Hi just needing help. We are planning a trip to Ireland 🇮🇪 Scotland then down to London. After London we are thinking of going to Paris over to Spain Portugal Madrid Barcelona over to Italy Florence Lucca Sein
Milan Bolga Verona Venice Solvenia then to Rome
We have 73 days commencing on the 19th April
In Ireland we are hiring a car .Accommadation will be hostels are thses ok ? Safe etc
What time frames is reasonable for each place to visit ie Ireland Scotland etc
We are looking at rail thru Europe or car hire
Many thanks it’s quite confusing
Posted by
St. Louis metro area
147 posts
I just want to assure you that hostels in Europe are quite safe. In my first trip to Europe, 2016, I encountered a wide range of satisfaction with them, but that would also be true if I had stayed in luxury hotels. Do lock up any valuables in the hostels; although I didn't experience or hear of any thefts, it's possible. Most hostels require you to bring your own padlock, but almost all will have some type of locker for valuables, usually not big enough for your whole piece of luggage.
You can look up my previous posts to see the trip report of my first trip. I'm about to embark on the second one, leaving Apr. 17 and spending 91 nights on the ground. Maybe I'll see you in a hostel!
From the first trip, I can highly recommend two hostels: In Venice, the Venice Generator (Generator is a chain) was great overall, right across a canal from St. Mark's (see more in the trip report). The best hostel of the trip was in Florence, try the Archi Rossi. I didn't see that on hostelworld.com (the website you want to use, especially to read the reviews, you can book direct if it makes you more comfortable) just now, but they might just be booked for the fake dates I put in. The other hostels I stayed in either I wouldn't recommend, or they weren't on your list of cities.
This time around, I found hostelworld to be a little more expensive than another platform I use, hotels.com, but I still used hostelworld extensively to read the reviews.
One other unsolicited comment is that most places in Europe don't require a car, and a car would be quite a nuisance. (Ireland is an exception though since it might be the only way to see what you want to see there.) I find trains wonderfully relaxing and you can read, daydream, plan, eat, drink, sometimes surf the 'net, and occasionally find someone to talk to.
Posted by
3123 posts
I've also stayed in hostels, but with mixed results. In some cases, fine. Others, uncomfortable beds, excessive noise (groups of kids partying until all hours), lack of privacy. YMMV.
I agree with the advice to rent a car only in Ireland or possibly also Scotland. The rest of the places you plan to visit should be much more convenient with public transportation.
Even with 73 days, you've got a whirlwind itinerary. In addition to time in transit, you're going to be spending a lot of money on transportation (although an all-inclusive rail pass such as Rail Europe will help, as you mentioned). Do you want to spend more time being in Europe, or sitting on trains and buses? I encourage you to evaluate the list and identify your top priority destinations.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7988 posts
Anymore, when people say hostel, are you speaking of staying in a dorm type room, with 5 to 12 other people? or are you looking at having a private room for the two(?) of you?
Hostels are cheap for dorm style accommodation, or if you are in need of a family type room for 4-6 to sleep, but if only two, take a look on a site like booking.com. Small basic hotels can be as cheap as the hostels and offer more privacy and better amenities.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thanks everyone for your feedback xxx