Backpacking in August

Where do you want to go? You could stay in hostels. But that is peak travel time so prices are higher.

I totally disagree with what you heard, unless maybe there were talking about Italy in August.
I've been traveling to France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in August for more than a dozen years, many of them "backpacking". Any of those countries will be fine. You need to be more specific about what you like before folks can give your further advice.

Forget Switzerland if you are traveling on a budget.
Oh yeah and you should look at most cost prohibitive part first before anything: airfare.

When people told me that, they did specifically mention Italy. As far as where I would like to go, there are too many to list. While Italy was on that list, I am mostly just looking to get to Europe. If the UK/France, Spain, or Hungary are the best places to travel in August I would jump at it. I am just looking for the traveling experience as well as different cultures.

You should decide on where you are flying to first.

If you're on a budget then you should head to eastern Europe - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, etc. Things there are quite cheap compared to the rest of Europe. It will be warm, maybe hot, but not too extreme. The weather is varied so you may get rain as well sometimes. August is a fine time to travel - some of the more popular places will be crowded, like Prague, but there are plenty of places to see and your money will go far!

Couple things...

First some terminology: To many people (myself included) "backpacking" is loading up a backpack with sleeping gear, tent, cook stove, etc. -- all the camping gear you need to survive and be moderately comfortable -- and humping that up into the mountains on trails, sleeping in a tent, avoiding bears, etc. I'm pretty sure that's not what you are looking to do.

I think you just want to go to Europe, on a budget. To do that, leave 99% of that camping gear at home. You can put all your stuff in a backpack if you want, but it's probably not the backpack you would use to hike the Appalachian trail. Or, you might use a duffel bag, or something else. Point is, you ain't "backpacking", you're going to Europe. OK, back to the question...

Where to go? Go where you want! Yes, there are some places that are generally more or less expensive than others, but honestly, you can spend a lot of money (or less) pretty much anyplace you go. Yes, if you spend a lot of time in Switzerland or London or Norway, you're going to have to work harder to spend less, but you can "do" Italy on the cheap if you are careful, smart and disciplined. Conversely, you could completely blow your budget in Bulgaria if you're careless, foolish and lazy (typically most of Eastern Europe tends to be less expensive). There are ways one can minimize costs anywhere. You wanna know the secret of saving money on a trip? It's doing your homework. It's planning. It's making smart choices, and making them well in advance of your trip. Wait until the last minute, and you will spend more, have fewer choices, and generally have less fun.

I wouldn't say that going to Europe in August is necessarily a mistake, but...

1. Crowds are bigger in the summer - it's busy season because families & students (and teachers) have that time off, and it's also when Europeans take vacations. The popular places get very crowded. You may be shocked to discover how crowded popular places are (I now plan all my trips around avoiding crowds).
2. It's hot - in southern Europe, often oppressively hot (too hot for me). For any Mediterranean country, I prefer late spring or early fall ("shoulder season). May or September are my favorite times for those places.
3. Prices in some places are higher, because 1 and 2 above. That doesn't mean all of Europe is awful in August, and it doesn't mean you shouldn't go then. Just go in with your eyes open and know what to expect.

December/January has the advantage of fewer crowds (except around Christmas holiday time, which has it's own busy season in some places). But the weather's wintery (or at least cooler/wetter). Plus, days are shorter, some things close early and it can be harder to get in a "full day" of some activities. Prices are often softer (except around Christmas/New Years).

Anytime someone asks the questions you've asked (like "where should I go?") I think they need to take a few steps back, and give that some thought. Why do you want to go to Europe? Answer that, and then you can start to figure out where you should start. Remember that Europe is a huge places with too many places/things to see. You can never see it all. Consider this your first trip to Europe, not your only one, so pick a region as your starting point so you can chip away at it.

Pick up a copy of Rick's books - start with the classic "Europe Through the Back Door". It'll help you start getting your head around the whole thing. Watch some of his shows - especially the "travel skills" shows that run regularly on PBS - they're great to give you a feel for what you'll want to learn.

Give it some time. I think many people make a big mistake of starting to plan an itinerary with little understanding of the practicalities. Investing some of your time early on - before you nail down a detailed plan - will yield lots of benefits when you get there.

Hope that helps.

ck,

Your profile doesn't indicate where you're located, and it would help to know where you're flying from. Also what kind of a budget are you working with, and how long would this trip be? Do you have a preference for countries you want to visit?

As someone else suggested, if this is your first trip to Europe, I would also recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. After that use the city or country specific RS guidebooks to plan in more detail.

As someone else suggested, if you're on a tight budget that would probably rule out Switzerland. Depending on which currency you have at home, that may also be true of the U.K. Some of the countries you could look at are......

• France
• Spain
• Portugal (probably a bit cheaper than the others)
• Italy
• Germany
• Austria
• Czech Republic
• Hungary

There are others but this may provide a few ideas.

If you're planning to stay in Hostels, you might consider getting a membership with HI Hostels as they have properties all over Europe. For travel in August, I would highly recommend pre-booking your accommodations. For Hostel stays, you'll need to pack a towel, flip-flops, soap and a small but good quality Padlock (for lockers). DO NOT use the cheap TSA luggage locks!

For travel this August, you'll need to get cracking and get some plans in place soon, as it will be hot and crowded.

FFS, David...does correct terminology really matter that much - "backpacking", "flashpacking", "budget traveling", "touring"??? Anyone with half a brain that's on a travel board knows what a college student really means when they say "backpacking in Europe". And while it is a little less expensive and the weather extremes easier to deal with in shoulder season, no college student is going to be able to take you up on your advice and travel in your preferred months of May (when they likely have final exams) or September (when they have to go back to school). Ckubes clearly states he/she only has August or a winter break to travel.

In answer to the OP, if you can swing the pricier airfares that come with summer travel and you can handle sleeping in a hostel or budget hotel that will likely not have any A/C, then go for it. I'd just say take into account that many European families will be on holiday in August so in certain countries, you'll see bigger crowds and higher prices in certain parts of the country. I lived and worked in Italy years ago (including a stint at a hotel on the coast). The Italians were all headed to the beaches in August - and August 15th is a big holiday so that week in particular was always crowded and prices for everything went up. But head inland or to the big cities and you're just dealing with some local businesses that close down in August when owners and staff go on holiday. The crowds you encounter are mostly other tourists, but most of the major tourist sites you'd want to see as a first timer would be open, and you can sometimes snag a good bargain. I got a fantastic rate on a hotel room in Paris one August at a fraction of what it would normally cost me - but as a tradeoff, I had to avoid going anywhere near the French Riviera because it was just going to be too crowded and too costly to secure lodging there in the peak of Summer.

As a student, I'd say do something like get yourself an open jaw ticket (fly into one city and out of another - will seem more expensive, but saves you from wasting time or money on backtracking to your original point of entry), and then select an area where you can take very short train rides in between your overnight stops. Base yourself in one city, explore that city and do 1 or 2 day trips from them before you move on to the next city. Example: Fly into Paris, explore city for 5 days, spend another 2 days in Paris but do day trips (ex. Versailles, Rouen), train it to Belgium and base yourself in Ghent or Antwerp, explore for a couple days and take several days trips (ex. Bruges, Brussels), train to Netherlands - Amsterdam lodging can be a little pricey, so consider basing in Utrecht or Haarlem and taking the local commuter train to Amsterdam for several days. Explore other cities in the Netherlands as day trips (Rotterdam, The Hague, Delft). If you spend a week in each country, and keep your countries adjoining and within a reasonable distance of each other, you will actually feel like you've really seen something and you won't be spending all your time in transit. Many college students want to "see it all" in a single trip and end up seeing not much more than the inside of a bunch of train stations - or they pick far flung destinations and wonder why it's so expensive to get from Point A to Point B. Do yourself a favor and estimate 1 country = 1 week. So if you have the entire month of August, then shoot for 3 to 4 countries max. Expect to go back in years to come after you finish school - and then you can take advantage of things like shoulder season pricing.

I would be too hot in Spain in August, except perhaps in the Basque region. I have traveled a few times now in France, and have been surprised how relatively inexpensive it is, especially outside of Paris. I agree with trying countries like Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, maybe the Baltic countries. The cities like Prague and Budapest are likely to be busy and more expensive in August but everything is relative. Last January I took my two college aged daughters to Europe for a month and we had a lovely time. We did Barcelona and the surrounding area, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, multiple cities in Switzerland and Paris. The weather was perfect in Catalunya. I picked Switzerland because I preferred snow and cold over rain and cold. That strategy worked except that Switzerland is VERY expensive. We also caught Munich and Salzburg in quite a snowstorm which is somewhat unusual and was quite pretty. Paris was sunny and high 30s, which we didn't mind. I am now planning a trip to southern Spain for November. The weather should be mid to high 60s which I find very pleasant for travel and sight seeing. I am finding accommodations to be EXTREMELY inexpensive and I'm looking at "quaint" 3 star type inns from Rick Steves guide and recommendations from this forum. Given, you don't like to be cold, if you wanted to try winter travel that is inexpensive, I think Spain is your place.

On this side of the pond to go ' backpacking' has always ment what the OP has said, hostels and cheap travel. Well it certainly was when I was a student 20 years ago! Definitely no implications of camping.....

I have never thought that backpacking through Europe meant you had to carry a tent and stove. No one thinks that. It means going from city to city on the trains or bus, staying in hostels, wearing a back pack. Even on the Camino routes that people are backpacking through, you don't bring a tent or stove, just your clothing and a sleeping bag.

Places up north or east are good. Berlin has about 100 hostels and is one of the cheapest capitals in Europe. Add in Hamburg, maybe some smaller towns, then head over to Poland perhaps?

Your initial flight and location are a big factor. If, for example, you can get a good deal flying into London then that could be a good choice for onward travel. Whilst London can be very expensive it doesn't have to be, you can eat quite inexpensively, public transport is excellent and very reasonable, cheap hostel lodging can be found, plenty of free museums etc. The other big benefit is the choice of flights to other destinations in Europe. Ryanair in particular offers a wealth of flights from Stansted, many of which can be had for a one way fare of £9.99 (you might pay extra for baggage if you're over the allowance) during their sales.

I would fly with them more often but Stansted is a bit of a pain to get to for us but if you're based in or around London then it's fine.

Oh and backpacking certainly doesn't mean camping to us in the UK, it means exactly what you intend to do, travelling around on a budget with all your belongings in a rucksack (backpack).

This is all great information! I think the open jaw ticket is a must so thank you for that. I don't know too much about eastern Europe, so thank you all for the input. While I was more focused on the western side, after reading some of the comments I think that exploring the east would be fantastic. After all, I am going for the spontaneity of traveling to a foreign land.

I also considered maybe staying in the UK area or making my way down to Paris. I know those are more expensive places, but I assume if I did the research and planned accordingly I could budget fairly well. If anyone has anything to say about a 3 week itinerary in and around the UK (still in August), i'd love to hear.

Just to clear it up, I am wanting to travel to Europe for an abundance of reasons. I want to experience new cultures (I am from Texas). I want to interact with the locals. I want to see the beautiful architecture and other arts. I wouldnt mind visiting a nice beach. I really just want to soak up as much as I can about any and everything this part of the world has to offer. Obviously I cannot do this on a 3 week trip, which is why I dont really care where I start. While I am obsessed with Rome and Athens (would be my first choice), I am just looking for the best place/s to travel given my time availability (August or January/December). Also, Ill probably end up doing both if I find a good place for the winter (again I'm from Texas - not used to freezing).

On another note: I am not too concerned about the budget, Ive looked at plane tickets to/from many of the major cities (London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Athens) and they are doable with a living budget of around $2,000 for 3 weeks (meaning excluding the airfare). So if I took the price of a Eurail Pass out of that, I'd have around $80/day to spend. (I'd spend as little of that as possible).

Wait! Do your planning BEFORE you commit to buying a Eurailpass !! Can be a good thing, but not the no-brainer it was in the distant pass, and sometimes/often an expensive error. You spoke about "spontaneity" -- well, it has its costs, and one is the tradeoff between booked-far-in-advance trains and planes (non-changeable but cheap) versus day-of-travel decisions at full fare or committing to a $$$ pass which requires additional $$ reservations for many locations. Not saying don't do it, just know your alternatives.

Its not a big deal, but I agree with David about the term backpacking as it is commonly used in my world, and my brain is intact. Yes, I know what is meant because of the context in which we are discussing it, but its still a valid point.

No time of year is a bad time to go to Europe; some times are just better than others. Your own schedule should determine this.

These are places I've successfully used as escapes from mid-summer heat. Fluky things can always happen where weather is concerned, but I'd be willing to return to these places in mid-summer:

• England and Wales (rest of UK normally also fine). Rare heat waves do occur, unfortunately, but I believe the west coast tends to be cooler and wetter than London and the east. Coastal areas and London can be rather pricey in mid-summer, though.

• Normandy and Brittany in France.

• The stretch of northern Spain between the Basque Country and Galicia. At altitude in the Pyrenees would also be fine.

• At altitude in the Dolomites in Italy. Much cheaper than the Swiss Alps.

I don't say that those are the only good summer destinations or that they are the best. They're just the ones with which I have had recent experience.

As already noted, a railpass may not be the way to go. I don't plan my transportation legs more than a few days ahead umless I need to fly (which I rarely do), and I have managed to work around last-minute train fare spikes by choosing a different train, substituting a bus, etc. If you take advantage of the cost savings often available when you visit smaller cities (which I think feel more foreign than the huge cities), rather than hopping from capital to capital, you spend less time on trains and substantially reduce your transportation expense. Sometimes buses take a more direct route than trains and are faster. This is particularly true in eastern Europe.