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Backpacking Europe Possibilities

Posted by (Gresham, Oregon, USA) on

I'm wanting to know, from anyone's experience or knowledge, if it is at all possible to travel around Europe (A party of 2) using primarily local transportation and walking? My brother and I are planning a trip, over an unset period of time (we think a year minimum). We're wanting it to be frugal when it comes to travel, so I would like to know how pricing goes for trains, buses, etc., if anyone happens to know.

We've been working out destinations, supplies, and gear for about a year now. We're both carrying Gregory's (A Baltoro 70, at 4,200 cubic inches; and a Jade 50, at 3,000 Cubic inches).

Our trip's outline, roughly, is work our way from northern Europe to the Mediterranean, East along the sea towards Turkey.

Now keep in mind that there is no rush to get to our destination, we have contacts for places to stay in most of Europe. Would it be possible to travel from our starting location(northern Europe) to our destination(Turkey) along the route we've roughly drawn out, cheaply?

Any and all help and information is a great asset to our journey. Thanks and God Bless!

-Brandon

Posted by
16004 posts

Just remember, most of Western Eruope is part of the Schengen agreement which allows Americans to stay for 90 days during a 180 day period.

Posted by
6917 posts

You should probably consider a "middle-ground" approach. Look into some of the established long-distance hiking/walking trails that lie near your planned route - then figure how to get from the end of one walk to the start of your next walk inexpensively.

The Westweg through the Black Forest is one of the longer ones at 260 km and may interest you:
www.walk-in-europe.com/germany/black-forest/index.html

Posted by
638 posts

Besides the amount of time you plan on staying that others have touched on, your question is it possible to travel around using local transportation and walking. I pose a question to you. You live in Oregon, now picture you and your brother riding local buses, trollies etc and walking to Miami Florida, yes you could probably do it, but is it feasible?

Posted by
2 posts

Well we strive for things that wouldn't appear to be feasible. :)

God willing we'll work through it, but your information has given me a lot to research on and plan through. If anything it will help solidify a path I can follow. Cheers!

Posted by
12040 posts

For this method of travel, you may run into some problems in the Balkans. Although the trend in most of Europe is interconnection and open borders, this is not the case here amongst the ex-Yugoslav states (and Albania). You may find it less problematic to stick with the EU/Schengen members, and go the long way through Romania and Bulgaria.

Posted by
12040 posts

Oops, correction- Bulgaria and Romania have not implemented the Schengen agreement yet. But it's still probably easier to find connections through here than through the western Balkans.

Posted by
12313 posts

You're carrying too much. Get it down to just one bag. You only need a couple of changes of clothes.

You will probably prefer busses because they are cheaper but be sure to check availability of Laender or Schoenes Wochende rates for train travel.

Some areas of Europe lend themselves naturally to hiking Alps, Dolomites, Moors/Cotswolds, others don't.

Make sure all your visas are in order before you start. Many places are visa waiver countries but not all, check and don't leave home without all your paperwork done - you can't do it when you arrive in a country and you won't have the ability to mail your passport to get a visa and wait for it to return.

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