quote:
AM I MISSING SOMETHING?!!

erun ..i know how u feel but honestly the way to tackle stress is to start chipping away at it
sometimes people can just get into this mood – a combination of apathy and stress which renders them motionless and unproductive ( u know likle cramming for exams)
so start!
start with something like accommodation ..u stilll have time to maybe even score something reasonable
u havent said for how long u plan to be away …the less time ur away the more organised u need to be
so …u will have to take over…do the research start booking…get the occasional ok from ur friend but it may have to be up to u
id start with my first night…where are u going to be?…at least book a day or two there…
that will buy u a bit of time but not much …so keep chipping away !
plan ur route basically ,.,allow for a few time changes in case u want to stay longer at one place…

start taking notes of alternative accommodations/ phone numbers etc and take that with u so u can narrow ur search overseas if it comes to the point that u come to a region and have nothing booked..sure u can go to travel agencies etc but its good to be prepared..

u will feel much better once u have started planning the details…keep a running list of things to do …
if u dont have guide books. print off pages of things to see in each city from various sites ..make a folder..u can read stuff on the plane if it gets to that point and u still arent sure of what u want to see in each town
good luck! try to de- stress and enjoy the buildup to the trip!

If you need some simple help getting your trip together in your mind you ought to check out exploreglobe.net It is a way to plan using google earth and has links to train times, hostels, etc. and marks them on the MAP for you!

Well, you don’t need to plan everything. You really should have some idea of what you want to see – why go if you have no idea? But that part shouldn’t be stressful either. It’s fun to read about places you have the ability to visit. For the hostels, just book your first location ahead of time. You can always call 1-3 days in advance to book the rest while you’re on the road. As for directions, bring a guidebook!

Thanks guys… Guess I need to just do it myself… and then run things by my friend. We’ll only be there for 23 days, and we’re going to quite a few places, so the organization needs to be a little more strict than if we were going for 2 months (like we originally wanted to). If I find things I want to do on the websites, how do you find them in the guidebook?? by the address? This is the main thing I’m worried about… having places we really want to see, but don’t know how to get from the station to the place.
I know I can always book the hostels later… or just show up and not have a booking, but in the larger cities, isn’t it little more of a necessity to book them? Like in Paris, or London.
Does anyone have a recommendation of how much time to spend in places such as Bordeaux, Barcelona, Nice/Monaco, and Munich??
We’re flying into London on May 20th, and I’ve found some sort of Sail and Rail deal to get from there to Ireland, but still looking for a cheap plane from Western Ireland to Paris. I’ve heard to use places like ryannair. Anyone know anything about ryannair?
Thanks guys.. I think I just need to take a chill pill and relax.

quote:heard to use places like ryannair. Anyone know anything about ryannair?

Yup, pretty much anyone who has travelled Europe has heard of or used www.ryanair.com

Try using www.whichbudget.com to look up cheap flights. You can fly from Ireland to Paris by using both Ryanair and Aer Lingus.

Ryan Air is fine, and they fly Shannon-Paris. That is the one thing you should do now. Are you going to be using air travel for other journeys? If so, book those soon because ticket prices climb the closer it gets to your departure date. Also, It sounds like you’re cramming to much in. You’ve got 23 days and you’ve mentioned London, Paris, western Ireland, Bordeaux, Barcelona, Nice/Monaco, and Munich. Once you figure in the time you’ll lose travelling from place to place you are not going to have time to see much of anything and you’ll be worn down. I understand the desire to want to see as much as possible, but cut a couple of places out and you’ll have a much more enjoyable trip. Don’t freak out too much; I planned my first trip on a few weeks notice too and it turned out great.

Hmm… Well I’ll start by telling you guys some of the things we really want to see, and what we like to do, then you tell ME what cities you think we should cut out of our trip.
Our original plan was to:
Fly into London, stay there for a couple of hours, then go to Dublin, then Western Ireland (for about 3 days), Paris, Bordeaux, Barcelona, Nice/Monaco, Rome, Munich, Amsterdam, then back to the airport at London.
The places we FOR sure HAVE to go to are : London, Western Ireland, Rome, and Amsterdam (of course).
Is there any suggestions on things we should cut out that might not really be worth our time, or things we personally wouldn’t have fun doing??

We’re 19 and 21, so we both love to drink, go to clubs, concerts, etc… but we do want to spend at least SOME time looking at historical places (like the vatican, Eiffel Tower, etc)…
Anyone have any suggestions on what cities I’ve listed we should cut out?? And how much time in each place??
Also… is it unrealistic to sleep on the train and take as many overnight train rides as possible to maximize our non-traveling time? What does everyone think about sleeping in couchettes on the train? Sensible or not?
Thanks again!

erun,

You’re really taking this way too seriously, try to relax a bit as this is a vacation. In all seriousness you could literally jump on a plane tomorrow without any planning other than a guidebook and you would be just fine. Some planning though will help you make the most of your time. Read up on the cities you want to go to but don’t make a schedule for everyday. Talk to other travelers at your hostel, some highlights of your trip may turn out to be places you’ve never heard of.

Finding a hostel is really easy, in most cities the neighborhood surrounding the central train station will be overrun with hostels and hotels. Most guidebooks also have a map with little numbers that show where the hostel is located and from there the address is all you need. For places outside the center they usually list a tram or bus number. Reservations really aren’t neccessary as you can always find a place to stay. Make one for the day you fly into London so you have some time to adjust, and reservations are good ideas for big cities like Paris and Rome if you will arrive on a weekend. On the other hand too many prebooked nights will give you less freedom to stay an extra night somewher if you’re having a great time.

Remeber NOT to be a victim to your schedule. Your first priority should be to the city you’re currently in, not to your next train.

Night trains are great and most people backpacking on a budget are going to use them at some point. With a night train you won’t waste any time during the day traveling and you save the money from a nights hostel. However you’re probably not going to get the best night’s sleep on a train, so you may be a bit worn out the next day. Couchettes are nice if you are willing to pay extra for them, otherwise just a plain second class seat will save you some money.

My suggestion would probably be to go from Ireland to Paris, Bordeaux, Barcelona, Rome, Munich, Amsterdam (cutting out Nice). But where you want to go is really your choice, you’ll find people that love or hate every city. Adding flights and/or night trains will help you save some time. If you book budget flights early enough they can be very cheap, but night trains give you more freedom. Its a trade off between saving more time and having a set date that you have to leave a city by.

Some flights to consider:

Ryanair
Shannon to Paris
Girona(Barcelona) to Rome (skipping Nice)
Rome to Eindhoven (near Amsterdam if you skipped Munich)
Rome to Karlsruhe Baden, Germany then train to Muchich

Easyjet
Amsterdam to London (Luton, Stansted, and Gatwick)

Happy Travels

*Edited to add Barcelona

I’m going to recommend you check out Barcelona. It has a great energy and a really good nightlife. You can take the overnight train from Paris, or grab a cheap flight on several airlines (Vueling, Easy Jet, Ryan Air), and fly from there to Rome (Vueling or Ryan Air) like Nadrazi suggested.

whoops, meant to have Barcelona in there, thanks augustin.

My advice is that, in general, first-time travelers try to see too many big cities, so I’d like to urge that you include fewer places overall, go at a more relaxed pace, and include a few smaller places.
You’ve mentioned seeing Dublin and then Paris. Both Ryan Air and Aer Lingus have flights (no need to go to Shannon unless you’re already going to be there). Here’s an important point: Ryan Air flights land in Beauvais, which is a small airport about an hour and a half from Paris, while aer lingus flights land at the main Paris airport, CDG. Unless Ryan Air’s fares are substantially lower, I’d choose aer lingus.
Keep in mind that you’ll be spending a lot of time— and energy— getting around from place to place. (That’s why I urge you to see fewer places). With air connections, you’ll often spend 45 minutes getting to the airport, and will need to be there 1-2 hours before departure, and then count on more time at the other end collecting baggage, locating transport, buying tickets, and then finally getting into town.
With the train, you’ll go from city center to city center. I’ll give an opposite opinion about night trains—- you may find that you don’t sleep well, and you’ll arrive someplace feeling tired and grubby, and in need of a shower (at least that’s my experience), and you may end up not having a good day at your destination because you’re tired and need a nap! Besides, I love to see things out the window while I’m on a train, so I prefer day travel.
You’d asked how long to spend in Bordeaux, and in my opinion, little or none! Going there would take a lot of time, because it’s in SW France, and I just didn’t think it was really interesting—- but, if you were to go to SW France, I could recommend LOTS of small towns, for example St Emilion.
Similarly, Nice is a familiar name to Americans, and many Americans go from Paris to Nice as fast as possible, and miss many places that are in between. If you want to see a beach town, consider Antibes and Juan-les-Pins—- or even stop at Bandol or St Raphael, rather than going on to Nice (unless you’re interested in museums in Nice), because Nice is just a big-city version of these smaller places, and has rocky beaches, too!

taking a train from barcelona to rome is going to be a long ride and possibly with a few stops. I took the transmediterranean ferry that runs from barcelona to citiveccia (just north of rome) for 35 euros (29 with a railpass) its more more like a mini cruise ship than a ferry. check it out

well, i just noticed the cruiseship-like ferry that goes from barcelona to italy, since i just got my railpass guide in the mail. seems like a good idea.
so we’re cutting out nice/monaco, and perhaps bordeaux, and we’re only staying in dublin for one day (just to stop by and see an old friend from high school that now lives there).
leaving on saturday so we’re definitly excited!!! now we’re just working on the packing thing i don’t really realize how much of a "girl" i am til i start packing for a vacation… everyones been telling me that you need to pack then take out half before you leave, but i think i need to take out more like 2/3!! hehe..
anyway guys… THANKS SOOOO MUCH!!

bdogg12 – where did you get information on this transmedditeranean ferry from Italy to Spain…I can’t find it anywhere!