How should i plan my first backpacking trip/what are the best places to go?
Feb 28th, 2013, 06:52 AM
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How should i plan my first backpacking trip/what are the best places to go?
Hi everyone,
This is my first backpacking trip that i'll be planning to go for in July. I plan to travel for about 25 days before finally flying to Belgium for Tomorrowland from Barcelona Airport.
I'll be flying from Singapore and our first destination currently is planned for Greece. I would want to dive and spend about 2-3 days at the beach to just relax and then move to Athens to sightsee the temples and area. I have heard that Mykonos is an amazing beach. Is it enough to spend 3 Days in Athens?
Next we plan to fly to Italy and then to France and finally end up at Barcelona. We do not need to go to the main touristy places but what places are considered FUN or exciting or beautiful and worth going (e.g not a small town with nothing to do).
Am i being ambitious if i plan on roughly 25 days for all my destinations? Also, for inter europe flight, is it preferable to book before leaving my home country, or do i book my inter europe flights when i reach my destination. For example, booking my flight from athens to Italy when i'm in athens itself.
If you could use your expertise and introduce me some amazing places that i absolutely should not miss out on please advise me! I will be very very grateful.
P.s. I'm sorry if this post is very jumpy and confusing.
Thanks for your time!!
This is my first backpacking trip that i'll be planning to go for in July. I plan to travel for about 25 days before finally flying to Belgium for Tomorrowland from Barcelona Airport.
I'll be flying from Singapore and our first destination currently is planned for Greece. I would want to dive and spend about 2-3 days at the beach to just relax and then move to Athens to sightsee the temples and area. I have heard that Mykonos is an amazing beach. Is it enough to spend 3 Days in Athens?
Next we plan to fly to Italy and then to France and finally end up at Barcelona. We do not need to go to the main touristy places but what places are considered FUN or exciting or beautiful and worth going (e.g not a small town with nothing to do).
Am i being ambitious if i plan on roughly 25 days for all my destinations? Also, for inter europe flight, is it preferable to book before leaving my home country, or do i book my inter europe flights when i reach my destination. For example, booking my flight from athens to Italy when i'm in athens itself.
If you could use your expertise and introduce me some amazing places that i absolutely should not miss out on please advise me! I will be very very grateful.
P.s. I'm sorry if this post is very jumpy and confusing.
Thanks for your time!!
Feb 28th, 2013, 07:25 AM
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The part about Greece looks okay. Mykonos is an expensive island, but there are spaces for backpackers at Paradise Beach: http://www.paradise-greece.com/accom.html. July is quite busy, so you would need to book in advance. To see what goes on there check out "paradise beach mykonos" on YouTube. ;-)
Three days in Athens is enough to see the main sights and a few museums. There is a backpackers hotel in central Athens, but I can't tell you much about it.
Three days in Athens is enough to see the main sights and a few museums. There is a backpackers hotel in central Athens, but I can't tell you much about it.
Feb 28th, 2013, 07:40 AM
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Don't forget the fantastic European train system and if you are under 26 you can get the bargain Eurail Youthpass - a pass for unlimited travel for X number of days in a ;longer period or a consecutive-day pass - hop overnight trains say from Paris to Barcelona or Barcelona to Paris, Madrid, etc and save time and also the cost of an overnibght accommodations.
Overnight trains run all over Europe and there are overnight ferries between Greece and Italy too.
Anyway to see sometrhing besides airports, tarmac and big cities consider taking trains as well and see some of the Europe between the big tourist cities - check out these IMO fantastic sites for learning a lot about European trains - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download the latter's free and IMO superb European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of suggested rail itineraries in various countries (http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id2.html).
The time of year you go can make a BIG difference in costs - cheaper hotels and hostels can be much harder to get when Europeans tend to travel in droves, like during July and August in southern Europe - May, early June and September are fantastic times with good weather and far fewer crowds (and shorter lines to get into museums, cathedrals, etc.
Overnight trains run all over Europe and there are overnight ferries between Greece and Italy too.
Anyway to see sometrhing besides airports, tarmac and big cities consider taking trains as well and see some of the Europe between the big tourist cities - check out these IMO fantastic sites for learning a lot about European trains - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download the latter's free and IMO superb European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of suggested rail itineraries in various countries (http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id2.html).
The time of year you go can make a BIG difference in costs - cheaper hotels and hostels can be much harder to get when Europeans tend to travel in droves, like during July and August in southern Europe - May, early June and September are fantastic times with good weather and far fewer crowds (and shorter lines to get into museums, cathedrals, etc.
Feb 28th, 2013, 12:21 PM
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If you could use your expertise and introduce me some amazing places that i absolutely should not miss out on please advise me! I will be very very grateful.>
well what are your interests? museums, cultural things, night life, natural scenery? That would help answer that wide-ranging question.
well what are your interests? museums, cultural things, night life, natural scenery? That would help answer that wide-ranging question.
Feb 28th, 2013, 11:14 PM
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Hello russwongg!
You may want to share a bit more in order to help us help you.
First of all backpacking means differen tthings to different people. Usually by backpacking most people mean low budget but how low is low and what type of accomodation are you after? At least fom Greece, I think early July to late July makes a great difference on prices and crowds, so if you could share when you plan to come over, that would help too.
What kind of activities are you interested in? PalenQ makes a good point. Hard to advice without knowing your interests!
A couple of notes: Mykonos is not a beach it is an island. It is a 30 minutes or a 3-5 hours ferry ride from Athens area. It is a scenic island with many nice (mostly sandy) beaches but a very busy and expensive island. Sort of a posh place in high season. Lots of nightlife options too.
What kind of beach are you after and is there any other specific reason you chose Mykonos?
France is a country. Do you have in mind a specific location? Why you want to go there? You could spend your whole 25 days only in one country and still not run of places to see/things to do. Your itinerary is very wide, especially at this point.
Ending up in Barcelona, what is your aim to do there? Using it as a departure point or explore the city or what?
You may want to share a bit more in order to help us help you.
First of all backpacking means differen tthings to different people. Usually by backpacking most people mean low budget but how low is low and what type of accomodation are you after? At least fom Greece, I think early July to late July makes a great difference on prices and crowds, so if you could share when you plan to come over, that would help too.
What kind of activities are you interested in? PalenQ makes a good point. Hard to advice without knowing your interests!
A couple of notes: Mykonos is not a beach it is an island. It is a 30 minutes or a 3-5 hours ferry ride from Athens area. It is a scenic island with many nice (mostly sandy) beaches but a very busy and expensive island. Sort of a posh place in high season. Lots of nightlife options too.
What kind of beach are you after and is there any other specific reason you chose Mykonos?
France is a country. Do you have in mind a specific location? Why you want to go there? You could spend your whole 25 days only in one country and still not run of places to see/things to do. Your itinerary is very wide, especially at this point.
Ending up in Barcelona, what is your aim to do there? Using it as a departure point or explore the city or what?
Mar 2nd, 2013, 09:23 AM
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any backpacker will greatly benefit from having a copy of Let's Go Europe along with them - written by college students for younger folk - great coverage of accommodations - the ups and downs of so so many places.
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