Travel through Europe

[neverlosethefeeling]

That's a good deal. if he can sort out his flights over a month for less than $800 then obviously go for it. He has a month though

I did that trip in 10 days. I'd argue that having a month of flexibility would make it easier to find cheaper flights. And one could easily spend a week in each of London, Amsterdam (ehh maybe 4 days instead), Berlin, and Rome with a couple days in Venice. So he could stretch that itinerary to last for a month and not be bored. That'd be one hell of a trip. I know that's not what he wants to do, but like I said flights between Dublin and Cork in Ireland are about 12 euros and flights between Dublin and London are about 20 pounds or 25 euros depending on which way you're going. One, I'd imagine, could use those 3 cities as flying destinations and have plenty of money to get to other cities like Brighton, Killarney, Liverpool, Bristol, Oxford, Straford-upon-Avon, Edinburgh, etc., all while staying under 800 dollars.

[neverlosethefeeling]

It's cheaper to look up different train companies, at least in my experience and you can get some better deals. However, companies like RyanAir can be extremely shady. In the end, you get what you pay for.

Agree about RyanAir, which is why I said always pick easyJet. RyanAir is muchhhh stricter about their baggage policy and the planes are generally in better shape/cleaner on easyJet.

[Kurb]

Get boo to take him.

It will make his lifetime.

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

I am leaving in less than two weeks to study in Germany for 6 weeks for the summer. I'll be traveling a lot and be sure to let you know how my experiences across the pond go. I'm pumped.

[neverlosethefeeling]

Study abroad changed my life. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. I hope you have a blast!

And Sunnybunny, to answer your original question my graduation present is a trip back to Europe. I'm graduating in December and going to go next spring/summer. If I happen to go around the same time as your son, I'd love to have the company. I'll be visiting some friends as well so that could be some free accommodations. I'm 20 right now and will be 21 when I go. All of my friends abroad are college-age, so he'd fit right in. Plus there's the advantage of him being with someone who's been those places before.

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

My list of cities to visit is a little different. Making it a point to get to Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, and Prague. A good friend of mine is representing the USA at an international roller hockey tournament so I'm going to watch her play in Rome. Then hit up Gucci afterwards.

[Hawk]

maybe Springs wants to take him...at least he'll eat well

[Taco]

Thanks for all of the advice, guys. I really need to start getting a set list of places I want to go, though. I don't want to land overseas and not know what the hell I'm about to do.

The easyJet thing seems like it'd be a better idea for traveling longer distances and use the rail for shorter trips such as city hopping.

[bleys]

Thanks for all of the advice, guys. I really need to start getting a set list of places I want to go, though. I don't want to land overseas and not know what the hell I'm about to do.

The easyJet thing seems like it'd be a better idea for traveling longer distances and use the rail for shorter trips such as city hopping.

[Taco]

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[Delhommey]

Everyone knows about the EuroRail, but the thing you can also take advantage of with planning are the Euro Domino passes. They cover a smaller area, but are much cheaper than the Eurorail passes.

The Benelux (Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg) pass for when I lived in Holland (granted this was 1997) was about $100 for something like 5 days travel (meaning as far as you could get in 24 hours. Considering all three countries combined are a little bigger than SC, that means pretty much anywhere.). It ended up the cheapest way to get around the Low Countries if you're going there.

Edit: It's now called the Eurail Benelux Youth pass. It's a whopping 124 Euros for 5 days unlimited travel:

http://shop.raildude.com/index.action

PS: I consider Barcelona, Berlin and Prague to be my favorite cities on the mainland with Barcelona being far and away the best. Belgium is Western Europe's best kept secret.

[Happy Panther]

Eurail can't be used in England/Wales/Scotland anyway, Britarail has their own pass

[Delhommey]

The British train system is in danger of being outlawed by the Geneva Convention. Along with their food.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

He's gonna need a gps. He gets lost here.

Maybe he'll post if he finds his way home this afternoon.

It's amazing how comfortable one can be in a foreign country provided they have a GPS.

Back in '08, my wife (then fiance) and I visited Germany. We got a rental Mercedes (it was cheaper than a Golf) that had a GPS, and every day for a week we drove to cities that were a couple hours outside of where we were staying. Driving around Germany's countryside was so great -- it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.