Planning first Solo Backpacking in Europe!
 

Hi all,

I'm a newbie who will be solo-backpacking Europe for a month plus in September and have no idea how to plan my route!

Here are some of the places I have in mind (but doesn't seem very straightforward to travel):
London, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Budapest, Porto, Barcelona, Rome, Athens & Greek Islands

Would really appreciate some help here! Am i being over-ambitious? Any other destinations I should be adding into this list?

Thank you very much!

Exactly how many days will you have? If it's only one month you will spend most of it moving from one place to the next. If it's closer to two months it would be better.

Do you actually want to see anything in the places you go to, or do you only want to be able to tell your friends that you have been to all those places?

Some people will tell you that it is impossible to see any big city in one or two days. I think it really depends on what you want to see and do. If you don't care about museums and castles and sightseeing walks, you don't need as much time.

Make a list of what you actually want to see and do in each of the places you want to visit. If you can't list three things for one place, maybe you should drop it.

Get a map and mark all your destinations on it. Some are close and you can easily go between them by train or bus. Other places would be better to fly between.

In September I would start in the north and go south, to get a better chance at nice weather.

>> . . . for a month plus . . . <<

unless your 'plus' is another month you don't have enough time. You have 10+ destinations (depending on how many islands you are talking about) spread from Portugal to the Greek Islands and from London to Rome.

You'll spend about 8 or 9 days of your month just moving from place to place. So if you do mean a month you'll have about 2 days per . . .

I certainly would not add more destinations as you have too many spread too far apart. How did you come up with this list? Did you read about these places and know what you want to see there?

I think it's a peculiar list as you have Porto but not Lisbon, Barcelona but not Madrid nor any other place in Spain, Rome but not Florence nor Venice, Prague and Budapest but not Vienna. Other than the Greek islands there are no smaller city/town locations, only cities.

I would concentrate your travels into a smaller geographic area as you only have a month.

If you're traveling on a strict budget (and backpacking leads me to believe you are) then you're going to spend a lot of money traveling to all these destinations.

London, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Budapest, Porto, Barcelona, Rome, Athens & Greek Islands>

Are you going by train - are you under 26 (Eurail Youthpasses can be a great bargain if you are under 26)?

For lots of great info on European trains check out these informative sources: wwwricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download the latter's free and superb IMO European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of feasible rail-oriented itineraries.

Currently your wish list is all over the board and just about physically impossible to do in a month unless you fly and that can cost a lot of money if you can't pin down a cheap flight.

You can take overnight trains to cover long distances cheaply (if you have a pass or discounted fare) - saving on the cost of a night in a hostel or hotel.

I think you have to chose between Portugal and Spain and Eastern Europe

Feasible - London - Paris - Amsterdam - Germany - Prague - Budapest - Vienna - overnight train to Rome, fly to Greece or take overnight ferries between Italy and Patras, Greece. Even that is a lot for a month - lots of travel time needed between stops.