Eurotrip Part 2 (Travel Superthread)

A while back I made a thread about my upcoming trip to Europe. Back then it was yonks away and was an overly-ambitious 5 month plan visiting as many countries as possible. Now, thanks to more planning and a sense of realism, the official plan has been made, cut back to 3 months and select countries. I leave on May 1st, and would love to hear people's experiences, tips for the countries I'll be in, good places to stay, drink, and just enjoy ourselves.

Here is a map of our route (as always subject to change):

- Sheffield/Liverpool, England.

- Dublin, Ireland.

- Normandy/Paris, France

- Geneva, Switzerland

- Brugge, Belgium

- Amsterdam, Holland

- Auschwitz, Poland

- Prague, Czech Republic

- World Cup 2006, Germany, which will be the cities of Frankfurt, Nurnberg, Koln, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich and Berlin.

- Florence/Rome, Italy

- Barcelona, Spain

- London, England

- Home

So quite a packed few months. I can give specific dates if anyone is going to be in any of these places during the summer, and anyone already there (Pinup you cheese-eating surrender monkey, I'm looking in your direction), I'd love to meet up.

A lot of you on here are really well-travelled and give excellent tips and advice on the places you've been. I do have a couple of questions:

1. Has anyone used a Eurail pass before? I bought one and thought it was just the train equivalent of a bus pass, but after reading the book that came with it, it sounds like you have to buy the actual ticket (which makes sense). Plus if you're travelling straight through a country that isn't included on the pass (ie. no stops) do you still have to buy a ticket for that leg of the trip?

2. Anyone who has been on an extended trip like this, what did you do about money? I plan to just take my Visa card and bank card, and take out money from ATM's. I was told that Travellers Cheques are a bad idea since not many places actually accept them. I'm just curious if there's a safer/more secure way of carrying money around than cash or depending on 2 cards.

That's all I can think of right now. Anyway, feel free to add. Lot's of other people seem to be making plans to go abroad, we may as well turn this in to a Travel Superthread...

Cheers.

teh ghey

fuck man. have fun in europe when you do eventually do this. Im sorry but i cant give you any tips because i have not been to europe. but my question is "are you going to make a comedy movie about your experiences?"

teh ghey

You're just jealous you have to stay in GP all summer...

but my question is "are you going to make a comedy movie about your experiences?"

Hahaha will a photo megathread upon my return suffice?

hostel.

If you're talking abou the movie, it was fucking terrible. Seriously.

If you're recommending hostelling, that's the plan for the most part. Those and cheap B and B's, and budget hotels.

You're just jealous you have to stay in GP all summer...

true but ill be makin lots of moeny while you are hangin with doods in tight jeans and medium shirts.. that are 4 feet tall

Hahaha will a photo megathread upon my return suffice?

If this photo mega thread has alot of girls from the red light district then yes. If not, i would really like to see you make a movie about it. :scrambled:

>> I bought one and thought it was just the train equivalent of a bus pass, but after reading the book that came with it, it sounds like you have to buy the actual ticket (which makes sense).

-You don't need to buy a ticket, but rather a reservation..which is usually no more than 15€..even for over-nighters

>>if you're travelling straight through a country that isn't included on the pass (ie. no stops) do you still have to buy a ticket for that leg of the trip?

- Yes~ but don't worry, with the exception of Britain, all of the countries you wish to see are covered..and in Britain,including the Eurostar, you get a discount anyway.. And if it applies, always make sure to mention that you're a student and/or under 26

>>what did you do about money? I plan to just take my Visa card and bank card, and take out money from ATM's.

-A Cirrus or other compatable ATM card is the best way to get cash anywhere in the world as far as I'm concerned~ The rates are negligable, especially when compared to cash exchanges and even Travelers Cheques.. And in first world places, the comparable convenience of ATM cards is unsurpased for the traveler

>> I was told that Travellers Cheques are a bad idea since not many places actually accept them.

-Most places don't accept them.. however there are alot of change offices and AMEX counters that exchange them for cash at decent rates.. and it's considerably more secure than traveling with cash.. They're a good back-up to have a few hundred in.. but should'nt be used as a primary source of currency aquisition

>>I'm just curious if there's a safer/more secure way of carrying money around than cash or depending on 2 cards.

-Whatever you do, buy something of concealment for your money, cards, documents, passporte, etc.~ keep it on your body, under your clothes, at all times.. even bring it to the shower with you and fold it into your towel..

Keeps you organized and with time wearing it, it becomes like an extremity of your own body and that is as secure as you can be with carrying anything.

I'd suggest a switch of Geneve's place in your initial plans,

it's more fluid.. topographically and culturally.. and definately more time efficent..

So sticking to the plan as much as possible...

- Sheffield/Liverpool, England.

- Dublin, Ireland.

- Normandy/Paris, France

- Brugge, Belgium

- Amsterdam, Holland

- Auschwitz, Poland

- Prague, Czech Republic

- World Cup 2006, Germany, which will be the cities of Frankfurt, Nurnberg, Koln, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich and Berlin.

- Geneva, Switzerland

- Florence/Rome, Italy

- Barcelona, Spain

- London, England

I suppose you plan on going in to the World Cup from the West after Czech~

but consider than places like Nurnburg are practically bordering Austria ; and Dusseldorf et the Rhine/Westphalia cities are closer to Brussels and Amsterdam than they are to Berlin..

Maybe a hop-in hop-out of Germany would be more efficent~ Considerably less back-tracking..

ie: Hit the Rhine/Westphalia places on your way in from Netherland and then on to Berlin, Poland and Czech, then back in to Germany on to the Bavarian cities then on through to Switzerland, Italy, etc..

Another must is stopping along the Cote d'Azur in the South Of France.. atleast to Nice~

It will surely be a highlight of your trip~

Some forum/ user-based websites to suggest are tripadvisor.com and virtualtourist.com..

And for online schedules and route planning ... raileurope.com & .co.uk

Definately bring a guidebook with you, I suggest "Lets Go!: Europe".. it's extremely simple yet thorough.. and geared specifically towards this type of travel.. Truely, considerably better than it's competitors..

Also a European Phrasebook/Dictionary is a MUST~ The Rough Guide series makes a great one that covers 7 languages from Czech to Spanish..and fits into your back pocket

~but you'll need some seperate mini-dicitonaries for Polish, Dutch and Catalan; they're not covered in there~

Anyway

Hope I was of some help

Enjoy!

P.S.

Fuck "Eurotrip"...

the thread title is blasphemy to the mission you're about to undertake

haters

 

I'd suggest a switch of Geneve's place in your initial plans,

it's more fluid.. topographically and culturally.. and definately more time efficent..

 

Agreed. Unfortunately, Italy, along with Germany, are the only places that are actually booked (ie, those dates are set). We'll be meeting up with my girlfriend's family, and since Germany is all booked up as well, there's no room or time to fit it in between. Our initial plan was to go Paris-->Amsterdam-->Copenhagen, but a combination of Denmark being too out of the way and my friend wanting to go to Switzerland, we chose this other route instead.

 

 

I suppose you plan on going in to the World Cup from the West after Czech~

but consider than places like Nurnburg are practically bordering Austria ; and Dusseldorf et the Rhine/Westphalia cities are closer to Brussels and Amsterdam than they are to Berlin..

Maybe a hop-in hop-out of Germany would be more efficent~ Considerably less back-tracking..

ie: Hit the Rhine/Westphalia places on your way in from Netherland and then on to Berlin, Poland and Czech, then back in to Germany on to the Bavarian cities then on through to Switzerland, Italy, etc..

 

Again, thanks for the tips, but unfortunately Germany is all booked. And it was a hell of a task at that. Had we not booked in advance, it would have literally been impossible to find a place to stay, on account of there will be millions upon millions of people in Germany at that time. We had to call in some major favours/contacts to find the places we did!

 

P.S.

 

Fuck "Eurotrip"...

the thread title is blasphemy to the mission you're about to undertake

 

Hahaha what would you suggest instead?

 

Seriously though, thanks a lot for your reply. That's exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to get from this thread.

x x

Voyages! Hamdule!

pronounced

Voi-ah-zjey! Ha-m-doo-lay!

(Travels! Thank God!)

The travelsex superthread

.for animals only.

Im doing the Euro trip in dec this year for 7 months.

5 months snowboarding in Austiria/Swiss

1 week in Czech

1 week in Amsterdam

1 nights in Ibiza

1 month in Spain then back home.

5 months snowboarding in Austiria/Swiss

Fucking hell.

Distract, that sounds retardedly nice.

What kinda job you have to afford that?

Leave fucking Geneva off the plan!!

Fucking Expensive Boring shit hole!

Unless you are staying for free and eating for free or are seeing relatives i'd simply ditch it!

we got here a day early to meet a friend and then he was delayed so we ended up there for two days(two days too many)..

Zurich Bern or Basel are better options.

Eurail passes rock but they are no help in Czech or Poland you simply cannot use them.

You have to buy a ticket but tickets are so cheap in the East anyway. In Germany if you can take slow trains on a weekend there is the "wochendKarte" (check the spelling) I think it's 35 euros for unlimited travel on friday night to sunday night but you gotta take the slowest trains.

The leg from amsterdam to Auschwitz is gonna be a long one!

and is there anything in particular in sheffield you're after?

geneva is shit but good graffiti.

alot of americans are quite prejudice towards europe or do the prejudice ones just stick out?

 

Leave fucking Geneva off the plan!!

Fucking Expensive Boring shit hole!

 

Unless you are staying for free and eating for free or are seeing relatives i'd simply ditch it!

we got here a day early to meet a friend and then he was delayed so we ended up there for two days(two days too many)..

Zurich Bern or Basel are better options.

 

For serious? Interesting. We'll only be there for 2 days, one of which could possibly be in thE Alps staying with friend of my parent's who's part of the Royal Family. Have you been to those other cities in Switzerland that reccommended? I remember TT Boy telling me he had a boring time in Switzerland too, so any advice on making it more enjoyable would certainly help.

 

 

and is there anything in particular in sheffield you're after?

It's my home town. Visiting family, friend's etc. Why are you from there or around?

- London, England

Shame this is the last leg of you're journey, as much as love the LDN, it is shit-expensive and i'm guessing after three months of boogying you ain't gonna have too much kashmoney left!

Let's see what I can suggest for London moneysavers:

1. Food. Tesco (big supermarket chain) will tend to have a 'reduced' shelf/section (all the about-to-go-out-of-date sandwiches etc). Take the reduced stickers off of these and wack em on £10 sushi/whatever you feel like and get it for pennies. Yum.

2. Travel. Get good at 'doubling up' behing people through ticket barriers, travel on the Tube is a fucking rip off, even buying a weeks Travelcard/Bus Pass will still set you back a fair bit. Good answer to this is 'Chinese' travelcards...I'll save the details for a PM I think.

3. Getting pissed and dancing. If the cash situation is really getting low, but you still fancy having a pop at some High-grade English totty... No matter what sort of music/scene/pussy you're looking for we can cater to it. Plan B in Brixton does good hip-hop nights, smallish club but good. Throwdown on every 3rd Thursday of the month (i think) has a load of canvas graff/art on display, open mic, break battles and all that jazz. Worth checking out.

For all night stuff, try FabricLive up in Farringdon on Fridays>> good couple thousand people, hip-hop, drum and bass rooms, again DEFINITELY worth checking.

Can't think of any other nights to check out at the moment, but try and get drunk beforehand as drinks in the clubs will cane your money.

4. Narcotics. Not REALLY my thing so can't offer much advice.

Hope this drivel is helpful, i'm pretty drunk so will try add some more stuff tomorrow.

Have a good trip ya lucky cunt.:)

ive wanted to hit up prague and dublin for a while

bring me back a european chick (hot) who would marry me for citizenship and we can talk

in london u got deal real open mic night 1st and 3rd fridays if thats of any interest,

greggs is a chain of sandwhich shops which is probably the easiest way of obtaining free food next to sainsburys.

ye make sure you dont buy anything you dont need to on your travels or it could get expensive,

and make sure to get euro inks like grog n corio if u cant get em in america

oh and dont forget you phrasebooks!

 

Here is a map of our route (as always subject to change):

 

 

Family circus steez.

this summer: spain and germany

soon: france

i'll get more into detail later

2. Travel. Get good at 'doubling up' behing people through ticket barriers, travel on the Tube is a fucking rip off, even buying a weeks Travelcard/Bus Pass will still set you back a fair bit. Good answer to this is 'Chinese' travelcards...I'll save the details for a PM I think.

pay as u go oyster card that ish.

80p bus off peak.

£1 single on a train.

No Queues.

No registration.

All good, unless ur worried about big brother.

Chinese travel card sounds interesting...

?

weird, im doing the exact same thing, with a interail pass for £295, but probably going on my own .