backpacking round europe

I Inter Railed round Europe twice in the early 90's to watch my team get stuffed in UEFA and never regretted a minute of it.

First time was for 3 weeks and to Bucharest immediately after Caucescu got hung and just before Yugoslavia split up. Romania was an eerie place, bullet holes in the walls and bread cues in the morning while I lived like a king. Belgrade was also a bit of a rough spot, feck all to do, I spent the day in the zoo!

I also went to Rome, Pisa, Milan (seen Inter play Fiorentina), Paris, Salzburg, Luzern (beautiful), Munich and I finished by seeing QPR stuff Spurs 4-0 and hitch hiking up to Stranraer.

Second time was shorter and we played in Marseille. I slept mostly on overnight trains and done Paris again (love the city) and parts of France.

For years my mates kept saying they would go to Spain yet when it came to the crunch nobody had any money. I got fed up and took the plunge on my own and loved every minute of it.

If I didn't have any responsibilities now I'd do it all again. I'd urge any young person to do it.

student railcard to let youngsters go see outside their own little towns the best idea ever imo. hopefully produce less bigoted racist scum.

Went Interrailing in 1990, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and before the Yugoslavia troubles. Our route went something like:

Bruges
Amsterdam
Heidelberg / Freiburg
Hannover
Interlaken / Lake Brienze
Zagreb
Makarska / Split
Monaco / Monte Carlo
Paris

Might have forgotten a couple of places.

long trek between split and monaco

Joci ^^^

A big regret was not going to Berlin on the first anniversary of the fall of the wall. I could easily have been there but I avoided it, somehow I thought that East v West would be rioting in the place Stupid in hindsight.

didn't roger waters play there on the 1st anniversary? Would've been a mental atmosphere

I wouldn't know MF, I didn't go

nah it was 8 months later

The Wall – Live in Berlin was a live concert performance of the Pink Floyd studio album, The Wall, held in Berlin, Germany, on 21 July 1990, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall eight months earlier

Ovalman. Joined: 29 Nov 02
Replies: 6806 23 Jan 11 12:38 
Joci ^^^

A big regret was not going to Berlin on the first anniversary of the fall of the wall. I could easily have been there but I avoided it, somehow I thought that East v West would be rioting in the place Sad Stupid in hindsight.


There was some reason we didn't go...might have been an additional cost or something like that.

Remember being on a train going through Yugoslavia and being in one of these old fashioned carriages for about 8 people, with the corridor running past the doors. Met some Yugoslavian blokes, must have been late teens, and spent a long while chatting to them about the problems within Yugoslavia at the time, we shared some food with them, and they had a large bottle of whisky they shared with us. Not so long after, the country was in civil war.

^^^

I remember heated arguments on the train from Belgrade to Bucharest. I couldn't tell what language they were in but I thought it would go to blows. The sign's were there alright.

I also talked to a young Slav on the way back. We talked about Tito but he didn't suspect the horror to come.

As a sideline, I watched Newsnight a few months ago and the tensions are still there. Geographical borders drawn up by ?Owen? are hotly disputed and it's still a smouldering powderkeg. I think it will take a few generations if ever there is peace there.

Transalpino  round Europe in 1980 and was so good did it again 1982.

Went for a month each time

Slept on overnight trains or in parks, beachs, roofs etc

thinking of going for a year before i get too old...how much dya reckon the kitty would be for a year?

are there any cats in it?

Isn't the Interail age limit 26?

Went in 1997 interrailing - the best £900 i ever spent (all in) and the best holiday ever went:

London - Dover - Calais - Paris - Bordeaux - Barcelona - Madrid - Monaco - Nice - Rome - Munich - Prague -
Budapest - Krakow - Budapest - Thesaloniki - Istanbul - Thesaloniki - Athens - Brindisi - Milan -
Lucerne - Antwerp - Amsterdam - Calais - Dover - London - Biggleswade - Home

Countries visited:  England, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Vatican, Germany, Czech, Hungary, Poland, Greece,
Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland

Countries went through: Luxembourg, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Austria

20 different countries in 30 days.  Remember it like it was yesterday - happy days.

can get a eurorail card egg

I think it's all changed now EGG, there is an over 26 card that's still good value.

can do inter rail over 26yo, but costs more.

A year??  gonna cost a fair whack ain't it.  ten grand?

They changed the age limit a few years ago as it was against eu regulations

what's Biggleswade like UTI?

Remember me and my mate got hold of these pamphlet things about interrail about 6 months before we
went.  I was 19 at the time but was like a 6year old on christmas eve for all those 6 months.  Had each section of europe on a big map of europe with its own colour and was so excited about the prospect of going to see paris, rome, eastern europe, istanbul, monte carlo, the alps, the med - all on one trip.  That map was covered in lines of our planned route that would enable us to see as much of europe as possible in the minimum of time.  Not sure if i've ever been as excited before or since. but there were supposed to be 4 of us going, but 2 pulled out at the last minute.  We got this big thick book from some second hand shop "round europe by train on a budget" 1996 version.  I'd read it cover to cover before I'd set off I think.

yeh was looking at 10k uti....did you have a great time?

did you have a great time?






dont think he's mentioned it yet

CAN defo still interrail over 26yo, just not so cheap.  was about £260 when I did it for a month going everywhere.  was great fun redbag.  so I think I spent about £22/day - mainly sleeping on hotels, the odd hostel and the odd v.v.budget b and b.  13 years ago.  10k gives you about £30/day which is alright(still a budget though) if you have accommodation sorted - if accom. isn't sorted then it'd be a struggle.  1 year is a long time mind, I'd rather have more money to spend and do it in less time personally.  I'd prob spend 3 months doing it and then 3 months doing the states (similar, even cheaper, ticket available state side) have to add 3-4 hundred quid on flights I spose, but masses of places to see in usa.

already done the states

OK.  Where are you gonna go in a year?  Everywhere?  or thinking of spending a long time in some places?  Think i'd start missing home or getting bored (unless I was working out there)

everywhere except scandinavia

~Sounds good - do you know you can go to morocco too?  I want to get a cheap flight to malaga one day and then get ferry to morocco and go all the way down to western sahara on train/bus, would be mental.  Scandinavia would eat into your budget for sure.  I did everywhwere, virtually, except scandinavia in a month so i'm sure you'd have no worries.  Not sure if you still can but I went to istanbul, and i could've gone all the way to ankara and beyond
if i'd had time - that would've been proper bonkers, getting out towards Iran and sh1t.  but it's all cheap as chips in these places and the people are often friendlier than you'd imagine.  Unfortunately interrail didn't/doesn't stretch as far as the baltic states I think  but you could always pay for that yourself.  Were you gonna use interrail?  doesn't really work for 12 months does it.

Interrail, £92.50 when I did it the first time. Great times.

have you considered the trans-siberian to vladivostok and back?

One of my biggest regrets is that i never went through with my dream of travelling across europe when i was 18.I would have loved to have travelled to eastern europe especially before the break up of communism. That part of europe always had a mystique to me and if i could time travel back in time it would be something i would do.

yes uti i fancy morocco and istanbul..trying to work out a route in the next few weeks

I'm planning to go inter railing for 6 weeks this summer as there's no football tournament on. I can't wait, haven't been abroad for nearly 10 years so have a lot of catching up to do! I'm aiming to to visit about 12 different cities, and hopefully go to the Benicassim festival in Spain as the end.

Don't miss Granada and Lisbon. Granada is amazing

The overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland was a party time to start your month in the right frame of mind.

james is granada in spain?

agree overnight ferry to the hook of holland is a great night out

I don't think they do the overnight boats anymore; think they replaced them with faster ferries.

Granada is in Southern Spain, 3 hours from Seville. It has immense nightlife, good bars, tapas bars with tapas included and the Alhambra castle/palace complex where the Moors lived out their last days in Spain. The hostel there is really good too as they organise loads of trips and have 2 4 1 on mojitos every early evening.

cheers mate sounds great

Always make sure that you've got a few beers and a couple of bottles of wine and you'll never be short of company

We used to hang out of the train windows at stations and buy bread, cheese, ham, fruit from the locals - not sure if this still happens

any places or big cities to avoid?

.  http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=14m897a&s=7

lol ^

redbag Joined: 15 Jun 05
Replies: 7122 25 Jan 11 19:33   


any places or big cities to avoid?

NO.  imo.  Go anywhere and everywhere.  At least once get off somewhere in the middle of nowhere on impulse even though you know nothing about it.  Imagine going to some small town you've never heard of in slovakia and going out on the lash would be mental and you'd learn more
about the people that way and hopefully you can find lodgings and if you're careful and don't flash money around would be a cracking experience imo.  Wish I was going.

Might only be one night of your life, but love it or hate it you'll never forget it.

I agree with UTI, sometimes the dodgy places are the best memories........did this a few years ago (actually started in china and took trains to europe and then all around there) and there wasn't anywhere that I regretted visiting...

If you go you will ruin your chances of winning the placepot comp

lonely planet book is superb..i cant put the thing down

thx for input keep them suggestions coming

Mykonos is very popular with ****s

**gays

i gave up men when each way broke my heart

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TTT for Diamond Joe Quimby

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