I want to start planning a trip to backpack around Europe? But I don't know where to start.?

If anyone can help me find where the best information about prices and help for best places to go? I know about the Eurorail but I would like any information or experiences people have had. If there is a good website to plan the trip out in or a book I could get it would so helpful thanks.I want to start planning a trip to backpack around Europe? But I don't know where to start.?
This is just my cup of tea, if you want a great backpacking trip then follow my advice:

First is this your first trip to Europe? if it is, then believe me you want an itinerary, you want to know where you're going and you want to see as much as possible this first time because #1, you might never come back to Europe plus you want a life load of memories all squeezed into 2 amazing weeks (or however long you stay!) and #2, if you do come back you'll already know where you like, what you like and if you'd ever go back there again.

Ok, now I want you to go immediately (after you have read all of these tips below) to www.busabout.com, this is a great site. It is not really a tour. You buy a package and you can ride the buses they offer to any of their destinations in Europe, its for college aged people and its a great deal considering how much it costs to travel within continental Europe. Not to mention travel from England to Europe, the chunnel ain't cheap!

Basically a bus runs every two days through any Busabout destination. For example: Paris to Amsterdam, Munich to Vienna, etc every two days, you can hop on hop off, super fun, meet a lot of great people, the guides aboard the buses give you all the information you need to know about the next city even help with hostel/hotel reservations. Busabout even includes a ferry ride from Dover (england) to Calais (france) in the cost of the "bus pass". So you can skip the chunnel. check it out, learn it, love it, live it!

So see what pass suits you best, but make sure you follow these tips and it will make your trip run smoother

1. Fly into London, it is cheaper and to get out to get to continental Europe you either have to take the Chunnel or a ferry across the English Channel. You want to do that at the beginning of your trip. You want to start in London and end in Amsterdam, Netherlands(if you smoke, because if you do, you won't want to leave Amsterdam and you'll miss the rest of Europe, believe me!) If not, still leave out of London and end up somewhere else...

2. You can always book an open jaw flight, into London, out of Venice, or into London out of Paris, land in one place, leave from another, sometimes the price of the flight isn't really affected...sometimes, but it will make it easier on you, why race back to london to catch a flight when you can sip espresso's in Milan into the night before your flight, enjoy yourself its a vacation!

3. Now, busabout will take you anywhere you want to go, but always consider travel time between destinations. If for some reason you want to fly between cities, DO NOT BOOK INTERCONTINENTAL EUROPEAN FLIGHTS FROM THE US. United States travel agents over charge flights they book from european destinations because americans don't realize how inexpensive the flights really are, we assume everything in europe is expensive. So wait til you get to europe to book any flights from for example, paris to munich, amsterdam to london. YOu can find European carriers, that are our equivilent of Southwest or Jet Blue, think about paying $450 from LA to Vegas, would you do that? But people pay that everyday from Paris to Amsterdam! Get it..good!



If you have anymore questions go to my myspace and email me, www.myspace.com/catelrod
If you attend a college it would be beneficial to put this request on a student bulletin board. I'm sure you'd get lots of responses. Otherwise try starting with a travel agent or google backpacking through europe.I want to start planning a trip to backpack around Europe? But I don't know where to start.?
Eurail is totally the way to go!! decide how long you want to go and then get the applicable ticket. just check out this website: http://www.eurail.com/ it has tons of info. get packets and maps and just start planning. it's actually really easy and tons of fun. the best part of eurail: you can hop on most any train in europe and take day trips or overnight trips. (though some trains don't except eurail so keep that in mind)



tip: DO NOT take an overnight train alone! buddy system is the way to go. and stay flexible.