College Eurotrip

Good for you guys!
I will stick to my strengths and focus on Spain. Note: our daughter studied in spain last year and also has input on these comments.

Ibiza - expensive party locale and she much preferred the beaches offered by Barcelona and Stiges. Overall she found a greater mix if things to do in Barcelona which offered enough of a party element to sate her needs. Recommendation: skip Ibiza

Seville - loved seville and the old spanish culture. Recommends three nights. Highly recommends stopping in Cordoba for a day trip especially if you do not get to Granada.

Madrid - super large city w a small tourist zone tucked inside. Not a party town, but a place to visit great museums. Good place to do some day trips to toledo and surrounding areas.suggests two nights

Barcelona - huge menu of opportunities. So much to do with so many places to visit in and out of the city. Most youthful place of all of Spain. Recommends minimum five nights.

Enjoy your journey.

Looks great to me! Don't overlook small towns though. Nightlife in small towns can be fun becuase people are more approachable and food and drinks are cheaper. Cities are great for seeing the sights, but getting off the beaten path is really rewarding. If you haven't yet, I'd watch Rick's YouTube videos. Start with this one: https://shar.es/1vPQoW

I've only found rail passes worth it a couple of times, most of the time I buy plane tickets because it's so much cheaper and faster. Trains are great connecting more remote locations or especially scenic rides. Also don't forget the bus! The bus can be cheap and convenient too.

From my experience traveling when I was in school is that my friends tend to go broke and rack up mammoth credit card balances over there. I highly recommend overestimating what you think you'll spend and set aside an extra $1,000 each for contingencies.

Good luck and have fun planning!

Young bohemians would do good to visit Prague, Munich, Budapest and Amsterdam over most of the cities listed above. Train tickets are usually bought now from place to place.

I agree with the previous poster...Prague and Budapest are great for younger people on a budget, especially Prague. Lots of nightlife, beer for $1, and so much to see and do. Budapest is also inexpensive and very lively after dark especially around Elizabeth Square.
Amsterdam is also fantastic but a little more expensive than the other two. You will find that the prices in Italy are relatively cheaper as well, depending on where you are.

I'll throw Berlin into the mix as well. Not nearly as pricey as Amsterdam.

Hi,

If all of you are 25 and under, get the Youth Pass, 2nd class.

In Italy

• Go to Vernazza (the Cinque Terre) for the natural beauty and hiking, not necessarily the nightlife. Certainly there is a casual bar scene, but not like the big citiies.

• Roma -- absolutely fabulous (though I am biased) and I'd say minimum 4 nights, 5 is better. Plan your time so you get SOME daylight hours (not all partying, eh?) to see the ancient sites. Assuming this will be summer time, there are many things to do at night, both social/nightlife as well as special evening programs and tours.

• Naples -- Skip it. It is off your path a bit and I think you would do well to spend your time in other cities.

You do not mention Venezia. Everyone should see it. 3 nights would be nice.

I will second Vernazza. There are 2 cool bars there, Blue Marlin, located near the train station. This is where you start. When they close, everyone heads down to the harbor (2 minute walk) to the only open bar. Don't remember the name, I believe it is just called Bar, but you can't miss it!

Unless you really want to go to Pompeii or Herculaneum, I would skip Naples and add Venice. Can't address Spain, but in Italy consider Rome, Venice, and Cinque Terra or Florence -- not both. In France Paris is (imo) a must -- one can easily spend a week there and not repeat anything. Just remember, it almost always takes longer to go from one place to another (hotel to hotel) than you anticipate. Better to do a few places well than a lot of places in a blur.

My 25 yr old son has traveled quite a bit in Europe and loved everywhere he's been but his top favorites are: Paris, Ibiza, Berlin.

Before buying a rail pass, check out budget airlines for long trips. It will take less time than long train rides, and is usually much cheaper. Skyscanner.com is a good source. However, be aware that to get the cheapest air tickets you need to buy well in advance – the prices go up as your departure date gets closer.

Also, take a look at whether individual train tickets bought in advance would be cheaper than a rail pass – that's often the case.

But keep in mind that the cheapest advance-purchase tickets cannot be changed or traded in.

Ibiza can be a very pricey location to party. You'd also need to purchase a ticket to fly there, or else spend a lot of your limited time on a ferry to get over there. Scratch it from your itinerary and get your nightlife fix in Barcelona, or in Italy you could go someplace like Rimini if you want beach town with nightlife (Vernazza, while nice, is not someplace that is really hopping after the sun goes down). In Italy, I would also scratch Naples - replace it with Venice or Florence (Rimini is not far from either of those - and it is a beach that has actual sand vs. a whole lot of rocks like the beaches in Nice or Vernazza).

The major cities you listed have plenty of culture and sights - I just don't know that I would include time at the beach in every single country I was visiting. If it is a first trip to Europe for you or any of your friends, I'd actually skip Nice in favor of training it from Paris to either London or Amsterdam and spend those 4 days there as both offer great culture and nightlife. You can find lots of budget and hostel lodging in either city if you book in advance and there are ways to keeps costs low (many of London's sights are free admission, and there are tons of places to eat cheaply in both cities). Berlin, too, is good for culture and nightlife.

Once you finalize the places you definitely want to travel, then you should look into what is more cost-effective - trains or planes. Sometimes a multi-country train pass is not the most cost-effective way of getting around - in some instances, point-to-point train tickets might even save you more money. And if you are flying, don't forget to pay attention to where the cheap airlines are actually flying you. Example: Are you flying into Paris CDG or are you getting flown to Beauvais? The extra money and time you have to factor in to get into the city proper from some secondary airports (in some instances) may not be worth the cheap flight.

Hello Rayna. I agree with David's suggestions. I recommend : go to Prague and Budapest and Munich, with day trips (via bus or train) from each city. Ride in railroad trains between those cities. I guess a rail pass would not be helpful for minimizing transportation costs if you go to those cities. I think going to those three cities (with day trips from each city) would be very satisfactory. You said you want to have fun, and see cool/hip cities. I think the cities Naples and Rome and Nice are not fun or hip. If you and the people in your travel group insist on going to countries that you mentioned, I recommend going to two of those countries : go to either France and Spain, or France and Italy. I think travel to Paris and Barcelona and Rome in one trip would be expensive for transportation.

First, if you're doing Italy and are the least bit interested in art and sculpture I'd suggest Florence. Second, a Eurail pass will allow you to do easy day trips from any of the major cities you've listed (e.g., Pisa and Venice are a short train ride from Florence; Brugges, Strasburg, Colmar are only a couple hours from Paris, etc.)

Some of our most treasured memories are from train travel in Europe when we were young and poor back in the 70s/80s, versus seeing and spending a lot of time inside airports waiting to clear customs/security/etc. You can party with your friends while traveling on the train vs. sitting in cramped airplanes plus you'll be able to see the countryside as you go and can save on rooms if you plan it right with overnight trains. We spent three weeks in Stuttgart on a business trip once with a Eurail pass and did day trips to lots of very close places every weekend and even some weekday nights. Passes were cheaper then but our expendable cash was a lot smaller too.

Even if you decide to fly in between, doing a high speed train in Europe is a must do experience, if only to appreciate how much better trains are over there compared to here in the US (I once spent 34 hours on a train getting from Colorado Springs to Chicago in the military).

So you need to choose 5 or 6 out of the 10 destinations you listed? I would cut one whole country, and based on your list, it would be Italy. I also think you could skip Biarritz and focus your beach time at Nice and many smaller French Riviera towns that are easy to reach by train or bus. A 2-country pass such as the France-Spain pass will be cheaper than the Selectpass, but some flights in the mix will still save you time. So check flights for your longer distances (www.skyscanner.com), then calculate how many days of train travel are still left.

Thanks so much for all of your help! We have narrowed it down and will post our next itinerary! Amazing feedback which helped us plan as a group! Rayna

Thoughts on your ideas:

Spain: Ibiza is a party place but you can't get there with a rail pass - so it will require additional travel expenses. Madrid is supposed to be a good party town, otherwise I didn't think much of the lodging or food. Barcelona, certainly a place I'd include; it's expensive like Madrid but much more worthwhile IMO. Seville, is a good city. It can be extremely hot in the summer, but that should be good for nightlife.

France: I have yet to travel in France so I can't give you first-hand opinions.

Italy: Naples is a dump, not sure about it's nightlife. Rome is great, lots to see and plenty of nightlife. Vernazza is a good place to relax and hike during the day; the beaches aren't great and they roll up the sidewalks after dinner.

I think you should consider Greece for summer parties and catching up on your sleep at the beach. You can travel by ferry and hopefully find cheap lodging.

Other great nightlife cities are Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Naples is not a dump.

I have followed parties across Europe in summer many years ago in my youth.
I would suggest ... Berlin >> Amsterdam >> Paris >> Biarritz + San Sebastian >> Madrid >> Barcelona