yowza

[hippie_jen]

so, i've been talking for a few years now about going to europe. and now since time actually is running out (dave is 25, so next year we won't be able to get the student discounts anymore), i've decided we're going this summer (dave said ok). so i'm trying to decide what kind of eurail pass to get, how many countries to go to, etc. and since i have

Comments

[caitie711]

definitely get a eurail. it should cover everywhere except some places in the UK and the Czech Republic. To be honest, I'm not 100% certain what the differences are, because the school bought them for us, but they are unbelievably worth it, and you'll want one for as close to the duration of your stay as you can swing.

we were based in the netherlands and had three day weekends and two separate weeks off in which to travel. therefore, we all got pretty used to spending three days in a place, and broke our week long vacations into two or three locations. but, since you don't have to worry about class, you'll probably develop your own pace.

how long are you going to be there? we had four months, after all, so it's a little different. erin went to spain two summers ago, so she could tell you about shorter stays. i would say, if you only have a week or two, focus on a section of Europe you really want to see, like "belgium, france, germany" or "the UK" or "Portugal, spain" etc, and you could easily spend all of your time split up between just one or two places. If you're going for longer, then you can expand. You'll never want to go home, though :)

Hostels are always a bit of a gamble, in that some are quiet nice, and others are sketchy. You can usually find people who vent about crappy hostels online, or rave about nice ones. So I'd look at some online hostel sites to see which ones are which. They're always much cheaper than hotels, and some places even provide breakfast. It's no eggs and bacon, but it's breads and spreads and coffee type fare.

I hope you have an awesomly amazing time.

If you're gonna fly between the mainland and the UK at any point, I'd look at AerLingus. The flights are cheap, because they drop you off a little further away from the main airports, and you take a train into the city (ie: You don't fly into Heathrow in London, you fly into Stanstead, but between the flight and the train, it's still cheaper) Or you can take the train underground from Paris. Some say it's worth the experience, but I think I'd get claustrophobic, so I opted for the cheaper flight :)

Yay I'm so excited for you guys!!!