European Winter
Jun 5th, 2010, 09:10 PM
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European Winter
Hi There,
I am travelling to Europe alone at the end of the year and wanted to know if anybody has any suggestions of itineraries you may have done and if I should catch trains or planes... any knowledge on how to get about would be great.. I know of a few budget airlines where I have found some great deals!
I arrive into London where I will spend a week visiting friends and then have NO idea what to do. I have never travelled alone before and as much as I am looking forward to it I am a bit scared haha.
I want to visit Prague, Paris,Italy - Pisa, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Scotland, France, Italy, Greece and Ireland. I only have 2 months to see everything.. will this be enough time? And how much money do you think I will roughly need keeping in mind I am travelling very BUDGET style.
Any help is greatly appreciated.. Thanks heaps
I am travelling to Europe alone at the end of the year and wanted to know if anybody has any suggestions of itineraries you may have done and if I should catch trains or planes... any knowledge on how to get about would be great.. I know of a few budget airlines where I have found some great deals!
I arrive into London where I will spend a week visiting friends and then have NO idea what to do. I have never travelled alone before and as much as I am looking forward to it I am a bit scared haha.
I want to visit Prague, Paris,Italy - Pisa, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Scotland, France, Italy, Greece and Ireland. I only have 2 months to see everything.. will this be enough time? And how much money do you think I will roughly need keeping in mind I am travelling very BUDGET style.
Any help is greatly appreciated.. Thanks heaps
Jun 6th, 2010, 01:37 AM
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No, sadly it is not really enough time , especially on "very budget" style and the weather in most of those places in the winter will make it quite miserable to tour.
The only decent weather in Europe in winter is in deep southern Spain and Portugal.Packing light is essential...especially for fast travel, but going in winter will make this harder.
Hard to say how much money you will need as it depends on how you travel. We travel Europe on 23 dollars a day per person quite luxuriously, but we travel very slowly and follow the weather which gives us great advantages and it will cost you more.
When you want to do a lot in a short space of time on very low budget, you must plan, plan, plan and research, research, research. Anything can be done, but you will need to plan well and maybe even consider doing some couch surfing etc as a way to meet locals and save money. You can start hosting people now at home to build your connections and trustworthy reputation.
There are lots of cool websites about women traveling solo like journeywoman and solotravelers, so check them out and others to see what has worked for others to help with your planning ideas and confidence.
Good luck!
The only decent weather in Europe in winter is in deep southern Spain and Portugal.Packing light is essential...especially for fast travel, but going in winter will make this harder.
Hard to say how much money you will need as it depends on how you travel. We travel Europe on 23 dollars a day per person quite luxuriously, but we travel very slowly and follow the weather which gives us great advantages and it will cost you more.
When you want to do a lot in a short space of time on very low budget, you must plan, plan, plan and research, research, research. Anything can be done, but you will need to plan well and maybe even consider doing some couch surfing etc as a way to meet locals and save money. You can start hosting people now at home to build your connections and trustworthy reputation.
There are lots of cool websites about women traveling solo like journeywoman and solotravelers, so check them out and others to see what has worked for others to help with your planning ideas and confidence.
Good luck!
Jun 6th, 2010, 02:54 AM
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<<< The only decent weather in Europe in winter >>>
The only POTENTIAL of decent weather in Europe in winter, even southern Spain & Greece can have days of low temperatures and rain.
The main point to note however is the limited daylight hours available in northern Europe in winter. In parts of Scotland sunrise is after 9:00am with sunset before 4:00pm - and you can get days when there is no daylight because of lousy weather
The only POTENTIAL of decent weather in Europe in winter, even southern Spain & Greece can have days of low temperatures and rain.
The main point to note however is the limited daylight hours available in northern Europe in winter. In parts of Scotland sunrise is after 9:00am with sunset before 4:00pm - and you can get days when there is no daylight because of lousy weather
Jun 6th, 2010, 03:22 AM
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Well it will be cool or cold, dark by 4 or 5 pm, and possibly lots of rain but that doesn't mean you can't have a good time. It's just a different type of travel . I would stick more to cities than rural areas as there is more indoor stuff to do - museums, shopping, sitting in cafes, etc if the weather is bad.
I don't think you can see all those places in two months. Think approximately one location per week. Some places a little less, and you can do day trips from your bases.
Croatia and the Greek Islands will be harder to get to on a budget in winter as the economy airlines only fly there in summer, but you can check. Ferry schedules are cut way back and the ones that are scheduled often don't run due to weather.
I think Ireland is hard to do solo (assuming you aren't renting cars) due to less good public transportation than the rest of Europe. I also think of it as a "nice weather" destination.
So if you could drop those destinations I think you could nicely do the rest.
I would do two weeks France - one in Paris and one in Nice (for nicer weather and coast and small villages), then two in Spain - Barcelona, then Andalucia (Seville, Cordoba, Granada) - your best bet for nice weather. Then two weeks in Italy (with about one base per week). If you did a couple days less than two full weeks in each of France, Spain and Italy then that would leave you about two more weeks for northern Europe - you said Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Prague. I'd pick a few specific destinations and do about 3 days in each.
Unless some place is really "on the way" and you are passing through it anyway on a train I wouldn't go somewhere for only one night, or even two. Too much time lost in moving around. Three day minimums are good. But on a two month trip if you have too many three days stops even that can get tiring. Try for some at least 5 -6 night stays, even if it means day trips.
I don't think you can see all those places in two months. Think approximately one location per week. Some places a little less, and you can do day trips from your bases.
Croatia and the Greek Islands will be harder to get to on a budget in winter as the economy airlines only fly there in summer, but you can check. Ferry schedules are cut way back and the ones that are scheduled often don't run due to weather.
I think Ireland is hard to do solo (assuming you aren't renting cars) due to less good public transportation than the rest of Europe. I also think of it as a "nice weather" destination.
So if you could drop those destinations I think you could nicely do the rest.
I would do two weeks France - one in Paris and one in Nice (for nicer weather and coast and small villages), then two in Spain - Barcelona, then Andalucia (Seville, Cordoba, Granada) - your best bet for nice weather. Then two weeks in Italy (with about one base per week). If you did a couple days less than two full weeks in each of France, Spain and Italy then that would leave you about two more weeks for northern Europe - you said Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Prague. I'd pick a few specific destinations and do about 3 days in each.
Unless some place is really "on the way" and you are passing through it anyway on a train I wouldn't go somewhere for only one night, or even two. Too much time lost in moving around. Three day minimums are good. But on a two month trip if you have too many three days stops even that can get tiring. Try for some at least 5 -6 night stays, even if it means day trips.
Jun 6th, 2010, 04:33 AM
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<<<Greek Islands will be harder to get to on a budget in winter>>>
True, but Greece is not just islands, there is a massive amount of mainland to explore as well as Athens, with good, cheap bus connections to many places all year round.
I do agree you won't be able to do all the places on your list, not to make it worthwhile anyway. Which ones do you really want to include & which are the maybe ones?
True, but Greece is not just islands, there is a massive amount of mainland to explore as well as Athens, with good, cheap bus connections to many places all year round.
I do agree you won't be able to do all the places on your list, not to make it worthwhile anyway. Which ones do you really want to include & which are the maybe ones?
Jun 6th, 2010, 05:55 AM
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The more you move around the more it will cost you in transportation. Sometimes if you settle into a pension for a week, especially in off season, you can negotiate rates with the owner and can perhaps get a reduction.
Winter travel means more stopping in cafes to get warmed up or just to rest. In other seasons you can sit on a bench or wall when you get tired to pop into a church to sit down. Churches (especially stone churches in Europe) will be cold inside so this is not an option for warming up.
Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, and Greece are less expensive countries to visit and it's cheaper to stay outside cities than to find lodging within cities.
If you're really on a strict budget hostels would be good for you. You can check out hostel world or other hostels. They are rated by the people who stayed in them so you can find out in advance which are the better ones.
I do think you're trying to see too much at one time and will return home not remembering much - it'll all be a blur.
If you're young (under 30) you might want to check out the thorntree site which caters to the younger traveler who stay in hostels and backpack.
Also get copies of Let's Go travel books from your library as they focus on the budget traveler. I've been using these books as reference for decades and their suggestions are good.
Winter travel means more stopping in cafes to get warmed up or just to rest. In other seasons you can sit on a bench or wall when you get tired to pop into a church to sit down. Churches (especially stone churches in Europe) will be cold inside so this is not an option for warming up.
Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, and Greece are less expensive countries to visit and it's cheaper to stay outside cities than to find lodging within cities.
If you're really on a strict budget hostels would be good for you. You can check out hostel world or other hostels. They are rated by the people who stayed in them so you can find out in advance which are the better ones.
I do think you're trying to see too much at one time and will return home not remembering much - it'll all be a blur.
If you're young (under 30) you might want to check out the thorntree site which caters to the younger traveler who stay in hostels and backpack.
Also get copies of Let's Go travel books from your library as they focus on the budget traveler. I've been using these books as reference for decades and their suggestions are good.
