Backpacking Europe
 

I'm meeting a friend and we're heading East from Portugal and hopefully getting to the Pyrenees, Alps (Switz and Ital) and into Provence, Vienna and some of Germany. What are the easiest ways to get around? Eurail? Ryanair? We want to explore, but, being 20-something and female, be safe, too.

You need to have a more firm itinerary to be able to compare whether a rail pass (and which type), or point-to-point train tickets, and/or flights will serve you best.

There's no right answer without knowing total length of trip, number of specific stops, etc.

The train will get you everywhere on your list, and is perfectly safe. You could go in this order: Portugal--Pyrrenees--Provence---Swiss Alps/Italian Alps---across Italy to Venice---night train to Vienna---back through Austria to Germany, fly home from there.

I hope you have at least a month for all this.

For these type of novice enquiries i always refer you to three good sources to start planning: www.ricksteves.com who does a lot on trains and railpasses, which with such a wide-ranging itinerary you may find useful - especially youthpasses for those under 26; www.budgeteuropetravel.com for, on their home page to get their free European Planning & Rail Guide which is an excellent primer on rail travel, with itineraries, rail maps of each country, etc. and best of all - Fodor's - ask questions here, pose scenarios and you'll find a wealth of great opinions based on experience!

Also helpful for "backpacking" style travel see the forum called The Thorn Tree at www.lonelyplanet.com.

And guidebooks such as Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, and Let's Go series.

Like suze often recommends to young backpackers i also highly recommend the Let's Go Europe guidebook (or their individual country editions but for a wide-ranging trip Let's Go europe - a wealth of info and the very best info on low-cost hostels - dozens of lists for major cities - invaluable tool to plan and have with you. At any major bookstore or library.

Lonely Planet is a great guidebook but for cheap accommodations you can't beat Let's Go Europe - actually LP sucks on cheap hostels, etc. with paltry listings and more and more more upscale places. Let's Go lists dozens and dozens for each major town.
LP is a trove of useful info on transportation, sights, etc. better and more consistent than Let's Go is this regard but i believe accommodations are the lynchpin of keeping your budget low and Let's Go is the best i've seen for this.

I'm a fan of "splurging" on a 1st class Eurorail pass. That way, you are likely to get less crowded cars, and while there is no gaurantee that there would be no weirdo's up in 1st, I think the odds are lower than in encountering them in the cattlecars.

Rick Steves is a big fan of using train sleeper cabins as a way to save time and lodging money. He also writes a bit about women travelling in Europe, but I'm sure the others do as well.

I would recommend a budget flight over a night train for one or two females.

When I take an overnight train solo, I have always gotten a private sleeper cabin, not a couchette which is shared. This may be beyond the budget they have in mind.