http://www.balmers.com/

If you're looking for a convivial meeting place for young folk from all over the world consider looking at the legendary Balmer's Auberge (hostel but with private rooms) in Interlaken - also organizes various action adventure trips in area like whitewater rafting, paragliding, etc.

https://translate.google.com/transla...d/&prev=search

If hostels are not for you check out Grindelwald's Nature Friends' House which attracts an all-ages largely hiking set to its private rooms and communal kitches - save big over hotels.

My husband and I (both from the US) lived in Europe for 6 months when we were in our early 20s. We had just graduated college (newly married), had no real responsibility yet, and my husband owned an online business. We bought an open ended ticket through some student travel plan (even came with a basic health insurance) and away we went!

We left in early July and had a year to use the return ticket. At the time I think we paid about $1000 pp for the flights from SFO. We flew into Switzerland, which was not apart of the Schengen and no one asked us when we arrived for how long we planned on staying or how we were able to make money while we were there. Maybe because our ticket said open ended? I can't remember if it did or not.

We met friends and stayed with them in Kandern, Germany for the first 6 weeks. We didn't do a ton those first weeks. We were newbies in the travel scene and a bit nervous. My in laws (also travel newbies) visited for a couple weeks during that time and together we visited the Netherlands (where my MIL was born), Paris, and maybe one other place I can't remember.

Like I mentioned before, my husband worked online (EST) so he'd work from about 3pm-10pm (Europe time) M-F. We mostly only traveled on weekends. We'd just emerge ourselves in the town we were in during the weekdays....at least I would. He worked. ;-)

This was a time before couchsurfing, airbnb, homeaway, youtube, etc. I used good ol' yahoo and craigslist to find where we'd be staying after our time was up in one location.

After Germany (which we regret not seeing enough of - damn nerves), we headed into Italy. We stayed in Florence for 6 weeks and fell in love with the city. Weekend jaunts from Florence included Cinque Terra (swoon), Sienna, Rome, and Venice. My sister joined us for awhile while we were in Italy.

After Florence we found a suburb outside of Rome for 6 weeks. This was our worst place. It was too far outside of the city and boring as can be. Because my hubs worked during the weekdays and because we didn't want to pay the transport fare every time, we didn't end up going into Rome enough and felt stuck in Dullsville, Italy. From there we did one weekend trip to south of France, one weekend to London, and maybe one other place. It was when we went to London that we had to hold our breath since we were exiting the Schengen area. *Hold our breath and fib a little*

London was the only place that questioned our whereabouts before coming in to the city and where we were headed after. It was a bit scary, but we made it through and were fine going back into Rome when we flew back. Italians are clearly more lax in their airports.

After our 6 weeks in Rome - maybe it was 5 (we really tried to get out of that place fast), my sis left to go back to US, and hubs and I waved addio to Italy and took a train into Austria. It was the beginning of November at this time. We lived in Vienna for 9 weeks. It was glorious. We loved Vienna. It was cold, but beautiful. Because we were there for so long we got to experience Christmas, the markets, the gluwein, the snow, the lights, and New Years. Oh it was so magical. Weekend trips from Vienna were Prague, Budapest, Bratislava (just a day trip), Salzburg, and Linz (day trip).

After Vienna we took a train back into Zurich and flew back out to SFO. We were planning on going to Spain after Vienna to escape the cold January we were entering into, but to be honest....we were done. We noticed we weren't enjoying some of the amazing sites we were passing by. The museums were becoming a blur and we were tired. So we booked our tickets home and don't regret a thing.

We learned so much (I'm the better navigator) . We saw so much (10 countries....so many cities...so much culture). We ate cheap (lots of grocery stores), stayed cheap (private room hostels, cheap apartments), traveled cheap (we were under 26). It was magnificent and the time of our lives. I'm so excited for you.

A few things to mention:

- Don't plan everything out. Go where the wind takes you. It's doable.
- Train attendants don't ask (at least they didn't 10 years ago) how long you've been in the country.
- Go to Switzerland. We didn't on that trip (except to fly in and fly out), but we have been since and it's a favorite....in fact we're taking our three kids this Christmas. It's jaw-dropping.
- It's okay to eat McDonald's sometimes.
- If they ask, maybe say you have an online business? Or you're a vlogger?
- Stay for Christmas. The markets are a must see. They put any notion of Christmas in your American head to shame.
- I don't know where you're from, but I'm a California girl. The winter was COLD in Austria. Buy boots when you get there with thick soles and a good jacket.
- We made a baby in Salzburg on Christmas Eve (it was freaking freezing) so it was a good thing we decided to return to the states. I found out I was pregnant a few days after we got back.
- IT WILL BE A TRIP OF A LIFETIME

As you're considering Romania, ma and the Mrs are visiting next June. We'll be spending just about all of our 19 days in Transylvania......here's thread I started recently with our pretty much set in stone itinerary...

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-june-2018.cfm

The itinerary is very doable.

We were in Bosnia & Herzegovina recently, specifically Mostar and Sarajevo, with a day in Medugorje [Roman Catholic pilgrimage site] and Blagaj. Very beautiful country, friendly people, inexpepensive, and a good transport infrastructure. The war between 1992-96 is still very evident.

In April we were in Croatia. Split, Tucepi, and a week on the Island of Brac.....the Adriatic coastline is beautiful. Also been to the Island of Hvar, another cracking place.

Also got a couple of weeks coming up in April to Macedonia.....Skopje, Bitola, and a place called Ohrid which is sat on a beautiful lake of the same name.

After many years of longhaul to Asia were now concentrating our travels closer to home, and finding Central Europe v.impressive.

GillsinEurope

Things have become a lot stricter in recent years, not unconnected with greater security alert over terrorism etc. Switzerland isn't just in Schengen now but perhaps the most assiduous in enforcing its rules. Many have been stopped when going through Switzerland and were detected overstaying in Schengen, and sent home. And EU has just implemented a decree forcing non-Schengen nationals' passport to be screened against various databases at every Schengen entry and exit point. This has led to considerable delay at busy airports. So I'd advise everyone to be careful in observing Schengen rules.

Plus, if you are caught violating the Schengen rules, you are liable to hefty fines (I have seen reports as high as 500 EUR, although 200 may be more common) AND you would be banned from entry to Europe for some period of time.

@GillsinEurope - boasting about breaking the law and encouraging someone ekse to do the same? What a nice person you must be.

Gillsineurope's experiences have absolutely no relevance to travel today.

A 'quaint' story about the 'good old days'.

@thursdaysd. I am a really nice person. Let's not forget that there are real humans behind all this text. I'm a mom of three beautiful little girls. My husband and I own our own business and work together in our community. I help in my daughters' classrooms every Thursday. I have a parent/teacher conference this afternoon. I struggle with a little bit of anxiety and depression and cry when I feel overwhelmed with the juggle of life... just like most moms do. I call and text my girlfriends about crazy scenes from Grey's Anatomy. I'm real. No need to be sarcastic or attack someone online.

I don't think I was necessarily encouraging OP to break laws. I was just giving my experience. Isn't that what this forum is all about? And yes, @janisj I was reliving my good ol' days. I'm excited for OP's trip. It brought back great memories and I wanted to share them with her. I'm sorry if my memories are of no relevance.

I guess Schengen laws are stricter now. That's going to make things more challenging, but still doable. When we travelled 10 years ago we didn't go in thinking "Hey, let's break all the laws. We're invincible." We realized as we were there that the rules didn't seem all that strict so we didn't feel the need to leave a certain place after a certain amount of time. We were young and maybe a bit careless.

I'm encouraging OP to figure it out. It will be the trip of a lifetime if you can make it work. Keep planning and good luck!

"I don't think I was necessarily encouraging OP to break laws."

You revived a thread to boast about how you successfully violated the Schengen rules and you don't think you were encouraging the OP to do the same? Of course you were.

"I guess the Schengen laws are stricter now. That's going to make things more challenging but still doable."

Meaning what, exactly? That the OP should still risk a 500 euro fine and being banned from reentering Europe for some number of years? What the OP needs to do is figure out where to spend the time in excess of 90 days somewhere outside the Schengen zone.

"I'm encouraging the OP to figure it out."

Figure WHAT out?

"I am a really nice person."

Nice for you that you think so.

Morganplease, I hope somehow it works for you.

If doing hostels try for youth hotels - bit more client-oriented than official HI hostels (some which even have fairly early curfews and often are outside the city center - youth hotels are likely to have private doubles rather than sex-segrgated dorms though more and more hostels are upscaling themselves now to accommodate the changing preferences of their clientele. Let's Go Europe again is a great resource on both hostels and youth hotels (and private hostels like Balmer's in Interlaken I mentioned above) and cheap hotels and B & Bs- sometimes the cost of two people in a hostel or youth hotel is not much less than a double room all told in a cheap hotel.

Youth hotels and private hostels now usually have bars to enjoy the company of other young people from around the world. a B&B or airbnb or hotel is isolating -but couples may want that.

Well gee I wonder who deleted those comments? And left in the original insults. This is worth a full email to the real moderators.

Amazing isn’t cold? Only the secret moderators are allowed to keep their nasty comments. Can’t challenge them.

GillsinEurope, don’t worry we know you are a nice person.

Cafegoddess - I’ve got time to find the person in charge. No use going through the “complain to the moderators” route.

And now I expect these posts will be deleted.

@xcountry I wish you luck with the real moderators.

In case you by some chance decide to visit Berlin, here are a couple of cool itineraries worth checking out.
http://www.routey.net/City/Berlin/Ro...-Walking-Route
http://www.routey.net/City/Berlin/Ro...-Walking-Route

It's fine. Thankfully I have a great life away from @thursdaysd. If he/she wants to attack me at least I have the tough skin to take it. Glad it was toward me and not someone a bit more vulnerable. Moving on....

GillsinEurope. I enjoyed reading about your travels with your husband and understood why you wrote it. I like to come on this forum to read trip reports and other posts to get ideas for my next adventure. It is always disheartening to see that so many times people are attacked with hateful remarks and they are usually from the same persons.

You lucky bastards. That's all I can say.