After over a year of saving and planning, my trip around Europe is now a mere 3 months away and I am starting to get very nervous, but SUPER excited at the same time! In the 12 weeks I am away, I will be rolling through Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Italy and hopefully Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria (finances willing).
If you’ve picked where you want to go that’s the easy part done. Are you now thinking how? The logistics of getting between each country had my head spinning.
Have you thought about any particular sights you must see?
What are you going to pack?!
It can be a bit of a minefield when you have no idea where to start, so I’m going to share a few of my favourite websites that I feel have really helped to guide and inspire me.
The Man in Seat Sixty-One
This site is the brainchild of Mark Smith and it is pure genius. I personally have organised my whole trip using his train travel suggestions. I knew from the start of this dream that I wanted to do the majority of my travelling by rail. Although flying may seem quicker, by the time you add in the time of getting to and from the airports, which are commonly outside of the city centres, plus check in times and baggage collection they actually end up being more stressful and time consuming. Also, a bonus of travelling by train is that you get to take in the scenery of the countries you’re passing through. Win win!
This website is so easy to use, simply pop in where you’ll be leaving from and going to and it will take you to the exact train you need. There is often more than one option to choose from such as day or night trains, and different possible routes. Mark very kindly provides a link to the local rail service websites so you can purchase your tickets. Easy-peasy.
Mark has written two books based on train travel too. (Links provided at bottom of post) However, he does openly admit the website is more up-to-date now as they were published a few years ago.
The Savvy Backpacker
Run by James and Susan, The Savvy Backpacker is solely aimed at travelling around Europe. However, with packing, safety and tech tips I think a lot of their advice can be applied to a wider area.
It is probably quicker to say what they don’t cover than what they do, but I’ll give it a go anyway. There are destination guides to help master the cities on a budget, strategies for simple sightseeing, transportation tips and information on essentials to buy, such as backpacks and shoes. I actually chose my backpack, the Osprey Farpoint 55, based on their recommendation.
The Independent – Travel Section
My third, and final, site I have found useful is The Independent’s - Travel Section. They have a feature called “48 hours in…” covering arriving at the airport, places to stay, sights to see and where is good to eat along the way. Although I haven’t used any of this for my own trip, the price range is seldom in a traveller’s budget, I do enjoy getting lost in reading about these outings and have looked into doing similar activities at a more economical costing.
The Man in Seat 61: A Guide To Taking The Train Through Europe: