Traveling throughout Europe in a few years...?

Question

I'll be visiting England, Germany, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary and Prague. Since this is a few years away, where should I start planning this out? I plan on using hostels and a backpack for a majority of my month long stay. I'll be visiting friends in a majority of these countries; Ukraine, Hungary, Russia and England. I've got a map and am working on routes. What should I do next?

Answer 1

You lucky dog!

The guys above are right. Europe is expensive, but I find the food, for instance to be superior to the one in the US - it just tastes great!

In some E. European countries you cannot stay for more than 90 days without a visa. I know this is a fact for Romania, which you may want to include in your plans if you're backpacking in E. Europe. I'd go in Transylvania - Brasov (mountain city - absolutely gorgeous, has always had foreign visitors), Sigisoara (birthplace of Dracula, medieval town - end of July they have a medieval festival), Sibiu (the European capital of culture 2007), Cluj (many foreign students, open minded people), Timisoara (our window to the West and beautiful city - first one in Europe to have electric lights!!!). Anyway, it's just a suggestion.

Some people stay two months or so then go to Hungary, then they re-enter, so they get another 90 days. You really should check with the embassy/consulate of any country you visit as these rules change daily (I used to work at Ohare, trust me on that one).

Have fun and be safe! Watch your pockets, that's about all I could say, and use common sense.

Here are some links on Romania (only Latin ppl in Eastern Europe - which is sort of interesting to me).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eSoruzRkj7g

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rxx454vmqz0

Answer 2

First get information about visas! If you're a citizen of the USA travelling to the UK and the Schengen Countries is no problem, but Russia and Ukraine may be. Check out if you'll need an invitation.

Look for the best means of transportation available between your destinations: cheap flights, Eurail (or trains in general), buses, etc. Maybe a Eurail-Pass saves you money, then plan your itinerary around that pass. Make sure that your friends will be at home when you want to visit them (sounds profane, but don't forget).
http://www.eurail.com/

Some cheap airlines are:
http://www.easyjet.com/en/book/index.asp
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/
http://www.germanwings.com/index.en.shtml
http://www.airberlin.com/site/index.php?page=start.php&LANG=eng&all=1

Answer 3

Start saving money.
It will cost a lot, even when you travel smart.

Next, read about the countries you want to go.
A good travel guide may be your kind of book, or maybe you prefer stories like detectives or non fiction.
I like the Lonely Planet series, they have good travel guides, and a good site too:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

If you have the opportunity, maybe you would like to host travelers to your home, there are several programs which you can join that make contacts between people traveling and people living in the country they are.
Keep an eye out for those if you are interested.
(You can also join if you can not host in your house, sometimes you will guide people in your town, other sites allow you just to use them without offering space in return.)

Enjoy the preparations.

Added:
These are sites to host and be hosted at home.
http://www.couchsurfing.com/
http://www.hospitalityclub.org/