Travelling Europe in Winter

[Joe Blow]

doc,

Been thinking about your itinerary and I have one suggestion. Trade in Brussels and go to Brugges (aka Bruges) instead. Brussels is an administrative centre and the main tourist attraction is a big square called 'Grand Place' and takes about 15 minutes max to see. My advice is to check out Brussels while waiting for your train connection to Brugges, which is a beautiful and fascinating little medieval town a few hours to the west. You will only need a couple of days there, but that's two days more than you will need in Brussels.

Agree with much of what others have suggested except for canny's suggestion to skip Spain. DO NOT SKIP SPAIN! (no offence canny!) In my opinion Spain is one of the highlights of Europe. A truly amazing country. I have seen San Sebastian, Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Granada and Malaga and loved every minute of it. Spain is probably the most vibrant country in Europe. In the south you have loads of old muslim ruins - especially the Alhambra in Granada which is spectacular. Spain is a must see in my opinion.

If you are looking for a party, in Barcelona stay at the Kabul Youth Hostel - they have beer vending machines and a reputation for craziness. If you get to Salzburg in Austria, stay at the Yoho International Youth Hostel - they have a great bar IN THE HOSTEL.

 

[dutchie]

Agree with you Joe about Bruges. Also worth a visit - Ghent.

By the way Doc, its the wind that makes it uncomfortable outdoors in the cold - seems to go right through you no matter what your wearing.

Have a great time anyway!!

 

[canny]

Sheeesh, I must have just had a bad time in Spain!!!!!
I would rate it very low on my scale of places I have travelled - but I've also found that peoples opinions differ greatly depending on their time somewhere. If you were with someone special, it makes the place more attractive - etc etc - weather can change how you feel about somewhere too if it's only a short stay and the weather is bad.
Kabul Youth Hostel Joe?- oh dear. In the REAL Kabul (Afghanistan) - I got the worst food poisoning I've ever had. Would probably have been hospitalised here!!! Ended up travelling through the Khyber Pass flat on my back in a public bus - and that was a week later!!
Still, no-one in their right mind would be going through those areas now - I did it in 1976 before the Russians 'invaded' Afghanistan - so it's history!!

 

[Joe Blow]

Sheeesh, I must have just had a bad time in Spain!!!!!
I would rate it very low on my scale of places I have travelled - but I've also found that peoples opinions differ greatly depending on their time somewhere. If you were with someone special, it makes the place more attractive - etc etc - weather can change how you feel about somewhere too if it's only a short stay and the weather is bad.
Kabul Youth Hostel Joe?- oh dear. In the REAL Kabul (Afghanistan) - I got the worst food poisoning I've ever had. Would probably have been hospitalised here!!! Ended up travelling through the Khyber Pass flat on my back in a public bus - and that was a week later!!
Still, no-one in their right mind would be going through those areas now - I did it in 1976 before the Russians 'invaded' Afghanistan - so it's history!!

Agreed Canny... what places you enjoy while travelling largely depends on what you like, the experiences you had and whether or not the place in question lived up to your expectations. I love Spain but can't stand London, even though many people I know love it. It just isn't for me. I enjoyed rural England a lot more. Loved the Lake District.

Nothing worse than food poisoning while you're on the road. Been there, done that.. a terrible experience. Luckily the Kabul Youth Hostel's only connection to Kabul is the name.

 

[doctorj]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I had heard about Bruges, but Brussels was really only ever a stop on the way to Amsterdam. I'll speak to the people I'm going with and revise our trip!

Why are you looking forward to the culture? This is a sincere question

I forget who said it, but someone once said that life is like a book and if you only stay in one place you've only ever read the one page. For me, culture is all the things you mention, along with different ways of life and many more.

Some bombs just went off in Jordan so it's best not to go there.

Unfortunately we've canned our trip to Jordan, especially since it was western hotels that were hit. It's a real shame, it was one place I felt was going to be a real highlight the trip. We're now thinking of catching a flight to Cairo via Kuwait to go there instead or to can Egypt all together and either go to Morrocco or spend more time in Eastern Europe.

Dont worry about taking everything you need, you can always buy it!

There are books written on how to pack and rightly so. Fortunately, in the past I've tended to err on the side of being underpacked than over packed. Like hell I'm lugging a 25kg pack around for 2 months!

Oh, and always have at least 3 forms of money.

I'll have my Mastercard, Visa and Debit Card. If need be, I can always get a TT sent over as 'Hold and Pay' to a nearby bank.

I would personally skip Spain

It's horses for courses really. I don't expect to like every place I go, but I do want to give them a shot! I'm particularly looking forward to Spain. My only gripe is that its kind of out of the way when doing a run through Northern Europe to Eastern Europe then back through Switzerland to Southern Europe. Finding the most efficient route is like a massive simultaneous eqn.

Another 'bonus' if you're going as cheap as possible, is that lots of the hotels in Europe give breakfast as part of the deal - and you can usually stash a couple of bread rolls, cheese, boiled egg and a piece of fruit which becomes lunch!!

Great tip! We're on a budget but we're trying to mix it up between hostels and hotels to break things up. I'm sure some breakfast theivery will take place at some stage.

Have a look into booking an apartment if you definitely know where you’ll be on certain dates, we book ours online before we go for certain cities.

There are many affordable apartments in Barcelona that are in great locations. We're hoping to book one there atleast.

Thanks again everyone and keep 'em coming!

 

[doctorj]

Well 29 days until I go...

Still not sure if I'm going to sell the remainder of my holdings - but I've not been taking any new longer term positions for a little while now. If I recall correctly, Tech was faced with the same decision some time last year with Techtrader. Given the chance again which would you do?

Trip wise, we've cut a lot of cities, particularly in Italy and are now going to Budapest and Lucerne. All thats left is to find a pair of waterproof shoes that come in a size 15! Not having much luck with that thus far.

 

[Joe Blow]

Budapest is definitely worth seeing, although a few days is all you need if you will be making good use of your time. I took this photo a few weeks ago. The left side is the 'Buda' side (older side) and the right side is 'Pest', hence 'Budapest'. The river, of course, is the Danube.

If you have any questions regarding backpacking in Europe, just ask.

 

[doctorj]

Thanks Joe, great photo!

Mostly all sorted (aside from the shoes!). Only thing I can think of perhaps is if you can recommend any places to stay in Budapest, Zagreb, Prague, Warsaw or Krakow.

Oh, did you get an eastern european railpass or just use point to point tickets?

 

[Joe Blow]

Thanks Joe, great photo!

Mostly all sorted (aside from the shoes!). Only thing I can think of perhaps is if you can recommend any places to stay in Budapest, Zagreb, Prague, Warsaw or Krakow.

Oh, did you get an eastern european railpass or just use point to point tickets?

Regarding hostels, I would use this site to sus out one that is right for you: http://www.hostelworld.com. When I first started backpacking sites like this didn't exist but apparently its what all the young whippersnappers are using these days. I'm an old school Lonely Planet, book nothing in advance type of backpacker. I would suggest listing the hostels by rating and then read the feedback from other travellers to find one that is right for you. Many of them have double and twin rooms as well as dorms, which have their advantages (e.g. security) if you are travelling with mates.

On this most recent trip I bought point to point train tickets as it is significantly cheaper in Eastern Europe. As you will only be in Eastern Europe for a small part of your trip point to point tickets are probably the best way to go, but I would definitely get a Eurail pass for Western Europe.

One tip: The Polish, Czechs and Hungarians view themselves as being in 'Central Europe' rather than 'Eastern Europe', which is more Romania and Bulgaria etc. Just discovered that this trip.

One more: Don't change currencies at the central train stations, you are guaranteed to get a shocking exchange rate. I always hit an ATM as soon as I get in (every central train station will have one) and change up any left over currency from the last country later.

 

[doctorj]

Thanks again for your help Joe and welcome back to .au!

 

[Joe Blow]

Thanks again for your help Joe and welcome back to .au!

Anytime! Travel, and backpacking in particular, is my passion. I finally cracked the 30 country mark on this trip. However, I must say, it's good to be back.

There's no place like home.