Trip to Europe - Insight, thoughts, etc...

[cwb27]

The wife and I are contemplating making a trip to the UK, France, Spain and Germany in about ~18 months. We're in the very early stages of planning right now (i.e. How much $$ to put away every month).

I'm very interested to hear if anyone has any personal experience they'd like to share in terms of travel, places to see/avoid, places to stay (preferably no hostels), etc...

[FlyingOctopus]

I've never lived in Europe for a long period of time, so I don't think I can be much help.


Anyway, I expect from your job you already know this, but just in case..... Unless you have a European passport, there is a good chance you are going to need to apply some type of visa.

The standard no-application visa only allows 90 days within a 6 month period in the Schengen visa area. It would be difficult to spend 18 months in Europe, when you can only spend at most half of the time in the Schengen visa area.


Edit: D'oh! Ignore this post. I misread what you were saying to mean you were planning to stay there for 18 months. Pete's post below made me reread your original post and understand.

[Pete_Coach]

How long do you intend to go to Europe for? Don't try to see too much in one shot.
Try England and France on one trip. I say this because you can base yourself out of London, do several day trips and a week after take the train to Paris, base yourself out of there for a week and then it's time to go home. Staying longer? Perhaps then you can move on to some other parts of those two countries. I have suggested to others that England is a very good place to start if you have never been to Europe. No language barrier (for the most part LOL). Lots to see and do.
As for how much? Well it depends on the time of year you are going. Like everything else, it is more expensive in the summer. Hotels are very expensive over there and they are not equivalent to here. It is generally more expensive over there in all things. Think of what you spend here and then use the number for what you will spend there. I mean, if dinner for two cost you about $70 here, expect to pay that in pounds or Euros. A good hotel in cities will start at about 150 pounds or euros and can quickly go up from there.
Considering you are 18 months away from this trip, expect things to get more expensive. You have a lot of time to research and get ideas of costs.
I can give you more info on England. I can also help with Italy if that is on your list. I am going to Spain this year and may be able to help out later this year on that country. PM if there are any specific questions I may be able to help with.

[cwb27]

Thanks for the comments! Pete, once we get together some additional details I'll probably shoot you a PM.

In terms of Visas, she's got it easy holding an EU passport...

[Bart_]

I've lived and travelled to Europe many times. Here are some random thoughts:
- average $1000 per person per week (including flights). Since your flight there and back will be the most expensive, this goes down the longer you stay in Europe, leading me to my next point:
- go for as long as you can in a single trip.
- spain is amazing in September. The crowds are gone and the weather is nice. Don't just settle for Madrid and Barcelona, see the Mosque in Cordoba, cathedral in Seville, beaches of Tarifa, Alhamra in Granada. Gibraltar is right around the corner (although you have to cross the landing strip to enter); Pillars of Hurceles, the rock.
- if you have time, go to Portugal. The food and wine are great, the prices are cheap and the locals are friendly. Check out the shores of Algarve, if you like to party go to Lagos (I planned on going for 2 days, ended up staying for 5).
- I've been to Paris twice, once when i was 18 and then 24 (i'm 27 now). I hated Paris after the first trip, but now it's my second favorite city after Vegas. Be prepared to spend money there, but your wife will love it.
- the culture is very different, businesses shut down for siesta, dinners don't start until 7-8pm. people stay up late eating and drinking. great fun.
- regular trains are inexpensive. High speed trains can be pricey. Buses are comfortable and frequent.


I'm planning on going for 3 weeks in September. I'm probably going to fly to Poland, rent a car and travel down to Italy.

[Aristophanes]

Agreed with pacing yourself through Europe.
I've lived in Germany/Switzerland over the past 2.5 years and been traveling every other weekend. I still feel that there's still so much left to see.

I don't know about the other countries you've mentioned but I can comment plentiful on Germany. It's an amazing country and there's so much to see and do. The people are warm and every city/town has its own treasures. All the major cities are worth visiting. Accommodations are expensive and so are restaurants but street food is affordable. Groceries, on the other hand, is probably one of the cheapest in Europe. Brötchen (bread roll) for €0.19 each, a pack of salami for €0.99, small bottle of sekt (sparkling wine) for €1.29 or generic 1.5 litre water/coke/sprite for €0.19, few apples/bananas and you're good to go. Quick meal for two for less than €4. Then again, there really isn't really any German cuisine. Pig knuckle is overrated. Schnitzel and strudel are from Vienna. Try curry wurst with french fries.
Also, every city has bad areas. Research those before booking. It's nothing like Jane/Finch but still ghetto enough to avoid.

In 18 months, drop by the Bodensee in July and I will you and your wife a true annual village festival at my gf's family farm.

Just went to Paris for 4 days last week. It's one of the most beautiful cities I've seen and absolutely adore it. 4 days was hardly enough. One can easily spend a week there. Same goes for London.

[kostek]

18 months? Perfect. I'd split this trip into two trips, doing W.Europe and the UK in one trip, everything east of Germany second(this will be longer)
Were in Europe three summers in a row. It gets freaking hot in a lot of places, and we found some colossal traffic jams, some our own fault, but mostly just major gridlock on the highways.
3 hours to go 60 km south of Paris? Try doing it on the first Saturday of kids summer holidays. What were we thinking....

Croatia in September is outstanding, both in terms of price and surplus of excellent places to stay, but there are virtually no tourists there. Go to several of the islands for an amazing vacation. Outstanding.
Take the ferry over to Venice from Rovinj and eat your way through northern Italy.
Drive, Its the best way to get around and see stuff.

[cwb27]

My thanks for all the comments!

Is there a cheaper airport than other to fly into? A colleague of mine mentioned that I should avoid Heathrow?

[overboost]

I've also lived in Europe for over two years (Frankfurt, London, and Prague), and did extensive traveling around Europe. If there's anything you'd like to know, feel free to ask. Italy, Spain, UK, France are countries that I'd highly recommend visiting.

LHR is expensive to fly into because you'll be paying for crazy airport taxes, as well as the cost of your train ride into the city. I wouldn't necessarily avoid it, but keep in mind the additional costs.

[Pete_Coach]

My thanks for all the comments!

Is there a cheaper airport than other to fly into? A colleague of mine mentioned that I should avoid Heathrow?

The airport you land at is dependent on the airline you fly. If you go Air Canada, you land at Heathrow. If you go AirTransat, Thomas Cook or some other charter, you will land at Stanstead or Gatwick. So, you really don't choose an airport, you choose the flight.

[matwiz]

The wife and I are contemplating making a trip to the UK, France, Spain and Germany ~18 months. We're in the very early stages of planning right now (i.e. How much $$ to put away every month).

I'm very interested to hear if anyone has any personal experience they'd like to share in terms of travel, places to see/avoid, places to stay (preferably no hostels), etc...

Ok let's talk Canadian dollars here. In Europe, the Canadian (American) dollar is about 0.75 Euro as of February 5, 2011. (www.xe.com if you want to confirm).

Food is expensive. In a nutshell, I checked hotels.com for you, say you got a hotel/motel for $953 CAD a night on the average (booking.com) - therefore you need $514 620 for 18 months if you were to do a hotel/motel on the average. Food - for the two of you, $90 CAD every day x 30 days x 18 months/day = $48 600. Entertainment about $100 per day so x 30 days x 18 months / day = $54 000 for 18 months.

Well I don't know when you plan to leave but you have to divide the total of $617 220 (Six hundred seventeen thousand and two hundred twenty) by the number of months remaining between now and your month of departure to find out your monthly required to put away. For example if you are leaving in 8 months, from today, you need to save: $617 220 / 8 = $77 152.25 per month to get your goal.




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[kostek]

I'm lovin your math. Did I teach you?

[cwb27]

Ok, so I'm editing my original post... We'd be going on the trip in 18 months, not staying.

[Pete_Coach]

Ok let's talk Canadian dollars here. In Europe, the Canadian (American) dollar is about 0.75 Euro as of February 5, 2011. (www.xe.com if you want to confirm).

Food is expensive. In a nutshell, I checked hotels.com for you, say you got a hotel/motel for $953 CAD a night on the average (booking.com) - therefore you need $514 620 for 18 months if you were to do a hotel/motel on the average. Food - for the two of you, $90 CAD every day x 30 days x 18 months/day = $48 600. Entertainment about $100 per day so x 30 days x 18 months / day = $54 000 for 18 months.

Well I don't know when you plan to leave but you have to divide the total of $617 220 (Six hundred seventeen thousand and two hundred twenty) by the number of months remaining between now and your month of departure to find out your monthly required to put away. For example if you are leaving in 8 months, from today, you need to save: $617 220 / 8 = $77 152.25 per month to get your goal.
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Your math sucks and you also cannot read. He said he is traveling in 18 months, not staying there for 18 months.
Thank goodness you are not my travel agent

[rapsrealm]

Ok let's talk Canadian dollars here. In Europe, the Canadian (American) dollar is about 0.75 Euro as of February 5, 2011. (www.xe.com if you want to confirm).

Food is expensive. In a nutshell, I checked hotels.com for you, say you got a hotel/motel for $953 CAD a night on the average (booking.com) - therefore you need $514 620 for 18 months if you were to do a hotel/motel on the average. Food - for the two of you, $90 CAD every day x 30 days x 18 months/day = $48 600. Entertainment about $100 per day so x 30 days x 18 months / day = $54 000 for 18 months.

Well I don't know when you plan to leave but you have to divide the total of $617 220 (Six hundred seventeen thousand and two hundred twenty) by the number of months remaining between now and your month of departure to find out your monthly required to put away. For example if you are leaving in 8 months, from today, you need to save: $617 220 / 8 = $77 152.25 per month to get your goal.

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Where are you getting a hotel/motel is $953 CDN on average?