Whats the best way to travel around Europe?

Question

Im looking at heading to Europe next year to do some backpacking for 2 months.Starting in London up to Ireland, down to Portugal, across to Italy through France and Spain, down to Greece up to Slovakia, across to Austria, up to Germany, Czech, into Netherlands, Belgium, France and back to London. Is getting a Eurail pass the best way to travel between major cities or would flying be my best bet? Also wil 2 months be enough time to see all this?

Answer 1

Hands down, take the train. You get to see all the countryside and places you'd miss from the air. 2 months is plenty...either average out the days or spend a few more days in some places than others. Have a great time! I'm jealous. :-)

Answer 2

Eurail pass is recommended if you travel alone. I did it for a month starting from London and crossed the channel to Belgium, visited 10 countries in the western Europe and back to London to catch the flight back home.

I plan to do it again late this year.

Answer 3

You could probably see it all in a month, but what would you retain? Sounds like you want to be on a train a lot. Maybe you should see smaller bits of Europe instead of doing the "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" kind of tour that so many Americans tend to take.

Answer 4

I'd go by rail also. You might want to allow enough time to see some of the larger cities and sights and spend less time in other parts. You should have enough time to see what you choose to. If not, you have a wonderful "excuse" to go back.... if you really want to see as much as possible, it might work better to travel and sleep at night depending on rail schedules.

Answer 5

Eurail is pricey these days; there are regional rail passes for 1 to 3 countries that may serve you better. In 2 months, you can see a lot, but you can never see everything. For your lengthy intended itinerary, it sounds like you'd be rushing a lot.

In recent years, flying within Europe can be cheaper than going by rail. It's definitely worth doing, if you're committed to such an extensive route.

My suggestions, following the route you propose:

London: 2-3 days (it's worth more, but given your plans...)
England and Wales post-London: 3 days' car rental: Stonehenge, Oxford, Cotswolds, Brecon Beacos, finish up at Holyhead (assuming you can return a car there).

Ferry to Ireland.
Dublin: 2 days
Ireland after Dublin: car rental, 3 days.

Fly to Lisbon

Portugal: (can't help too much; like spain, I've read about it, never been there): I'd guess 3-4 days, public transport should be fine. No pass needed.

From here, you could buy a Spain-France pass for a week or two (a Sp-Fr-Italy pass may be available, but since you're not backtracking, it may not be worthwhile), OR you could buy individual passes just for Spain and France (some passes are for as little as 4 days, but most start at 7 or 8. Your France portion may not need a pass, since you seem to be just going across one portion).

Spain: hard to say. Madrid and Barcelona are usual stops, of course, but Galicia, Valencia and Gibralta are on my to-do lists, too. I'd guess 4-7 days.

France: train should be enough: Cannes, Nice, Monaco, maybe Arles, are all along a single corridor. 2-5 days.

Italy: this would be hard to pin down, depending on yuor interests. If you specialize in one or two areas, a railpass may not be needed, but if you plan on covering a lot of ground, it would be worth it. I'd skip Milan - it's nice, but there are nicer. Venice is on everyone's list, and Florence should be. I'd say 2 nights in Venice (one day tavelling to, one day there, one day travelling from), continuing on to Florence (2 nights, similarly), going to Pisa fro a side-trip en rout to Rome (2 more nights - or 3, if you make Napoli a day trip before flying to Athens. Alternately, take your third night in the ferry port of your choice to go to Greece by overnight boat, after spending most of the day in Napoli).

At this point, time-wise, you're likely more than halfway through; I did a rough count of 25 days just using my suggested minimums.

Greece: (no railpass needed, distances, prices don't warrant it) 4-6 days, including Athens. This might give you time to get to a close island, or you can spend an extra day near Olympus. The train to Istanbul is notoriuosly slow; If you want to make that detour go by bus.

Eastern Europe: no need for passes. not economical.

Bulgaria: 2 days.

Romania: avoid Bucharest. just pass through, maybe 1 or 2 nights in Transylvania.

Hungary: 1-2 days.

Slovakia: I once plotted out a whole trip along the Tatras, but never went. :( I'd say 3 days (avoid Brataslava).

Austria: the part near Czech and Slovakia is flat and unremarkable; even Vienna's not what it's cracked up to be. You'd need to go several hours south or west for truly magnificent Alpine scenery. 2-4 dyas.

Czech: Prague could be a week unto itself... I'd sat 3 days, plus 1-2 in the countryside if you can manage.

Germany: (get a German railpass) Take the train from Prague heading for Dresden. Get off at Koenigstein, a marvellous fortress a few klicks over the border, in a mountainous area along the Elbe called Sachen Switz (Saxon Switzerland). Spend at least a day here - highly recommended, and not on the main tourist trampled path. Dresden is also worth a day or so. From here, you can go north to Berlin; I'd suggest 2 days there. Go west next (I'm giving you another off-the-beaten-path tip to a real treasure) to Wernigerode, in the Hartz mountains (a somewhat obscure stop; the train goes by way of Magdeburg). This is a classic German town in a beautiful setting, complete with castle, forests, the village square, everything. 2 days. From here, head due west toward Amsterdam. (there's a lot more to Germany, but that gives a decent cross-section. The Elbe is much more impressive than the Rhine).

Netherlands: Amserdam's worth 2-3 days, and the Hague is worth a stop en route to Belgium. Distances are short, no railpass needed (ditto that for Belgium).

By now you'll probably be running out of days, so you can cut Belgium down to a one-day visit to Brugge. From here's it's a short ferry trip back to Britain, or you can go to France first. Paris (2-4 days), the Loir valley (1-3) and maybe Brittany (2-3) before catching a boat north (or Eurostar train from Paris). How much time you've left would deterimne if a railpass for this part of France is worthwhile (don't combine it with the previously discussed southern crossing. it wouldn't be worth it).

well, I wrote a hell of a lot more than I planned. feel free to follow up in private if I can offer further insights.

Answer 6

getting a rail pass is worth it . and you could see all that 2 months..