I've been wanting to travel to Europe and in the past have told myself I'll do it the coming summer, but excuses would always come up--some legit and some not. Back then when I was an undergrad it was lack of funds and then when I started a new job it was no time. But now that I'm done with grad studies, I must go. It's not a want but rather a need.

Okay, I have no clue where to start. The biggest question I have is how I should plan it. Tour/group package or going solo (backpacking, sorta). Ideally I'd like to go with someone who has or has not been to Europe. When is the best time to go? If going solo, I'd like to go to England, Scotland, Germany, Sweden, but I know it's not feasible to go from Germany to Sweden. Maybe the package deal is the way to go for first timers? Is two or three weeks sufficient enough to really enjoy a trip to Europe? Also, how much are we talking about spending? There is just too much on the net that I don't know where to start!

ps
the supervisor I have a mad crush on has been to Sweden. But that's not the reason I want to go there; I've always wanted to visit the Nordic countries, especially Sweden.

IF... you rent a car, take pictures of it before you drive off, and when you return it. National/Alamo tried to rip me for several hundred Euro, by claiming I damaged the paint on the front bumper (I did not).

What about taking a ferry from Denmark to Sweden?

Before you go, save your pennies. In restaurants, Beer is often cheaper than Cola.
Don't forget your dictionary, and extra memory cards for you digital camera.

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09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Design your own package deal. Organized tours are too regimented and structured. In the time you have alotted probably a multi country Eurorail pass would be best and least expensive way to go. Log onto their web site and check out the routes.

Choose your route, plan how many days in each country, then book your hotels based on budget and the things that interest you. You don't need fancy hotels. Favor convienence to transportation to places of interests.

Best time to travel Europe is late March early April, after that the Hotel/Air costs double. Bring lots of Money, the US dollar doesn't go very far in Europe. Purchase your airfare based on the country where you want to start your trip, then choose the country you want to depart from. Try to stick to the same airline inbound and outbound you'll save big bucks that way.

I reccomend Expedia for "multi-destionation" travel. Work the itinerary by working different dates and airlines. They offer the best selection of hotels and prices if you know how to work their system. You can save hundreds to thousands of dollars over their default reccomendations, but you have be persistant and imaginative in your selections. Find out what airlines fly to specific countries then manually plug in the airlines they don't default to.
It's can be complicated but I can usually get a $3000 dollar package down to at least half by not going with their default itineraries. Search for Non-Stop flights when possible, connections suck and waste valuble vacation time.

Good luck. Europe is a fantasic vacation.

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What about after summer prices? Will such a trip be a bit cheaper if I decide to go between August and November?

I have always wanted to go here, (germany)

http://www.neuschwanstein.de/english/

Or here, Rome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon%2C_Rome

Or further down Italy, I made it here, really absolutely amazing, has got to be one of the biggest buildings in the world, at least when it was built.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Caserta

Depends on where your going. But in general prices start to drop in late Oct early Nov. If your on a tight budget Mid Nov-Early April is the cheapest.

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The cheap flights forum on Eurotrip.com has very good info on inexpensive flights. If you can swing it, the longer the better.

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could you pick me up a W123 sedan die cast ^_^

That depends on what you wish to accomplish. You should do what you most desire but you should avoid the mistake of trying to see too much in the time allotted. Most of the time trying to get from place to place is not necessarily the best way to experience other countries.

- Peter.

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You want to go to Scandanavia, for the FIRST time, in either July or August.

You'd love it. Go there in July or August because that is when the days there are really long, so you'd daylight even at midnight. This really matters. That time of year is their hottest, which means about 75 degrees. I was in Stockholm when it was about 85 degrees, a REAL heatwave. All the W126ers had their windows down and the sunroof open.

I would think the most efficient and best way for a first timer (like I was) would be to take a guided bus tour.

By all means go with a companion, as if you go alone you will get killed paying the outrageously huge "Singles Supplement" that the Travel Industry always charges, because for some reason known only to them, they absolutely HATE single people traveling alone, and punish them with huge surcharges, EVERY time.

We used this company (Globus) that any reputable Travel Agent would know about, and book a Globus tour for you, (Globus is well known, and is VERY big, and very reputable). We did a Globus tour very similar to this one
http://www.globusjourneys.com/Product.aspx?trip=8ZR&source=GL_Product_EU_Scan_Rus
and saw varied areas of Sweden Denmark and Norway. Loved it.


Don't be fooled; a wisely selected tour of a couple of weeks will REALLY be time well spent, the tour guides can be REALLY good ones, they take care of everything for you, that would come up, on the tour. Makes much more time, and fun for you to enjoy the time travelling.

I'd been thinking at the time, about buying a new euro delivery Volvo C70 turbo HPT coupe (this was in summer 2000 or 2001 I think) but decided NOT to, in the end, because I don't speak Swedish, and was worried about too much driving in a strange country, and about getting lost after taking a wrong turn in the country and wasting hours going the wrong direction and being stressed out, frustrated and lost.

A cleverly planned tour - and Globus CERTAINLY has that - means you will get a LOT of really carefully planned out destinations that would otherwise elude you or just simply miss because of the time and logistics of trying to find them, and then set it up yourself.

But they still leave enough free time to do things on your own; for example, while in Gothenburg, on the tour, the Volvo factory museum was just a short taxi ride away (in an immaculate Volvo!) and it had every car they ever made, plus military, marine, truck and bus exhibits with safety ones too, and a gift shop, that was well worth the time and little effort to see.

Scandanavia is clean, beautiful and safe, (but not too cheap) and perfectly OK if you can't speak English, almost everyone over there does.

I can't emphasize this enough: Cultivate some Mercedes Benz internet friendships if you can. I did and it was RICHLY rewarding.

I was taken around privately in Olso and Copenhagen by natives that were Mercedes Benz friends, and treated to lovely meals in their homes, and a personal dose of hospitality and guided tours was priceless..

Additionally, I then lived in San Francisco, and so, much later, I was able to return the favor to some Norwegians I had met in Oslo, who came there to SF on business and could give them a wonderful personalized tour of my city and that made them quite happy.

I think the tour was about 2 weeks. But I had saved two more weeks to spend there, though.

I took them and, and flew to Helsinki, (on SAS) where I was joyously met - finally - for the very first time in my life - by my best friend, a pen pal who I had been corresponding with since 1961. He'd scheduled his vacation to coincide with mine, so we went with him and his family, on vacation, to everywhere a Finn would go. That evenincluded a special gift, a day trip to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, which should NOT be missed.

We had BBQs at the lake, took Sauna baths, and jumped into the lake and swam around. Really there is NO WAY better than to see Finland than like this.

The glaciers fjiords and waterfalls and lakes in Norway are breathtaking.
They will move you to tears... It may be, in summer, the most beautiful place in the whole world.

I felt it was the most lovely place I'd ever seen. The people are wonderful all through Scandanavia. The food is far blander than you are used to, but you would still enjoy eating reindeer meatballs, and ligonberry pancakes. It is more expensive than other places (say, Portugal) but WELL worth it. The dollar does not go quite so far any more.

I was told, though, there are problems now with the excessive number of immigrants that have been generously admitted, to Scandanavia, with their strange and unpleasant customs they refuse to abandon (such as rape) and who will not assimilate.

In Oslo, my Mercedes friend Steinar said to me, (with that subtle sense of humor you find over there) "That yeah, we had a lot of problems with the Muslim people from the mideast that came and are still coming here as immigrants.

They like the Mercedes Benz cars, too. But they can only afford W124." Muahahahahahaha.

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I have heard from many travellers that Ryan Air is a great way to zip around Europe. Get the cheapest flight to near where you want to go, then look at Ryan Air for getting around. It is like a cheaper Southwest Air for Europe.

Get your passport early, the lines can be long. Copy all your important things, tickets, passport, credit cards, maybe drivers license. Keep it apart from your originals. There are document holders that are like a necklace. Keep either your original or copies in one, tucked inside your shirt for security.

Check with your bank for affiliated overseas banks. Those affiliates can offer ATM access at low or no fees. Get some currency converted ahead of time, probably at a bank to get the best rate.

Depending on your travel schedule, plan your arrival day accordingly for the time adjustment. I went east coast to England ( 5 hours) on an overnight. Left at 8pm, arrived at 7am British time (roughly 3 in the morning Eastern time). I slept a little on the plane then stayed up once I arrived. I walked around outside. There is some opinion that exposure to daylight helps reset your internal clock. I went to bed reasonably early and was fine getting up at 7 the next day.

Have fun!

I have been three times. The first time for the summer in college, with an Architecture school chum his gf and my wife. We bought a vw in amsterdam and did holland belgium france spain italy switzerland and germany, sleeping on the ground, in the car and occasionally in a cheap hotel.

The second time I went for a year on a traveling fellowship with my wife and nine month old daughter. wE bought a mb 220b in brussells and did all the same countrys mentioned above plus morrocco and denmark.

The last time I did two weeks with my four daughters, mom and wife. We rented a renault van and traveled around just Italy.

I love driving. With the international signs it is not that much different from driving in the us. With a car if you see something you want to look at you just stop and look at it. You can rest eat or use the toilet whenever you want.

If you are going I would say the minimum is two weeks. In two weeks you can do one large country like italy, france, spain, germany or england. If you go for a month you can do three or four, and if you go for three months you can see all of the above.

Try to get a friend to travel with if you can....it will be a lot more fun. If traveling alone probably a eurail pass makes a lot of sense. The weather will be nicer in the summer but priced higher and places will be jammed with people. Italy was nice in the middle of winter but somewhat rainy and fairly cool....but no people and the sun shined almost every day.

If I had only enough time to go to one large country, I would choose Italy, but I am an Architect and love old buildings.

Good luck.

If you need a traveling partner I could probably make time.

Tom W

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..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Lots of very good advice here and I won't repeat any other than to suggest some cheap transport ideas. Try to use the budget European airlines (www.whichbudget.com has a list by airport). If you plan well ahead you can fly very cheaply on Ryanair, Easyjet, Skyeurope etc. Over the past few years we have had "free" flights from Paris to Budapest and only paid about $10 for others. The other strategy if you are young and tolerant is to get some form of a Europass and sleep on the night trains. This saves big time on hotel costs and you can see so much more since you are not spending days in transit. I did a lot of this on my first six week "grand tour" in 1977. Of course, you can't do this every night- you can't sleep well on the trains unless you get a couchette or sleeping compartment (and those are EXPENSIVE). Also, if you are training in France, check out the SNCF website for cheap "PREMS" fares.

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

I hate to burst your bubble, but have you taken a look at the exchange rate as of late? It is around US$1.50 per 1 Euro. Your trip is going to be expensive!!!

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1988 - 190e - 2.3L - 172K miles (It now belongs to the exwife)
1999 - Chevy Blazer LS Fully Equiped - killed it June 2006
2001 - Honda Civic EX - 68K miles (sold June 2004)
1963 - 220S - Dual Carb 6 cyl. (sold)
1994 - Yamaha WaveRaider (fun to ride)

Agreed. "Budget travel" to Europe is difficult to impossible at the moment.

If you want to do a trip on the cheap, the best options now are hundreds of various destinations in Latin and South America. Nice plus on travel to that part of the world is no jet lag!

Southeast Asia has some great destinations on the cheap as well, but you have to be willing to spend a lot more time at 35,000 feet to get there.