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First time overseas travel
virtuosa
Registered User new member
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Hi all, I've lurked these forums for some time without posting, just now coming upon something I need some help and advice on!
I'm a 25-year old female and am looking into the possibility of traveling by myself to Europe. This would be my first time traveling overseas and the first time traveling by myself (my boyfriend may be travelling with me, but we aren't sure yet). Germany is the country I want to visit for sure, but I want the trip to include a couple more countries. I'm undecided on the other countries I want to visit as of yet, so right now I'm just looking for some general information, with the following specific questions in mind:
- How far in advance to I need to get the flight and trip set up?
- What do I need to consider about visiting during specific times of the year? Is one time of year better than another?
- If I do end up going by myself, what additional considerations do I need to take? Are there any specific groups I should consider travelling with?
- Is it the worst idea to not travel with a group and go completely by myself?
- What's a good starting budget considering I don't want to spend lavishly on accomodations, but I also don't want to stay in hostels?
I'd appreciate any advice or personal experiences you want to share that might contribute to me having an awesome trip. Thanks!
I'm a 25-year old female and am looking into the possibility of traveling by myself to Europe. This would be my first time traveling overseas and the first time traveling by myself (my boyfriend may be travelling with me, but we aren't sure yet). Germany is the country I want to visit for sure, but I want the trip to include a couple more countries. I'm undecided on the other countries I want to visit as of yet, so right now I'm just looking for some general information, with the following specific questions in mind:
- How far in advance to I need to get the flight and trip set up?
- What do I need to consider about visiting during specific times of the year? Is one time of year better than another?
- If I do end up going by myself, what additional considerations do I need to take? Are there any specific groups I should consider travelling with?
- Is it the worst idea to not travel with a group and go completely by myself?
- What's a good starting budget considering I don't want to spend lavishly on accomodations, but I also don't want to stay in hostels?
I'd appreciate any advice or personal experiences you want to share that might contribute to me having an awesome trip. Thanks!
virtuosa on
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People you and/or your family know and trust who live in the receiving country can make your trip be both cost-efficient and productive.
Depending on which countries you go to, carry hand sanitizer and perhaps toilet paper with you at all times.
Sometimes, going with an organized tour group is the way to go. Make sure it's (American? Canadian? Where are you from?) friendly - usually from unbiased reviews. This means it's not a tour meant for natives only, I guess. You can get really good exposure to the country and also get good deals on eats and plane tickets and events, but the downside is you go at the pace of the group and can't afford to dawdle at places you really like. You can quit the group early, but you'll have to comp the costs.
You might be afraid of being a stereotypical bigoted tourist foreigner, but I've heard - and experienced - horror stories of people too meek and trusting that were at least lightly conned. Stand up for yourself once in a while and be frank and patient with people who you half expect are trying to cheat you or whatever. This may happen once in a while, and it happens everywhere, so don't let it ruin your day. Um, specific examples are like: sometimes people offer to carry your bags then run away with them / pressure you into paying, some hotels try to pretend you haven't paid them yet and try to doublecharge you for a night's rent, some restaurants will obviously shun your presence and give you horrible service, and so on. This is not a common occurrence, just stuff that's particularly happened to me and people I know.
Some airlines have better in-flight food than others. Check luggage requirements and fees really carefully before committing to a purchase.
I'm just putting in a couple of generic 2 cents because all of my travels have been in the opposite direction, though I do talk to a good many people who've visited Europe, France especially. I don't doubt you'll get a lot more specific help, though, as a lot of people here actually live in Europe.
Well, happy trails or something
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
If you live in Canada, Air Transat will probably be your best price. They are a charter carrier but apparently have improved and now match or beat many schedule airlines in terms of seat pitch and whatnot. I'm not sure which airlines are cheapest in the US, my recommendation is try expedia.com, search for your flights, and then check for those same flights on the airline's webpage. They are usually only $5 - $15 cheaper directly through the airline, but its still worth it for the most part.
To get a reasonable budget start looking at hotels and flights around the time you want to go. Really the only way to figure out your budget is to actually research it, there are too many variables to predict a decent budget. Keep in mind most of your meals will probably be eating out if you're at a hotel because you likely won't have a kitchen, and therefore your food costs will be higher than they are at home (probably.)
Going completely by yourself isn't the greatest idea. I mean, you can do it and have a great time, but I always prefer being around at least one other person I know. On top of that it is better for safety and security. I'd definitely recommend taking your boyfriend over one of those tour organizing groups, you will be more comfortable around him and can do more of what you want to do rather than what the group wants to do.
Aside from all that, it was wonderful. I really am glad I was in the cities I was in, and my experience was very well rounded. I dropped way too much cash staying in nice hotels, but I did learn a lot too. If you want to begin your trip in one place and end it somewhere else, make sure you get an open tooth airline ticket instead of two individual one-ways. I did the latter and ended up spending about 300-400 bucks more than I had to.
I'm a guy, so I can't speak too deeply for a woman on this, but travelling 100 percent solo with no groups was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. Whenever I travel now, I can't do anything but travel alone. It's so liberating and allows you to take in so many experiences without the hassle of taking someone else into consideration. If you have the balls to do it, go alone. It's a risk/reward kind of thing, but if you have a good head on your shoulders you should be ok. Though once again being a girl will make it pretty dangerous, so think about that.
edit: Forgot to mention, I did go on one tour group in England to see stonehenge, lacock, windsor castle, and bath. It was a 12 hour thing and I did it mostly because there's really no other way to do it besides renting a car, and I'm not 25 yet so that's impossible. So basically tour groups are fine but I personally like doing stuff alone whenever I can.
In general it's best to have the flight set up as early as possible that you know with (relative) certainty that you're going. Flights tend to be cheapest when booked well in advance, but can be fairly cheap if you happen to get an empty seat a day or so before the flight leaves (although that's also risky).
Hotel/Hostel accomodations can vary pretty wildly. If you plan on going somewhere busy you'll want to book well in advance (as the classic example, Munich in late September tends to be packed and people end up simply avoiding sleep or staying in cities hours away). Oktoberfest is the most prominent example, but regional busy seasons exist. The Rhine river valley tends to have an abundance of mid-summer festivals and such, so it gets busier. Berlin (or Bonn or Cologne) occasionally has political summits, major conventions or festivals which can eat up hotel space.
Personally, I've gone with 6 months in advance to less than a month in advance, but it depends where you're going and when.
Also make sure you have your passport and visas in order. If you're from the US, Australia, New Zealand or Canada, travelling to any country in the EU for vacation purposes doesn't require a visa if you're staying fewer than 90 days (if you're selling things, working, or staying for longer you'll likely need a visa).
Make sure you have some means of getting money in case of emergencies. Have a debit card in your wallet and another stashed in your luggage to keep in your room. Travellers Checks tend to be ...not very useful (although you can be reimbursed if they're lost or stolen, so they do have some advantages). It can also be useful to have an emergency credit card.
...Speaking of credit cards, they tend to be accepted in fewer places. Germany in particular loves cash (you'll likely end up taking money out of an ATM and paying for almost everything with cash).
As mentioned, this is regionally important. Visiting Austrian slopes in August could get you a boring week at a mountainside, whereas the North Sea in February will be freezing cold. Generally Northwestern Europe (Northern France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) tends to be a little milder than the American Midwest or Northeast. The Romans claimed it was a cold wasteland where crops had trouble growing...but that's why you don't grow olives on the Baltic coast.
Occasionally Germany experiences long spells of cool, wet weather in summers (like 15°C/60°F with drizzle all the time), but occasionally it has summers full of very hot weather. Winter tends to have few blizzards or large snow storms (...of course, this is relative; if you're from the Southern US or Australia it may seem fairly bad). Generally any time to visit is good; you just might get unlucky with the weather.
I don't know of any large tourist-y groups off-hand that would be helpful, but there's some general information:
Crime tends to be lower than in the US. Violent crime (rapes and murders) are even lower.
While it's never advisable to go crawling through dark alleys around midnight, in most European countries you can feel relatively safe doing so. Travelling by train tends to be safe, but you may risk petty thieves (keep an eye (or an arm) on your luggage at all times).
But that's true for any travel - alone or not.
Generally travel for lone females is safe. The culture of individual countries may lead to problems, so I'll outline some of those:
-Italian men tend to hit on a lot of women - particularly if they don't look Italian. Italian culture tends to be more physical and male-female roles are a bit more traditional than other countries, so be prepared for undesirable contact or minor harassment (ass pinching, cat calls, and the like). I've heard similar things about Spain, Greece, and - to a lesser extent - Portugal, but this also depends where you go, how you dress and how you act (if you party and get drunk you'll encounter this behavior more often). Italy seems to remain the biggest offender in this regard.
-Many countries (most prominently and ironically Germany) have "trouble" with foreigners. Like many European countries there are multiple levels of 'foreigners'. The more you look like a native the fewer problems you'll likely encounter. If you're black or Asian you may have trouble in some establishments. If you travel in cosmopolitan areas or high-traffic tourist areas (or better, if you know which areas to avoid), you'll likely never encounter a problem either way.
-Many Eastern European countries still have trouble with corruption and bribery - particularly outside the Eurozone (Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus are probably the greatest offenders).
-Some areas attempt to nickel-and-dime tourists. The greatest offender I've encountered is Hungary, but it exists to a lesser extent in Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.
I'll reiterate that it's fairly unlikely that you'll encounter instances of sexism or racism, since I'm sure someone's going to come back with "I/my friend went to [x] and that never happened!" Europe tends to be cosmopolitan, friendly and safe.
From a safety and planning perspective it's always better to go with a group. When you're by yourself you need to make sure you have a decent plan with suitable contingencies (if you lose your wallet/purse, debit card, or passport make sure you know what you can do or need to do).
Whether or not you'll enjoy it more is personal preference. I've met people who really like doing things in groups and those that just like to wander and can't stick to a short trip itinerary.
I suppose first I'll recommend that you reconsider hostels; many of them are actually peak quality and on par with many hotels (the unfortunate downside being you often bunk with other people - but in many cases they have single-sex rooms or individual rooms). There's a decent network of websites devoted to providing feedback and reviewing hostels.
That out of the way, budgets depends heavily on your spending habits and how thrifty you can be. If you plan on doing a lot of travelling you may want to go with night trains, which would allow you to avoid paying for a hotel (but then you have to sleep on a train and you may not get to shower - although some train stations have facilities for that).
After airfare, you'll likely want to have about €100 per vacation day available if you plan on staying in hotels and travelling between numerous cities. You could likely get by on as little as €30/day if you stay in hostels, don't eat out, and stay in individual cities longer.
When you've got more of an itinerary planned and you know which countries and sights you want to see, then it will be easier to actually budget out what you need and plan what you need to do.
The major things to worry about are pickpocketing and other forms of theft. Don't be an easy target and keep your money safe. Other than that, I don't think you'll encounter too many problems, even if you travel alone.
Oh, and the "network of hostels" outside of the main cities are usually filled with vacationing local families, so in France for instance, if you're outside of Paris, Lyon, or Nice, expect to not meet any other young people, even during the height of the summer.
You're fine traveling by yourself, just stay out of dodgy places and situations when you're alone. You're guaranteed to meet other backpackers.
As far as planning, unless you're hitting a city that has a major festival (La Corrida, Oktoberfest) then you can easily find accommodation on short notice. Some places like Barcelona tend to fill up, but you can still find a bed in a hostel if you get to the city first thing in the morning and start calling. I almost never booked more than a day ahead over 6+ months in Europe. (Though admittedly I spent the majority of my time in parts of Eastern Europe where they don't even get backpackers, so booking accommodations at all in advance? Good luck.)
Bottom line: Europe is safe and easy.
I'm always available for more specific advice if you want to send me a PM. Other people in this thread have covered other aspects.
Most Germans don't have any problems with blacks and Asians. There's, however, an agressive subculture of neo-Nazi skinheads. These people sometimes assault foreigners, although this happens rarely and cases tend to get publicized. During the Football World Cup, there were fears that there could be incidents of racist violence, especially in some areas of Eastern Germany where there is a high number of neo-Nazis. But I think it's unlikely that you'll encounter any problems while travelling as a tourist.
This is extremely rare in all cases. In over a year of cumulative time spent in Germany I only saw it once, when some of my Namibian friends were denied entrance to a club because "they already had too many blacks inside" (never mind that we all spoke German). We didn't bother going to that club again (with or without my friends).
Then again, I wouldn't expect neo-Nazis to know that Namibia was a German colony.
In Germany the problem persists mostly in economically destitute areas (as mentioned, mostly former East Germany that's not Berlin). The current 'problem foreigners' tend to be Turks (...essentially like Mexicans in the US) and - to a lesser extent - Poles. Austria also has a similar 'problem', but with Slovenes or people from former Yugoslavia. To show it's not simply a former Nazi thing: I've spoken with Italians complaining about Albanians. I've also heard from Koreans and Japanese people that similar problems exist in their respective countries as well.
Most European nations are very homogeneous. Canada, the US and the UK tend to have a much broader exposure to foreign cultures and a variety of ethnicities. Of mainland Europe, France is primarily the only other country with recent exposure.
I suppose in my original post I didn't make it very clear that encountering any sort of trouble is astronomically small - a physical incident even moreso.
There appears to be a lot of tour packages out there, aimed at lots of different people, so you should be able to find something to suit
I've never really encountered racism in Europe, even travelling around with people from different ethnicities. Mostly everyone just assumes I'm a badly mannered drunk (being British is so awesome sometimes).
Thanks again!