My boyfriend and I are planning a trip next summer to Europe. We're in our mid twenties and live in Canada, this will be our first time in Europe. We want to attend the Wacken music festival in Germany and travel surrounding countries. We would be backpacking and staying in hostels or cheap hotels. We want to go for two - three weeks and our budget is about $10,000. I've been skydiving before and I'd really like to do something like that there, we are both active and enjoy camping. We like drinking and going out to pubs and bars. I don't like doing really touristy stuff I want to see authentic Europe. The countries that interest us are Germany, Finland, Spain, Ireland, France. Our preferred method of travel is by train or something cheap but easy. Basically I'm looking for advice on travelling, which cities are fun, things to watch out for, good restaurants, where to start and end my journey, affordable and safe hostels, etc. Thanks!

$10,000 and three weeks is not what I'd call a "cheap" budget. Meaning that with those funds, money isn't really a problem for you. To the other side, time and distance can be. You are looking at 5 countries in 21 days. Now it depends on how many locations in each country you would like to visit.

One good way of doing things is to create a "base" in each primary location. Each day that you have to pack-up, move out, travel and move-in knocks off at least 1/2 day. Thus, look at what interests you around a certain area, find a centralized town and make that your base. Then you can star out on day trips and not have to worry with the hassles involved in packing and moving. It is often time effective to keep the base and do overnights.

Ireland is a place where you really need to rent a car to get a good feel for it. Public transportation is not on par with the other countries you mention, especially somewhere like Germany. In France, you can rent a gite (like an apartment or small farmhouse) in almost any area of France and get some really great prices, better than hostels in some cases. ( see http://www.gites-de-france.com/). We found great places for less than $400 (US) per week. Here is a link for gites all over Europe http://www.eurogites.org/ .

Now remember, you are looking at covering a substantial area in sheer physical size. Finland to Spain is like going half-way across Canada. Same with southeast Germany to Ireland.

There are lots of free/cheap camping locations. There is one inside the Paris city limits in a large park, just can't remember the name off the top of my head (help me on this one somebody).

hope that helps some

dave

I was thinking the same as dave. Imagine if someone said to you: It's my first trip to N America. I have 3 weeks to see BC, Newfoundland, Colorado, Florida and New York City.

Germany is a fixed part of yr itinerary, so look at what is easily accessible from there (by train OR by plane -- flights are often very cheap within Europe). France, obviously -- but would you consider Austria? Italy? Switzerland?

I could spend the whole 3 weeks in France. I could spend the whole 3 weeks in one CORNER of France.

I think you need to make some basic choices and then come back and get comments and constructive criticism from the seasoned travelers.

"We want to attend the Wacken music festival in Germany and travel surrounding countries....I don't like doing really touristy stuff I want to see authentic Europe."

In Germany you won't generally find tourist swarms except for a few places in Bavaria.

There are hostels nearly everywhere in Germany, the birthplace of the hostel concept, and well over 500 official hostels. Many are located where outdoor sports are popular, with mountain biking and hiking opportunities nearby. Some are in castles and other historic buildings:

http://www.jugendherberge.de/en/host...h.jsp?IDJH=403

http://www.jugendherberge.de/en/host...h.jsp?IDJH=390

This one is right on the newly opened Rheinsteig hiking path:
http://www.jugendherberge.de/en/host...h.jsp?IDJH=717

With such a short amount of time and an ample budget you might not want to hassle with camping equipment and logistics. One way to see the "authentic Europe" is to stay in private B&B's, which in Germany are not usually purpose-built buildings but comfortably-outifitted private homes, where you get a look into people's daily lives. "Bavaria Ben" (who has traveled not only in Bavaria but throughout Germany) gives you a good idea what these inexpensive places are like:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/irmgardorthbacharach.html
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/hausand...chemmosel.html
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/froehli...chemmosel.html

Hi H,

>We would be backpacking and staying in hostels or cheap hotels.<

People who can afford 3-5 k per week shouldn't be staying in hostels.

I think that you will get a lot more help from the younger, hostel crowd at the Thorntree Forum of www.lonelyplanet.com

OP states; "I don't like doing really touristy stuff I want to see authentic Europe."


Sigh........

If your music taste is not limited to hard rock only, try to get into your itinerary the biggest music party in Europe, KaZantip on the shores of the Black Sea in Ukraine.
It's usually one month (late July-late August).
www.kazantip.com

Other hotspots would be Barcelona, and the massive beach parties in nearby Sitges during summer.
Southern Catalunya is great for mountain hiking, if you want to avoid the crowds. So would be the Pyrenees north of Barcelona. The Alps are a bit of a zoo in comparison.
Ibiza, obviously, still is one of the in places... Cafe del Mar, more beach parties.

Not sure why you want to go to Helsinki, expect maybe to get more hard rock? ;-)

Since you will already be in Germany, you could add Berlin to Wacken.

Wouldn't know what to recommend in France, though.
You do have quite some money to play with, but France (especially if that is a synonym for Paris) can be a more expensive place to stay.
So are the Scandinavian countries, incl. Finland.

Why go to Europe if you don't want to see the really "touristy stuff". The tourists have found all the good stuff - the "authentic Europe" is not necessarily the opposite of the "touristy stuff". The reason to travel to Europe is to see the "touristy but authentic" sights. You will be missing a lot if you don't see that which is worthwhile. Might be a good idea to do a little more research.

You have a good amount of time and an ample budget. Use them well. You might find that the reason some areas of Europe are crowded is that they have a lot worth visiting.

Thanks guys for all your feedback. To clarify a few things and rearrange some questions

1. Germany is our main destination. The other countries interest us both but if we can't see them all this time no big deal, we'll get them next time. What I would like to know is which countries along with Germany would be good to visit. Like what would other countries are easy to get to from Germany (by easy I mean not flying), which places could we take the train? I seriously have no idea where to start in figuring it all out!

2. By "touristy" stuff I will give you an example, when I went to LA we went on this obnoxious tour where we got to get off the bus for ten minutes, take a few pictures, get back on and look at more celebrity houses. It was awful and I can honestly say I did not know what I was signing up for. Now when I look at the pictures from the trip .. yeah they prove I saw all these famous sights but I didn't get a true feeling of what it was really like to BE in LA. Is this making sense to anyone? I don't know how to explain that any further. I want the opposite of that for Europe.

3. I was just guessing we would need 10,000 so I mean if we can do it for cheaper and still be comfortable that's awesome

1. Well this is a no brainer. Google a map of Europe. You will see that you cannot get to Ireland by train as it's an island, separate from mainland Europe.

Using your map, you will also see that Spain is a bit removed from Germany.

If you visit France or Finland you would need to figure out what interests you and how far the destinations are from Germany.

Here's the URL for the German train site to determine train schedules and distance in time for places you want to visit.

http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

2. There are many "touristy" things to do in Europe that do not involve buses. Many of them are totally worth the experience. If you want to experience being in a city you need to be there for at least several days and walk around and visit the major sights. For instance, last year in Frankfurt I took a 3 hour walking tour and learned some Frankfurt history, saw churches, Holocaust Memorial Wall, a relief plan of the town and many other things. This is strictly for the tourists since if you live in Frankfurt you would know about these things. So do not discount "touristy" things to do as you will learn a lot about a place from taking tours.

My advice is to get some guide books from your library and start reading them. You will get an idea of what there is to see in each place and develop an idea of the types of things you want to see and do. One of the better guide books for budget travel is Let's Go but there are many others to choose from.

3. With your budget you could certainly stay in hotels but hostels will give you an opportunity to mingle with other young people from all over the world and learn a bit more about Europe and about people who live there.

Being slightly sarcastic, you could do a tour of some of Europe's grim industrial cities and call that 'untouristy and authentically European'. I could suggest Middlesbrough and Scunthorpe as two places to start....

Pretty places are 'touristy' for a reason. Europeans travel there too. There is no point in being a tourist yourself and complaining about places being 'touristy'.

I'd recommend a good general European guidebook to help orientate yourself. make lots of lists and then gradually narrow them down until you have a workable itinerary. Don't try and cram too much in or it will all be a blur and you'll need a holiday to get over your holiday...