Europe Backpacking Trip!
Jun 22nd, 2015, 07:33 AM
#21
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If you can really manage four months, I wouldn't worry too much about your budget. The biggest expense will be hotel rooms, and I assume you'll be sharing a double room or sleeping in hostels. If you have no lodging expense in Sweden, and can manage to keep the lodging cost elsewhere to an average of about $70-$80 per night, then the $160 per person per day would be $120 per person per day, exclusive of lodging. I don't think this is an unrealistic amount for a couple of backpackers to spend on food, museum entrances, and transportation. You'll have to estimate the cost of transportation first of all, finding the absolute cheapest way to get around.
In most places you can get a double room in a budget hotel for around the same price as two beds in a hostel. You might want try both kinds of lodging. Look for hostels that have a shared kitchen so you can prepare some of your meals, saving a fair amount of money.
I don't think you should consider renting a car for an entire month in Ireland. You'd pay for it every day, even on the days you hardly use it. I would find one or two places to stay that have relatively easy transportation by coach to other places, and plan on taking a road trip of one week or more at the end of your stay. Dublin, Belfast, and Galway are places you might want to consider. They all have rail links, a hub for coach travel, lots of young people, and a vibrant scene.
In some places, the cheapest way to get around is by bus, in others the trains are more practical. This is one of the things for which Let's Go usually has good advice. For longer distances, look into budget airlines. A good source is www.skyscanner.net . Budget airlines tend to have rigid luggage restrictions and high fees for extra luggage, so try to keep your luggage to a minimum.
Before deciding to get a Eurail pass, make an estimate of the cost of train journeys you want to make. Pretend you're making these journeys three months from now. Then look on the national railway sites to see what tickets for your longer journeys would cost if you bought them that far in advance. Buying tickets three months in advance can save you a lot of money, but it sort of writes your schedule in stone, so I wouldn't want to buy all of my train tickets that far in advance. I would buy just the tickets for the major longer-distance trips, and buy the rest, especially those for day trips, when you get there.
Usually a national railway sells tickets just to the next change of train beyond its borders; from there on you have to use the web site of the next country. If you do get a pass, you might want to get one or two shorter term passes rather than a 3-month pass, planning the trip to include two rail-heavy portions and the rest of the time use local trains and buses, which are usually very cheap in most countries, cheaper than the trips would be with a pass. I can tell you immediately that no rail pass, not even a 2nd-class youth pass, would pay its way in Italy (where I live). I've heard that they're also not of much use in France.
It's good advice to get a multi-city ticket rather than a round trip ticket of several one-way tickets. You might want to fly into Rome and home from Dublin or Shannon. There are often cheaper flights between Ireland and the US. You could consider flying into Rome, spending two weeks in Italy, then working your way north through Germany (trains from Verona to Munich), France, and the Netherlands. You could fly from Amsterdam to Sweden, or probably you could take a long trip by train and boat. When I lived in Rotterdam, we once took the train to Copenhagen, and from there, it's an easy boat ride to southern Sweden. From Stockholm, you could fly to Scotland or to London.
On an intinerary like this, the part between Italy and Stockholm might merit a Eurail Youth Pass, if your boyfriend will still be under age 26 when you get to Stockholm. However, before assuming this is true, price the tickets.
When pricing the multi-city plane fare, see how much it would cost to add the internal flights. Sometimes it doesn't cost much more than just the two flights at beginning and end. For example, you could price a multi-city trip from the US to Rome, Amsterdam to Stockholm, Stockholm to Dublin, and Dublin to the US. Compare that with the cost of flights from the US to Rome and Dublin to the US. Then price the internal flights with skyscanner.net to see where the price advantage is.
A nice time breakdown might be two or three weeks in Italy, three weeks to a month working your way north to Stockholm, several weeks in Scotland (and/or England) and the rest of the time in Ireland. The UK is the only country on your list that's not in the Schengen area, so you'll have to make sure you don't exceed three months in the Schengen countries.
If the two of you really enjoy this trip, consider marriage. There's no test of a relationship like a long trip together!
In most places you can get a double room in a budget hotel for around the same price as two beds in a hostel. You might want try both kinds of lodging. Look for hostels that have a shared kitchen so you can prepare some of your meals, saving a fair amount of money.
I don't think you should consider renting a car for an entire month in Ireland. You'd pay for it every day, even on the days you hardly use it. I would find one or two places to stay that have relatively easy transportation by coach to other places, and plan on taking a road trip of one week or more at the end of your stay. Dublin, Belfast, and Galway are places you might want to consider. They all have rail links, a hub for coach travel, lots of young people, and a vibrant scene.
In some places, the cheapest way to get around is by bus, in others the trains are more practical. This is one of the things for which Let's Go usually has good advice. For longer distances, look into budget airlines. A good source is www.skyscanner.net . Budget airlines tend to have rigid luggage restrictions and high fees for extra luggage, so try to keep your luggage to a minimum.
Before deciding to get a Eurail pass, make an estimate of the cost of train journeys you want to make. Pretend you're making these journeys three months from now. Then look on the national railway sites to see what tickets for your longer journeys would cost if you bought them that far in advance. Buying tickets three months in advance can save you a lot of money, but it sort of writes your schedule in stone, so I wouldn't want to buy all of my train tickets that far in advance. I would buy just the tickets for the major longer-distance trips, and buy the rest, especially those for day trips, when you get there.
Usually a national railway sells tickets just to the next change of train beyond its borders; from there on you have to use the web site of the next country. If you do get a pass, you might want to get one or two shorter term passes rather than a 3-month pass, planning the trip to include two rail-heavy portions and the rest of the time use local trains and buses, which are usually very cheap in most countries, cheaper than the trips would be with a pass. I can tell you immediately that no rail pass, not even a 2nd-class youth pass, would pay its way in Italy (where I live). I've heard that they're also not of much use in France.
It's good advice to get a multi-city ticket rather than a round trip ticket of several one-way tickets. You might want to fly into Rome and home from Dublin or Shannon. There are often cheaper flights between Ireland and the US. You could consider flying into Rome, spending two weeks in Italy, then working your way north through Germany (trains from Verona to Munich), France, and the Netherlands. You could fly from Amsterdam to Sweden, or probably you could take a long trip by train and boat. When I lived in Rotterdam, we once took the train to Copenhagen, and from there, it's an easy boat ride to southern Sweden. From Stockholm, you could fly to Scotland or to London.
On an intinerary like this, the part between Italy and Stockholm might merit a Eurail Youth Pass, if your boyfriend will still be under age 26 when you get to Stockholm. However, before assuming this is true, price the tickets.
When pricing the multi-city plane fare, see how much it would cost to add the internal flights. Sometimes it doesn't cost much more than just the two flights at beginning and end. For example, you could price a multi-city trip from the US to Rome, Amsterdam to Stockholm, Stockholm to Dublin, and Dublin to the US. Compare that with the cost of flights from the US to Rome and Dublin to the US. Then price the internal flights with skyscanner.net to see where the price advantage is.
A nice time breakdown might be two or three weeks in Italy, three weeks to a month working your way north to Stockholm, several weeks in Scotland (and/or England) and the rest of the time in Ireland. The UK is the only country on your list that's not in the Schengen area, so you'll have to make sure you don't exceed three months in the Schengen countries.
If the two of you really enjoy this trip, consider marriage. There's no test of a relationship like a long trip together!
Jun 22nd, 2015, 10:55 AM
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I can tell you immediately that no rail pass, not even a 2nd-class youth pass, would pay its way in Italy (where I live). I've heard that they're also not of much use in France.>
But if you have say a Global Eurailpass it will be very useful in Italy - I think what bvienci means that a railpass only good in Italy - like the Italy Eurailpass for the average person is not a good deal but a Eurailpass you're usiing in other countries can indeed be used profitably in Italy - you do need to pay a 5-10 euro supplement to ride the fastest trains however and these seat reservations/supplements are very easy to get once there IME.
Ditto for France but on a few TGV lines there is an allotment of railpass seats - costing 3 euros supplement usually - for each train so you may well not be able to get a seat on the TGV train you want but if you are at all flexible it is not much a problem IME of using railpasses in both those countries for decades now.
But if you have say a Global Eurailpass it will be very useful in Italy - I think what bvienci means that a railpass only good in Italy - like the Italy Eurailpass for the average person is not a good deal but a Eurailpass you're usiing in other countries can indeed be used profitably in Italy - you do need to pay a 5-10 euro supplement to ride the fastest trains however and these seat reservations/supplements are very easy to get once there IME.
Ditto for France but on a few TGV lines there is an allotment of railpass seats - costing 3 euros supplement usually - for each train so you may well not be able to get a seat on the TGV train you want but if you are at all flexible it is not much a problem IME of using railpasses in both those countries for decades now.
Jun 23rd, 2015, 11:36 AM
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I can tell you immediately that no rail pass, not even a 2nd-class youth pass, would pay its way in Italy (where I live).>
For most folks but not all as you imply - if you want flexibility gto chose which trains to hop once you get there and are doing say a Milan-Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples-Rome maybe Milan trip then a Italy Eurailpass would be cheaper i believe than buying full-fare tickets - so I do not agree with the 100% take about railpasses not paying its way - for full fare tickets taking several longer trains it could well be. Check it out as I have.
For most folks but not all as you imply - if you want flexibility gto chose which trains to hop once you get there and are doing say a Milan-Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples-Rome maybe Milan trip then a Italy Eurailpass would be cheaper i believe than buying full-fare tickets - so I do not agree with the 100% take about railpasses not paying its way - for full fare tickets taking several longer trains it could well be. Check it out as I have.
Jun 24th, 2015, 12:07 PM
#24
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Regards railpasses in Italy - an Italy Eurailpass for 8 days of unlimited travel out of a one-month period - a flexipass - costs 34 euros in 2nd class per day and 44 euros in first class - now if one wants flexibility to chose trains once there and not book in stone weeks in advance to get the limited in number discounted tickets that is a bargain vs full fare tickets even with the 10 euro surcharge on each train.
So the efficacy of a pass is whether you want flexibility or not - so I take issue with the blanket statement that 'no railpass could pay its way in Italy' - the facts show differently and that statement has to be qualified IMO - that said folks on a typical Venice-Florence-Rome trek will not find any pass cost effective - the more days you travel on trains the cheaper per day a pass is.
So the efficacy of a pass is whether you want flexibility or not - so I take issue with the blanket statement that 'no railpass could pay its way in Italy' - the facts show differently and that statement has to be qualified IMO - that said folks on a typical Venice-Florence-Rome trek will not find any pass cost effective - the more days you travel on trains the cheaper per day a pass is.
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