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Anonymous
Has anyone here ever back packed Europe? I'm backpacking europe in a couple months and was wondering if anyone had tips or advice for a first timer.

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>> Anonymous
Even if you fail at language, make an effort, they will always appreciate that more. Hide your money in your pocket (futurama reference) or any other place where it won't get stolen. Don't make your nationality too obvious. Do join the youth hostel association, cheap beds ftw. And, lastly, don't visit Hull, I know you weren't going to, but don't bother.
>> Anonymous
Advice if you're gonna visit Belgium: Don't DON'T ask them if they speak French should you need any help. They get super pissed and would much rather you asked if they speak/understand English rather than French.
>> Anonymous
Don't miss out on your chance to eat some of the supreme food they serve in Europe. But remember if you eat at a restaurant during your trip you will most times need to wait at least 1 hour before you receive your meal, so bring a snack. Also, tips in Europe are done differently than in the States.
>> Anonymous
also keep in mind that in eastern europe, it's pretty hard to get understood unless you know some nearby language. not many people speak english there.
i would recommend the czech republic though, nice and cheap country.
>> Anonymous
>>1694
belgium is a bi-langual country, they speak french and dutch, so I don't know who you ran into to
>> Anonymous
What to bring

If you do it right, you can get by with an average sized travel pack. I bought a big 90 litre Macpac and while it’s great, it’s also so big it meant I took too much. Using a 60 or 70 litre pack should be plenty if you only take along the things you’ll actually use regularly, such as:

* 5 t-shirts
* 1 jumper or light jacket
* 4-5 pairs of underwear
* 1 pair of shorts
* 1 pair of jeans or long pants
* 1 decent pair of sneakers (or boots if you’re going to do some hiking)
* 1 pair of thongs or sandals
* 3 pairs of socks
* 1 towel
* toothbrush; toothpaste; 2 in 1 shampoo & conditioner; roll-on deodourant and shower gel
* pocket mirror (try to find a thin plastic one)
* pocket knife (it only has to come in useful once to be worth it)

Optional:

* hair brush
* speedos/board shorts/bikini
* heavy/warm jacket (if you’re travelling in colder weather)
* razors or an electric razor (they’re a bit heavier and take up more space, but are faster and you can use them whenever you please)
>> Anonymous
This is backpacking, not holidaying. You should be expecting (and prepared) to live like more of a grot than you normally would at home. That means recycling t-shirts and underwear for a few days at a time and not showering every day. It also means you shouldn’t expect to take great care of your hair. Only prissy girls take hairdryers with them (or really weird guys).

Don’t bother with a sleeping bag or sleeping sheet or any of that crap unless you’re actually intending to sleep in a tent occasionally. Most hostels can provide you with sheets if you want them, either for free or for a small fee. Personally I’ve never bothered using them. Sleeping on dirty mattresses is part of the fun. It’s good for your immune system, too.

Passport pouches and carriers are generally a waste of money. Just keep your passport and wallet in your pockets and be mindful of them. If you have pants with zippers on the pockets, even better. I used to carry around my valuables in a pair of cargo pants that had 6 zipped pockets and had no problems. If you’re a good clothes shopper, you should be able to find clothing that’s not only practical, but stylish. Just because you’re a dirty, smelly backpacker doesn’t mean you can’t at least look nice.

It’s a good idea to use a day pack, either separate or adjoined to your travel pack. They let you carry around whatever you may want during your sightseeing and day-to-day stuff, such as your camera, MP3 player, maps and whatever else. They’re also a good place to keep your pocket knife and other gadgets, especially if you don’t have many pockets in your pants or jacket.
>> Anonymous
Resources

You’re thinking Lonely Planet, or something like it, right? Wrong. Fuck them. They’re typically out of date or full of bad information. Most of the opinions in them on accommodation paint hostels in certain lights based off one experience and don’t always have the best ones listed. Sure, they’re good books if you want to read a bit on the history of where you’re visiting, what local phrases to use and what’s worth seeing. That’s great, except if you’re doing more than one or two countries you’ll either need a book for each place or a big fat regional edition which only has tidbits of information on where you are.


If you really want to learn about where you’re going or where you are, it’s easier to just read tourist information pamphlets, brochures and signs. You can even ask staff in the hostels you stay in because they’ll know what most people want to see when they visit, plus they probably know the cool local places to explore and check out that you won’t find in guidebooks.

Another option is to read about it on the web. Wikitravel and Wikipedia should have most of the general information that you could ever imagine, while tourism websites for cities and countries are only a Google search away and can provide you with any other specific details you were wondering about.
Beds and planes

For flying around, all you really need to use is SkyScanner. They take away almost all the hassle of finding cheap flights around Europe. Use them.
>> Anonymous
If you want to book hostels online, which is recommended if you don’t want to run around looking for a bed when you arrive (although it can be really fun and you might find a brand new, cool place that isn’t even listed on the Internet yet, during the summer months places are almost always full), there are two real options.

Hostelworld has a bastard of an interface, is horrible to administer from the backend for hostel staff and they also charge you a booking fee, but it’s also the largest hostel website and lists virtually everyone. Another interesting thing about Hostelworld is that most of the other, smaller hostel booking websites are actually run through the Hostelworld network, so any bookings made by them actually function as bookings made through Hostelworld.

Hostelbookers is a nicer, slicker website, is much nicer to run from an administrative point of view and doesn’t charge a booking fee; however, it isn’t as widely used.

Other hostel booking sites are either (as previously mentioned) run through Hostelworld, aren’t as popular and thus have less hostels listed and even less reviews.
>> Anonymous
...and I'm spent.
>> VIVA LA TRIPFAGGOTRY! !OK8FhyWNXk
Avoid southern Italy, well, I'd suggest avoiding a lot of Italy anyways, but ESPECIALLY southern Italy.
A lot of the major cities in even Northern Italy, are best avoided if you can. Read up on pickpocket methods and such, aside from the simple "lol im takin ur money from your pocket while you're none the wiser", one thing I heard of happening to one of my friends was a bunch of kids surrounded him with a bunch of pieces of cardboard, and pretty much kept that around his stomach while other kids went and rifled through his pockets and he got 30 bucks ripped off that way. While pickpockets are a problem in a lot of major cities, in Italy, it's a rampant problem in crowded areas. Southern Italy, although they won't mug you or anything for your money, if there is any opportunity to they will take everything you have.
>> Anonymous
>>1694
It's okay to use French anywhere near the border with France or in the urban centers. Honestly though, just use English. Most of the inhabitants of Belgium will speak 2 or 3 of 6 possible languages/variants (English, French, Dutch, German, Flemmish, Wallon). In the urban centers you'll get the usual mishmash, which in this case will often be Italian, Greek, Spanish, Arabic or Turkish.

I carried on just fine with English and some rusty French for about a month there.
>> Anonymous
>>1852

Ignore this what this guy said, OP. Italy is fucking beautiful. Its got the best beaches in Europe. Go to Rome, Venice, Florence, and Pisa. But watch out for those African salespeople. Their eyes light up when they see a tourist and they will follow you around as they try to sell you a knock-off watch or something.
>> VIVA LA TRIPFAGGOTRY! !OK8FhyWNXk
>>1911
>Italy is fucking beautiful. Its got the best beaches in Europe.
I never said it was an ugly country or anything. Even Italians insult the south for their tendency to take anything that isn't nailed to the ground.
Venice has "WARNING: PICKPOCKETERS ON THE LOOSE" signs fucking EVERYWHERE. And Rome, like you said is filled with African salespeople who go "you buy, my friend, you buy? OK, OK, special price just for you, you buy, you buy?"
>> Anonymous
>>1808
Flemmish dumbass.

Another post from me: Pack well, this is what you will want to do most, get a really small sleeping bag, ditto for towel, make sure you know how often you will wash your clothes and pack appropriately, don't carry drugs, you will be profiled and visit southern france, it's nice.
>> Anonymous
Me again, look into the emeregency travel guiade (or something like that) tells you how to stop a raging bull or camel, I forget but it's a useful book, get that guy's books that they rave about in Eurotrip, they're quite good really, but need an individual one for every place.
>> Anonymous
Standard warning: Spread your money over your person. Multiple pockets, in the lining of clothes, in shoes, etc.
>> Anonymous
Don't wear your money in outside pockets. If you hear someone making a fuss about just getting pickpocketed, don't pat yourself to make sure your wallet's still there. If you need the security, stick your wallet in your front pocket (doesn't work so well with European jeans, lol)

Only thing I can tell you about the people is that most everybody in the cities in Holland knows English. They'll get offended if you ask, so just go ahead and try with an "excuse me, sir/ma'am"