Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

Hey,

I'm a sophmore in college, and this winter break, me and two friends are going to Europe for 21 days.

We came up with a very basic itinerary, and bought plane tickets, but other than that, we're really not sure what we're going to do, and where we're going to stay. Since there seems to be a decent number of Europeans and people who've traveled I figured I'd post here and ask for advice on what to do.

Here's what we have.

Plane ticket from JFK to Paris arriving December 21st
Plane ticket from Rome to JFK arriving January 10th.

We're going to buy a Europass to for unlimited train travel in Europe.

Basic Itinerary for cities is. (subject to possible change)

Paris -> Amsterdam -> Berlin -> Munich -> Zurich -> Venice -> Rome.

Gameplan is to party and get [censored] up every night, and go sightseeing during the day.

any and all thoughts are appreciated?

thanks

jeff

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

First, you're going to have an awesome time. I did the same thing over the summer and it was amazing.

As for where to stay:

http://hostelbookers.com

This site is good for reliable ratings on hostels all over Europe.

http://www.europefamoushostels.com/

This chain of hostels has one in pretty much every major city and they are usually the best around. BOOK EARLY, or you won't be able to get good ones.

Yes, EURail is great. Reliable and easy.

Since you're looking to get [censored] up, keep an eye out for pub crawls. They are for tourists and lead by people that know the area, so they will take you to some random cool as hell bars/pubs that you would never see otherwise.

I went to the first 4 places on your list, so if you have any specific questions...

Also, my fav place in Europe was Spain/Barcelona, especially awesome since you want to party. I know it's in kind of a weird spot since you're flying into Paris, but if you can swing it...

Have fun!

-Craig

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

In Germany, go visit a good FKK-club.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

1) Don't keep your wallet in your back pocket

2) When in Paris don't bother going to strip clubs. They are more expensive and worse than in the U.S.

3)When in Paris, DO go to Pigalle and walk down all the side streets to see the prostitutes. My friends and I competed to see who could talk prostitutes down to the lowest price.

4) Eat as many chocolate crepes as possible in paris.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

my advice: take me [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

thanks for advice so far, especially the hostel website, and please keep it coming.

-the 3 of us only speak english, and we're assuming that we can get by without knowing any other language.

- we're not sure of how much stuff to bring. someone suggested just bringing one of those huge backpacks and only a few changes of clothes, and I think we might be leaning towards that. What are your thoughts on that vs. a suitcase?

-do you think its better to plan out specific places to go beforehand, or just do most of it spur of the moment. i was thinking it's probably better to plan out places to go every night, and then we can just change it if we find somewhere else to go..

for instance, for fkk club, i'm assuming you mean sex club, any recomendations on a good one?

-as far as prostitutes, whats the legal status regarding them, and are they clean or something to avoid?

thanks

jeff

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

If you can....while in Italy get down to Naples and take the boat to Capri. It is amazing and you will be happy you did. You can make a day-trip out of this and be somewhere else by nighttime.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

Just buy the Lonely Planet Guide to Europe (or western Europe if you aren't going east). It will tell you all sorts of hostels/hotels to stay at and sights to see, and you don't have to plan anything in advance. Just read it on the train while en route to your next destination.

I would also recommend adding in Prague between Berlin/Munich. Amazing city, wasn't destroyed during the war, and you can see a little bit of Eastern culture while you're there. It's cheap as [censored] and the eastern european women are leaps and bounds hotter than anyone in the west. The Eurail pass doesn't work in Czech though so you'd have to buy tickets from the Czech/German border to Prague though.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

Rotterdam is surprisingly fun, take the train thru there for a night, Florence is amazing with the best art in the smallest area overall and a short trip from Rome, and Barca is the most fun you can have in Europe without getting arrested, + relatively recent casino opening!

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

Did europe for 2 months last summer, including all the cities on your list - venice and zurich. Pub crawls are great, we only discovered them in the second half of the trip but its a great way to get loaded. Im Munich there are 2 main ones, and we did both. The one that gives free beer for the first hour is worth it, the other is not. Also, the free walking tours of berlin and amsterdam (both run by the same company) were really good and interesting.

Sex show wasnt worth the 20 euros, but I was trying to do europe on the cheap, so I guess if you dont mind then do it, but it wasnt much better than a strip club. Also, I hear venice isnt great for more than a day, so try someother city instead. Prague is near berlin and cool, or you could check out florence.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

I would start at London, if you aren't on a real tight budget (and if you haven't bought the tickets yet).

I don't know if it's possible to trade the train for a car and return it in Italy, if that is possible I would make this trip:

London - Paris - Amsterdam - Berlin - Rome - Venice, this way you can stop in between and visit cities if you feel like it.

Berlin is a great city, I'm not that big a fan of Munich though.

When you go to Amsterdam, you need to visit one of the coffee shops, but don't go to the bulldog or the grasshopper, I hate those shops.

And pub crawling is great if you want to see a bit more of the city. If you are in Amsterdam, make sure you visit Paradiso, on the Thursdays they always have a great party called de noodlanding.

I'm in south Africa during the winter, otherwise I could show you some places to get completely wasted in Amsterdam :P

Ohw and if you are interested in the second world war you could visit Omaha, Gold beach etc... in northern France. But it's quiet a boring place, no night life what so ever...

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I would start at London,

[/ QUOTE ]

Good advice; this is what I did. Then flew to Barcelona; you can get really cheap tickets through airlines like easyjet and jetblue.

And if you do go to London, stay at the Generator Hostel.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]

-the 3 of us only speak english, and we're assuming that we can get by without knowing any other language.

[/ QUOTE ]

In Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, and Berlin they all speak good enough english, although they don't appreciate it so much in Paris. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
- we're not sure of how much stuff to bring. someone suggested just bringing one of those huge backpacks and only a few changes of clothes, and I think we might be leaning towards that. What are your thoughts on that vs. a suitcase?

[/ QUOTE ]

Definitely do the big backpack. I didn't, (I had like a big over the shoulder bag) and I regret it.

[ QUOTE ]
-do you think its better to plan out specific places to go beforehand, or just do most of it spur of the moment. i was thinking it's probably better to plan out places to go every night, and then we can just change it if we find somewhere else to go..

[/ QUOTE ]

You've already done WAY more planning than we did, but everything worked out fine. However, as I said, a little planning for hostels helps a lot. If I had to do it over again, I would plan better.

-Craig

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
-the 3 of us only speak english, and we're assuming that we can get by without knowing any other language.

[/ QUOTE ]
Try to pick up a bit of Italian and maybe a little bit of French before going.
It really helps to have a faint idea of what something means, if the one who are going to explain it to you is speaking a bad English.

Also, it could make some situations much easier e.g. ordering at small resturants. Most places have English menus, but you could easily end up with something funny on your plate. I had the forsight to ask the waiter what "tripa" was (menu stated that it was "cow". What it didn't mention was that it was the chopped up stomac of a cow served in tomatoe soup. Also, it may be a good idea to check if the side dish is inluded when you order a steak (you wouldn't want to order a steak with triple potatoes and double salad).

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

Hey thanks for your advice so far.

This is what our updated itinerary is:

21 arrive in paris 7am
22 paris
23 paris
24 leave paris either noon or 3pm arrive in amsterdam
25 amsterdam
26 amsterdam
27 leave amsterdam to berlin
28 berlin
29 berlin
30 leave berlin, arrive in prague
31 prague
1 leave prague arrive munich
2 munich
3 munich
4 leave munich arrive florrence
5 florrence
6 leave florrence arrive rome
7 rome
8 rome
9 rome
10 leave rome 10am

we've been doing some research online and checking around, but if anyone had any specific suggestions of places to go in any of the cities it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

jeff

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

nothing really to add ... but strongly consider splurging on a hotel when you are in Amsterdam. AEK and myself paid roughly 175Eur/night.. well worth it.

in your next trip, you should consider spain.

I personally wasn't impressed w/ paris...2 days max and kick an extra day in Amsterdam.


Also while in Amsterdam, talk to the locals, ask for recommendations on coffee shots. AEK did a great job of this.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

since your going during the winter, just take a few days in london and amsterdam, then spend the rest of your time in the alps. thats were it all happends during the winter in europe, great skiing and the afterski is amazing

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

thanks,

we've decided that we're going to be staying in cheap hotels rather than hostels.

also, we want to see some sites and [censored] like that, so we're pretty set in our intinerary. if we wanted to go skiing, there's plenty of nice places in america

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

I don't understand you're not visiting London.
You can fly for practically no money to London from other European cities. Try Ryanair.com. You need to book online and some weeks in advance to get the best prices.

Enjoy your trip [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

I would cut a day from Munich and add it to Prague, the city is awesome. Of course, ya gotta visit ACF in Paris, if nothing else than to have your lungs filled with 2nd hand smoke. Have a good trip.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

jeff,
my friends and I are planning on taking a summer trip to europe, seems like a similar plan. Do you mind posting your budget right now? (or PM me if your uncomfortable w. this).

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
jeff,
my friends and I are planning on taking a summer trip to europe, seems like a similar plan. Do you mind posting your budget right now? (or PM me if your uncomfortable w. this).

[/ QUOTE ]

Orange, it's not too hard.

Airfare: $800-$1,200 depends on what kind of deal you can get and where you are coming from. Something like NYC to Paris might be cheaper than this.

EURail: $600-900 depending on your needs. Also, note that it may be cheaper to just order your train tickets yourself and get 2nd class seats. There really isn't any difference that I've noticed while here. And it is usually much cheaper than a first class seat. Basically, EURail is an option, but shop around and you may be able to do it cheaper.

Hostels: $25-30/night per person for bunks.

Then whatever else you eat/drink/smoke/do while in Europe.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
jeff,
my friends and I are planning on taking a summer trip to europe, seems like a similar plan. Do you mind posting your budget right now? (or PM me if your uncomfortable w. this).

[/ QUOTE ]

No prob, here's what we have so far.


Airplane tickets from JFK to Paris and Rome to JFK

$683...... with tax and everything. Nonstop flights. We could've gotten it at $560 but we waited too long to book. You gotta book this fast though, because it's going up fast. We originally thought it would be much higher as Metetron said, but it wasn't.

15 day student Europass:

$300........ This gives us unlimited rides which we'll use to get to all cities. Prague might not be included, but it's a great deal regardless. If we buy it on our last day in Paris, we can save by not needing the 21 day pass.

Hostel/Hotel Rooms:

Some can be had for literally lower than $10 a night. However, we're probably going to end up staying in decent hotels along the way. With 3 of us, if we spend $50 a night on hotels, we can get decent rooms, so give anywhere from $300 on the low side, to $1000 on the high side for housing.

Food/Alcohol/Sites/Pot/Other Fun Stuff

This largely depends on how much you want to spend on the trip. People in Europe can probably help better with the cost of food and drinks in Europe, although I'm assuming it's a little bit more expensive that in America.

I was figuring $50-$75 a day for $1000 or $1500


We originally were figuring around $3k for the trip, but I think I'll probably go a little bit over.


I think it can be done on like a $2000-$2200 budget if you're frugal

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

With 3 of us, if we spend $50 a night on hotels, we can get decent rooms

I hope you have made reservations at those prices and can prove me wrong, but I very much doubt you can get anything even close to decent for what you mention (at least not in european capitals).

A hostel room costs like $20 a night per person.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
With 3 of us, if we spend $50 a night on hotels, we can get decent rooms

I hope you have made reservations at those prices and can prove me wrong, but I very much doubt you can get anything even close to decent for what you mention (at least not in european capitals).

A hostel room costs like $20 a night per person.

[/ QUOTE ]

I meant one room at $150 a night.

You don't think that we can get something decent (decent meaning i won't feel dirty sleeping there, and it won't be in the ghetto) for that price?

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

I was thinking about traveling around in Europe this summer as well, I have a study abroad class in Bordeaux and Paris that ends at the end of May, then I was planning on taking a month or so to travel. Was thinking about going to Italy at some point and then taking a ferry from there to Greece. Anyone done this or have any comments on it?

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
With 3 of us, if we spend $50 a night on hotels, we can get decent rooms

I hope you have made reservations at those prices and can prove me wrong, but I very much doubt you can get anything even close to decent for what you mention (at least not in european capitals).

A hostel room costs like $20 a night per person.

[/ QUOTE ]

I meant one room at $150 a night.

You don't think that we can get something decent (decent meaning i won't feel dirty sleeping there, and it won't be in the ghetto) for that price?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, for $150 a night, you will get something very decent. One piece of advice though, the rooms will be cheaper if you make the reservations in advance. There are several places in the internet that will help you (try the local tourist website, i.e. french for France, german for Germany and so on). If done in advance and online, you can also rent cars very cheap, almost always with unlimmited milleage. Not necessary all the time, and as you are only staying a few days in every city, you will have plenty to do anyway, but especially around Paris and Rome, there are some nice places to drive around.

Enjoy your trip. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

Hei,

Having been to all those cities and lived in some of them, if it's partying you're after you'd be better off changing the munich-zurich part of your trip for something like krakow/warsaw followed by budapest/bratislava/vienna (in those orders imo). Eastern europe is cheaper (much), often friendlier, and more fun (esp. compared to your two western choices).

Pretty sure you'll have a sweet trip, so best of luck and enjoy.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Hei,

Having been to all those cities and lived in some of them, if it's partying you're after you'd be better off changing the munich-zurich part of your trip for something like krakow/warsaw followed by budapest/bratislava/vienna (in those orders imo). Eastern europe is cheaper (much), often friendlier, and more fun (esp. compared to your two western choices).

Pretty sure you'll have a sweet trip, so best of luck and enjoy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't listen to him....

Skiing in the Alpes is a good idea though (I'm there twice a year and it is great). But I don't think it is a lot different from skiing in the U.S., so you won't really get to see Europe. But that is a decision you have to make for yourself.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

I'd really recommend staying in hostels as opposed to hotels unless the people you are with are extremely uptight. It's the best way to meet other people from all over the world to party and do [censored] with. If you stay at hotels you're going to have a lot harder time meeting people. And considering you will only be sleeping in your hotel/hostel (you'll be out doing stuff all the time), paying extra is pointless. They aren't that bad, and most hostels have private (2 ppl) rooms as well if you really can't stand the thought of sleeping with 6 ppl in a room. If you are under 25 you shouldn't even consider not staying in a hostel.

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'd really recommend staying in hostels as opposed to hotels unless the people you are with are extremely uptight. It's the best way to meet other people from all over the world to party and do [censored] with.

[/ QUOTE ]

Super good advice. For young people, hostels are rediculous fun and they're only 20ish Euro/night/person.

Although in Paris, you'll probably end up staying in a hotel because there aren't really any hostels.

-Craig

Re: Trip to Europe over winter break, advice?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hei,

Having been to all those cities and lived in some of them, if it's partying you're after you'd be better off changing the munich-zurich part of your trip for something like krakow/warsaw followed by budapest/bratislava/vienna (in those orders imo). Eastern europe is cheaper (much), often friendlier, and more fun (esp. compared to your two western choices).

Pretty sure you'll have a sweet trip, so best of luck and enjoy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't listen to him....

Skiing in the Alpes is a good idea though (I'm there twice a year and it is great). But I don't think it is a lot different from skiing in the U.S., so you won't really get to see Europe. But that is a decision you have to make for yourself.

[/ QUOTE ]

why not? he is 100% right tho. (been to many of these places myself)