How to visit 29 European countries in one summer, where to stop first?
Aug 15th, 2013, 09:25 PM
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How to visit 29 European countries in one summer, where to stop first?
Hello! Long post here so please bear with me 
My best friend and I are in college planning our graduation trip to Europe. At first we wanted to go to ALL 50 countries, and even though we have around 10 weeks to spare on this trip, we are traveling on a shoestring budget (no more than a couple thousand dollars). So we came up with a list of MUST visit countries, and a list of "Really want to visit for breathtaking scenery, but maybe could live without" countries we could squeeze in our trip if time and money allows. These are the countries:
MUST VISIT: Italy, Vatican City, Greece, Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, UK (England, Scotland, Wales), Switzerland, Netherlands (Holland!), Romania, Turkey, and Russia.
MAYBE visit: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Ukraine.
We are girls. We are young but tough and adventurous and eager to learn from experiences. We are new at this but we know the world isn't rainbows and sparkles. Bad things happen but I really don't want to have many terrible experiences or deal with bad people, so I could use good advice.
We really want to immerse ourselves in the cultures and take the time to really appreciate the best that each country has to offer. I know I listed 29 countries that we want to visit, which is a rather long list, but I really appreciate all advice you could give me specially things like:
-Which country should we arrive at first, and in which order to follow?
-Very specific, local things to do besides the already well-known touristic spots
-links to actually useful train/bus itineraries (all the ones I've found are outdated/confusing)
-How to stay safe at all times, and avoid getting belonging stolen or have people rip you off, while still enjoying the trip and not being paranoid 24/7.
-Your best memories of each place you visited!
If you would like to send more specific information or would like to chat and exchange awesome traveling stories feel free to email me at [email protected] (don't send spam please!)
Thank you all so much for your time and advice!
My best friend and I are in college planning our graduation trip to Europe. At first we wanted to go to ALL 50 countries, and even though we have around 10 weeks to spare on this trip, we are traveling on a shoestring budget (no more than a couple thousand dollars). So we came up with a list of MUST visit countries, and a list of "Really want to visit for breathtaking scenery, but maybe could live without" countries we could squeeze in our trip if time and money allows. These are the countries:
MUST VISIT: Italy, Vatican City, Greece, Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, UK (England, Scotland, Wales), Switzerland, Netherlands (Holland!), Romania, Turkey, and Russia.
MAYBE visit: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Ukraine.
We are girls. We are young but tough and adventurous and eager to learn from experiences. We are new at this but we know the world isn't rainbows and sparkles. Bad things happen but I really don't want to have many terrible experiences or deal with bad people, so I could use good advice.
We really want to immerse ourselves in the cultures and take the time to really appreciate the best that each country has to offer. I know I listed 29 countries that we want to visit, which is a rather long list, but I really appreciate all advice you could give me specially things like:
-Which country should we arrive at first, and in which order to follow?
-Very specific, local things to do besides the already well-known touristic spots
-links to actually useful train/bus itineraries (all the ones I've found are outdated/confusing)
-How to stay safe at all times, and avoid getting belonging stolen or have people rip you off, while still enjoying the trip and not being paranoid 24/7.
-Your best memories of each place you visited!
If you would like to send more specific information or would like to chat and exchange awesome traveling stories feel free to email me at [email protected] (don't send spam please!)
Thank you all so much for your time and advice!
Aug 15th, 2013, 09:45 PM
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Assuming that this is a serious question. Your plan is the same as if a citizen from Europe wanted to visit all of the states of the USA in a ten week period.
It's not really practical. And it is not practical on a couple of hundred dollars a week.
It's not really practical. And it is not practical on a couple of hundred dollars a week.
Aug 15th, 2013, 10:24 PM
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The more you travel, the more you spend. And every time you move from one place to another, you loose a day in travel time.
If you stay longer in one place, it will work out cheaper; you can get a place with a kitchen, cook your own food. And you will actually get to know the place where you are.
I would drop Russia; requires a visa.
If you stay longer in one place, it will work out cheaper; you can get a place with a kitchen, cook your own food. And you will actually get to know the place where you are.
I would drop Russia; requires a visa.
Aug 15th, 2013, 10:40 PM
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Why create the same thread in the same sub-forum?
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-possible.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-possible.cfm
Aug 15th, 2013, 11:37 PM
#6
Presumably your budget includes everything except airfare, which means lodging, all food, ground transportation, museum/sightseeing entry fees.
10 weeks = 70 days
If "a couple thousand dollars" = $2,000, then divided by 70 days = $28.58 per day.
If "a couple thousand dollars" = $3,000, then divided by 70 days = $42.86 per day.
I assume a rail pass would make sense with your plans and that you will be 25 years or younger at the time of this trip. A Eurail pass that would cover travel for 8 weeks and all countries on your Must Visit list but England/Scotland/Wales would cost $1,130. If you want the full 10 weeks covered, the cost is $1,394. Neither price includes the seat reservations you would have to make on many trains.
http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes/global-pass
FYI, "Frommer's Europe from $50 a Day" was published in 1998 and "... from $30 a Day" in 1988.
10 weeks = 70 days
If "a couple thousand dollars" = $2,000, then divided by 70 days = $28.58 per day.
If "a couple thousand dollars" = $3,000, then divided by 70 days = $42.86 per day.
I assume a rail pass would make sense with your plans and that you will be 25 years or younger at the time of this trip. A Eurail pass that would cover travel for 8 weeks and all countries on your Must Visit list but England/Scotland/Wales would cost $1,130. If you want the full 10 weeks covered, the cost is $1,394. Neither price includes the seat reservations you would have to make on many trains.
http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes/global-pass
FYI, "Frommer's Europe from $50 a Day" was published in 1998 and "... from $30 a Day" in 1988.
Aug 16th, 2013, 01:42 AM
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It is a nice idea, but unrealistic. You just can't visit a whole continent with a couple of thousand dollars, and we are talking about Europe which is expensive, more expensive than USA, and is the richest in must sees.
You have 2.000 $ which are very few for Europe. I am European (Greek) and a week in London for 3 persons costed us 7.000€. Ofcourse we stayed in a 4* hotel and ate in restaurants something that you won't even dream of if you want to achieve this goal with so few money.
But I will try to make a realistic scenario. You will need at least 6.000€ (~8.000 $). That means 140$ per day. Very cheap Hotels cost 40$ per day. Very cheap Food cost 40$ per day for 2 persons. Museum fee 30$. Extra 30$.
•50 days
•8.000$ (140$/day= 7.000$ and 1.000$ for emergency)
•You will rent a car, or use Railways (car is recomended)
•Take a man with you, a male friend, otherwise you are easy prey for robbers etc.
•You will visit 8 countries, Portugal-Spain-France-Monaco-Italy-Vatican-Greece-Turkey.
This is your program:
•Portugal: Lisbon 4 days.
•Spain: Seville 3 days, Granada 2 days, Barcelona 5 days.
•France: Marseille 3 days, Monaco 1 day.
•Italy: Venice 7 days, Florence 2 days, Rome 6 days.
Go to Bari take the ship to Patras and drive to Athens.
•Greece: Athens 3 days, Santorini 5 days, Rhodes 4 days.
Take the ship from Rhodes return to Athens and drive to Istanbul.
•Turkey (Not in EU or Eurozone=Visa): Istanbul 5 days.
Return to USA.
It is a very tough trip, Good Luck
You have 2.000 $ which are very few for Europe. I am European (Greek) and a week in London for 3 persons costed us 7.000€. Ofcourse we stayed in a 4* hotel and ate in restaurants something that you won't even dream of if you want to achieve this goal with so few money.
But I will try to make a realistic scenario. You will need at least 6.000€ (~8.000 $). That means 140$ per day. Very cheap Hotels cost 40$ per day. Very cheap Food cost 40$ per day for 2 persons. Museum fee 30$. Extra 30$.
•50 days
•8.000$ (140$/day= 7.000$ and 1.000$ for emergency)
•You will rent a car, or use Railways (car is recomended)
•Take a man with you, a male friend, otherwise you are easy prey for robbers etc.
•You will visit 8 countries, Portugal-Spain-France-Monaco-Italy-Vatican-Greece-Turkey.
This is your program:
•Portugal: Lisbon 4 days.
•Spain: Seville 3 days, Granada 2 days, Barcelona 5 days.
•France: Marseille 3 days, Monaco 1 day.
•Italy: Venice 7 days, Florence 2 days, Rome 6 days.
Go to Bari take the ship to Patras and drive to Athens.
•Greece: Athens 3 days, Santorini 5 days, Rhodes 4 days.
Take the ship from Rhodes return to Athens and drive to Istanbul.
•Turkey (Not in EU or Eurozone=Visa): Istanbul 5 days.
Return to USA.
It is a very tough trip, Good Luck
Aug 16th, 2013, 02:47 AM
#9
I hope you get to go and have a fabulous trip but you absolutely need to narrow this list down. Seeing this huge list of places is not going to happen, partly because of your timeframe but mostly because of lack of funds. Even if you stay in hostels and eat packet noodles it will still cost a bit - do some adding up costs of accommodation, food and transport. It would definitely be cheaper to go to one or two places and stay somewhere you can cook for yourselves, also do laundry etc (in an apartment).
What about considering starting in Spain - maybe Barcelona - travel across to the south of France, then to Italy and on to Greece. This follows a fairly logical path. Fly out of Athens back home.
You don't say when the trip is going to be. That will make a big difference as some countries you listed wouldn't be much fun in winter.
Also check the forum on www.lonelyplanet.com for some ideas on travelling on a budget.
Good luck and keep planning, you'll find the trip will refine itself as you go along.
Kay
What about considering starting in Spain - maybe Barcelona - travel across to the south of France, then to Italy and on to Greece. This follows a fairly logical path. Fly out of Athens back home.
You don't say when the trip is going to be. That will make a big difference as some countries you listed wouldn't be much fun in winter.
Also check the forum on www.lonelyplanet.com for some ideas on travelling on a budget.
Good luck and keep planning, you'll find the trip will refine itself as you go along.
Kay
Aug 16th, 2013, 04:24 AM
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I think you can do a lot of that, but probably not all - and mostly because of money more than time. I would try to save every penny you can so as to have as much as possible.
A bed in a youth hostel will be at least 25€ on average per person per night. Sometimes a one star hotel or B&B will be less than 50€ for a double. More in major cities. Sometimes convents rent rooms (you don't have to be religious, but they may have curfews) and sometimes colleges rent rooms in summer (the Scottish youth hostel used to rent dorm rooms in Edinburgh - I got one a few years ago for I think 18£ a night - most people staying there were not young). Of course couch surfing will be free but obviously somewhat risky and also they will tend to be where people live which is frequently not the touristy areas you may want to see so you will spend time and money to get into the centers of towns. But worth looking into.
But bottom line - between various types of accommodations and cities/small towns you probably need to budget 25€ per night. That's euro not dollar.
Have at least two bank cards each - don't carry huge amounts of money. The bank machines do charge a fee so take out 200-300€ at a time but not more. I met a couple girls who were carrying their entire trip's money (few thousand) in cash and left it in the hostel safe which got robbed. Carry the bank cards, all but one day's spending cash, and your passport in an under the clothing style money belt (pouch). Many people on this forum argue you don't need to but how do you feel about ending your trip on day 3 cause you just lost/got robbed of all your money.
There are lots of threads here on the value of train passes versus point to point tickets - rick steves website has a lot of good info on that.
It may be more 'fun' to just travel around flexibly, but it's way cheaper to plan the trip in advance. Accommodations are cheaper (the good values go months in advance) and train tickets can be a fraction of the cost if bought 90 days ahead (e.g. 9€ versus 50-80€ for a ticket from Rome to Venice). Raileurope.com is a good place to see where trains go and approximate cost but usually cheaper to book with each country's own train site (e.g. trenitalia).
The most expensive countries are the UK, Scandinavia, and Switzerland.
Russia needs a visa and is too difficult to just 'pop into' as part of a multi country trip. Turkey technically needs a visa but all that means is you go to a window at the airport after passport control and buy a visa stamp, it was 25$ a few years ago.
Iceland air frequently has cheap flights from NY or Boston and you can stop in Iceland for no additional cost. So if you can fly from one of those cities I'd book into London with a stop/over in Iceland - but very expensive. I did it last year for just two nights ( did a one day tour). Then obviously do the UK. Then do Netherlands and Belgium then work your way geographically south and east. But research flights on easyjet.com and whichbudget.com to see where you can get cheap flights - sometimes it doesn't make sense to just move geographically. But certainly hopping all over makes no sense.
A bed in a youth hostel will be at least 25€ on average per person per night. Sometimes a one star hotel or B&B will be less than 50€ for a double. More in major cities. Sometimes convents rent rooms (you don't have to be religious, but they may have curfews) and sometimes colleges rent rooms in summer (the Scottish youth hostel used to rent dorm rooms in Edinburgh - I got one a few years ago for I think 18£ a night - most people staying there were not young). Of course couch surfing will be free but obviously somewhat risky and also they will tend to be where people live which is frequently not the touristy areas you may want to see so you will spend time and money to get into the centers of towns. But worth looking into.
But bottom line - between various types of accommodations and cities/small towns you probably need to budget 25€ per night. That's euro not dollar.
Have at least two bank cards each - don't carry huge amounts of money. The bank machines do charge a fee so take out 200-300€ at a time but not more. I met a couple girls who were carrying their entire trip's money (few thousand) in cash and left it in the hostel safe which got robbed. Carry the bank cards, all but one day's spending cash, and your passport in an under the clothing style money belt (pouch). Many people on this forum argue you don't need to but how do you feel about ending your trip on day 3 cause you just lost/got robbed of all your money.
There are lots of threads here on the value of train passes versus point to point tickets - rick steves website has a lot of good info on that.
It may be more 'fun' to just travel around flexibly, but it's way cheaper to plan the trip in advance. Accommodations are cheaper (the good values go months in advance) and train tickets can be a fraction of the cost if bought 90 days ahead (e.g. 9€ versus 50-80€ for a ticket from Rome to Venice). Raileurope.com is a good place to see where trains go and approximate cost but usually cheaper to book with each country's own train site (e.g. trenitalia).
The most expensive countries are the UK, Scandinavia, and Switzerland.
Russia needs a visa and is too difficult to just 'pop into' as part of a multi country trip. Turkey technically needs a visa but all that means is you go to a window at the airport after passport control and buy a visa stamp, it was 25$ a few years ago.
Iceland air frequently has cheap flights from NY or Boston and you can stop in Iceland for no additional cost. So if you can fly from one of those cities I'd book into London with a stop/over in Iceland - but very expensive. I did it last year for just two nights ( did a one day tour). Then obviously do the UK. Then do Netherlands and Belgium then work your way geographically south and east. But research flights on easyjet.com and whichbudget.com to see where you can get cheap flights - sometimes it doesn't make sense to just move geographically. But certainly hopping all over makes no sense.
Aug 16th, 2013, 04:37 AM
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I wonder if you could walk El Camino (or half of it, or most of it) in ten weeks on a few thousand dollars each. You wouldn't be paying transportation costs because you would be walking, and allegedly the pensions are pretty cheap and they might feed you for cheap. I haven't done it yet but this is what I hear.
Aug 16th, 2013, 04:42 AM
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Really impossible on your budget - or on a budget much larger than yours. Transportation alone to all of those countries will eat up most of the $2,000.
BUT, you are young! You will have plenty of time to visit Europe in the future. This time, plan on 3 or 4 weeks, pick about 6 locations (the ones you most want to visit) and have a wonderful time.
BUT, you are young! You will have plenty of time to visit Europe in the future. This time, plan on 3 or 4 weeks, pick about 6 locations (the ones you most want to visit) and have a wonderful time.
Aug 16th, 2013, 04:42 AM
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If you do the Camino de Santiago, some lodgings are free <i>if</i> you are a pilgrim. http://peregrinossantiago.es/eng/
You can walk the whole thing in 10 weeks, definitely be immersed in culture, and probably make your budget.
You can walk the whole thing in 10 weeks, definitely be immersed in culture, and probably make your budget.
Aug 16th, 2013, 08:33 AM
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>My best friend and I are in college planning our graduation trip to Europe.<
As college graduates you should be capable of doing a little research on your own and discovering for yourselves that your project is way too grandiose and your budget is way too small.
Are you planning on going into politics?
As college graduates you should be capable of doing a little research on your own and discovering for yourselves that your project is way too grandiose and your budget is way too small.
Are you planning on going into politics?
Aug 16th, 2013, 09:04 AM
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Drop at least the ones farthest off -- Greece, Russia, Romania and Turkey. YOu could do the rest -- UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland.
I"d fly into Dublin (often good fares from US, also), then go to England (actually, I might fly to Edinburgh and then come down, stopping in Wales or something). Then take train over to Amsterdam, train to Paris, train to Switzerland, maybe down to Italy, could do cheap flight to Spain and exist. Drop Germany. Or drop Spain, it mucks things up, and do Germany somewhere in there between Netherlands and Switzerland.
I"m not going to touch the budget, as I don't think this is remotely feasible -- 10 wks at $2k is $200 a week total or around $30 a day to pay for everything. Impossible.
I"d fly into Dublin (often good fares from US, also), then go to England (actually, I might fly to Edinburgh and then come down, stopping in Wales or something). Then take train over to Amsterdam, train to Paris, train to Switzerland, maybe down to Italy, could do cheap flight to Spain and exist. Drop Germany. Or drop Spain, it mucks things up, and do Germany somewhere in there between Netherlands and Switzerland.
I"m not going to touch the budget, as I don't think this is remotely feasible -- 10 wks at $2k is $200 a week total or around $30 a day to pay for everything. Impossible.
