Have you been backpacking in Europe?

Question

please help me....what did you enjoy....what places were your favourite...would you recommend it? was youth hostels safe?

did you go for a gap year? wat was your highlight?

thank you so much

someone eager to travel and see the world=me

Answer 1

I have been backpacking for nearly 2 years straight now, and I highly recommend it to anyone!

Hostels are awesome places, and safe, as long as you keep your wits about you. Personal safety has never been an issue for me, but obliviously expensive items should not be left un- guarded.

If you are heading to Europe, everywhere is a highlight. Everything you do or see will be new and fresh and exciting.

I would give at least 3-6months if you want to see alot, maybe consider getting a U.K. work permit , and make it a 1-2 year adventure.

Hope this helps, you will love it!!!

Answer 2

I have taken several trips through Europe over the years, being an European that is not too hard.

Sometimes I just bought a rail pass and a youthhostel card and phoned ahead for a first night.

Other times I had all planned so I knew from day to day what I would do. (When you have booked seats in trains you have to be there.)

I prefer the freedom of not having plans.

I have never been in a country I do not want to return, but I have some places I want to go back to more than others.

(There are towns I do not want to revisit, even whole areas, but I do not regret any bit of travel.)

Highlights were/are, in no particular order, Norway, Luxembourg (the country,) New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, the UK and Ireland. But I could go on, as I have seen very nice places in about 10 more countries at least.

Youth hostels are generally safe, you have to be sensible with your valuables, keep your money, passport and credit card with you at all times.

But if you keep your things tidy, most people will not even think about looking in them.

Spreading your things around, leaving your case wide open, and so on, invites less than honest people to tidy things away for you, in their own pack.

And do not take too much luggage.

Best bring two pairs of jeans, one or two of shorts or a skirt if you like them.

Some T-shirts, a shirt with long sleeves and a sweater. And a rainproof jacket.

Underwear for a week or two, socks and swimming gear.

A pair of shoes you can walk on all day, every day (you will walk a lot, even when traveling by public transport) and a pair of slippers, if only for bathroom and emergency use. (But your feet will thank you when you change out of your shoes.)

A small toilet bag, (tester bottles rather than full size bottles,) and a towel.

And bring a camera and a notebook.

And not much more.

Answer 3

Years ago, when I was backpacking across Western Europe…I was just outside Barcelona hiking in the foothills of Mount Tibidabo. I was at the end of this path and I came to a clearing and there was a lake, very secluded. And there were tall trees all around.  It was dead silent. Gorgeous. And across the lake I saw…a beautiful woman…bathing herself…but she was crying…

Answer 4

I did it many years ago.  Yes, YOUTH hostels are safe.  That is, the one that are administered by the International Youth Hostel organization.  Anything that is NOT, is subject only to their own rules, but the IYH hostels are administered by a tight organization, and they have a reputation to uphold.

US students don't have a gap year.  Most people either take a few months somewhere along the way, or take a semester or year abroad, and tack some travelling onto that somehow.  I lived in Spain for a year, and took a month during Winter break, and two during the summer.  Best experience of my life (and damned glad I packed as much as I could into it, because it took so long to get back!)

Highligh?  Sooooooooo many!  best thing, I think, was meeting SOOOO many people from so many other places.  For instance, in Austria, I roomed with a woman and her daughter from Hungary.  Gotta know, none of us spoke a common language.  Communication was difficult, but I learned things about Hungary, and their attitude towards the West, that I could never have learned any other way.  Little moments like that added up to an incredible experience!