cayla

Hello guys,

My gf and I are backpacking in Europe. This is my first Europe adventure and Im so excited! Anywho, we fly into Paris at 9:40am on June 8th and leave Paris for home on July 4th 11:10am. I have not booked any hostels/hotel or purchased a Eurail pass yet. The only thing I have done is booked my round-trip flight to Paris. I'm a student and would like to experience Europe but also on a budget. So here is my TENTATIVE plan of attack (and open for critique):
Paris (meeting some friends here for 2days) => Amsterdam (3days, fly to) => Dublin (4days, fly to) => Barcelona (3 days, fly to)=> Rome (4days)=> Florence (2days) => Venice (2days) => Paris (1 day, fly to) => Home

I've only budgeted 21 days in total to be in these places, but I will actually be in Europe for 26 days. So I've left out 5 days for transportation & rest in btw trips. Hopefully that's reasonable? Haven't really looked thoroughly into transportation intend on flying from amsterdam-dublin-barcelona-rome. If anyone has a more efficient way of doing this, please lemme know and any other information/advice would be greatly appreciated!! I'm sucha newbie at this and need all the help I can get! Thanks so much in advance!!

Judy

I'm not certain why you'd need a rail pass since half of your travel is flying. Point to point tickets would probably be cheaper.

You will likely be jetlagged on arrival. I would make Paris 4 days, taking one day from Dublin and one from your extra 5 days.

You may want to investigate flying home from Venice. The cost to change your ticket may equal the cost of flying back to Paris. If using a low cost airline, getting to and from inconvenient airports can be costly.

Have a great trip!

TDudette

Yes, if you could fly out of Venice, it would give you another day there. Have a super trip!

annhig

hi cayla,

I agree with judy that with this sort of itinerary, a train pass would be a waste of time.

BUT [and it's a big but] a railpass enables you to be flexible, moving when a nd where you please, whereas a trip lately by plane, like the one you have planned, gets fixed by the flights you will have to pre-book.

personally, unless you have a really strong reason to visit Dublin, I would jettison it for this trip, and concentrate on train travel, using the freedom that a pass gives you.

you would then need to concentrate your research on hostels, cheap hotels, even couch surfing, waiting until you get to a place to find somewhere you can doss down. the only place I would not do this is Paris [and possibly Rome] where you will want to organise your accommodation before you arrive. otherwise, you're young, able-bodied and you will not be travelling at absolute peak season, so finding cheaper end places shouldn't be too difficult.

I also agree about spending longer than you have planned in Paris - 4 days would be an absolute minimum for me. and I would consider dropping Barcelona - it's way off your route, like Dublin.

here's my suggestion for you: [26 nights by my reckoning]

Paris (meeting some friends here for 2days) + 2 days, ie 3 nights, train to
Nice. Stay 4 nights. Get train to Italy say
Florence - 3 nights - train to Rome
Rome - stay 4 nights
Train to Venice - stay 3 nights
Train to Switzerland - 3 nights [europe isn't all cities - you should see some mountains]
Train to Amsterdam (3 nights, train to
Paris (3 nights), fly Home

that's just an idea - if you are using a railpass, you can suit yourself.

cayla

Aw thanks so much for the helpful responses!! AWESOME!!! The only issue about leaving from Venice is I have already booked my roundtrip already. I did this before planning this itinerary because it was cheap to fly in and out of Paris. How do I go about changing my fight and would it really be cheaper to change it so that I leave from Venice? I would love to leave from Venice, that would be perfect but not sure how I can do that now...thanks in advance guys!!

cayla

Hello Annhig,

I know that Dublin is a major detour from the rest of my trip. BUT my gf actually reeeeeeeaally wants to go Ireland, it's her only wish lol. I wanted to go to Barcelona because I hear that it's party-central haha. I was actually considering Switzerland too...hmm now u got me thinking about it again. I'm supposed to start booking hostels/flights tomorrow so that's why I wanna get a more definitive itinerary asap. We already dropped Greece because it was sucha detour from our trip. I don't think we can drop Ireland. I'm really open to other itinerary ideas!!! And I will discuss them all with my friend. Thanks so much everyone!!

PalenQ

right with all those flights forget the railpass - but like Paris to Amsterdam is now just about 4 hours or so by train - flying can take as long - I like annhig's suggested itinerary that has you going a lot by train - and for that the Eurail Youthpass of some kind would be a great deal - there are lots of folks your ages riding trains around Europe - you can also take overnight trains and save on a night's lodging.

Anyway for lots on great info on train check out these fantastic IMO sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com.

When I was your age I used a Eurail Youthpass and had the time of my life - you really are missing out on some great experiences IMO if not doing much of your trip by rail.

Judy

Call your airline and ask what the cost will be to change the ticket. It may be $200. Add the cost of the flight to Paris plus the transportation to and from the airports and see where you are and if the change is worth it to you.

jamikins

Why does your girlfriend want to go to Ireland? If its to see the lush green landscape then Dublin is not hte place to go. I have spent a lot of time there and dont really like it compared to other European cities. I found it blah, expensive, very spread out and not very attractive.

I would either drop a day there, or perhaps go to London instead as it looks like you are skipping it which would be a shame. you can take the eurostar between London and Paris www.eurostar.com

Be sure you book your flights asap if using budget airlines like ryanair, easyjet etc. The sooner you book the cheaper they are generally. But be aware of extra charges and VERY strict weight restrictions on luggage and hand luggage.

sharona

If you are going to Dublin to see Ireland then you're going to be disappointed. You have to get over to the western part of the country to find what I think you're looking for.

My advice is to drop Dublin but keep Barcelona if you want to party. It's a fun city.

Christina

The problem with changing the airfare is that flights from Venice are likely going to be more expensive than from Paris, they usually are. So changing the ticket will cost you more than just the fee to make changes, the fare will go up. That's no doubt why you chose Paris to begin with. But you have to weigh the increase in fare and fees versus your time and the cost of getting back to Paris. It might be worth it, but not if you bought some nonchangeable fare from a discounter.

zorrosf

Easy Jet flies Venice (Marco Polo) to CDG for $84 dollars. Perhaps higher in summer, but check out whichbudget.com.

cayla

THanks so much everyone!! I think my friend really wants to go to Ireland tho. I have no desire but she's dead serious about it, I would not want to get in the way of that lol. I was just wondering: if I'm flying, I notice it's way cheaper to avoid having any checked luggage but is it possible to do this? I realize it would really limit what I can/cannot pack. Awww so much planning!! I don't think I will get the Eurail but I will need to train it from Paris to Amsterdam. And I can use the train system in Italy for geting around. I hear the Eurail pass is not as useful in Italy. And thanx Judy for the accommodations recommendation. I will make sure to pre-book hotel/hostels in Paris. And here I thought it was important to pre-book all my hostels/hotels in advance to ensure we gotta spot.

nytraveler

If you are flying all those legs a rail pass is a complete waste of time.

My only concern is - have you put a budget around this trip? All that moving from one city//country to another is going to get expensive - even on budget airlines. And often those tickets sell out far in advance - and flight don;t operate every day.

I think you need to do a lot of research on these flights.

And put together a realistic budget for a trip this extensive. Even staying in hostels, eating lots of picnics rather than cafes or restaurants and making one beer or glass of wine in a student hang out last all night - you still talking many thousands of $.

cayla

Yeah nytraveler you are right! THat is why Im spending all day today looking into cheap flights. My budget with accomodations and food (excluding spending money/shopping) is $2000. That;s purty reasonable, no? Anyway,what are everyone's thoughts on Ryanair and easyjet? I know Ryanair has extra charges and only allow max 15kgs for carry-on luggage with smaller dimensions than easyjet. But they offer such cheap flights!! Aaaaahhhh

sharona

So this $2,000 is supposed to pay for 26 days in Europe including accommodation, food and multi-country transportation? Are you familiar with Lonely Planet's travel forum, Thorn Tree? You may find more help on that forum as it is geared more toward the student and budget traveler. I don't have any idea on how to advise you with your budget. If you were limiting yourself to one or two cities then maybe. But you have an ambitious plan on a tiny budget.

I wish you good luck and I hope you're able to pull it off. Maybe someone here has some helpful suggestions for you.

cayla

I just kinda randomly threw out $2000 as a number. But after thinking more about it, I realize a budget of $2000 in my case is not possible. Sighhh. This is my first Europe trip and so clearly, I don't have as much experience with budgeting/transportation/planning. I don't mind spending a lil more than 2000 to ensure I enjoy my trip. Thanks Sharona, I will check those forums u recommended!!

greg

For those low cost carriers you mentioned, there is a big difference between the price they dangle in front of you and the actual price you pay at the time your purchase your ticket and again on the day of travel. Of course, you can find these out and may be avoid them if you actually read their fare schemes.

You itinerary has at least three dead-end type of destinations: Ireland, Barcelona, and Venice. They are the end-of-the line type where the only way out is to back-track, which is working against your budget. You could have minimized these redundant cost by an open-jaw itinerary to enter through one of these dead-ends and come home from another dead-end. However, since you already bought the flights, this is no longer a strategy available to you to lower the overall cost. Ok, so let's move on.

There are several factors you can control each with its pros and cons. Scope control - reducing destinations, quality control - cheaper food, cheaper places to stay, time control - less total travel time=returning home earlier or less time in more expensive place. Each impact other factors.

It would spin your head if you try to do this all in your head. Actually write them down and price out several different scenarios and compare which ones are achievable within your constraints.

I hope a lesson you learned from this first attempt is that planning is like an inflated balloon; you pinch one place and something else bulges out. You need to look at the whole picture without being buried in details = focus on key goals and constraints. Acting on one area, a costly area like the flight, prematurely constrains what you can do later.

Experienced traveler can pounce on cheap flight deals. They probably have itineraries they can use with the destination and the time of travel combinations.

PalenQ

Do you go to Europe to see airports and only big cities they are in - taking the train at least you see the lay of the land - the often bucolic Europe in between the huge cities. Europe is more than airports and mega tourist cities IMO.

annhig

cayla - a few points for your planning:

easyjet - the price you see is the price you pay, taxes etc are all included. hold bags, insurance, etc etc. are extra however.

Ryanair - you must watch the headline rate very carefully - taxes are normally on top. AND 15kgs is the weight limit on hold bags - the weight limit for the cabin is 10kgs.

Pal - i couldn't have put it better myself.