Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Joe Davola
Hello everyone, I am leaving for Europe on Thursday the 27th of September. First I am heading to Reykjavik, Iceland and will spend three days there before heading to Stockholm, Sweden.
Other places I am planning to visit include:
Helsinki, Finland
Tallinn, Estonia (maybe)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Krakow, Poland
Prague, Czech Republic
Budapest, Hungary
Salzburg, Austria
Paris
I plan to be gone for about five weeks.
My questions are:
1) What is the right way to plan this? How much planning should be involved? So far I have booked only my flights to Iceland and to Stockholm, as well as my lodging in Iceland. Should I plan the whole thing or should I fly by the seat of my pants so I can spend however much time I want in each location? I understand this is a personal preference, but how would YOU do it?
2) How easy or difficult will it be to meet people to hang out with? I am going alone because none of my friends can join. I'm thinking of staying in hostels so I can encounter other world travelers and maybe meet people to hang out with that way.
3) Is this a good list of places to visit? Any experiences in these places? Anywhere else I should check out?
Thanks very much for the replies.
I did this last year. Aside from the order of the cities I traveled to, I planned everything as I went. Then again, my trip started in January, not during high season.
I've been to the cities on your list. I'd skip Helsinki and not spend much time in Tallinn unless there's something specific you want to see there. I found Riga and Vilnius more interesting Baltic capitals than Tallinn IMO.
Copenhagen is solid, though expensive and not particularly friendly. You don't have to spend more than a weekend there. Amsterdam is way, way better IMO.
Your last five places are solid and well worth visiting. Stay in the city of Paris rather than outside the center. The extra cost is worth not spending a couple of hours every day on public transport.
When it comes to hanging out, MeetUp is good for countries where it is popular. Hostels can be good in your 20s when you don't care about having a good night's sleep. Once I hit 30 or so, hostels were more stressful and annoying than enjoyable. I was content spending more on AirBnB and relying on MeetUp.
A hint of advice would be to pace yourself. It's surprising how much energy nonstop travel can take out of you. Don't think of a day off a week or a night where you don't go out as a waste of time. It's a way to recover and keep going strong in the long run.
Hard to recommend day trips or other cities without knowing what you're interested in.
Last edited by SuperUberBob; 09-07-2018 at 05:55 PM.