a Dream Trip...WHAT WOULD YOU DO??
 

~OK~

A Revision from my OLD question, If you had 2 months (from June 2, 2008 - August 6[give or take a day], 2008), 2 people, and $8000 between the two of them, where and what would you do in Europe?

You have Family in London, Amsterdam, Hildesheim Germany, Copenhagen, Bern Switz., and you WANT to visit them.

You want to stay cheap as possible to save money, but will splurge ocassionaly.

THIS isnt to gerneral I hope. The ball is in your court, what would you do?

your $4000 pp currently comes to approx £32 or €45 per day. Now if you can stay w/ your relatives most nights you won't have too much trouble meeting that budget.

But if you are staying elsewhere that is not enough money to cover more than basic accomodations and very cheap meals. Nothing left over for transport, museums, clubs, incidentals.

My suggestion - 1) cut your trip down to about 1 month give or take, or 2) find some more money.

Hi matt_lenda,

I'm a travel newbie, but I have a bit to offer, perhaps:

When you pick a start and finish location (sorry, you'll need to decide yourself :-) start tracking the prices of air tickets; get an idea of the costs, so when you're ready to buy by spring (I'm sure the experts on this board will say after New Year's) you'll have an idea of a good/great price.

Go to the bookstore and buy a selection of general travel guides for Europe. You want to start building your knowledge base.

Or, start saving a bit more money, right now, and see what you can get from your local library, from its shelves or stretch its reach by using the interlibrary loan services.

I've done one trip by myself and have another week's trip planned for spring. Each of these had the travel and hotel reservations blocked, my time set for location dates. It works well for letting family know exactly how to reach me, but it also leaves a bit of a feeling of constraint.

My third trip will likely want to be more open: set a hotel for the first couple of days and then start deciding as I go, but I won't completely be "winging" it because I'll have prepped for the trip and have some names of places to stay as recommended places by others on this and other travel sites.

Travel light!

You can do a lot of reading on these boards and online about how Little you should take. With just one bag each you can quickly make changes; luggage weight really bogs you down.

Happy reading and happy trails!

At least AMS, Hildesheim, Copenhagen cries for a relaxed tour by car.

It may be possible that you start in London, spending some time there or in the area.

From London, fly to Copenhagen. Rent a car, drive across Zeeland to northern Germany: Lübeck, Hamburg, coastal regions, Hildesheim. From there to Münster.

Then you decide: Either you make a brief detour to Düsseldorf, Köln, Aachen und up to AMS, and you fly from AMS to Bern (Zürich) OR you drive from Münster to AMS, maybe stopping at Hoge Veluwe, and from AMS leisurely to Bern, with Utrecht, Brugge, Gent, Brussel, Aachen, Köln, Rheinland, Mosel, Alsace, Black Forest, Basel, Zürich on your way to Bern. Then spend some days in Switzerland, esp. Berner Oberland.

Regarding budget:

If you restrict yourself to decent budget hotels (e.g. Ibis) you should count 60-80 Euros per night per double room including breakfast.

The area which I have recommended, is rather inexpensive (much more inexpensive than Southern Germany where most Fodorites travel to).

It is doable, maybe skip one or two weeks for a little bit more comfort.

Another itinerary would be: From Copenhagen to Lübeck, Hamburg, Schwerin, Berlin, historical towns at the Harz (Wernigerode etc.), Hildesheim, AMS.

I would plan the trip around the family you want to stay with - that's 5 places already. Is everyone willing to put you up for 4-5 nights? Maybe even treat you to some meals?

That would make a much more solid foundation for the 2nd month of your trip, by saving you a lot of money, and basically increase your overall daily budget for the rest of the trip.

45 euro per day is a VERY low budget imo to cover a bunk in a hostel, transportation both local and long-distance, admissions, and food.

I do not think 45 euro per day is enough money to rent a car, or allow for an occasional splurge. You need to stick to basics, or shorten the trip by a couple weeks.

I believe that $8000 is about what we spent last summer in 7 weeks. That includes 3 weeks of "free" housing in the Dordogne (I do not figure my running expenses on the house as part of my travel expenses) and free lodging in Paris, but includes car rentals.

Here are the relevant trip reports:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=35083136

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35058184

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35050229

Do not rent a car in one country with the intention of leaving it in another - even if it is allowed it will almost certainly cost a fortune.
Look into cheap airlines - Easyjet, Ryanair, etc etc.
Stay with family as much as possible. Ask if they can show you around a bit. I'm happy to do that when relatives visit, but I don't always suggest it as they may want to explore on their own.
Can you consider a house swap?
Look into hostels, book them early as it will be peak time for them.
Self cater - buy food at the supermarket/market. Try the local fast food, or even McDonalds.
Stay for a shorter period of time.

Janisj

Thank you for your tip! yes, we will for sure stay with our family...which REALLY helps with the cost!

Can I still have a nice trip in 1 month? I would like to see as much as possible...but enough within my budget. What are some places i could go to? France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, and possibly Italy and Sweden(for a day trip)?

thanks again for your input!

Scotlib,

Thank you for your tips! Is it true that Dublin is the cheapest European country to fly into? i was always told that, and i even seen that when researching ticket prices... where else could i fly into for cheap?

I have many Rick Steves Guidebooks, and have been researching for about a year. I am unsure about the trip, so i need help from fellow travellers.

We plan to take a light backpacker's hiking pack.

Thanks so much for your help!

Matt

Traveller1959,

I am not sure if i would like to take a car through all thoes countries...there are expensive fees i have always heard when you turn it into a foreign country, even though i would Love to take a car through Europe!

That trip sounds so great! I would especially like to go through Bavaria. I live by (and work in) a bavarian Town, and i speak German, so this would be wonderful! If I did fly to Copenhagen, could i even take a side trip into Sweden? Sweden has always caught my intrest and would love to go there!

Also, do you know much about Liechtenstein? Rick Steves is kinda scarce on Liechtenstein, unless that is all that is in the little principality.

Also, How about Hostels? i am afraid that budget hotels will be expensive, but when you go to www.hostelworld.com they also show budget hotels somtime lower priced than hostels...which are safer?


Thanks so much for you help!

Matt

suze,

Yes, our family would be able to put us up for 4 or 5 days. probally in each place.

What would we do for the 2nd month? what would you do?

Thanks suze!

Matt

Michael ([email protected]),

Thanks for your tips!

How did you get free housing in Paris? did you switch houses in paris too? I thought you could do $8000 in Europe, but our dollar has come down so much...wish we had £8000! that could get us around :-)

I will read your links. Thanks so much for your help!

Matt

hetismij,

Thanks your your tips.

Yes, i agree...we shouldnt rent a car, even though that would be great if we could!

We will stay with our family most likely for 4-5 days...they would love that! how would we swap houses? have no house to swap.

That is another thing....i just want to go with the flow...want to stay in one place for a while, maybe less than another...do not want to go on reservations....even though i should make them for hostels. How could you answer this?

thanks!

Matt

hetismij,

sorry, yes we did plan to self cater. Eat at local places...cheap stuff. But would like to splurge as well (sometimes)

thanks!

Matt

I never felt that we restricted ourselves, but that is our normal way of traveling. We found the U.K. expensive, but my wife pointed out that year in year out, the costs come out about the same. As for housing, we do not swap houses. We happen to have a house in the Dordogne and enough friends in Paris that we'll find a free bed somewhere in that city.

For two months, you might want to look at the buy/sell options offered by Renault (http://www.renaultusa.com/) and Peugeot. But compare carefully with rentals and other means of transportation, because while convenient, it is not always the cheapest way to travel.