BACKPACKING EUROPE
 

BACKPACKING EUROPE

For a summer European backpacking adventure, you'll need the 411 on airfare, hostels, rail passes, and more. We've put together all the details you need to save on the road. All you have to do is get a little savvy, pack your gear, and begin your cultural rite of passage.

http://rd.SmarterLiving.com/rd/?r=da051602.col2

Some good articles, especially the one about the discount airlines (which backpackers sometimes overlook) but I was disappointed to see yet another article stating as fact that European rail passes are a way to save money.

They're convenient, but usually don't save money for the youth traveller. Now that the Euro is so weak, it's almost always cheaper to buy point-to-point BIJ youth tickets (which allow unlimited stopovers along the route) in Europe. Also, you don't end up laying down a few hundred dollars and then feeling like you have to get your money's worth by railing around like crazy.

Just my two cents' worth.

Yonatan

Yeah, railpasses only pay off if you ride a lot of distance in a given amount of time.

On the other hand, a few years back when I did get a Eurailpass (the unlimited kind, not the "x days in y time" kind), it encouraged me to go farther afield than I originally planned, and to take some day trips that I might not have done otherwise, since the marginal cost was nothing.

But on other Europe trips, I have found point-to-point tickets the most practical.

Rick Steves' website has some good info on deciding whether a railpass makes sense for you, and which pass to choose in his online "2002 Guide to European Railpasses" (also available as a free booklet on request):

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/home.htm


Kathy

I totally agree with you about rail passes and the added incentive to travel. The one time I used a Eurailpass, I travelled several thousand miles with my sister in three weeks in a huge circle (Copenhagen to Naples, Vienna to Madrid). Even then, we might have done better with point-to-point tickets (and also used the bus instead of train in Spain sometimes where it's more convenient).

Excellent website, but his comparisons are bogus, because he uses US-issued prices for point-to-point, which are always include a huge commission and are always based on the most expensive train anyway (e.g. ICE in Germany).

Yonatan