Looking for a travel partner for 37 day Europe Trip (Sept 27-Nov 3, 2016) 20+ Countries

I plan for this to be a very efficient from place to place trip to see
as much as I can in as little time as I can to make the most out of my
time and money during the off-seasons

James, best of luck finding a travel partner but, and I mean this respectfully, your itinerary is insane. You won't 'see' much of anything but stations and what's out the window of the trains, and will miss so much of what these countries/cities have to offer. Subtracting travel time, what do you plan to try and do with less than 1 day in Brussels, Florence, Prague, Zurich, etc? And without accommodations pre-booked, how much of what very little time you have will be spent running around trying to find a place to sleep every day? No time to meet people; no time to just kick back and explore; no time for stuff not to go according to plan…and unexpected wrenches can definitely be thrown into the plan

I applaud the idea of the free-wheeling trip but it can take a little time to acclimate to a different country/city/language/currency/etc. It takes time to get your head around the culture. Seeing Europe is more than running madly around snapping a few pictures and moving on. We've spent 21 days at a time just in Italy - and that was just one of a couple of trips there - and feel like we've just scratched the surface.

Consider cutting your list waaaaay back….???

PS: the Hilton is not really a place to do laundry; I doubt any even have guest laundries. Find the nearest coin laundries to your hostels.

Include the night train option and the ferry links for Poland , Sweden, Germany, Norway, In east central Europe the night trains run connecting Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna, Krakow, Prague, Berlin. For some places Romania, Slovakia, etc buses run more often. I would suggest also two bus links...berlinlinienbus and flixbus., which includes taking night buses. Both are German companies with an extensive bus network.. Your plan would be better if you added another 2 full weeks.

Some people can't afford to take there time as much as I wish I had the money to "take my time" everywhere I don't. I'm lucky to just have 1 day in these spots. Also I could care less about nightlife or socializing. I just want to enjoy as much scenery in as little time as possible.

And even doing this for this many days I will most likely still be making up for it for 3 months once back home. If I was to stay another 2 weeks theres no way I would be able to pay the bills from the trip. I am unable to afford to go to Europe whenever I want...I have never been and this is the only way I can see as much of Europe as possible.

I don't mind being on the tram 50% of my trip...I already know this is what I will be doing. I went to central america and colombia, south america and did this same thing to save time...and trust me I am certain that Europe will be more efficient and reliable transportation than central america...I am not worried about getting behind I always make backup plans. If you can keep a schedule in central america...you can keep a schedule anywhere.

In less than 2 weeks in Central America/Mexico...I was able to see:
Chichen Itza, Tulum, Cancun and Coba In Mexico
Tikal, Lake Atitlan, Antigua & I flew into Guatemala City, Guatemala
Belize City in Belize (Only place I never have any desire to return to)
Copan, Honduras
El Salvador City
Granada, Mambacho Volcano & Isle of Ometepe, both volcanoes on the Island of Nicaragua.
Monte Negro & Manuael Antonio, Costa Rica before flying out of San Jose.

While this trip was rushed and half my time was on a bus...I was able to still see so much in so little time.
When I was in colombia, south america for 7 days I saw, El Penol, a distance small city Guane, Barichara, The Salt Mines, several places in Medellin & Bogata....I met a couple of foreigners at 2 of the caverns I went to in San Gil, and they told me that in 7 days I had done more than they had in 2 years that they had lived in colombia.

I spent a year of my life in prison for something I didn't do...And it either brakes you or wakes you up with an intense passion. The point is Life is short, some people are not rich and im lucky to be able to to do what I have done and what I will get to do and I just have to make the most of what little time and money I have. As you don't know what tomorrow holds.

I also have the even more insane idea of once arriving in dublin at 7 am, flying to athens, with a few hour layover in warsaw, poland, arriving in athens at 11pm on the 29th then on the 30th fly to cairo egypt 11:50pm landing at 2 am in egypt, see the pyramids on the 30th, then on the 1st of oct. at 7 am fly to amman jordan and see petra, and then fly out to oslo at 4:30 am landing at lunch time on the 2nd. from there to mainland europe, this would be absolute insane and a gamble that no flights would be delayed. But if the gambled paid off It would be worth it as I might not ever have another chance to see the pyramids or petra and athens as well as they were not part of my current plan and doing this would only cost me around 4 days of my trip and seing the pyramids, athens, and petra is well worth 4 days of a 38 day trip.

Pretty much 3 world wonders in 1/2 a week also would delay the start of my eurail pass which is only 30 days anyways so I believe this is actually a valid option if I just limited norway to seing 1 fjord from bergen to oslo and then just went straight to stockholm and down to mainland. Either genius or insanity. No imbetween.

Hi,

To get max flexibility, ie, not lock yourself in time wise to a specfic train & dep.time, take the bus in central Europe along with trains. The bus in European travel is not like an experience with Greyhound., way more comfortable... much cheaper tickets riding with the bus. Some bus stations are located next to the main train station, some are down the street. How far north are going in Norway and Sweden? Good opportunities for using the night train option. Esp, with a train pass.

Ill be paying $1000 just for a eurail pass for a month so ill be mostly using that when in Europe when I can, Oslo will most likely be as far north as I will go unless I somehow have time to see the Geiranger fjord which I doubt, most likely just time for the flam one.

I may have to use buses to see a few places in Germany like The Black Forest & Eagles Nest/Berchtesgaden..I am not sure. I am hoping when I am near Luxembourg I can get to the Black Forest quickly and the same when I am near Munich to get to Berchtesgaden quickly as well.

Hi,

From Oslo then where? If Germany, then you can go Oslo-Kiel by ferry, one of the ferry links between Germany and Scandinavia.

Dublin > Jordan (Petra) > Greece > Egypt (Pyramids) > Norway > Sweden > Denmark > Netherlands > Belgium > Luxembourg > Germany > Austria > Hungary > Romania > Italy > Switzerland > Spain > Portugal > France > England > Scotland > Ireland

Keep the bus option open when visiting Germany, Austria. In Austria there is also Westbahn , a great train company, which offers cheaper fares, max flexibility since you can buy the ticket on board, if you rather not use the Eurail on a particular ride. Westbahn does accept the Eurail Passes, they did not originally. If you have night train rides planned in central and east central Europe, that's the cheapest way to go with a Eurail, getting the max out of your Pass, if you don't get a sleeper or couchette, both of which have extra charges (pricey). You just sleep upright, at your age it should be no problem, I'm more than twice your age and it's still no problem.. Get a print out of night routes on CNL on DB.com ...see how many can fit into your itinerary.

Yes I plan on using alot of night trams but I hear in Spain France its really pricey even with the pass?

I agree with Kathy, this is too much. You are 29, not 89. You will most likely have plenty of opportunity in your life to go back if you want to. I'm retired, live on a pension and a seasonal job in the winter, and I still manage to go to Europe about once a year because that is a priority for me. Rail passes today are not like the rail passes when I was in college, when you could just hop on any train and go. You usually have to have a reservation, with additional fees, and not every train works with the pass. They are rarely good deals, moneywise.

Every time you change location, you will lose half to a whole day of your trip just in travel time and associated tasks. You'll be spending a lot of money to get to places you won't have time to see. And as a first-time traveler to Europe, you can't really imagine the fatigue of constantly travelling and changing places for that long. But it's your trip, not mine. Good luck.

@ jamesajones....With the rail Pass you can hop on trains in Austria and Germany, no mandatory reservations, whether you can get a seat depends, you either stand or move to the next coach. You see people standing/sitting against the wall of the WC or somewhere there but you're on board. In Poland the long distance trains the reservations are mandatory. Think of it this way : if you're riding domestically and a reservation is required/mandatory, it costs as much as a beer or two.

Taking the night train can be pricey if the accommodations are only a couchette or a sleeper, ie no compartments or a general sitting area. At least, you're there the next morning. I've never taken night trains in France, (can't help you there), only those crossing from Germany to France or vice versa., and Germany to Vienna, inside Germany, and Vienna to Amsterdam.

The private independent hostels have coin laundry facilities, such as Wombats, plus your dorm room has a sink and WC.

Ill be in mainland Europe in October though so I would think making a reservation just 1 or 2 hours in advance would be fine except for maybe paris or something, this should be the slow season I assume?

Hi,

On the reservations in Oct, I would make a few reservations, even in hostels in Germany, just in case, such as in Munich. They can always be cancelled. I say this because sometimes hostels may get booked up. In 1977 when I was close to your age (27), I was staying the last two nights at the big HI hostel in Frankfurt, 3rd week in Sept. Staying there too were girls from a "Dolmetscher Schule." (interpreters' school). Why? Because there was unbeknownst to me a trade show (eine Messe) going on in Frankfurt, which needed the linguistic skill of girls, who besides knowing their native German could also interpret/translate in 3 additional languages. I lucked out by just being a walk-in, w/o a reservation.

On train reservations, ie, 92 days in adv for discount tickets, those you can be certain of committing, locking yourself in, I would get that ticket(s). Besides, it frees up a day for other traveling, or zig zag train rides. That the Global Pass now includes Poland, that is a big advantage, day and night trains. Krakow and Warsaw are hubs for night trains vertically and horizontally. When Poland was not included in the Global Pass, I saw it not worth getting, a rip off, since I would have to tailor the routes, say you went from Budapest to Vienna, then night train Vienna to Gdansk.

Ill be going the other way from the way I have booked my trip Vienna to Budahpest, then towards Bucharest Romania to see the romania castles near Brasov. I think that once in Bucharest I might be better off to book a last 2nd flight to rome and then work my up to italy switzerland then towards spain portugal