Hello everyone, I have a dilemma which I’m researching and asking around for suggestions.
My friend and I are planning a trip to Europe, our first one!. We are 25-27 want to travel sometime in August.
Our budget is limited and we are young and don’t want to be restricted to the short term stops on different cities that a tour sometimes restrict you to and/or would like time off for our own socializing with the European people/culture.
We are very open minded and wont mind to stay in Hostels. Although we never had stayed on an actual hostel.
I get different perspective about the decision we should take. Since this is our first time in Europe that we should take a tour and be guided by the tour group on the main attractions, that way we don’t get lost or wasted time trying to figure things out.
At the same time we would like to have the full experience and travel on our, schedule our own tour or museum visits etc.
Since our budget is limited to aprox. $2000-2,500 (and a little more on the side for personal expenses). We are inclining to “go on your own and be a traveler not a tourist” mentality.
I’m looking for suggestions on web site for tours, maybe a trip planner to helps us point out where to go and what to do, or any books that we should research and take with us. Also does anyone has an idea when is low season (air fare/price wise) to go to Europe.
Our key points-countries of interest are:
Italy, Greece, London, Spain, France-Paris.
Thank you everyone for your help!
Planet~trotter

Don't do a tour. In general, that is for your grandparents. If only I had enough money to pay for my elderly mum to take a bus tour of Italy!

Do avail yourselves without shame of the excellent guided visits of historical and cultural sites available once you are there - according to your budget.

I presume we means a couple? (whether a romantic couple, or two friends). That is not a lot of money. You are young and can handle some treks on foot and other minor hardships.

My slowtravel advice to you is that you are biting off too much in your first trip. That will cost a lot of money in travel, and you won't really get to se anything. Where do you really want to go? I really think a few areas in France, or in Italy, etc. is plenty. Or hone in on a multinational area - a border region such as Alsace-Germany-Switzerland, Northern Spain- Southern France, just as a couple of examples.

There is a lot of interesting info on this site; for young travellers on a budget I also suggest looking at the Lonely Planet boards.

Well my advice is GO ON YOUR OWN! I went to Europe with two friends when I was 20 and and stayed for six months and then went back on my own and stayed several years...your too young to do the tour thing, just wing it. YOu don't have to wing it as far as accomodation if you don't want to but that is not what you are asking. This website is great for research. Depending on how much time, are you talking a couple of weeks or a couple of months? If you can do three months then you can do several countries. This board has the heaviest concentration on Italy which is great because Italy is fantastic, especially Rome, I am a bit partial...but when your young, the Greek islands just can't be beat! Have fun!

I have some questions about your budget. Is it $2000-$2500 per person or total? Does it include airfare? How long are you planning on being gone? Right now you will get the most bang for your buck by booking a flight and hotel in one place thru one of the big web travel sites. This kinda limits you to one place to stay but, if it's your first time, Paris, Rome, Seville, or Athens can be plenty exciting places to explore. The other options you mentioned are hostels which are quite affordable or convents which can be nice but sometimes they have a curfew. I would try to pick a spot outside the UK as the exchange rate is way better. Not great but better. You pay $1.28 for a Euro but $1.76 for a pound. I would skip the tour as everybody else has suggested and book your own trip. You will have plenty of resources and support on this board. There are trip reports, how-to guidelines and lots of people here who are very knowledgable. Good Luck!!! I think planning is part of the fun.

Ginger

I'm offering enthusiastic agreement with the idea that you can and should travel on your own. Make it your own. Even the bad times (and there are bound to be a few!) will end up being treasured fodder for great stories. But first do your homework using the excellent Rough Guide or Lonely Planet or Let's Go.
Our first big trip to Europe was at your age and we rode bicycles all over the place. We covered a lot of Europe, but we had 9 weeks. If there is one thing I would urge you to do, it would be to limit the scope of your trip. Don't go to all the places you listed. Go to one or two. If you try to do all that, you will be exhausted and spend your time and money in transit. Plus you will not really KNOW any of the places you visit - just a quick impression. This is especially important in August. August is the big travel time for Europeans. Many of them take the month off and head for the coasts and for many of the same places you want to be. In July and August you are competing for rooms and seats with not just foreign visitors, but with locals as well.
Please don't be intimidated by my warnings above. You'll have a great time, but make some choices - decide what you really want and tell yourself that you will return another year.

Ditto for all the above advice. Narrow down to where you really want to visit, invest in a couple guidebooks (agree Lonely Planet & Rough Guide are great), and then explore all over the Slow Travel website and this message board - a wealth of information and help can be found here, in a community of fellow lovers of travel.

Have fun trip planning - it gets your juices flowing!

Terry

x.tina-
the first time I went to Europe, I went on my own and stayed at places recommended in Lonely Planet or just picked hotels randomly that fit my budget. Mostly I had a base out of Paris and went on side trips to other places. This site is for people that like to travel slowly, meaning we like to stay in one place after we get to our vacation spot. Day trips and short trips to other places are usually done from our home base.

That being said, not all tours are geared toward older persons. Some tours are for younger people as well. Try Gate 1 for a younger crowd or Rick Steves for a mixed bag. Both can be found on the internet. If you have some time, it might be okay to do a tour of the area, like major cities in Italy, France or Spain and then go back on your own after the tour is over to the places that you liked when you were with the group. Gate 1 will also arrange land/air/ no guide trips as well as full land /air /guide trips. So they would arrange your flight and hotels but you would be free to explore the places that on your itinerary. This allows more flexibility.

There are really a lot of options from book everything yourself to have everything booked for you.

Dawn

You can do this on your own! You've come to the right place for loads of information and tips.
We have done the Air/Land packages several times. Good deals can be found on the internet these days.
It does limit some of your choices- but when you are just getting started it is comforting to have some decisions made. Usually the price range includes choices of hotels, budget travel.
You don't want to be on a bus with tourists for 2 weeks
OHH the thought gives me chills.

Depending on how much time you have, I would recommend spending at least 4 or 5 days in each place. If you have more time, maybe you can see more places-- but if you are on a budget, pick maybe two destinations. Don't feel like you have to see everything, because you don't! You've got your entire life to go back again if you really like it. As for doing it yourself, it's not as hard as you think, and in fact most of it can be done on the internet. Sometimes taking a several-hour "city tour" in, say, Paris or London, will give you a good introduction to the place so you can decide what you want to go back and see more. I recommend several sites for planning your own stuff:
-www.viamichelin.com for directions anywhere in Europe
-http://www.reed.edu/~reyn/transport.html for subway maps of all major world cities.
-http://www.raileurope.com/us/index.htm Train schedules and tickets

Those are the main things you need. If you want more stuff like car rental, currency, or country-specific info, I just put up a list of "helpful travel sites" on my blog.

Normally I would say go on your own.but I have heard of this company which is for young people.Contiki. I heard they do a good job. Prices look good too RR

As usual ,the great people here have given lots of wonderful ideas.I can only add one more idea and that is have you thought about camping in Europe? Its a great,gives you lots of freedom and cheap way to go ( or you could even do a combination).Its not for everybody,but might suit your needs:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/...ming_in_europe.shtml

http://www.karmabum.com/

quote:

that way we don’t get lost or wasted time trying to figure things out.

Trying to figure things out is (to me at least) one of the pleasures of the ST approach.

I recently talked to a couple who saw "all of Italy" in two weeks - but couldn't remember the name of the hill town south of Siena they visited for a couple of hours.

You are 25 & 27. I am 60. When my only option of a European trip is on a tour bus, I am pretty sure I'll stay home.