My trip in September...do you think it's crazy to?

Not crazy at all. Lots of people do it especially at that time of year.

You are going to be traveling in the same manner as we do. Have a hotel reservation where you land and where you leave from. Then fill in the inbetween as you wish. As you move to a new city you can show up a hotel and ask if they have room for you. Most likely they will or will know whre you can find a room. An alternative method is to find the Tourist Information office. Their help is immeasureable. If you plan to stay a few days in one place buy your next leg ticket at least seventy-two hours before you use it. We would buy our ticket when we got off the train. Traveling this way will be a joy. You'll get to meet people you otherwise wouldn't. Be loose. Its not crazy. Get some good guidebooks. The maps in Rough Guides and Lonely Planet are best.

The only thing I'd take into consideration is that you are traveling north as the days are getting shorter.

Hey guys thanks for your input. Like I said still in the early planning stages. Have ordered some books from Amazon & shall start my research. Thanks for your thoughts. Hope your all well.

Not only will the days be getting shorter as you travel north, it will be getting much colder, too. You need to plan for both. My first trip to Scandinavia, I arrived in Oslo after dark. I got up bright and early the next morning to see everything I could, saw the sun and figured it was in the east. Wrong! It was in the south. That was in October. My husband and I arrived in Iceland on September 5th a few years back. That was the very day there was a big celebration saying goodbye to the sun, and it was bitter cold. Even with those experiences, I still have to remind myself that NYC is on the same latitude as Madrid. You will have a great time going with the flow so long as you are warm and dry enough, have enough money for those very expensive countries and are content with the days getting shorter.

What Frank said; it's the time of year I love to travel and the type of travel I prefer. The only time I've even worried about going homeless was on opening day of Oktoberfest in Munich - maybe a good idea to have reservations there - but with a little work, I still found a decent Pension at the normal price.

Definitely NOT crazy...go for it, you'll be glad you did. For me personally, Sept/Oct is the best time of year to travel in Europe, and you should have absolutely no problems finding accommodations. Get Rick's book Europe Through the Back Door, and read it cover to cover. It will give you all the tools/tips you need to have a fabulous European experience. Any specific questions you have you can post here, as the regulars who respond to questions have a wealth of advice and knowledge that is unparalleled ...

That can be done. The wife and I used to travel that way all the time before the kids came along. In fact, we wouldn't even book the first night's hotel. We used the tourist offices at the train stations to find rooms in the price range we wanted. The hotels were often within walking distance. We generally went in the months of October through January. That is more off-season than what you are planning. And we had Eurail passes then. I don't think they are much of a bargain these days.

The best trip I took in my life was unplanned to Europe beyond entry and exit (London). Me and a buddy went where the wind blew us for two months. We always found lodging though the tourist offices at the train stations. And that was peak tourist season. The time of the year you are traveling you'll have no problems finding lodging, so you can go where you wish on a whim. Pack lightly, but for warmth, and go for it.

Hi, Good that you're looking at Poland, Finland, and Germany as parts of the itinerary. On the hotels the only problem in Germany is that certain cities have trade fairs in Sept. in which case the hotel rates jump and less availability. If you are thinking about Eurail Global Pass, Poland isn't included. Train tickets in Poland are quite inexpensive. You have ferry lines connecting Germany-Norway, Ger-Finland, Poland-Sweden, Sweden-Finland. You might want to include them in the planning. What's crazy about a month long trip to those countries you listed?

I enjoy planning my travel as I go along--without reservations. But with the internet, it'd be nice to have a notebook or laptop with you to make your next day's reservations. It's just so much easier and efficient to use a WIFI connection than knocking on doors looking for accommodations.