Europe Travel Question?

Question

I am planning on touring Europe in the next year with some friends. I do not want to go on one of those escorted tour things. Does anyone know where I can find good travel rates which allow me to see lots of different countries in two weeks time?

Answer 1

If you really want to be in many different countries in two weeks, a railpass is the thing for you:
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/passes/eurail_index.htm
But you will have to be in the train almost more than outside it to make full use of it.

If you want to spend less, but still have the freedom of a pass, bus passes are also available:
http://eurolines.com/

Both sites can also help you with planning your travels, but realize that a travel planner only gives travel times.

You will not remember much from the different countries if you spend only a day in each.
A better idea will be to plan a logical route, like:
London, Paris, South of Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and do short hops each time. For a journey like that, a single ticket that allows you stopovers is the best deal. If you are not yet 26 you get a lot of reduction on a ticket like that too. (These tickets are valid for 2 months, not just 2 weeks.)

Traveling in Europe is easy, you do not need a guide to hold your hand, but you need to plan if you have only two weeks.

Get yourself a handful of brochures for those tours and see what they offer, you can then make your own plans, following their route, or making your own plans.
If you travel with a group, specially in the summer holidays, you might need to book ahead.

If you have a pass, you may plan a trip where you sleep on the trains, but you will not rest a lot when you do that.