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Beginners europe questions!
Thu, 03/15/2012 - 03:06
New Member
Me (23) and my partner (21) have booked a contiki tour that starts in Istanbul on the 16th of May, and finishes in Athens on the 26th of May. After this our plan was to backpack at our leisure across Europe until the 6th of August where our plane departs from London back to Australia, Melbourne where we are both from.
We went against touring all of Europe because we believed it would be hard to take in everything this beautiful place has to offer at such a fast pace. Now we find ourselves with an abundance of questions.
Our budget is 15,000 AUD so around €12,000. Contiki says to put aside between 70-100AUD aside so putting the greater side of that aside 100AUD we would have 14000AUD or 11,200€ for 73days of backpacking 153.43€ per day.
The countries we are wanting to cover are France, Spain, German, Italy, Switzerland, Croatia, Poland, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary and Sweden.
It’s a lot to cover in a short time and with this budget, or so we are both assuming. We have spent countless hours scouring the internet trying to research ways to get around whilst there. And it’s all quite daunting.
You can buy Eurail passes from Australia for $556AUS for 10 trips all inclusive. Is that a good price? Im told you pay booking fees or taxes whilst using these though and that can amount up to 50€?
Just today I did a quick search today for flights from Athens to Croatia one way and it came up with ridiculous prices around 450€. Whilst flights to Rome could be found as low as 35-40€ for the both of us.
Are these prices typical to Croatia? Is it always so expensive flying into Croatia? I did another search from Rome and it was noticeably cheaper 200€.
My number one stress and concern of the whole trip will be travel, getting to places, getting around places. Im losing sleep over it, should I be? Is it that concerning and difficult or expensive? Is this just going to be a part of the typical “backpacking experience”?
Does anyone have any advice? Any good ways to get around?
Thanks for your replies!
Whether or not a Eurail pass is a good deal depends on your specific itinerary. A pass will probably save money in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden. It won’t cover UK or Eurostar between UK and mainland Europe and it probably won’t save money over point to point tickets in the rest of your countries. Decide whether to get a pass, and which specific pass is best after you have a more detailed itinerary. The trip planner or railsaver.com will help you decide.
Low fare airlines don’t fly every route. Use www.whichbudget.com to see which airlines fly which routes and check our “cheap flights” forum for more tips, links and help. Look at Europebyair.com Air Croatia honors their $99 (US) flight pass, so that might help with your trips in that area.
Getting around by train is pretty easy. Don’t lose sleep over it. if you decide to buy a rail pass (you can always just buy point to point train tickets as you go) it will be your ticket for any train you choose to take in the countries it covers. It does not cover reservations which cost are an extra cost no matter how you pay for the train ticket. If the specific train you choose to take requires a reservation, you have to pay for it. Most trains don’t require reservations, but the express trains between major cities and overnight trains usually do, so you’ll probably end up on some trains that require them. Reservations are generally about 5 euros. Some are as expensive as 19 euros (fanciest name trains in Itlay and Spain). Reservations on overnight trains run from 20 to 30 euros for a berth in a 6 berth couchette up to a couple hundred for a private roomette.