***Thread purpose has shifted, please see posts below***

Thanks everyone!

Big bend, lake Tahoe/Yosemite, singles cruise. Not sure if any of these interest you

Denver area

South / central America?

Pretty wide-open question. All depends on your definition of "inexpensive", and your preferences. Some good suggestions so far. The good thing is you can fly out of Dallas pretty cheaply if you watch for sales.

You could always fly to someplace like Albuquerque or Denver, rent a car and explore the nearby areas. For instance, fly into ABQ and explore Santa Fe, Taos, Jemez Springs, Los Alamos, Bandelier, Valles Caldera

Road trip south and do a Texas History tour: San Antonio, Goliad, San Jacinto

Southeast Oklahoma: Wichita Mountains NWR, Museums at Ft. Sill, Lake Altus

Arkansas: Tons of scenic beauty an hiking in the Ozarks.

Road trip northwest: Ft. Richardson, Copper Breaks, Caprock Canyons, Palo Duro

Northern New Mexico/Southern Colorado: Red River, Taos, Chama, Durango, Pagosa Springs, Colorady Springs, Cuchara, Great Sand Dunes

Southeast New Mexico: Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, White Sands

Lots of neat stuff in Central America: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize

If anything piques your interest, or you want to be more specific, post again.

I'd say Denver as well. Tons to do in the area

If you like being outdoors / hiking, I would suggest hitting the national parks in Utah and Arizona. You could get a reasonable flight to Las Vegas, get an inexpensive rental car there and then easily drive to Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, Page AZ, etc.

I go to Las Vegas every year for a conference and each year I go a few days early and visit a different national park near (within 5 or 6 hours) Las Vegas.

Vegas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vegas is highly underrated for its non gambling activities imo. Great hiking, restaurants off the strip, etc. a lot of close national parks.

If you are a little more 'refined' Washington, D.C. is fabulous for museums, etc. all free. Tons to do for young singles also. A lot of young singles working on Capitol hill.

Ski trip

Thank you for all the ideas!

I have done most of what was posted here. Yosemite is on my to do list. I think I posted trying to see if there was any ideas that REALLY appealed for around that price point in the US.

I have thought more and think I might take the plunge, pony up, and go backpack europe. Wasn't what I originally envisioned. The more I think about it though, I think the timing might be right for me, financially, and as far as my minimal responsibility to a family of my own.

I have cash now, but with a budget, I believe I can save a significant amount before early October.


I will post my hypothetical travel itinerary and budget based on my research later tonight on my laptop. I would love to get additional feedback on my thoughts.

Thanks!

Alright, here we go. This post may have typos as I'm doing this from my phone instead o my laptop like I previously suggested.

Hypothetical itinerary:

I can get 19 days off in a row. I will lose two for international travel and have allotted one for jet lag when I get back. 16 days is what I have to work with.

I have never been to Europe and would like to get a snapshot so when I return I know where to spend more time. *My family is going to Italy sometime in the next 3-4 years so I have decided to exclude that.

9/24 -- (Thursday) Fly from DFW to Heathrow
9/25 -- Arrive early in the morning-London
9/26 -- London
9/27 -- London
9/28 -- Depart early morning on train for Paris
9/29 -- Morning trip out to Versailles
9/30 -- Paris
10/1 -- Depart for Munich (Debating taking a night train here, though I feel as if seeing the country side from the rail car night be worth the time during the day)
10/2 -- Oktoberfest
10/3 -- Day trip by Salzburg (car)
10/4 -- Depart for Prague (Train)
10/5 -- Prague
10/6 -- Prague
10/7 --Depart for Budapest (Train)
10/8 -- Budapest
10/9 -- Budapest
10/10
10/11 -- Depart BUD for DFW

I left 10/10 open because I believe I might want to spend one additional day somewhere. However, I can't push things in Paris or London too far back because I might miss Oktobetfest.

I think I will be able to get the flights for around 1,200-1,500 depending on if I see a good deal one day. It appears that somewhere around 80-90 days away from departure are the best deals.

Eurorail pass would be an option for traveling from Paris>Munich>Prague>Budapest, I believe that ia around $500 US. This is the pass that is 4 countries that touch for 5 24 hour uses.

Daily budget around 80 Euro, rounding with the current 1.13 conversion rate is going to be roughly 1500 US. Granted this is covering hostel, food, tours, museum entrance fees, alcohol, ect. Everything I have read is that my budget might run over in London and Paris, but the further I travel east, the less and less money I will spend on the same things. So this budget will be a rough guess. (Would love opinions on this). Keep in mind, I'll be traveling alone, I'm friendly, want to do hostels, and I love eating local food. Buying from a market and having a picnic is romantic to me. However I will want to have a sit down meal in every city. I'm also not opposed to pre-gaming at the hostel with new friends.

I think it might also be smart to budget an emergency fund, that can be used for enjoyment. What I mean by this is, if I'm going to do this, I'm not gonna sit on the sideline and say "ahhh I don't want to do that because it's 12 euro instead of 10". I'm frugal, but I want to make memories. That being said, I think the free things can sometimes be the best.

That leaves me to my budget of about $4,000. Is this reasonable considering?

Must do's by city: (I am going to forget things because I'm not looking at my notes)

London: Pretty much all the free/typical tourist attractions, parks, ect. I could list a lot here.

Paris: I have to admit, j have always had a fascination about Paris. I have a romantic personality and I'm a deep thinker, these things are synonymous with what I Paris as. I very much want to eat a picnic in a park and take in the people watching. Having coffee in a street side cafe, I have to do. These may be common, but it's always been a day dream.

-the Louvre and musee d'Orsay
-Marsais district (If I'm remembering correctly this is the architecture from lay 17th, early -18th century.
-Roman district
-Versailles
-possibly a winery somewhere.
-Eiffel tower

Munich:
-would like to see a Bayern match if possible on my half day, I know it will be pricey, but damn, what an opportunity.
-Oktoberfest is going to be an all day thing atleast on of the days I'm there. Probably the second so that hopefully I can go with some people I meet. Though showing up alone and making drunk friends isn't scary to me.
-there is a palace I want to see here
-their parks/gardens

Salzburg:
- I really would like to rent a car that is somewhat nice/fast and drive on the autobahn down for the day. It appears the highway runs right along the alps, which would be gorgeous. It's about an 1.5 drive according to Google maps, but I may pull over and take pictures.
-I would like to visit a lot of the places that are in the movie sound of music, eat lunch here, go up to the castle, and drink a beer while taking it all in.

Prague: along with Paris, for some reason I have always wanted to go here and I couldn't even tell you why. Obviously it's beautifully picturesque, which again I love.
- For me, this is about spending time in the old town square and experience a culture that's pretty far departed from Texas.

Budapest: this is about pushing my boundaries. I have been told this will probably be the most foreign to me.

-castles/parliament buildings
-bath house/spa
-I have been hearing about these bars in ruins


Long post. Any tips and advice are welcome. This is just in the beginning stages. Basically I'm trying to feel out what I might want to do and what it might cost me.

If anyone has any suggestions or different things for me to consider I would gladly welcome that!

It costs 1200 to fly to Japan. Surely Europe flights should be cheaper than that.

quote:

---

It costs 1200 to fly to Japan. Surely Europe flights should be cheaper than that.

---

I have seen anywhere from 700-1500. It seems fickle. For budgetary purposes I'm going to assume the higher end.

Also this could be affected by how airlines buy energy futures. I don't know, but I would think that they buy 5-6 months ahead so that they know what they can sell a ticket for. That's why you can't book a flight a year in advance.

Hey FriendlyAg, you should consider doing a Top Deck Tour. In terms of travel expenses, food, meeting people, seeing a bunch of different sites, it really can't be beat. Take a look at the link. There's a tour going from Budapest to London and is 7 countries in 11 days. It stops at many of the places on your list.

Just a side note. What's great about the tour is you go see certain beautiful sites but you also have plenty of time do whatever it is that you want, including going out at night.

Looks like you have a pretty good plan to get a snapshot of different areas. We did something similar on our first trip to Europe and came back feeling like we wish we would have spent more time in each area. On our subsequent trips we've focused on a specific area and spent more time there. The only feedback I can offer on this is that as long as you go into this knowing that just about the time you start to feel comfortable in a city you'll be boarding a train to leave it, you'll be fine. I think this is a great way to get a sample (almost like going to a buffet) to try a little bit of each area, but I don't think you can plan on really getting to know any of the places you'll visit on this itinerary.

Having said that, we've been to several of the places you've listed, and I am happy to offer some notes or suggestions for you, or answer any questions you may have. One general note is to look it a city pass / city book for each of the places you've listed. These typically give you unlimited access to public transportation and discounted admission to museums. You can compare the list of places that it gives you access to versus where you want to go and determine if it is a good deal or not. It won't always be, but it might be a way to save money if there is decent overlap on the places included versus your list.

For Paris the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay are very close to each other. The Eiffel Tower is maybe 30 minutes away from the Louvre (subway plus walking time). If you plan on going up on the Eiffel Tower you need to allocate 1/2 a day to get there, wait in line, go up, look around, etc. You will have a full day just seeing the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, and Eiffel Tower. You could easily spend a full day in the Louvre because it is so large. Musee D'Orsay should be quick, unless you want to spend 30 minutes staring at each painting. For me, it was more about seeing the architecture of the building.

Prague / Budapest: Budapest is my favorite city that I've been to in Europe. It is beautiful. I agree with the comment you made that Budapest will push your comfort level more than the other cities, but that is one of the things I like about travel and one of the reasons I liked Budapest so much. Prague is also beautiful, but it is completely overrun with foreign tourists. For me, it really dampens the experience in Prague. It is cool, the castle is beautiful, Charles Bridge is awesome, etc, but unless you are out at 6 in the morning you will be enjoying all of the sights with about 1 million other tourists, mostly in organized tour groups with a group leader yelling at everyone to stay together. If you want to see Prague to see Prague, do it. If you want to see Prague because you want to see a beautiful old European city with interesting architecture, skip Prague and spend more time in Budapest, or go up the river from Prague to Dresden, Germany. Or skip Prague and go to Berlin. Berlin is beautiful and obviously has very interesting history. Budapest has everything Prague has, but without a million other tourists.

Regarding rail travel--for your longer legs you should check on the budget airlines in Europe to see if it is less expensive to fly versus travel by rail. It will save you a ton of time and may cost the same as rail travel. Google Rick Steve's budget European air travel and read through his notes. For example on one of my trips to Europe I booked a round trip flight from Berlin to London 2 days before the flight for round trip of roughly $150 on Ryan Air. Rail travel is a great experience, but after 2 weeks of looking out the train window you won't miss anything if you fly some of the legs instead of going by train (and you may be able to spend some more time in your destination city instead of on the train).

The final comment I have is public transportation is a great way to save money in Europe. Every city has an extensive public transportation network. Using it instead of taking cabs will save you a ton of money.

Looks like you have a great trip planned! Let me know if you have any questions!

Thank you for the reply.

I am definitely going into this with the understanding that I will not get to see everything and that I won't be in one place very long. Truth is, I want to see a lot of different things, but without experience I don't have a guage for where I really want to go and stay for a full 10 days. That is why I think your analogy with the buffet is spot on. I am getting to sample a lot of different things to see what I like. In the future I can return and do a different route through different countries, or pick one country and explore more extensively.

Interesting tip on Prague/Budapest. I understand that I will be doing a lot of "touristy" type things, but I don't particularly like feeling like a tourist. So I think that I might share your sentiment on the large crowds of people. I like to feel like a local. I like to blend in and just partake as if I lived there. Those are the types of experiences I live for. I will do some more research on Prague. Maybe I cut a day out and reallocate.

Thanks for the tip on the cheap flights. I have read that, but haven't done any analysis. I believe that Paris to Munich would be the longest train ride at about 6 hours. Maybe I could break it up and use a day to see something in between. Or I have thought about breaking up the London/Paris train ride with WW2 sites.

You spent 150 US$ on Ryanair! Damn they screwed you

quote:

---

You spent 150 US$ on Ryanair! Damn they screwed you

---

Thank you for your post Wangus12. We are all more intelligent because of it. Your contribution to this thread has been tremendous.

This isn't the General Board or Zoo.

Regarding Prague and blending in like a local, you can definitely do that there, but you will need to get away from the city center area where most of the tourist spots are. We spent 3 or 4 days in Prague a few years ago and actually really enjoyed our time away from the city center. The city center has some incredible architecture and beautiful things to look at, it just is jam packed with people.

If you do go to Prague and want to see something pretty cool you can take the subway out to see the Prague TV Tower. The neighborhood around it is pretty nice and has some good restaurants / coffee bars. The TV tower has sculptures of babies crawling up it. There is a restaurant up in the TV tower too--we went up there and had coffee and ice cream and took in the view of the whole city.

One thing that should help you is that you aren't going in the peak travel season, so that should help a lot.

quote:

---

quote:

---

You spent 150 US$ on Ryanair! Damn they screwed you

---

Thank you for your post Wangus12. We are all more intelligent because of it. Your contribution to this thread has been tremendous.

This isn't the General Board or Zoo.

---

Christ lad, don't lose your mind over it. I was born and lived half my life in Ireland. Used to be you could get Ryanair to Berlin out of the UK or Ireland for around $75-100 round trip. Relax and don't take it as a personal insult. I certainly didn't mean it to be one.

That said, Ryanair is still one of the cheapest ways to get around Europe if you are going to fly.

I'd spend an extra day in Paris. You kind of have to go to the Louvre, but don't spend long there. Get the Rick Steve's audio tour, hit the highlights and leave. O'rsay is where I'd plan to spend more time. The catacombs are also definitely worth visiting. Versailles is beautiful, but it can be overrun with tourists and ruin the experience. Also the gardens cost another like 15 euro on top of the standard admission.

The London to Paris train is only a few hours and I'm not aware of any way to break it up. If you want WWII stuff I highly recommend the Churchill War Rooms in London. When you're in London eat in off the beaten path pubs. You'll save a little money and there will be more variety on the menu than touristy pubs. The Eye is super touristy, but it's still a pretty cool experience. Catch a show on the Westend if you have the time. I really enjoyed seeing the Globe, but it's probably not worth the time on your first visit to London unless you're a huge Shakespeare fan.