College Kids Backpacking Europe Need Advice

4,670 Views | 39 Replies | Last: 11 yr ago by FarmersFight9
FarmersFight9
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I am going with a friend on a 5 week trip to europe and need some advice on places to see. We're a couple of first timers. Should be fun.

Our trip will look as follows
4 days in London
3 days in amsterdam
4 days in paris
2 days in madrid
3 days in malaga
2 days in sevilla
4 days in barcelona
2 days in bern
1 day in venice
3 days at plitvice lakes national park
then a matriculation down the italian coast ending up in sicily and then back to rome for our study abroad program.

Food, places to stay, things to see would all be welcome suggestions! Thanks!
bthotugigem05
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AG
For a trip like that, I'd honestly just plan on going to hostels and asking what everyone is doing when you get there and check in.
defroach
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Dont set a schedule. Some cities you'll like, some you won't. Book nights in hostels a couple of days before based on recommendations and hostelworld.
AGSPORTSFAN07
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AG
Watch the movie "Hostel". It's a great documentary on a bunch of kids who go backpacking through Europe.
iloveAP
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AG
^ Lies!

I had never heard of that movie but was interested in it based on the description above. Watched the trailer...sure doesn't look like a documentary to me!
dcAg
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Somewhere between Eurotrip and Hostel lies the truth of what it is like to backpack across Europe.

P.C. Principal
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Hey OP, some buddies and I are doing a similar trip this summer! I posted a thread about it a couple months back and got some GREAT advice!

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=2029387&page=1&forum_id=54

Read careerchange05's post especially! (A little past halfway down the page) Tons of useful information.

If you're looking to hang out with some other Ags while abroad we'd love to meet up with yall somewhere. PM me for more info!
FarmersFight9
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Thanks for the thread Sta11ion!

and you others peeps helped too!
713nervy
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AG
Go buy Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoestring. LP's are my Bible.
TXCityAggie
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AG
I agree with the poster above. Go buy a Lonely Planet book. Everything you need to know will be inside.
FarmersFight9
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Which one of the lonely planet shoestring books would you buy?
defroach
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The newest one.

But do not go by restaurants or hostels in it. Use reviews online for hostels...again, just don't trust their reviews.

Restaurants are the same, take rec's from hostels on where to eat, usually if it's in a guide book, it'll be overpriced, more crowded, and going downhill. Just from my experience.

Use it for basic city info and sites...
713nervy
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AG
Europe On A Shoestring.

Or

Western Europe On A Shoestring.

Hostelworld.com for hostel reviews, but always book through the hostel's website rather than through Hostel World. In most cases it will save you money.

I agree with defroach with not taking the Lonely Planet's advice on hostels or restaurants. Definitely use Hostel World, then just ask the people working at your hostel for food + bar advice.

Also, be open to meeting peoole and staying in the dorm style rooms with strangers. Sounds weird if you've never done it, but it's a lot more ****ing fun.
aggiedagger
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suggested changes to your plan:

2 days in amsterdam
2 days in paris
skip venice
3 days in barcelona
use the 7 days you've saved yourself to visit prague, munich, and florence

you're welcome.

[This message has been edited by aggiedagger (edited 4/6/2012 8:48a).]
aggiedagger
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AG
and +1 on nervy's suggestion - always go with the dorm style room in the hostels, it's easier to meet more people to go out with and if they've already been there for a day or two they'll have some cool suggestions for you.
48secDunk
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OP

I graduated from A&M in '02 and have backpacked across Europe twice, and take my students to Europe every summer as well.

Last summer I started a small business where I help people plan their vacations (specifically to Europe). You are welcome to check out the website and then contact me for any advice.

www.travelwithlivingston.weebly.com
amercer
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AG
quote:
use the 7 days you've saved yourself to visit prague, munich, and florence


This + some. All of Europe is great, but the best times I've had more to the East. Bavaria is just awesome. See Prague, Budapest, Split, and Dubrovnik--St Petersburg and Moscow are something as well, but if you're committed to the train pass I guess those are out. Cheap flights probably still exist though. The world gets smaller all the time, but it's still always going to be easier to hop over to western Europe than it will be to get east. Have some real adventure while you are young
713nervy
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AG
Dubrovnik was such a blur, my god.
bqaggie86
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The Balkans are a great place to visit.
FarmersFight9
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UPDATE:

We cut out London and shortened days in other places so that we could visit eastern europe since I've heard an overwhelming amount of people rave about Eastern europe.

So a few questions.

What are the must do's in Interlaken, Switzerland?

What is there to do in Prague, Budapest, and Vienna?

TIA!
713nervy
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Switzerland is really expensive: skip it.

Budapest--stay at Grandio Party Hostel.

I got sick when we were in Vienna and Prague is incredibly beautiful--walk around and take pictures. There's also quite the opportunity to party there.

[This message has been edited by 713nervy (edited 4/9/2012 12:11a).]
careerchange05
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quote:
Switzerland is really expensive: skip it.



Heck no. As I said in the other post, Interlaken is absolutely top notch. It's one of the best times I've ever had.

Stay at Balmer's (which is probably my favorite hostel in Europe) and just eat at grocery stores if you want to be cheap. I did the following (in order of the highest recommended):

1) Canyoning
2) Ice Climbing
3) Sky Diving
4) Mountain Biking

The things that would have been cool to do that I didn't do:
1) Climb the Matterhorn (you'll need some experience to knock that out)
2) Skiing (you'll need some coin and the right timing to do that one)
3) Single rail mountain coaster ride (I think this video shows that... blocked at my office, though: http://itzme123.blogs.experienceproject.com/1206622.html
4) Ice museum thing at the top of Jungfraujoch
5) Zorbing (no idea if this is actually fun, but it's an option).
careerchange05
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AG
Also, I've heard that Lucerne has a nice lake if you want a cheap side trip.
Hoyt Ag
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Prague doesn't come close to Budapest when it comes to partying.

Hit up the Schonnbrun (sp) palace outside the city via subway from city center in Vienna

[This message has been edited by hoyt ag (edited 4/10/2012 10:30p).]
FarmersFight9
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I looked at all the canyoning trips and they look awesome. I'll probably try the roller coaster thing and the ropes course.

I'm still not 100% sure on what we are going to do in prague, vienna, and budapest. We are gonna take a day trip to cesky krumlov though. So that should be fun.
dwaustin14
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quote:
We cut out London

London is the awesome.

_______________
"Obviously you're not a golfer"
amercer
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quote:
London is the awesome.



It's also crazy expensive. Two days in London would buy you a week in Prague.
amercer
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quote:
I looked at all the canyoning trips and they look awesome


They are awesome.
LadyOfTheLake
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quote:
1 day in venice



from an email about my trip 3 years ago:

when you go to Venice see if you want to stay at the Venice Museum Hostel (http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/A-Venice-Museum/Venice/30296) they serve breakfast and dinner AND the entire hostel was BEAUTIFUL. When you do the tour of the king's palace (by the big church) make sure you use your student ids and do the HIDDEN PASSAGEWAY TOUR.

if you like wine go to Cantina da Fior the address is 30135 Venezia - S. Croce, 644/ b-c [c. Canal] ... i have no idea what all that means but it is on the card tehy gave me. It is on Corte Canal road where it hits the Rio Delle Muneghette. Hope you can find it, the Pino Nior was AWESOME! You pay per liter and they fill up water bottles if you have them.



The rest of your places look awesome. In Madrid make sure you do the palace tour and eat churros and chocolate.


I saw someone said to skip Venice...it was one of my favorite cities when I did my month long backpacking tour and I would go back in a second.

[This message has been edited by LadyOfTheLake (edited 4/12/2012 11:33a).]
mwm501
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Cinque Terre Italy
bones75
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Agree with Lady on not skipping Venice.
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FarmersFight9
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Saw this on the table of contents thread and decided to update in case anyone is looking to backpack europe.

We changed our plans a decent amount:

Amsterdam 1 night- fun place to start, the prostitutes in the green light district windows are pretty depressing to see though. Pretty small city. You can see pretty much everything on foot or by boat or tram in 1 day. 2 days max.

Brugges 2 nights- really really awesome town. Small. Hit up the brewery there, Bruge Zot (I think) and that was fun. Would recommend 2 nights max because it is so small. So beautiful though.

Paris 4 nights- This is one of the most amazing cities I have ever been to. As a guy I was skeptical going into it because I felt like Paris was overhyped because it was super romantic in a girly way, but it surpassed all expectations. You can spend a full week in Paris and not see everything there is to see. Spend as much time here as possible.

Fuengirolla (sp.) 5 nights- On the southern coast of spain, across from the strait of Gibraltar and Morocco. Incredibly beautiful. Great hikes and fun beaches. Would recommend 3-4 nights.

will post the rest later
FortWorthF3
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If you're going to be in Spain, go to San Sebastian. It's a gorgeous city and as college kids you'll love the pinxtos (tapas) bar scene. There's a very laid back atmosphere in town where people hop from bar to bar and have a small snack (pinxtos) and a drink then move on. Both times I've done this the crowds were a mix of young and old and always very jovial but not relaxed. Many of hte places reminded me of the area behind northgate when you used to be able to sit out there and drink stuff you brought or bought.
Sporty Spice
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AG
FarmersFight I look forward to more updates on your trip. A friend and I will be making one similar this summer. Any suggestions on your hostels/favorite bars?

We're traveling to:
1. London
2. Paris
3. Amsterdam
4. Prague
5. Munich
6. Interlaken
7. Venice or Rome
8. Florence
9. Cinque Terre
10. Barcelona
FarmersFight9
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I did not go to London, but the rest I can speak to.

My first hint is to buy Rick Steves europe book. It is incredible and has so many "non-touristy" things to do and see that are phenomenal.

Paris- I'm going to preface this by advising that you stay at least 4 nights in Paris. There is so much to do. I'll try and be succinct.
-Use the metro. Their train system is one of the best in the world (at least one of the best I've ever experienced). Try and stay at a place near a metro line stop. Trust me on this one.
-If you aren't a huge museum fan then honestly the Louvre is overrated. Visit the Musee de Orsay instead. It is the impressionist museum and it is housed in an old train station. Way better than the Louvre.
-Spend a day at Chateau Versailles. It is an old French palace that is absolutely massive and very ornate. When I say spend a day, I mean set aside at least 4-6 hours. It takes about 2-3 hours to see the palace and then after you get out of the palace itself, the grounds are so expansive and gorgeous that you will just want to wander around for a while and get lost.
-Take the Fat Tire, Night Bike Tour. It was one of my favorite things that I got to do all summer. Unless you hate bikes, I promise you won't regret it.
-Check out the Montemarte district.
-Check out Sacre Cuere. It is very stereotypical Paris (to Americans anyways). The waiters wear berets and it is all cheeky and fun, but the great part about it is the amazing view of Paris.
-Go to the street Rue Cler. It is where the hip Parisian college students hang out, and it has a slew of great restaurants. Try Le Tribeca.

Amsterdam-1-2 days max. It is a very cool city and very pretty, but unless you want to smoke weed for a week, then 1-2 days is all you need.
-Walk the city. Amsterdam is fairly small, so walking from place to place there is a really fun option because you really get to take in the city and it doesn't take too long to get where you are going. We were completely on foot and it only took us about 6 hours to see almost the entire city.
-If you are going to smoke I would make 2 recommendations; smoke once in the red light district (you are in Amsterdam so you pretty much have to), and then venture outside of town and find a shop that is only locals to smoke at. Way different vibe and a pretty neat experience.

Prague-1-3 nights
-If have been on your trip for a while and are craving some mexican food, try La Casa Blu. It isn't the greatest, but it will hit the spot if you are dying for a fix.
-Bohemia bagel is a great place for breakfast (if you want to feel like a tourist). We went there every morning. You will learn pretty quickly when you are in Europe that they don't really value breakfast, but bohemia bagel will set you up with a hearty meal to start the day.
-Go to old town square and see the astronomical clock tower.
-Peddle around in the markets and grab some fresh fruit (the cherries are awesome)
-Check out the Jewish quarter.
-Go to the monastery that overlooks the city. The monks brew some pretty incredible beer there. You may have to ask around for directions, but if you look hard enough you will find it.
-There is also a Hooters in Prague, if you like Hooters.
-If you get a chance, check out Cesky Krumlov. It is a city about 2 hours from Prague that is supposedly awesome (I didn't go, but my friend says it is one of his favorite cities in the world).

Munich-2-3 nights
-Waldwirtschaft is the name of a place where the locals eat and drink. It is a true German beer garten and is awesome. We got to catch the Germany vs. Portugal eurocup game there, so needless to say, we had an incredible time.
-The olympics were held in munich once upon a time and they have all of their olympic stadium and what not in town (I didn't go, but have heard good things)
-We went to Dachau. It is very very heavy, but if you want a new perspective on the holocaust, take a tour of Dachau. It is a monument to the triumph of the Jewish people in an extremely difficult time. Very heavy, but very cool.
-In my experience, the germans were some of the nicest people we encountered. Make friends with the locals.

Interlakken-3-5 days
-Do yourself a favor and take the gondola and short hike up the mountain to the little town of Murren and stay there instead. The accommodations are cheaper, the scenery is 1000 times better, and it is very quiet. Seriously, stay in Murren. Just trust me.
-Eat the fondue at Stagerstubli. It is a swiss staple. And don't be intimidated just because the entire place smells like feet.
-It is the best city for adrenaline pumping sports in Europe (I would assume), so pick a couple of things and do them. Canyoning looked awesome, but we went too early in June and since the snow was still semi-built up we couldn't canyon. We did the ropes course instead, which was still really fun.
-Hike. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Just walk around.

I've got to go to bed, but I'll detail the rest later. Hope this is what you are looking for, if not then stop me so I don't keep telling you all this useless information haha.
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