from texas, gonna be flying into italy and staying in europe for a few months. Wanna travel to spain, germany, amsterdamn, and france. Any advice for a first time international traveler?? Budget has to be pretty tight, have a place to crash in amserdamn and northen italy so i plan on spending lots of time in those places as well. Also was thinking about sleeping outside a few times to save on cash, guess depends on the area ill be at though. I was planning on getting a euro pass, not sure what else would help me get around while maintaining somewhat of a budget. Any advice would be of a great help. thanks in advance.
Depending on your age and comfort with the idea, I suggest Couchsurfing.com - Free place to stay, get a local to show you around. I had a very positive experience. Secondly, purchase Lets Go Europe. Great book on what to do, where to stay, and everything in between. Don't be dumb. Be safe.
I second Couch Surfing. Never used it for international travel but I've had nothing but good experiences with it domestically.
Don't keep you wallet in your pocket. get a pouch and put your cards and passport in it adn hang it around your neck. Europe is the king of pickpocketers.
Doner kebabs and McDonalds value menu will be your budget-go-to foods. Avoid buying foods from places with English menus, they're usually expensive. Rent a bicycle when you can, helps you get around the city so much faster, and it's a different experience vs. the metro or buses.
ya no doubt, just throwing it out there. BTW im tottaly plan on buying a bike as soon as i get to Europe, Im assuming it shoudnt be to hard to take trains?
Adding to what dmc89 said - You'll find doner kebabs on street carts in the most remote locations; the meat is perfectly safe (unlike certain places in Asia... terrible experience). And buying a bike? That's a lot to lug around everywhere you go. No one likes a dude with a bike on a highway, even in Europe. I would think about running you over just for your insolence. Stay within the city limits or picturesque roads. Backpacker Inns (depending on how clean their toilets/showers are) are cheap alternatives if you don't want a host with you all the time. You also have the benefit of meeting travelers from all over the world. And beware of scams. Do not trust random guys trying to befriend you or offering to take you out to clubs. Especially in Spain and Eastern Europe/Turkey, tons of college age kids make a living on scam operations targeting male travelers.
Can you be a little more specific about how long you plan to stay? budget? How much are you budgeting and how are you approaching costs on time vs. eating vs. lodging vs. partying? There are some must sees in my book- London,paris,amsterdam (to stock up),interlaken,munich,rome,venice,cinque terre, pamplona/san sebastian. If you are going to greece you should fly from within europe. unless you are going here http://www.thepinkpalace.com/ it's the pink palace and is a big party. but that means the nasty boat ride between italy and greece. First timer to europe I would skip berlin,denmark, norway ,sweden finland,prague , eastern europe,lisbon, ibiza,austria,poland getting back to greece apparently the action for now is here: http://www.google.com/images?um=1&h...=1&q=zakynthos&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq= called zakynthos. I've been to santorini,ios,naxos but I think the party scene is move away from there lately to zakynthos. anyway getting back to interlaken switzerland highly recommend it. It's cliche american hotspot but the funny farm http://www.funny-farm.ch/ has been host to some pretty good parties absolutely beautiful scenery.plenty of american tail floating through.Constantly changing out. Sleeping outside in 'the tent' in munich is cheap: http://www.the-tent.com/ there are some camping things http://www.campingeurope.com/ but that means bed roll. If you can plan you can get a nightly place outside of city as low as 20-30 euros per night. not a big germany guy but munich is worth going to. great atmosphere.love the englishgarten. You can eat fairly cheaply and you can look at the eurorail tickets that are not consecutive days to save some. I ve done the any 3 , 5, 10 , or 15 day in a 30 day or 60 day period and they are a nice alternative to the consecutive. They are nice if you are planning to stay somewhere for a longer amount of time. Some people utilize the trains as a sleeping spot and you can sit in a car and sleep ( not comfortable but free) or you can get a place with a bunk bed (cost). This is good for Paris to Amsterdam overnight. You wake up in Amsterdam and your space will go for 15-30 euros. In pamplona during san fermines (july 7-14) you can sleep outside and many people do. Highly recommend San Sebastian and if you head south Sevilla is nice along with Granada and toledo. I like Madrid fine too but maybe just a few days. Italy Greece Spain Ireland will generally be less expensive than germany holland france england. Remember eurail doesnt go in england so you will need to get from London down to starting point in Calais or Cherbourg, Le Havre. Depends on what you are trying to do. Some folks skip England and London is nice but similar to NYC. The flights into London will generally be less than into Paris or Amsterdam but you need to remember the cost associated with the trip from England while the eurail is not functional. May sound ghetto but you can take a motorcoach from london to paris. I've done it for 44 british pounds before one way. It was all day on a motorcoach but fairly cheap to get the eurail started later in paris and not use any days.
I plan on staying at least a month, possibly two. my budget at this point is 6g american, but i would also like to possibly try and get a job somewhere and maybe stay longer as well. Im going try to and use the channelsurfing site as much as possible to make make my budget last longer
Sorry for reviving an old thread but i will be travailing to europe for the first time tomorrow, and im just wondering what to expect from flying over there (continental) good or bad?, and advice from others who have been there im going to be staying very very busy im traveling with group touring museums for the first 10 days then the next week i will be staying with some family in italy I start off in Paris then move on to to Nice, Toulon, Rome, and others places basically just asking what to expect. Thanks
Expect a wonderful trip and an experience of a lifetime. Try to check in online and grab a window seat. Take lots of pictures and post some here .
Watch out for pick pockets in Paris. Everyone was trying to steal from me. Be wary and don't trust everyone. They target young couples and the elderly. Especially outside the Musee d'Orsay and Louvre.
If you can somehow travel a bit to the coast of Italy, hike Cinque Terre. It's amazing and it'll be a wonderful experience. Museums can be fun, but I enjoyed being outdoors and just walking around after traveling to a couple. I didn't have problems with pick pocketing even with my wallet in my back pocket, though it's probably because I learned to check it every 5 min or so til it became a habit and I eventually just front pocketed it. If you're gonna get an English menu somewhere, ask for the regular menu too to compare prices. I was at this place in Paris and they accidentally gave our group two different menus and the English one showed prices about 3 euro higher, though we didn't bother since we didn't want spit in our food and the school paid for it. But nothing beats just people watching while sitting outside a restaurant eating on the sidewalks.
Thank you all really! ive heard about the pick pocketing bads over there so im just gonna put it in my front pocket but im really excited to go because i get the best of both worlds i will see all the museums and tourist attractions the first 10 days then the next week i will be with relatives who have a house in italy really close to the Mediterranean sea i believe. So i will see the tourist perspective and the local perpective
