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First time going to Europe

Hello to everyone , my name is Oscar and I will be backpacking europe with my wife nuala we have two 15 days in 2 months global eurail pass and a budget of 6,000 $ our plan is to backpack europe for at least 6 weeks but would like to make it 2 months, i have been checking sites such as venere.com and hotels-n-europe.com with reasonable prices for hotels or affordable prices ranging from 50-70 $ per night, we plan on saving some money by taking the night trains, these are the countries we plan on traveling: Germany, Spain,Italy, France,Greece,Poland,Check republic, Hungary and holland (maybe Ireland my wife has family there). I will be staying with family in spain for a week so that should save some money, anyone can suggest anything since is my first time traveling and recommend any cities or tips within these countries? I will greatly appreciated
ps. I also saw this site called couchsurfing i dunno if this is good for a couppe we're both young, anyways thanks for all!

Posted by
6660 posts

You shouldn't need to couchsurf, or sleep on trains, which usually results in very little sleep. There are B&B's within your budget that include breakfast in Germany and Austria HERE: http://www.bensbauernhof.com/accommodations.html Apartments are also a good way to save money since you'll have a kitchen where Nuala can whip you up a full Irish breakfast: http://www.accommodation.de/ We stayed in this apartment in Neustadt-an-der-Aisch (Bavaria) a few years ago - less than $50/night with good rail access to Rothenburg, Nuremberg, Würzburg, and Bamberg: http://www.accommodation.de/48003.htm

Posted by
32213 posts

Oscar, As this is your first time travelling in Europe, my first suggestion would be to read the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door before you get too far in your planning. It will provide a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe. For planning sightseeing in each of the countries you mentioned, use country-specific Guidebooks. They have lots of good information on budget Hotels, Hostels, restaurants, transportation, etc. One important question - WHEN are you planning on taking this trip? I agree with the previous post that sleeping on trains is not necessarily the best idea, and probably won't save any money. To begin with, some trains have multiple changes during the night, so you WON'T get much sleep. If you rent a Couchette or Sleeper, the cost will likely be as much as a budget Hotel. Be sure that you're both wearing Moneybelts during your trip (Barcelona especially has somewhat of a "reputation" for pickpockets, but they operate in other countries as well). Could you clarify whether your budget of $6000 is for both of you? Does that include the cost for airfare and Railpasses? I suspect it will be difficult for two people to travel on that amount for two months, as that's only about €4185 (or about €70 per day). Good luck with your planning!

Posted by
6 posts

Hello guys thanks so much for replying and I will be leaving on july 18 arriving july 19, i guess im not thinking of getting a money belt just, for some odd reason i was thinking of wearing sorts with pockets under my pants, very thin swimmig like shorts and put my jeans or whatever over it, and then have a clipped wallet for spare cash for like food and things like that, and 6,000$ not including airfare and trains which have already been paid for. except for the way back since i didnt know how long i was gonna stay, but i've seen some good deals for about 400$ one way per person, so i guess my real budget is about 5000$ for two months, and i thought it was possible seeing as I will be staying with some family members to save up some cash and i have sen descent hotels in europe for about 50$ a night. I don't know maybe is too limited, but it is possible? Thanks guys so much for everything

Posted by
11507 posts

Well , unfortunately you have left some planning a bit late, there are hostels that are well within your budget, and have couples rooms,, but they often book up early.. still you can look.
Staying outside of touristy centres will help with your budget too, just make sure the options for commuting into the centers are convenient,, like in Paris stay near a metro station pretty well anywhere and you can be linked to anywhere else quite easily.

Posted by
19099 posts

Before you use a commercial website like Venere.com, see what you can find from a town's own website. In Germany, it's usually www.town.de. Many will have an English side. If not, look for "Unkunft" or "Übernachten". I can't speak for other countries, but using this method, I calculated I've saved about a third vs commercial sites. In the last six years, 52 nights, outside cities, I've avaraged €28 a night. BTW, for Germany, at least, I find Booking.com to be the best site. Venere seems a little "spotty" in Germany.