Anybody have any travel tips spending a month in Europe

[soilkat]

I am going to go to Europe for all of July. I plan to go to London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Paris, and maybe somewhere in switzerland, still working that out. THis is my first trip to Europe so i really have no idea what i am doing. All i know is i have free plane ticket to london and i do like to party. Any advice would be great, Mike from Central Illinois.

[jabroni79]

Hey Mike,

Here are a few travel tips for you:

1) Look for hostels at www.hostelz.com. Hostels are cheaper than hotels and you can meet some cool people there.

2) Get a good backpack, especially one with an internal frame and a removable day pack. Try www.rei.com or www.ebags.com. Look at spending around $100 to $200.

3) Get an travel alarm clock.

4) Buy a travel book. The best one I found is Lonely Planet's Western Europe.

5) Look into buying a Eurorail ticket. Train is the easiest and most exciting way to travel around Europe.

6) Start to learn some key phrase, like "thank you" and "excuse me".

I hope this helps you out.

[bewulfagate]

Make your way to Pamplona, Spain for the Running of the Bulls. As I posted somewhere else, it is like Mardi Gras without the T&A. I got there from Barcelona by train, but I think you can get there from Madrid as well. The major beach cities in the summer are full of Europeans on Holiday. Great times. Amsterdam is Amsterdam, and you can find just about any sin you want. I don't know if they are still in business, but if "Boom Chicago" is still around check them out. You will usually find them advertising near the train station. They are an improv comedy troupe consisting of Australians, Americans, Brits, and Canadians (english-speaking countries). It's been a while, but I remember them being very funny... well worth the money.

[leahp903]

I went to Germany last summer as an exchange student for 3 weeks. Here's a packing tip:
Put everything in indivual ziplock bags. Sit on the filled bag as you zip it up. That will suck all the air out. If you do that with all your stuff, you'll save so much space.
Also, label everything you put in each bag on the outside of that bag. Then, when you pack up to leave after your 1 month stay in Europe, if you have everything in each bag that it says on the bag, you know you're packed.
Does all that make sense?
Hope that helps you in some way...have a great time in Europe!