My friend and I are fresh out of college and have booked our flight to Europe! We are spending about 8 weeks there and will be traveling by train (for the most part, other than walking) and will be staying in campgrounds. We plan to visit about 5 or 6 countries. Any advice at all will be tremendous help!

~Thanks,
C

Hi cm,

Have you been to the "Thorn Tree Forum" at www.lonelyplanet.com?

Quite a few years ago after we finished college and worked a year to get enough money, my brother and I and a couple of friends went camping through Europe for three months. We actually bought a very inexpensive used car in Germany and sold it in England before we flew home. I did use the train some when I wanted to go to Paris and Luxembourg and the others wanted to go to Spain instead.

We had a great time. I will warn you that some of the camps are outside the cities. It was fun to stay in cheap hotels, b and b's or hostels part of the time so we could enjoy being right in the old part of the city.

The camps vary considerably. Some were beautiful, clean and very luxurious. Others were pretty primitive. In one they actually did have newspaper squares for toilet paper. See if you can find a book that rates the camps so you can choose the nicer ones.

Have a wonderful trip! Ours gave us very happy memories and a lifelong wish to make many more trips to Europe.

You'll find that campsites often aren't within walking distance from train stations, so be prepared to either:

1. arrive at your destination in plenty of time to look for a local bus to the campsite, or
2. be prepared to get the odd taxi to the campsite when it's late and you're tired, or
3. Stay occasionally in youth hostels, which are more centrally located.

And of course, have a great time. I did the same thing when I was a student and had a blast. You'll meet many many other students from all round the world doing the same thing.

Just keep an eye on your belongings on the train. My daughter's friend had his tent stolen on the train.