adam_rubin_733

Is this reasonable?
1. London
2. Paris
3. Amsterdam
4. Berlin
5. Prague
6. Budapest
7.Croatia
8. - Fly to Portugal and eventually depart back to the States

looking to spend just over a week at most places, will be using bus or local transportation to get to and from. Looking to spend at most 15k and use hostels.

StCirq

Looks very reasonable to me.

sparkchaser

Looks ok to me. Have fun.

adrienne

Winging it usually means that you won't make hostel reservations. I would advise against this mode of travel as you could wind up paying more than your budget allows and/or spending lots of time looking for rooms.

Otherwise the itinerary looks good.

adam_rubin_733

I would be booking the hostels 2 days or so before moving on to the next location. Is that enough time? I will be traveling June-August.

adrienne

You're going to very popular locations during peak season so I would say that you'd need more than 2 days to book. Check on the thorntree forum where there are lots of people who stay in hostels and see what they say.

ira

Hi A,

At the very least, book the first and the last night's accommodations before you leave.

Best of luck.

Alec

While it's quite possible to book a hostel room/dorm for a night or two at short notice, staying a week needs pre-booking, usually a few months in advance. This is because weekends get booked up early, so will prevent you from staying 7 nights in a row at short notice. It will rather limit your flexibility, but thinking about transportation cost, where you make a large saving by booking a fixed itinerary fare (whether by rail or air), it makes sense.

dfourh

The one caveat I would have is that #1-#6 are big cities, and will be exhausting. If you break it up just a little, spending a couple days in smaller cities, you might feel more refreshed, not to mention enhanced. The major tourist centers today are pretty damn over-run in main tourist times. We're talking choked (but maybe you're in it for the action!). More and more there are smaller cities not far afield that the hordes never get to, that might turn out to be the highlights of your trip, and might give you some fresh air, casual strolls, and less stress, while still being beautiful and convivial. Worth thinking about.

nytraveler

I agree that you may have trouble in summer getting the nights you want in major cities. There are a lot of hostels and the most pleasant ones may well be booked in advance. Io you don;t reserve you may find yourself in the less pleasant ones - which may be unclean, have too much alcohol (binges) and/or drugs.

I would pick out what you want now and check availability - and if you do go without reservations - at least have a list of places you want to stay.

janisj

>>I would be booking the hostels 2 days or so before moving on to the next location. Is that enough time? <<

Absolutely not - not for full week stays and not in some of those cities. If you know which cities you'll be in which order, why would you not book ahead. Not doing so might mean you pay more -- but my worry would be not finding decent places at all (at any cost).

Some of the best hostels book up weeks, and sometimes months, ahead.

adam_rubin_733

Thanks for the input. I will book hostels in advance and probably head to Greece instead of Portugal.

FrenchMystiqueTours

<<you may find yourself in the less pleasant ones - which may be unclean, have too much alcohol (binges) and/or drugs.>>

When I was younger and doing my backpacking around Europe these were always the hostels where I had the most fun. If there is enough alcohol and drugs you never notice how unclean the place is.

I never once booked a hostel in advance and would just arrive in a city, get a city map, then look at my Let's Go Europe book and walk to a hostel. Sometimes I would wander around a bit and check out a few cheap hotels. However, I was also traveling outside summer months (September to November) and all your destinations are popular ones so lack of space could be a problem. But if you're adventurous and don't mind making part of your day exploring the city while looking for a place to stay I bet you could do it. Don't be afraid to talk to people and ask advice. You can ask store owners, other backpackers, strangers on the street or folks at the counter of a hostel or hotel that may be booked might point you in the right direction or tell you what part of the city to check for cheap lodging. If you're resourceful and adventurous it can be done on the fly.

BTW, I know that prices have increased a lot since I did my backpacking in the mid 90's but in two months of travel (excluding my airfare and the cost of my Eurail ticket) I only spent about 800 dollars. I'll also add that not booking places allowed me to meet backpackers who lived in Europe and several of them invited me to stay at their house if I happened to be visiting their city. This was great because I ended up getting about two weeks worth of free food and accommodation in various places around Europe by staying with people I had met. The added benefit was having a local to show me around and introduce me to their families and friends. I'll also add that I did absolutely no research before my trip. My whole "plan" consisted of landing in Amsterdam and then see what happens.

Even if your budget of 15K does not include your travel expenses I can't help but think that this is more than an adequate budget for 80 days of traveling in Europe.

janisj

>>I never once booked a hostel in advance and would just arrive in a city, get a city map, then look at my Let's Go Europe book and walk to a hostel.<<

AFAIK things have changed a LOT in the last 20 years since you were doing your hosteling/backpacking.

The decent hostels I know (mostly in London, Paris and A'dam) do book up well in advance and the left overs (especially in London) are often where the Social Services house the homeless/drug addicts.

Maybe it is different in Croatia, Hungary and other places. But I'd definitely want most of my hostel accommodations arranged in advance.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Yes, I am aware that things have changed and more people are traveling now than 20 years ago and the OP is also going to be traveling in high season so if they want the best hostels booking would be wise. But hostels aren't the only option. It depends on how adventurous you are but using Paris as an example there are plenty of hotels in the northern parts and other areas that have no internet presence and rooms for 40€ a night (or less) are possible. Not luxurious, centrally located or easy to find if you're not familiar with the city but it's a place to stay if you're not picky. This obviously requires more time and effort but I did this from time to time (walking around with a heavy backpack with a day pack on my front and carrying a guitar). Sometimes I'd walk for a few hours mixing sightseeing with looking for accommodation, often ending up in out of the way neighborhoods. Not everyone's travel style but it is possible if you're up for adventure. And with the smartphone/internet technology available now even if a hotel doesn't have a website you can still google hotel locations and figure out where to head to. There's also the website www.couchsurfing.org. And there's always the chance you'll meet people (as I did) who invite you to stay at their place.

BeniciaChris

try airbnb-you can rent a room in someones house

janisj

Yes - but airbnb must be booked ahead. That's not winging it . . .