Backpacking Europe

[Zok Jr.]

Well, I have been thinking about it lately and I think this is something that I want to do. I figure you only live once (don't even say it) and I really should get out of the country and see a different part of the world.

Unfortunately I know virtually nothing about traveling or anything about Europe in general, much less backpacking it. Where to start? I have no idea. I am trying to find some forums about it and what not but was wondering if anyone here has any advice or stories or anything like that.

I mean first of all, what month would be the best to go? I don't want to be there while its cold or anything maybe in the spring/summer?

[Issue313]

I assume you're an American, so the first thing you need to do is learn some English. You should also study basic French and German, and even the Cyrillic or Hellenic alphabets if you're going to those areas. Buy a backpack and learn how to pack light and how to live on what you pack without looking like one of those daft backpackers with one massive pack for the back and one for the front. Also research transport, getting an interrail ticket, although the Eurolines busses is also a great service. Hostels are a great service, but not availabe in every city. Wikitravel is your friend, Seat61 too if, like me, you don't like to fly.

Let us know if you're going to be around.

[Zok Jr.]

Originally Posted by Issue313

I assume you're an American, so the first thing you need to do is learn some English. You should also study basic French and German, and even the Cyrillic or Hellenic alphabets if you're going to those areas. Buy a backpack and learn how to pack light and how to live on what you pack without looking like one of those daft backpackers with one massive pack for the back and one for the front. Also research transport, getting an interrail ticket, although the Eurolines busses is also a great service. Hostels are a great service, but not availabe in every city. Wikitravel is your friend, Seat61 too if, like me, you don't like to fly.

Let us know if you're going to be around.

Yeah I am American, what do you mean learn English? I already know it, and am alright with Spanish although I imagine Spain has an entirely different dialect than I am used to.

I am currently researching backpacks and packing philosophies right now as I figured that would really be the first step, can't go backpacking without a backpack, right?

Do you have any suggestions? I would prefer cheap but don't want to sacrifice quality for price so maybe somewhere in the middle, though I know a lot of recreational gear can be pretty pricey.

[Struwwelpeter]

Originally Posted by Zok Jr.

Yeah I am American, what do you mean learn English?

Ha ha, just him being a jackass...

I don't recommend backpacking Aaeuroerpope. Everyone has done it before, and it's in political turmoil right now, so why bother? Instead, you should do something that no one has ever done before, like backpacking all the way across north America, across the Bering Strait in to Russia, down to Best Korea, across Best Korea, across China, across Kazakhstan, then maybe all the way to western Aaeuroerpope if you please. Do that... And you can call yourself a traveling man.

[Zok Jr.]

Originally Posted by Jim "fuck latinos" Carrey

Ha ha, just him being a jackass...

I don't recommend backpacking Aaeuroerpope. Everyone has done it before, and it's in political turmoil right now, so why bother? Instead, you should do something that no one has ever done before, like backpacking all the way across north America, across the Bering Strait in to Russia, down to Best Korea, across Best Korea, across China, across Kazakhstan, then maybe all the way to western Aaeuroerpope if you please. Do that... And you can call yourself a traveling man.

All those places suck though, I mainly just want to visit different bars and get drunk with people from a different part of the world while seeing some cool stuff along the way.

[water bottle]

Wikitravel, hostelworld, travelcuts.com, eurail, pack light/smart, make a rough itinerary to avoid stress but leave flexibility to avoid being boring

Any idea where you'd like to go?

Spring is best for Europe. Warm but not too warm and not yet too crowded. Avoid July and August. Conversely, you will be surprised how shitty heavy rain that goes on for days is when you don't have the comforts of home.

[kite--]

Originally Posted by water bottle

Spring is best for Europe. Warm but not too warm and not yet too crowded. Avoid July and August. Conversely, you will be surprised how shitty heavy rain that goes on for days is when you don't have the comforts of home.

Haha, have you been experiencing some rain on your travels? I'm absolutely THRILLED by the English summer we're having... /sarcasm.

Europe is great to backpack through because its relevatively a small land area with a large amount of cultural diversity. You are likely to find English spoken in most main cities and by most people under 35. That being said, you should always attempt the basics of any language as it is polite and people certainly appreciate it.

As water bottle said, spring is a great time, and so is autumn but expect rain in both of those months. Europe is packed out in the summer but it is BEAUTIFUL at this time. If you're looking at doing outdoor pursuits then do it in summer (a friend of mine is about to start a hike through the mountains that France, Switzerland and Italy boarder for 10 days.)


Always pack less! You can always pick up anything you need along the way. Buy a decent hiking bag, or a hiking/travel hybrid and have it fitted in store - this will save your back.

Decide if you're going to need things like a tent or a sleeping bag, or if you're just going to sleep in hostels. In hostels they always provide the linen and wont allow you to use a sleeping bag (so if you choose this option then you won't need to cart a sleeping bag around with you). I guess it will depend on if you're more into seeing nature or cities.
Personally I have only backpacked and stayed in hostels so far - next month I'm doing a trip where I'll be carrying a tent, sleeping bag liner (too hot for a sleeping bag in Portugal) and a bed roll to lie on.


Work out a budget. You need to decide how long you want to be in Europe, where you want to go and a daily allowance that you'll need to stay to. A lot of places aren't cheap - Paris, London, Amsterdam to name three aren't cheap, and neither is any of Scandinavia or Switzerland.

Random cool place to go: Estonia. Tallin the capital can be done in a couple of days and its dirt cheap. There is also an amazingly beautiful national park nearby that you can get to by bus/train.

Check out:

South of Spain (Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Cadiz) - cheap, authentic, great food/drink and HOT.

Amsterdam, typical but awesome.

Berlin - cheap capital, amazing history that they don't make money off and best place to party.


I actually enjoy lonelyplanet(.com) for travel advice on tourist things to see in the big cities.

[ratfrink]

I've backpacked Europe thrice now; my advice would be to go the balkans. I've been to (almost) every country there and haven't found a single one that I disliked (although Bulgaria was my least favourite - on the east coast, money talks, and if you're a backpacker you're automatically assumed to be poor and treated like shit by the rich locals. Plus I needed to bribe the train driver and the border police on the way in and out.)

I would also recommend Budapest specifically. It's a stunning place; it's absolutely huge, the architecture is very impressive, and the nightlife and the slightly-bohemian-but-still-down-to-earth culture are excellent fun. Plus it's very cheap and very friendly.

I would also recommend going to Naples - it's famously full of rubbish, grimy, noisy, smelly, incredibly cheap, very dense, and full of dusty museums, hidden churches, and cheap bars/cafes. It's also full of the mafia, although this'll have no impact on you. The studenty areas have lots of interesting bars and cheap places to eat (although, really, all of Naples is cheap). The best thing is that there are almost no other tourists. The only bad thing about Naples is that it's in the south, and you have to travel through the rest of Italy (and France/Switzerland/Austria) to get there - the rich, pretentious and incredibly expensive tourist trap that is the north. From Naples you can get a train (takes about an hour, costs fuck all) to Sorrento which is famously beautiful (although a bit expensive).

[ratfrink]

kite, the last few days have been lovely. It's all going to hell tomorrow, though.

[water bottle]

Kite - yup. I swear it's like a cloud has been following me everywhere I go!

Ratfrink: totally agreed about the Balkans. Just so amazing. I really love commuting in particular - so many beautiful little villages in such beautiful settings. Also with you on Budapest. Walking along the Danube as the sun was setting was one of the best things I've ever done, period. Perfect combination of factors that night.

[water bottle]

Oh, and the best thing about Europe is that there's so much of it. I've been to most of the countries now and yet I feel I have soooo much more to see.

[Zok Jr.]

I have a lot of research to do, thanks for all of the tips guys

[ratfrink]

Originally Posted by water bottle

Oh, and the best thing about Europe is that there's so much of it. I've been to most of the countries now and yet I feel I have soooo much more to see.

Yeah I agree, I've been to almost every country in Europe (yup, count 'em) but I was still blown away the first time I went to Naples. Were it not for my Neapolitan ancestry I would never have even visited it - so, exploration is worthwhile.

[G-man]

Do you people shit money?!

[ayingerbrau]

Originally Posted by G-man

Do you people shit money?!

Travel around Europe is inexpensive, even in the more expensive places you can still find cheap hostels and so forth. I imagine the only major expense is getting over to Europe from the United States, however, users like ratfrink who are based in the UK can get over there extremely cheaply, often for as little as £20. You'll only spend a lot of money in expensive bars/restaurants in major capital cities, outside of that nothing is really that expensive and across a lot of eastern Europe everything is extremely cheap.

[kite--]

Originally Posted by G-man

Do you people shit money?!

What was said above but also:

I moved to the UK partly because I wanted to live in another country, and partly because it is so easy to travel continental Europe from here. I gave up everything I owned, sold it all to move here and travel. All of my extra money I earn goes to traveling.

As soon as I'm 'done' (I dunno if you can ever be done) with Europe, I'll likely save up some money, do a massive trip through somewhere like Africa and then move to Canada.

From Canada I'll do the same - see north America while living in the continent. While I would love to save and travel continuously for a year or two it just isn't viable. I also gain the experience of living in another country and learn more about their culture.

After Canada, I'll probably head to South America.

If I ever do go home, I can travel Asia easily from there.

[The Swede]

Northern Sweden during the winter. (Y)

[felonious_monk]

Go on hostelworld.com to find hostels show up to bus or train stations usually they're in the same place and get a ticket. Ryanair.com for rly cheap flights and just show up and do whatever. I was rly worried about my first trip o Europe cuz I was alone and never been anywhere but the us and I had it down rly quickly like after my third stop. Traveling europe is easy and care free. I show up in any semi touristy city at any time and you can just figure out where to stay and stuff pretty quickly