Are you flying out of London?
For you, I would think the route possibilities would be varied.
Do you have any idea of what time of year this might be?
This too might affect your route, countries with warmer climates might be preferable in the cooler months; of course this does not have to be a big deal.
That is a pretty long list for such subjective questions. We don’t know your travel likes and dislikes (architecture? scenery? history? dancing at clubs?) and you are going to have to do your own research but obviously you have the time for that.
But I will throw out just a few opinions:
Spain: Madrid and Barcelona are musts
France: Paris is a must, Toulouse and the southwest region are scenic and less touristy
Italy: Rome is a must, the Umbria and Maremma regions are less touristy but Tuscany is well worth seeing, Florence is a must for art lovers, the Amalfi and Ligurian (Cinque Terre) coasts are both beautiful, Marche region is less discovered.

Thank you for your reply, Cil

I realise the questions we’re quite broad and open, it was just to get an idea of peoples suggestions, look into them and if we liked it, see if we could fit them in along the route.

Basically we’ll be flying out of Liverpool to Lisbon! From there we plan to head across spain, we’ve already decided to do Madrid and Barcelona. From there we’re going to go across Mediterranean France (not fully sure where to yet). Then down to Rome in Italy and work our way up (Florence and Venice?). After this its then into the smaller countries of central europe working our way up (Mainly hitting the capitals, but other towns and cities will be looked into). In Germany we plan to travel across the North (Definately Berlin, maybe Hamburg, Hannover?). Then into Netherlands(Anywhere else than Amsterdam? Rotterdam maybe?) and Belgium (Antwerp, Bussels, Brugge?). We we’re thinking about maybe calling to Copenhagen before Holland and Belgium if it would be worth it? Finally its down to Paris where we can fly out back to Manchester. I have been to Paris before, and the plan here is to just drink beer next to the eiffel tower, before we embark on our journey home [image]http://www.eurotrip.com/forum/micons/m9.gif[/image]. This trip is being planned after our final year in Uni, which will end in May of 2009. So we’re looking at summer next year (July and July). We’re aware that it will be hot this time of year in some countries, but we’ll just stick it out.

As for our taste’s well this is just really something we want to do before we start our working careers, so we aint really going specifically for the history or art or music, just plainly for the experience. Don’t get me wrong we’d like to go to places with an interesting history (Auschwitz) and even arty places with Museums. However these are not specific requirements. We just want to hit as many nice places as possible to say we’ve done so and make it a once in a lifetime trip. One thing i can say is we like to drink and party, however the partying can be kept on the lower scale as we’ll be constantly on the move and it can be expensive. I’m sure we will have a few nights out, however this will be in the places were it will be pretty special (I hear a Berlin bar crawl is a must).

As with everything we will be doing our own research, and will look into peoples suggestions (for example we’ve heard good things about Dubrovnik in Croatia, however its location could be a problem, and Hallstat in Austria. Both look really nice places and will be considered). We have also ordered the recommended book Let’s Go Europe guide, which i believe has tons of information in.

Well i hope this kinda clears things up and gives you an idea of what we’re looking for. We plan to get a 2 month (or 2, 1 month Eurail Passes, and take night trains on longer journeys, ie Lisbon – Madrid) and stay in hostels along the way. Oh and our budget is around £3000. We’ve estimated hostels and travel (not including extra costs/supplements, ie night train? or is that only if you want a bed/sleeping quarters) will be around £1500 for the 2 months. And we believe another £1500 should be enough to take for spending.

Again any comments are much appreciated

Thank you

I’ll just toss in a few thoughts…
 
If you like partying and cool places but don’t want to break the bank, look into Prague.  Your Let’s Go guide should give some ideas as to why (liters of beer for $1 US?).  It was pretty untouched by the world wars too, so lots of extremely old beautiful buildings are intact.  If you look around this site long enough, people can’t say enough about it—so I’ll be going this summer!
 
Coastal France is beautiful, but it can be super pricey in the high season.  Unless you wanna shell out a few thousand and sip Cristal with Jay-Z, skip resorts like St. Tropez and Cannes.  I lived in Nice when I was younger, and on a budget you can certainly find stuff to do (the hiking is breathtaking, for example).  If you don’t think this will be your last-ever trip to visit, maybe save some of the coast for a time you’ve got more resources?
 
Florence and Venice: big lines, very touristy, and can be quite expensive.  Some really amazing things to see, yes, but again it’s not unreasonable to save some of these cities for a later date when you can travel on a professional salary (not a student’s! haha). 
 
In Germany you may want to consider Munich and the Bavaria area (love the rhyme).  Rothenburg’s also been spoken of highly on here, maybe as a daytrip.  Don’t know much about the north.
 
You could probably skip Rotterdam in favor of a few more days in Amsterdam (or add them on elsewhere), it doesn’t exactly have that old-world feel.  Same thing with Brussels, but I’ve heard only good things about Brugge and Antwerp.  For both of those, you probably couldn’t avoid going through Brussels if you wanted to though, so take your pick once you’re there.
 
I’d love to check out Copenhagen too, but I’m saving the Isles and Scandinavia (including Denmark) for another trip.  There’s too much to see to try and cram it all in with the rest of Europe, I’d never do it justice!  Gotta love the mermaid.  If Feicht wanders through here, haven’t you done Denmark before?
 
You certainly can’t go wrong with some time in Paris.  Your money might go father in the Latin Quarter than on the Champ-Elysees of course, haha, but it should be a ball.  Also heard the Lisbon/Barcelona leg is a great choice.  I have a friend who lives in Malaga (on the Costa del Sol toward Gibraltar) and he says it’s more than worth the trip down there too.
 
For my trip this summer I’m definitely exploring the Balkans.  Hopefully that’ll include Slovenia (Lake Bled, Ljubljana), into Croatia (Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik), maybe parts of Bosnia/Serbia, and then across Bulgaria (from Sophia to Varna, possibly stops in Veliko Turnovo or Plovdiv on the way).  Almost everything is so much cheaper and untouristed in that part of the continent, and with all of them on track to entre the EU, that may not stay the same for long.  Oh, and it’s cheaper to take a ferry from Split to Dubrovnik than a bus.  Takes longer…but are you not cruising through the Dalmation Coast for about $15?  Haha
 
Hope some of this helps.  Pour through that guidebook and you’ll get some really good ideas of places, but I hope your trip will allow you to change plans last-second in favor of anything else!  Flexible’s a fun way to travel.  Oh and as far as budget, I can’t speak from experience but for a 2 month trip 3,000 pounds sounds like plenty, as long as you do mean 3,000 after purchase of Eurail and plane tickets!
 

Thanks for your thoughts regancannon they are most helpful! As I mentioned we will be likely to go to the capitals of many countries, Prague being one of them. It should go without sayin, nobody can say a bad thing about it.

With regards to coastal france we’d never thought of St. Tropez or Cannes but we’ll be sure to skip them. We were thinkin more Marsielle and Nice, maybe even upto Lyon if its worth a visit.

Heard good things of the German Bavaria area and Munich however we’d planned to go across North Germany towards Holland. However if the trains are useful hear we could extend/change our Germany stay to Berlin and Munich/Bavaria. Hmmm.

The money situation was including flights and accomodation but that was just an initial estimate. We’d kinda worked out £1400 for travel and hostels (the very cheapest), and thought £1500 or so might be enough spending money. But that was because of other people saying they spent about £1000. We would have to obviously reconsider how much we need when we know what we’re doing better.

However thank you for all your thoughts, it was very helpful []

Yeah I mean, you’ve got a year to work on the finances at any rate, so if you save 50 or so a month til then—hey, that’s 600 more w/o breaking a sweat.  I’m sure you can make your money go a long way, but it’s always nice not to have to worry about it!
 
I go to school with some students from Marseilles, and hopefully I’ll be able to visit them this summer and stay for a bit.  Being shown around by the natives should give me a better idea of coastal France aside from the expensive resorts…I’ll definitely post on here about it after I’m back!
 
Since I haven’t been yet, I can’t say whether northern or southern Germany is better, but for my own preferences I think it is.  Prettier scenery, castles galore, romantic villages, perfect beer, and diehard soccer fans   That’s right up my alley haha.  While I’m sure the northern cities are fantastic, the geography is more farmland and marshes and low hills.  I know trains run from Munich to Berlin and from Berlin to Amsterdam, so the south isn’t an inaccessable region by any means.  Those long trains are expensive, so that Eurail Pass would really come in handy! 
 
Definitely glad to be of assistance!  Hopefully I’ll have a lot more solid advice after my own trip (3 months as well)

Well, balkan area has become rather “popular” lately (I won’t comment if it is in positive or negative way []). If you ever come across Croatia, don’t miss Plitvice National Park, and of course , they all say Dubrovink is a [=”#6600ff”]must[/] (it is under UNESCO’s protection). Hostel in Dubrovnik is in nice part of town and when I was there, it was rather cheep (but it was some 6 years ago). Pula, Zagreb and Zadar also have hostels, and Zadar is very nice and friendly town on Croatian coast – lately popular because of Sea Organ and Monument to the Sun…

Good luck!

http://gettoknowcroatia.blogspot.com/

Once again regan, you have been most helpful! We will definately look into getting down to Munich and the Bavaria area of Germany before we go into The Netherlands. The high speed trains should make that possible and fast-ish. I also look forward to hearing of your South France visit later this year and your feedback will be of great benefit [image]http://www.eurotrip.com/forum/micons/m9.gif[/image]

Crouser, Croatia will the the only Balkan country in which we will travel. We would really like to see Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb! The only problem we’re having is getting to these places. I understand Dubrovnik has an airport however we want to stick to Rail as much as possible. Obviously Croatia seems to be one of the most beautiful countries that we are visiting, so maybe some extra expense can be sparred for cheap air tickets if we can get them However I read that there is a high speed rail system linking Zagreb and Split. With that in mind would it be plausible to stay in Split and maybe take a daytrip or two to dubrovik? Then head back up to Zagreb and back up to the rest of Europe? What would your advice be?

Thanks again guys

I could be wrong, but I’m not really aware of how else to get to Dubrovnik other than by bus or boat… that part of Croatia isn’t actually contiguous to the rest…

Dubrovnik does have an airport.
Maybe you could fly in there, and train/ferry your way back west.
In July ’06 we flew to Croatia from Hanover, Germany on HLX airlines, stayed a couple days, ferried to Hvar, then Split, then took another plane from Split to France.

Hi TonUK!
You can travel from Zagreb to Split by rail – it has speed rail,that’s true, and this destination is covered very well also with bus lines (of course, airplane too). Split – Dubrovnik , well, only regular connection (on daily basis) from Split to Dubrovnik is bus – it goes almost every hour. Plane from Split to Dubrovnik flyes ones a week (since you plan your trip in 2009 summer, maybe flying schedule will change). There is a boat, but it sails from Rijeka to Bari, and Dubrovnik is one of their stops. Sailing schedule of that boat line changes in winter and summer, so for fresh information we must wait 2009 []. Split has one very good feature – bus station, railway station and harbour are very close to each other so you have the possibilty to chose your transport. If you’d like to return from Dubrovnik to Zagreb I’d recommend plane (bus from Dubrovnik to Zagreb is around 12 hours driving, and you go back to Split…it’s ok if you’d like to see some landscapes [])

If you need additional information, feel free to ask me.

Good luck

I’ve been delving into ferry websites who offer service between Split and Dubrovnik.  According to them, and according to every guidebook I’ve checked, ferries are cheaper than bus, if a little longer.  However, if you’ve got a deck ticket, it’s just a 6-8 hour long afternoon cruise through the Aegean!  That’ll certainly be my mode of transpo.  Ferry schedules are already posted for summer 08, so you can easily check those out before your trip next year.

Haha, I was gonna say that, but wasn’t sure if they were talking about some ferry down to the Aegean [] 

Haha, whoops!  At least I spelled it right, huh?  []

Thanks again for your replies guys. It seems there are all sorts of options to consider then. Since we aint going till next year this can all be planned over time but we will consider all the options. We would just not bother with Dubrovnik, however it just looks so amazing and everybody mentions it as a must see place! So i think we definately want to get there to see it. I kind of like the idea of goin from zagreb, down to split, then bus or ferry to dubrovnik. Then maybe instead of more travelling a flight from dubrovnik to our next country of Hungary (Budapest), hopefully it will be cheap [image]http://www.eurotrip.com/forum/micons/m9.gif[/image]

No problem!  I’m not sure just how many flights leave Dubrovnik (if any?) but I don’t imagine they’d be cheap.  Maybe a bus to Sarajevo or Tirana and you’d find better rates in those bigger cities?  Or a ferry to Bari and work up Italy…really there’s a lot of options!  Have fun planning!

Its not going to be too different from what i am planning. I will be going to Croatia and Slovenia this summer. and hopefully visting a number of the citys you mentioned. I will be flying out of Debrovnik to go back home to the UK. But i believe air europe do flights between Debrovnik and Bratislava at not too bad a price peak season.
http://www1.skyeurope.com/en/

Bratislava is a fantastic place and less than 3 hours on the train from Budapest.