Subject: Travel topic

Is it a package tour? If I were you, I would do the trip on my own. That allows you much more freedom moving around or staying a place if you feel like it. Of course it can seem more comfortable knowing that you have a place to sleep every place you go, I like the experience of finding places on my own though - that also forces me to speak with the local people. Instead of tie yourself up on a fixed itinerary you could read a LP Europe guide to get an idea where to start and maybe a rough plan of where to go. Also, unless you've to be home at a certain time, make sure to have a flexible plane ticket that allows you to change time and even airport of your departure.

hehe i want to do this

traveling arround the world

I love the videos by this guy...

I wonder who pays his travels, because it can't be cheap :P

anyway he hasn't been to Girona >:(

I'd love to do that sort of thing, but currently I'm looking at doing a Contiki tour simply because it will be my first time in Europe. It will be a bit more expensive, but it means I can see the "highlights" of the places around Europe, then possibly go back 2-3 years later and tour by myself. I know it is a big tour, and am speaking with a travel agent here in Aus. To me it would just feel better to go to places that people are going to be in a group... and considering I am no longer comfortable moving around places I dont know very well by myself especially at night a guided tour would be the best thing for me at this stage. If i was a bit older, say 25-30 i'd probably even do that, but at 20 a guided tour I feel is the best option for me for now.

When I was 20 I did a 4 month backpacking tour around the Middle East together with a friend. Besides of some riots and curfew in Lebanon we didn't experience any problems, so I would still recommend doing it on your own despite of your age :) Mind you, English is much more widely spoken in Europe, public transportation is better and tourist information and hostels are much more widespread than in the Middle East. Actually the only maps we used were the ones in the LP Guide. I understand that it's much more comfortable to go on a tour and always having a large group of people you know around you and knowing exactly where to go in e.g. 10 days - but I can only say going on your own is much more rewarding!

yeah certainly would be if i go searching on my own... but ill most likely be travelling by myself so thinking tour would be best for me for now at least.

Calem is right imo.
If you know english (and maybe even french and german) you can do a lot of things in europe. In almost every country people speak at least one of those 3.
And even it will ost you sweat, blood and tears your own tour will be more rewarding, search 1 or 3 friends and go to europe =)

Try asking in Freestyle Portugal. I'm from Lisbon so there isn't much I can do for you.

http://www.portoturismo.pt

That link might be useful for you, plus I guess you won't have many troubles understanding since spanish isn't much different from portuguese. Good luck with that, I would help if I could.

yeah certainly would be if i go searching on my own... but ill most likely be travelling by myself so thinking tour would be best for me for now at least.

I think going on travel by one your own (not alone, with a friend of course) is much cooler, than buying a trip from some travel agency. I have done it myself and was very pleased.
Had a crazy idea with a friend of mine, that we should go on a trip by hitchhiking. In a weird way I can´t remember exactly if it was 2006 or 2007. Probably 2006.
My friend has some acquaintances in Germany and Belgium, so we took our direction to those countries. We took only backpacks to where we packed our sleeping bags and few clothes.
Sleeping bags were because we planned to live as cheap as possible and sleep under the sky. Besides it was a summer and days were warm.
From Estonia we got a ride to Holland with a truck, thanks to some acquaintances again. We paid 20-30 Euros to him for the trouble. When we finally arrived to Holland we used only hitchhiking and trains. It´s really easy to hitchhike, we used gas stations for that. Just asked from the people directly if they are going on our way. And they gladly helped us. Was pretty fun to travel like this and make your own decisions. When we finally had visited our friends in Belgium and Germany we thought that no way we are going home through Poland. For me it seemed on that point that no one can`t speak English and Russian there. It was a pretty scary place for us:)
So we decided to go back through Denmark and Sweden.
I think I only spent around 500 € during this 10 day long trip. Planning to repeat it one day. maybe next time we go to France aswell, it was close to us. And now as most of central and north Europe are in Schengen, then it should be even more easier to cross borders.
Want to go back to Holland, really liked that place - Amsterdam and coffee shops, what a dream.




Here is the map and the route.

you've been in antwerp?

Did you couchsurf? Anyway to people who don't know it yet, couchsurfing is a great way keeping the costs down and get to meet local people and experience the local culture. Here's the link http://www.couchsurfing.com/ . I haven't done it myself, but I've joined the homepage. If I were allowed by my apartment owners I'd have couchsurfers staying once in a while, but the rules are quite strict.

Now I was close to Holland border, place named Turnhout or sth...or od Turnhout.

At least I remember this castle very well. It was a beautiful little town.

Before we started our trip I found a similar page, can`t remember anymore, but the purpose of the page was same. As we got a ride with a truck to Holland, then we didn´t need it. We stayed few nights out, it was warm. Once in cheap polish motel, it was raining. Only rainy day in that 10 days of trip. Once we slept on the benches in Mälmo in Sweden. As I mentioned earlier we had friends in Belgium and Germany, so stayed at their places.

oud-Turnhout and Turnhout both exists

I have a conundrum to solve, I address especially users from Sweden.

In Sweden there is an airport - Skavsta Flygplats. I have to get from there to Stockholm. I know that the best (the cheapest) way is to get on the train. However, it is 7 km from Nykopning Railway Station. I know I have to get on the local bus 515 or 715 and then in Nykopning on the train.

What makes me wonder is one thing. On www.sj.se - the Swedish Railways' site - I can set my journey from Skavsta Flygplats to Stockholm C. On 28th January there is a train that interests me because it costs only 67 SEK (as I'm not 19 yet), it leaves at 16:40. Still, when I learned that the railway station is in Nykopning, I set my journey from Nykopning C to Stockholm C. And? The timetable looks totaly different, although it's only 7 km from the airport to Nykopning and, worse yet, the prices are different.

What is going on, could anyony kindly explain it to me? Tack sa mycket, thanks in advance!

There is not train leaving directly from Skavsta to Stockholm. The nearest train station is - as you say - at Nyköping. The train that arrives in Stockholm 18.24 leaves from Nyköping (not Nykopning) at 17.13. From Skavsta the bus going to Nyköping leaves at 16.40 and arrives there at 16.50. According to SJ this is the quickest way to go from Skavsta to Stockholm. The prices differs depending on which departures you're traveling with. With bus to Nyköping (assuming you're between 16 and 19) the price is 67 SKK, while just going with train from Nyköping will set you back 49 SKK.