** · October 27, 2008, 04:14 PM

Me and my friends plan on going to Europe before college(we are all saving now), and I was wondering if anyone knows some good places to visit(maybe someone who had backpacked across europe before) We all have a free month-month and a half, and also about how much should we save up, I already have about 6g's but I don't think I want to spend it all.
:usflag:

**Sebdeas** · October 27, 2008, 06:02 PM

Well at least stop in Amsterdam

London is nice as well.

**Mikiez** · October 27, 2008, 06:55 PM

Amsterdam was a must see on my mind, but Ive herd london was pretty boring, dun know tho because ive never been there.

**Farnan** · October 27, 2008, 07:07 PM

Don't forget to get a passport...

**Mikiez** · October 27, 2008, 07:08 PM

Got one last year but thank you.

**ironcurtin117** · October 27, 2008, 07:11 PM

Much much more money, 6g will probably last you a month and a half but you can't really move around

**Mikiez** · October 27, 2008, 07:20 PM

Well we plan on using the train alot, from what ive looked at that isnt that expensive and hotels are 50 a night average so 1.5g, 1.1g for train, .7g for plane, rest for fun? am I missing something important?

train numbers i got from here http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/pa..._flexipass.htm

**mrmouth** · October 30, 2008, 09:54 PM

Six grand? The first time I went, which will always be the most expensive because of mistakes, I think I spent maybe $1000, minus airfare which was $450. That was for 27 days. Ive done small 6 day trips in France, Belgium and Netherlands where I spent maybe $700 plus airfare.

The one tip I have is don't reserve hotels before you leave. Even in the summer months in the busiest cities, you can find great deals if you walk a bit. There is no harm in walking into a place that looks well out of your budget. Often you will be pleasantly surprised.

For instance, Amsterdam in the summer is always thought to be very expensive, if you can find rooms to begin with. If your planning on staying in a hostel in a place like Amsterdam, reservations are a must because you will never get a bed. At the same time you will end up paying just as much as a hotel in most cases, during the peak months.

So my advice is to look at business travel oriented hotels, which backpackers never really think about, and many travel agencies stateside don't know or deal with unless you are a business traveler. In many cases businesses that travel a lot have their own people in house to book hotels and trains, and they have a go-between with the airlines who handles their air travel, so they don't use travel agencies open to the public.

The best part is, the kiosks found in many train stations that assist travelers in finding rooms, dont have the rights to book rooms for business class hotels. As business travel doesn't really ever increase during any particular times, there are always rooms to be had. Often they are very nice, studio type rooms complete with full kitchen. So you can go native and shop for your food.

So for instance, I was going to Amsterdam to meet some friends for 4 nights, and made the mistake of booking a hotel because it was summer. I booked a room for around $120 a night. I got there and it was a complete hole. I refused to pay anything aside from the booking fee which was $30 and was put on my card before I left the states.

I simply walked a bit and found a business class hotel that was $60/night. My friends had booked a room inn the same hotel I decided not to stay in, so they did the same as me and we all stayed in the big studio for $60/night between 3 people.

Since then, finding a business class hotel has worked everywhere I have went. Even the most crowded and expensive cities. Rome in the summer, Paris, Brussels, etc.

**Mikiez** · October 31, 2008, 04:07 PM

Thank you so much Barnaby Jones, you helped very much. Just one question did you buy a eurorail pass?

**mrmouth** · October 31, 2008, 05:33 PM

I never have, no.

Every time I looked at the Eurail prices it seemed like I wouldn't save much, if anything, and it seems a bit complicated.

For instance it wouldn't have helped in '02 when we were in Europe and we decided, spur of the moment, to head to London from Brussels for the Queens Golden Jubilee. Had we bought Eurail passes they would have been the smaller package for only a few countries in Western Europe as we hadnt planned for London. So in the end we would have ended up buying the tickets anyhow, which really were not that much anyhow, or as much as I had expected. Maybe $40-60 if I remeber correctly.

**Viking Prince** · November 02, 2008, 01:59 AM

If you use the train -- you will be spending more on food and room. If you rent a car and stay away from the big city centres you will miss many of the common tourist attractions but save on room and food.

I would strongly consider starting in a big city where you land by air and do all of the tourist things in town. Then rent a car of a week or ten days and find the smaller destinations. Then rail to another city and repeat.

That said -- London, Paris, Rome, and Berlin would be the obvious big four. My sister-in-law stayed for 3 months in Austria and loved it though. Got good enough with her German that way. Another thing to consider.