Backpacking around Europe, hints and tips!

[Megahurtz400]

I'm recently back from the following route:

Split
Zagreb
Budapest
Prague
Berlin

Have a very rough route which includes these places, any recommendations on good hostels? Think i'd prefer "party" type hostels, but any advice would be great

Also, really would like to get to the Plitvice national park and see the lakes there, i'm thinking the best way to do this would be train from Zagreb to Split then a bus towards the national park? Will probably try pick up a cheap tent and hit a campsite for a night or two, found a few which are like 5 Euros a night

 

[KatanaDV20]

For the exact reasons Van Hellseek has just said, i'm going by myself!

Just take the plunge and do it dude, there is so many people doing exactly the same you'll never be alone as long as you can hold a decent conversation with someone

Yeah i'm planning to try and do a video at least once every few days and compile it all into a sort of mini-series if I can, at the very least i'm going to be writing in my journal every day so will compile a nice trip report when i'm back

And yes, the closer it's getting now, i'm actually getting a little bit nervous, which is a weird feeling for me cause i'm such a completely care free person! I'm just like "Do I have enough money? What if I hate it? Where the hell am I actually going?"

Good advice and I totally agree Defo lookin forward to it. Will have to plan out where I wanna go first. I like goin off the touristy track. I wanna check out random places like Tromso and all that. Article Circle hellz yea Cool that youre keeping a journal!

...Starting on Ascension Island, then Trans-Siberian & into Asia for a few months (not that I'm bragging or anything ) - can't wait

Whao! Cool that sounds awesome. Youre also going alone on this trip? Tras-Siberia sounds mental.

Oh they showed a program on Russian cities on TV a couple of weeks ago. They started in Moscow and finished in Vladivostok. Omg Vladivostok...*every* girl on the street or in a cafe looked just ridiculously hyper-gorgeous. Even the guy doing the commentary said that. To the locals its no big deal but every girl that walks past (their version of "average") is just

 

[Dunks]

Have a very rough route which includes these places, any recommendations on good hostels? Think i'd prefer "party" type hostels, but any advice would be great

Also, really would like to get to the Plitvice national park and see the lakes there, i'm thinking the best way to do this would be train from Zagreb to Split then a bus towards the national park? Will probably try pick up a cheap tent and hit a campsite for a night or two, found a few which are like 5 Euros a night

The lakes are awesome, go! We got the night bus from Split to Plitvice, we arrived around 3am (Plitvice village is tiny, rather eerie at 3am too, lots of darkness basically) which kinda sucked, as the place we were staying at had check-in from 11am, we had to hang around outside (luckily they had an outside terrace with benches/tables, an Australian dude got off the bus with us, he ended up crashing in the bus stop which was basically a shed with some seats!) until 8am when we could dump off our backpacks. We got to the lakes for about 8.30am and it was deserted, but then got extremely busy from around 11am onwards.

We booked Hostel Generator in Berlin, arrived at 12am pretty tired after the train from Prague, but it turned out my idiot of a mate had booked it for July, not June! They had no spaces available but luckily the dude on the desk called up a few hostels for us and got us somewhere. We ended up staying at Pegasus Hostel, which wasn't too bad, cheaper than Generator but Generator looked much better. Also, your Interrail pass gives you free travel on the S-Bahn, which is amazing, it's all you need for travelling around Berlin.

In Zagreb we stayed at 'Funk Hostel', which was awesome. Cool staff, nice big communal area, very much a backpackers hostel. Would stay again for sure.

Budapest we stayed at 'Good Morning Budapest'. They had literally just opened after they moved location, so things weren't fully completed. Lacked finishing touches such as shower curtains etc. But they were really friendly, the hostel was busy. Nice communal areas (an awesome roof top terrace!), lots of people around too.

e: Also, try and squeeze in Dubrovnik, it's pretty awesome, much better than Split/Zagreb imo.

 

[Dunks]

lol

when we got to split (south croatia - travelled from zagreb) it dawned on me and my friend that it was nearly 22:00 and we hadn't booked a hostel! we needn't have worried though, there were people waiting for us (and all the other travellers) at the train station, offering us a room in their house! we took one of them up on their offer, got driven to the house and fed and watered. made a nice break from hostel life.

Dude, you actually took those people up on accommodation? Some of them looked so shady when we arrived at train stations where they'd hassle everyone asking if they needed accommodation.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Starting on Ascension Island

Seriously?! That is awesome!

 

[Craig321]

Whao! Cool that sounds awesome. Youre also going alone on this trip? Tras-Siberia sounds mental.

Oh they showed a program on Russian cities on TV a couple of weeks ago. They started in Moscow and finished in Vladivostok. Omg Vladivostok...*every* girl on the street or in a cafe looked just ridiculously hyper-gorgeous. Even the guy doing the commentary said that. To the locals its no big deal but every girl that walks past (their version of "average") is just

Going with my brother

Seriously?! That is awesome!

Yup. Booking the RAF flight in the next month or so. Can't wait

 

[anything I don't mind]

If hot girls want to take you to an industrial estate, run or you could end up like those guys in hostel.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Yup. Booking the RAF flight in the next month or so. Can't wait

Please take lots of photos. Thats way more interesting than yet another GAP Yah to Thailand There must be very very few people who can say they've been to Acension. How much was the flight?

 

[cm1179]

Dude, you actually took those people up on accommodation? Some of them looked so shady when we arrived at train stations where they'd hassle everyone asking if they needed accommodation.

looking back on it, it was very dodgy but all worked out well in the end.

 

[cm1179]

reading this thread is giving me very itchy feet. europe is incredible and hostel life is one of the best experiences i've ever had.

 

[Craig321]

Please take lots of photos. Thats way more interesting than yet another GAP Yah to Thailand There must be very very few people who can say they've been to Acension. How much was the flight?

Getting a new camera for my birthday, so definitely will!

Flight will be £1000 return from Brize Norton, so not particularly cheap, but will be worth it!

Sorry OP, I don't mean to take over your thread with my travels!

 

[Jongo]

Have a very rough route which includes these places, any recommendations on good hostels? Think i'd prefer "party" type hostels, but any advice would be great

Also, really would like to get to the Plitvice national park and see the lakes there, i'm thinking the best way to do this would be train from Zagreb to Split then a bus towards the national park? Will probably try pick up a cheap tent and hit a campsite for a night or two, found a few which are like 5 Euros a night

We went to Plitvice from Zagreb, we managed to find an awesome and the owner got us sorted on a very nice minibus to plitvice it all it took around 2 hours iirc to get there well worth it though! got some stunning pictures and met some rather awesome people.

I wouldn't recommend staying in Zagreb for long though it didn't really seem to have much there., then again we were only there for around 2 nights.

 

[Marky]

Hi there, some of you may already know im off round Europe starting on 16th August, and it seems a few other people either want to do the same or have done the same

Just after some hints and tips and general advice really, im going to be Interrail from Amsterdam to Croatia via Brussels and Italy, then up to Berlin through a load of places

"So I was backpacking around Western Europe..."

"Friends" Reference... just incase no one gets it...

 

[Megahurtz400]

Leave 2 weeks today, and think i've got everything prepared lol!

Went for the Travelex cash passport as it just seemed very easy, travel insurance and rail ticket sorted

Excited!

 

[cm1179]

lucky man. have a blast!

 

[p1RATE]

get a second battery for your phone.

the hotels.com app is great. i was traveling a few weeks ago and just used that app using the Tonight latest deals to find a room, often worked out cheaper than a hostel. bearing in mind we had 2 people saying in a room. i paid from £14-22 a night for a room, the majority of which were far superior to a hostel.

 

[Megahurtz400]

get a second battery for your phone.

the hotels.com app is great. i was traveling a few weeks ago and just used that app using the Tonight latest deals to find a room, often worked out cheaper than a hostel. bearing in mind we had 2 people saying in a room. i paid from £14-22 a night for a room, the majority of which were far superior to a hostel.

Taking an old nokia I think, the battery on that thing lasts a week so it should be ok

Got 2 spare batteries for my camera though, think thats more important than a phone

 

[D.P.]

Forget backpacking, I picked up a cheap Citroen turn disel estate car for 500 on the road, did a 4 month euro trip and sold the car for 700 when I got back. Much cheaper than public transport, much more convenient, much more flexible.

Carried camp gear with me and camped at most places= massive savings on accommodation and food, plus a good night sleep guaranteed. I ahte hostels, always filled with loud, drunk committing chats, or weirdos getting it on while everyone is awake on the room.

 

[p1RATE]

Forget backpacking, I picked up a cheap Citroen turn disel estate car for 500 on the road, did a 4 month euro trip and sold the car for 700 when I got back. Much cheaper than public transport, much more convenient, much more flexible.

Carried camp gear with me and camped at most places= massive savings on accommodation and food, plus a good night sleep guaranteed. I ahte hostels, always filled with loud, drunk committing chats, or weirdos getting it on while everyone is awake on the room.

this is how i like to do it, buy the right car and it can be very cheap. Old merc deisels are fun, or something on LPG. Plus you get to enjoy some of the roads, especially if you are around the alps!

 

[[TW]Fox]

get a second battery for your phone.

the hotels.com app is great. i was traveling a few weeks ago and just used that app using the Tonight latest deals to find a room, often worked out cheaper than a hostel. bearing in mind we had 2 people saying in a room. i paid from £14-22 a night for a room, the majority of which were far superior to a hostel.

Pretty much this. What started out as a trip where we'd use hotels wherever possible to keep the cost down has turned out being a trip where we are exclusively staying in hotels at an average cost of £25 per person per night for the entire trip - mostly at brands like Marriot and Hilton! In most cases the hostels actually worked out MORE expensive!