Planning the Best Backpacking Trip to Europe Ever

Considering a backpacking trip to Europe? Feeling a little hazy on the details? Don't worry! Traveling overseas has become easier and easier, in part because of access to the internet. Backpacking is more than just going here or there, it becomes an experience that you'll carry with you for the rest of your lifetime. Joining a tour (a bus tour or cruise) provides the tourist a clear bubble to stand in to keep them slightly separated from the culture they are looking at. Backpacking puts you "down and dirty" with the people of the country. You get to know them, their culture and their way of life and they, in turn, get to know you. The best backpacking trip involves a little planning, particularly if you consider yourself financially challenged. Having even the slightest guide to help you plan your trip is often essential to its success.

Like planning any trip, there are a few things a potential traveler needs to know before leaving. Here are a few suggestions to future backpackers:

-If you're going with someone, make absolutely sure that they are committed to the trip (you don't want them to back out last minute, leaving you in the cold). There's nothing wrong with going on your own, just make sure that you're prepared to be alone. Going solo and staying in hostels, however, almost guarantees that you'll meet at least a few like-minded people while you're on your travels.

-Before you do anything, figure out your budget. Because the US Dollar is weak in Europe, everything you pay for is more expensive. Sticking to your budget is the hardest and most important thing to do on your trip. Make sure that you include airfare, hostels, train and bus tickets, hostels/budget hotels, food and lots of money for extras. For a week long trip you could be paying anywhere from $1500 - $3000 depending on your budget. Everyone has a weakness when it comes to buying things, discover yours and control it.

-Do a little research! Don't know much about Europe? Get out a map and take a look. This will then help you get idea of how far you'll have to go to see the things you want to see.

-Make an itinerary. Don't think itineraries are rigorous listings plotting out every moment of your life. With your itinerary, just casually list which cities you plan to visit, how long and include travel times to the next place you want to visit. For example, Day 1: Arrive in Rome, Day 2-3: Rome, Day 4: Travel to Florence... Where you go, when you go and how long you stay in a particular place is completely up to you. However, be reasonable. A first-time backpacker often doesn't know what is too much for one day. If you're going long than a week, it is extremely important that you plan at least one casual, rest day. No matter where you are, you'll get tired of trying to see as much as you can every single day.

-Hop onto the internet and start looking at how you want to get around the continent. Europe has an excellent train system that goes nearly everywhere throughout the continent and the prices are generally reasonable. RailEurope.com is a site catering to travelers in the US. If you are under 25, there are great discounts for train tickets. The cheapest tickets are flexi passes within one, two or three countries. These mean that if you stay in Paris for three days, then travel to Leon for two, you'll only using one day on your rail pass, rather than five days. If you get a multi-country pass, the countries must share a border, such as France and Italy do or Germany and Austria. You could also book cheap, budget flights to fly from place to place on a site such as Ryanair.com. Be aware, however, that most of the airports are well outside the city and the time and money it takes to get there may make the train far more reasonable.

-Search for cheap trans-Atlantic flights. Searching far enough in advance helps, but try as many flight search engines as possible. A medium price to pay for a flight to Rome is approximately $600, a flight to London may be $500. Keep your options open and search flights to different cities to find the cheapest combination. From wherever you live, unless you live next to JFK airport in New York City, see how much it costs to fly out of other nearby cities. You never know, you may save up to $300.

-The hostel search. There are a great number of hostel search engines out there like Hostel.com or HostelWorld.com. The best advice one can give to a fellow traveler is for you to be selective and careful. If you don't take care to examine the hundreds of hostels that pop up after you search "Paris, France" you may find yourself sleeping in a dangerous hovel. Keep in mind the location of the hostel, whether it is a dangerous district or miles outside of the city. Always take note of the hostel ratings and read what past guests have written. One particular strategy in discovering if the hostel actually looks like the picture they post online is to search the hostel name. Often, they're not anywhere near as nice. Another way to narrow down the numerous options you'll have is to decide how close in the city you want to be to the sights and how many people you feel comfortable sharing a room with. If you want an extra cheap hostel, be aware that they are usually far away from anything worth seeing and often aren't near a bus or metro station either. Occasionally, it is very worth it to pay a little extra for good location, cleanliness and safety. Lastly, when you do reserve your hostel, print out directions to it. Do a search of the hostel on Google Maps and print that. It will save you several hours of wondering around a city.

-Everyone wonders what and how much they should pack. With a backpack, the answer is always: as little as possible. You only know what type of person you are. If you want to wear the same shirt everyday, go ahead. If you want to blend in locally, try to bring clothes that are without holes or look really worn. Women, especially, in Europe tend to dress very nicely. However, you're backpacking. If you bring four pairs of stilettos it's your back that's going to suffer. Remember that you'll want to leave lots of extra room in your bag for several reasons: 1) You'll most likely buy at least one thing and 2) Everyday you carry your backpack it magically seems to get heavier and heavier. Take it easy on yourself. One thing that you absolutely MUST bring is an excellent pair of sneakers or boots. Walking is part of a backpacker's daily life.

Don't let yourself become too overwhelmed with the planning. Remember that no matter how much you plan, things change in a heartbeat. Leave plenty of time for just wandering around. Whether it be the tiny alleys of Venice or the quaint streets of Salzburg, Austria, it is perhaps the wandering and getting lost that allows for the most experiences one can have. You never know what you might bump into around the corner. That's what makes backpacking so great, not knowing what will happen next.