Advice on planning
Dec 26th, 2015, 04:26 PM
#1
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Advice on planning
Hi I'm graduating highschool in June and I'm planning a month long backpacking trip with some friends we'll be traveling by train.I want to go to
arcelona(4days),Rome (4days),(Interlaken)gimmewald(3days),Paris 4days),London(4days),Amsterdam(4 days). I want to know if that's doable
arcelona(4days),Rome (4days),(Interlaken)gimmewald(3days),Paris 4days),London(4days),Amsterdam(4 days). I want to know if that's doable
Dec 26th, 2015, 04:43 PM
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Not sure what your mean by "backpacking". Do you mean staying in hostels? Camping out in the suburbs of these cities? Or?
That is a rushed trip - and you should count by nights to see how much time you really have. Four nights is 3 days in a city and 3 nights is really 2 days. And you don;t have all 30 days listed. Are you assuming other days are for travel? Or for day trips? Or?
You obviously have plenty of time to plan - check out the Let's Go Student Guides as well as the Thorn tree section of the lonely planet web site for tips and rules for student/budget travel. For train schedules look at bahn.de - not good for prices except Germany but schedules are good for all of europe.
My biggest question is if you have run the numbers and figured out the cost for this type of trip (Spain is quite cheap, Rome, Amsterdam and Paris are more moderate and London - and esp Switzerland - can be VERY expensive.)
Most budget resources seem to use 50 euros per day as a rock bottom budget - so 1550 euros plus intercity travel (train or plane - probably the latter from Barcelona to ?) in europe plus transatlantic airfare (usually at least $1000). I'm assuming you are north american from the language - if living somewhere else obviously can be totally different.
That is a rushed trip - and you should count by nights to see how much time you really have. Four nights is 3 days in a city and 3 nights is really 2 days. And you don;t have all 30 days listed. Are you assuming other days are for travel? Or for day trips? Or?
You obviously have plenty of time to plan - check out the Let's Go Student Guides as well as the Thorn tree section of the lonely planet web site for tips and rules for student/budget travel. For train schedules look at bahn.de - not good for prices except Germany but schedules are good for all of europe.
My biggest question is if you have run the numbers and figured out the cost for this type of trip (Spain is quite cheap, Rome, Amsterdam and Paris are more moderate and London - and esp Switzerland - can be VERY expensive.)
Most budget resources seem to use 50 euros per day as a rock bottom budget - so 1550 euros plus intercity travel (train or plane - probably the latter from Barcelona to ?) in europe plus transatlantic airfare (usually at least $1000). I'm assuming you are north american from the language - if living somewhere else obviously can be totally different.
Dec 26th, 2015, 05:24 PM
#3
I also suggest you list your itinerary by nights
And you should research the travel time involved between points and then consider whether that leaves you enough time in each place to see/do what you want. For example, a flight from Barcelona to Rome will take about 2 hours. Add time to get to/from the airports and the pre-flight check-in time, and close to 5 hours could easily tick by. Depending on the departure time (which may not be particularly early), you could lose the better part of a day in transit.
Rome to Interlaken/Gimmelwald will take longer. You could probably take an overnight train from Interlaken to Paris but not without train changes (perhaps with long connections) somewhere/some time along the way.
And you should research the travel time involved between points and then consider whether that leaves you enough time in each place to see/do what you want. For example, a flight from Barcelona to Rome will take about 2 hours. Add time to get to/from the airports and the pre-flight check-in time, and close to 5 hours could easily tick by. Depending on the departure time (which may not be particularly early), you could lose the better part of a day in transit.
Rome to Interlaken/Gimmelwald will take longer. You could probably take an overnight train from Interlaken to Paris but not without train changes (perhaps with long connections) somewhere/some time along the way.
Dec 26th, 2015, 05:51 PM
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Hi jaimed2014,
Let me see if I've got this right:
You and your friends will be traveling by train, right?
You are planning a month-long trip, and a month is 30 days, right?
So if you want to spend 23 days sightseeing in 5 different cities, that leaves you 7 days to travel in between the cities by train, correct?
I don't see a problem, although I'm not sure what order you should put the final 3 cities of your trip. Have you bought air tickets yet?
But if you don't agree with anything I posted above (i.e, if you are not actually traveling for 30 days), you need to clarify. However, I think most of us already are clear what backpacking is and it makes no difference to answering your question anyway.
Let me see if I've got this right:
You and your friends will be traveling by train, right?
You are planning a month-long trip, and a month is 30 days, right?
So if you want to spend 23 days sightseeing in 5 different cities, that leaves you 7 days to travel in between the cities by train, correct?
I don't see a problem, although I'm not sure what order you should put the final 3 cities of your trip. Have you bought air tickets yet?
But if you don't agree with anything I posted above (i.e, if you are not actually traveling for 30 days), you need to clarify. However, I think most of us already are clear what backpacking is and it makes no difference to answering your question anyway.
Dec 26th, 2015, 09:54 PM
#6
Besides bahn.de for train schedules, I highly recommend seat61.com for general info on train travel in Europe, whether or not rail passes might be worthwhile, and how and where to buy tickets if not.
Looks like you have plenty of time to play with. I print out blank calendar pages for trip planning. Write in where you will spend the night, and any transport.
Looks like you have plenty of time to play with. I print out blank calendar pages for trip planning. Write in where you will spend the night, and any transport.
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