What a coincidence, I actually started to do some rough planning for my Eurotrip `09 last night. I don`t usually backpack through Europe, but I`m trying not to break the bank with my next trip. As such, my first piece of advice is that even though I find relaxed and incompletely planned trips to be the best, planning your transport well in advance can save you quite a bit of money; especially with the no-frills European airlines (i.e. Easyjet & RyanAir). In regards to when to go, I find the peak times to be during the summer and Christmas periods and this is when things are pricier. While it might be cheaper to go during the off-peak, you won`t get the same atmosphere. So if you`re like me and like to be in the middle of things, you might find paying more justifiable.
If you are really interested in paying less and moving on the fly, be sure to keep checking the airlines and train operators` websites. Sometimes they have really good seat sales and if you are over there and have enough time you can, for example, cancel your €110 flight to Madrid and get a €24.99 flight to Athens. Now, length of stay. Well, it depends on whether you want to: a) Get a taste of Europe, or b) See Europe. A month of backpacking can give you a taste of Europe but if you really want to See Europe you`ll have to spend a longer period of time there and/or take multiple trips.
__________________
“Such suburban models are being rationalized as ‘what people want,’ when in fact they are simply what is most expedient to produce. The truth is that what people want is a decent place to live, not just a suburban version of a decent place to live.”
- Roberta Brandes Gratz
|