Hahaha it's ******* crazy right?! Every bloody street corner has someone letting off a banger. The litter on the roads the next day is next level
Travel EUROPE: Travel Tips & Tricks
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Hahaha it's ******* crazy right?! Every bloody street corner has someone letting off a banger. The litter on the roads the next day is next level
Bumpity bump bump bump.
Came to the realisation I hadn't been overseas for 2.5 years recently so snagged a month of leave in October, Europe on the agenda. Frequent flyer points will mean taxes only.
Haven't booked anything bar leave yet but tentative dates are October 2nd to 27th. Can go slightly later but not earlier.
Trying to figure out a way to fit in...
Oktoberfest (runs until the 10th)
Dortmund game on the 15th
Some sort of tour (what's Sail Croatia like? Their last ones for the year are 7th and 14th, slightly constraining)
Weekend in London (EPL)
Bit of a tough gig to find a good direction/balance but accept I might need to criss cross a bit.
Any suggestions on what I should do? Keen for a bit of a mix of solo and tour, will be hostelling it mostly.
Came to the realisation I hadn't been overseas for 2.5 years recently so snagged a month of leave in October, Europe on the agenda. Frequent flyer points will mean taxes only.
Haven't booked anything bar leave yet but tentative dates are October 2nd to 27th. Can go slightly later but not earlier.
Trying to figure out a way to fit in...
Oktoberfest (runs until the 10th)
Dortmund game on the 15th
Some sort of tour (what's Sail Croatia like? Their last ones for the year are 7th and 14th, slightly constraining)
Weekend in London (EPL)
Bit of a tough gig to find a good direction/balance but accept I might need to criss cross a bit.
Any suggestions on what I should do? Keen for a bit of a mix of solo and tour, will be hostelling it mostly.
- Jul 9, 2010
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How do people pull off having that many frequent flyer points?! I'm with Virgin Velocity and travel a fair bit from the eastern seaboard to Perth and in a few years I've barely come up with enough to get me one way to bloody Asia.
I've flown to and from Sydney/Brisbane every week since November through work. That gets me enough for a one way ticket, credit card points (dollar for dollar matching + sign up bonuses) will get me the rest.
Oktoberfest is amazing so put that to the top of the list.
Sail croatia in October is going to be pretty average with the weather not so great by then so maybe give that one a miss, but could easily start in Germany - oktoberfest, work your way across to prague, budapest etc. Then into zagreb and do a daytrip (or more) out to plitvice as a substitute for sail croatia. From there you're close to italy, south of france & across to spain then into london (as the logical route, but can really do whatever)
Tickets to epl games can be harder to come by than most suspect, so would try seek out the games you want and look sooner rather than later. Good tip this year would be spurs at wembley as should be plenty of seats.
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If you have time I would absolutely recommend a tour of the Isle of Skye in Scotland. I went on a three day tour with Timberbush Tours. You'll see plenty of absolutely stunning wilderness, including Eileen Donan Castle (very good photo opportunity), Loch Ness and many, many mountains. My tour guide was doing his first solo tour and it was still amazing, one of the highlights of my trip to the UK in Feb/March.
Check out their website, they have some decent one day tours on offer too.
http://www.timberbush-tours.co.uk/
Yeah I can probably sneak in the last few days of Oktoberfest, not leaving until after the Grand Final so can't go any earlier.
The Sail Croatia point is an interesting one, I didn't realise it cools down that much. Will have a think about it, maybe substitute with another land tour (I'd like to do something with others for a week or so rather than being on my own the whole time).
For EPL tickets, I've been before so understand completely! Spurs at WHL wasn't difficult so Wembley should be fine, West Ham were also okay at Upton Park so shouldn't have many issues at the Olympic Stadium. I don't even mind the smaller games (QPR v Burnley was some of the most fun I've had at a match).
Dortmund games usually go on sale from the club website to members (for additional tickets) on the monday 2 weeks before the match, and then the wednesday to the general public. Remind me closer to the date to link you to the place. Better to buy from the club - the resellers will gouge you bigtime.
That game is against Leipzig. They won't have many away fans so should be easier to get a ticket. But there's a lot of hate between the Dortmund ultras and Leipzig, so probably get to the ground early and soak it up before the sudtribune fills. Tickets are cheap and so is the beer. Dortmund is easy to get to but you probably wouldn't have too much fun staying there - theres one really good coffee shop and some good doner and thats about it, as much as its my second home. Probably stay in Koln/Dusseldorf and travel up for the game. That way you're only a high speed train away from France (or Hamburg) if you choose to go there.
Can I suggest that you should go to a 2.BL game if you have a chance, especially St Pauli (Hamburg) or Bochum (not far from Dortmund). Both have elite fan clubs and should be near the top of the table. The Pauli match day experience is like none other, you can buy a ticket usually from a seller in the carpark for €10 - 75% of the ground is standing!
That game is against Leipzig. They won't have many away fans so should be easier to get a ticket. But there's a lot of hate between the Dortmund ultras and Leipzig, so probably get to the ground early and soak it up before the sudtribune fills. Tickets are cheap and so is the beer. Dortmund is easy to get to but you probably wouldn't have too much fun staying there - theres one really good coffee shop and some good doner and thats about it, as much as its my second home. Probably stay in Koln/Dusseldorf and travel up for the game. That way you're only a high speed train away from France (or Hamburg) if you choose to go there.
Can I suggest that you should go to a 2.BL game if you have a chance, especially St Pauli (Hamburg) or Bochum (not far from Dortmund). Both have elite fan clubs and should be near the top of the table. The Pauli match day experience is like none other, you can buy a ticket usually from a seller in the carpark for €10 - 75% of the ground is standing!
Awesome info, thanks heaps! I think I've figured out the ticketing thing, and I'm well aware of the hatred of Leipzig. Should be fun.
Thanks for the suggestion of 2BL., will look into it.
Anyone here traveled the Contiki Winter Wonder Land tour over Europe? Goes for 24 days, thinking of doing it after I finish a 3 week teaching placement in Chester on December the 15th.
$4000+ is fairly steep though, would I be better off just back-packing it?
$4000+ is fairly steep though, would I be better off just back-packing it?
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If you spent four grand in Europe, as in once you're there, you could have a grand time in a month. Ie drink a bit, have a nice meal (as in bonafide dinner at a good restaurant) every second day, all that sort of stuff. I would not do Contiki at all, you could probably even afford to stay in hostels but have 2-4 bedroom dorms meaning you get a good sleep and you also can meet people in common areas. I wouldn't do a Contiki at all...
7 days free on my itinerary in Europe - where do I go? Will be solo and hostelling it. Will be flying out and back into Germany.
Already covering off Germany, Italy, Czech, Netherlands and England.
Keep hearing about Portugal and the hostels there, what are people's thoughts?
Already covering off Germany, Italy, Czech, Netherlands and England.
Keep hearing about Portugal and the hostels there, what are people's thoughts?
- Jul 9, 2010
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Portugal is really good, I love Porto – genuinely wow-ed when I went there which might be painting the wrong picture but to me it's the sort of place you could go live in for 12 months and probably wish you just stayed in.
But it's a bit out of the way and I'm an advocate for doing it better via sticking to smaller areas, travelling less, and enjoying where you are. I'm guessing you won't be there in summer otherwise I'd say just find a nice beach in Italy and spend a week between two towns swimming, eating, and relaxing.
Otherwise do go to Budapest if you're going to Prague. Where are you going in England? Add in another city, maybe two up north. Manchester is one of my favourite places ever.
Good call. Ridiculously cheap too.
Slovenia. Get to Ljubljana. Amsterdam is also great. And go to Paris FFS.
Interesting, hadn't even thought of that.
Amsterdam I've got later in the trip and I've been to Paris a few times now, it's low priority.
Get to Slovenia then. Ljubljana is beautiful, Lake Bled is a sight to behold. Magnificent. Also, Switzerland is great too.
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Yeah Ljubljana wasn't even in my considerations and it ended up being one of the real highlights of my trip. Probably as much to do as the people I met before and travelled with to there, but the place is really beautiful and compact. Day trip to Bled was well worth it too.
Eaglespur
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Budapest was my fave (we back packed entire western europe). Also Slovenia is a bit of a hidden gem!
Portugal, if it works into your travel plans, is elite.
I'd maybe spend 3 days in lisbon
if you can work it into your travel plans, then I'll always advocate for Portugal. 3 days in Porto and 3 days in Lisbon with a half day travel for each would be unreal. Beautiful country, unreal food, super cheap, and yeah, the hostels are incredible. If you're in Lisbon, a day trip to Sintra is an incredible day - seeing 9th century barracks and the castle.
I stayed at these two - 22 euro per night in a 6 bed dorm for either. Ended up making friends with two of the girls in Porto and we went exploring the city for a couple of days.
Lisbon - The Independente Hostel - https://theindependente.pt/collective/
Porto - Tattva Design Hostel - http://tattvaporto.com/hostel/
Funnily enough I just worked Lisbon and Porto in for that week
so jealous. when I move over to europe, they'll be one of the first places I head back toFunnily enough I just worked Lisbon and Porto in for that week
Yeah I did that 3 years ago.
You might think it's ~$4000 but once you factor in all the 'optional' additional activities that everyone ends up doing there's another $1200-$1500 and then you need to pay for probably half the meals and all your drinks on nights out, so I spent about $9000 for the 24 day tour.
Even though it's a winter tour I think it had the best itinerary of all the Europe contikis available, including summer options.
Went backpacking afterwards and you see how expensive the tour option is in comparison, but if you haven't travelled much alone before it is a good way to ease into a trip away.
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Personally I think you would be better off just back-packing it at that time of year. Its not as crowded and rates for trains and hostels are cheaper. I back-packed around Europe in Dec 14 to Feb 15 and spent just over $8600 all up on my trip which included my flight to Europe and back, train tickets between cities, hostels, spending money for meals/booze and tickets to Sporting Events like the Premier League and the Bundesliga. Also allows you to go more at your own pace, rather than be rushed city to city daily.
I came across this tour when I was in Vienna at my hostel, they arrived on a Saturday at 3pm which gave them an hour of sunlight to see the city and were gone the next day after breakfast. You have to ask yourself is that how you want to see some cities?
