Travelling

[danv]

Well i'm planning to go to Italy later this year. I will be going by myself, and staying with relatives as well as paid accomodation.
Basically i've never travelled on my own before, and am after any info/tips etc.

I'm aiming to go by september, so it will be autumn. I have a budget of 5g that i'd like to stick too, but have other savings available in an emergency. I haven't done alot of research yet, but basically I want to stay with my relatives for a couple of weeks, and then travel to some other countries by train, and do this for as long as the budget allows, before returning to the relatives for a few days then flying home.
My relatives are in the north of Italy, about an hour from Venice. I'm looking at spending a few days in Germany, Netherlands and maybe Austria.
I don't think I will hire a car, but i'm not completely sure.

So yeah, any tips or any info at all would be really appreciated. Good places to visit around that part of Europe, info on the train, cheap places to stay, good places to meet people, tips on staying safe etc.
Also any tips on travelling internationally on my own for the first time.



One other side note, I am planning to get my Italian passport while i'm there there (my Dad was born there). If anyone happens to have info on doing that , it would appreciated.

Thanks...

 

[R33F]

I lived in Ireland for 3 years, and travelled through Europe heaps.

I started travelling by myself, and met people along the way, even travelled with a few of them.

You havnt said how long your planning on staying for, only until your buget dries up. Is that right ?

Get yourself a Lonely Planet book on Italy, and I think you can get a Lonely Planet book that covers Europe as well. These will cost you about $40 and are worth their weight in gold. They will give you all kinds of accomodation ideas, and transport suggestions that cater for all budgets.

Are you backpacking ? Or just leaving your luggage at your relatives ? I found one of the best things I bought was a "PacSafe" for my backpack. Especially when living in Hostels. And Locks for all your bags is essential.

Keep your eyes on all your stuff when in Rome, the stories about the pickpockets are true.

If you see a group of English chicks on a "hens" weekend, you are generally going to get laid.

Dont dance on the tables at OKTOBERFEIST, you will get thrown out of the tent.

Take a Wallaby Rugby jersey with you. (except to NZ)

Locals will generally help you where ever you are if you are trying to speak their language. Generally.

Budapest and Prague rock.

Belfast rocks.

WKD Iron Brew will kill you in large doses.

 

[StormFire]

I'm currently in germany at the moment, but i cant' really say that i've done much travelling so far, i'm leaving that til the end of the stay here, but i have learnt a thing or two which might be useful.

Basically if you want to travel by train, the only way to do it is with a euro rail pass (i'm not sure what it's actually called, but it's called something along those lines), basically you just pay a few hundred euros, for a month or something, and you basically get 15 days worth of train travel to whereever you want within europe which is the way to go. I caught a train from munich to florence a couple of weeks back, and that cost me 100 euros, so just paying for single tickets can get pretty pricey. The German Railways gives pretty good information on trains and such (just changed it to english and you're set), there's probably a similar site for italy though.

Airtravel over here around europe is also dirt cheap, places such as Ryan Air or Easyjet offer cheap flights for between 10 and 20 euro's to most destinations around europe. But after talking to some locals you still need to catch trains and such to see the countryside in those places, so a train pass is still recommended.

The other option is to hire a car, my parents just spent a month over here travelling around, and hired a car for the entire 28 day period. I've forgotten the actual cost, but it was pretty reasonable (i think around 800 euros possibly) through sixt car rentals. The plus side of having a car is that it gives you the freedom to go where ever you want, and you'll find that the cheaper accomodation tends to be out in the smaller areas (unless you plan to stay in hostels...but you can get some pretty cheap bed and breakfast places if you're willing to drive around and keep your eye out for advertised rooms). It also gives you the chance to experience the autobahns over here, which are definately worth having a go at atleast once (although germany is the only country where they are toll free...but the convenience of quick travel times is still worth it in the surrounding countries).

I hope that all of that was atleast partly useful!

*edit* i think that this is a website that outlines the euro rail passes, though i haven't looked at it for quite some time, but from memory it is pretty helpful, though i think it's all in US dollars.

 

[danv]

Thanks r33f, will look at the Lonely Planet book.
I'm basically staying as long as the budge will allow, i'm guessing about a month all up, but this could be a bit optomistic. It depends how much I spend on accomodation. I might consider increasing the budget.

When I travel around, I will have a touring/hiking pack. It's like a pretty good katmandu pack, i've hiked with it before, and it's pretty big too. I'll probably leave some stuff with the relatives.

edit- thanks stormfire, checking those links now.

 

[Ride_Guy]

Take a Wallaby Rugby jersey with you. (except to NZ)

Or Wales.. You will hate rugby the amount that they talk about the sport..

 

[danv]

ooh, one other thing, travellers insurance. How do I go about getting that, and can anyone reccomend some good places to get it from.
Oh, and a VISA. I don't know anything about that do I need one?

 

[StormFire]

Australians don't need a visa in order to visit europe (well...i know it's a fact for germany, so it should be the same for surrounding countries), and so you can stay for up to 3 months before you require a visa.

As for travel insurance, you just get that through your travel agent. I think there's a few australian websites that compare different policies, but it's all pretty much the same in the end. I think mine was a little pricier, it cost me about $700 for 7 months but covers me for just about anything, but i think there are cheaper options if you look around.

 

[shirtz]

the main hing i learnt if your backpacking, travel light. id take one big bag (backpack) and thats it. rule of thumb: lay out everything in front of you that u wanna take and then cut it down to essential items. then half it!


ps. how much that "bag cage" worth? they look a bit silly, but i think its a good idea!

 

[RCOH]

One other side note, I am planning to get my Italian passport while i'm there there (my Dad was born there). If anyone happens to have info on doing that , it would appreciated.

Thanks...

A good friend of mine, born of Italian parents, is currently in europe & will be heading down to Italy next month to stay with his relo's. He went through al the motions to get his Italian passport (you have to go to the italian consulate in sydney, & have birth certifiacate of your father I believe, as well as attend an interview). However he decided against getting his passport because if you are under age of 27 & have an italian passport you will be called up to serve in Italian army (I think it is 6 month minimum). So think about that if you before getting a passport.

You don't need a visa if you are staying less than 3 months & not working. If you want to work you need a working visa (duh).

Shop around for travel insurance as there are some good deals, but make sure you read the fine print ( alot of the time you are not covered if you are snowboarding for some reason?) or you may have to pay a 'gap'. That being said, I didn't use insurance & i was fine...but i have the luck of the irish.

 

[dunk]

Shop around for travel insurance as there are some good deals, but make sure you read the fine print ( alot of the time you are not covered if you are snowboarding for some reason?) or you may have to pay a 'gap'. That being said, I didn't use insurance & i was fine...but i have the luck of the irish.

I agree with this, when I went to Moab a few years ago I was going to do some rockclimbing, but the travel insurance would only cover me rockclimbing when not using a rope or guide I can't remember the exact wording but it was along the lines of "not covered for rockclimbing when using a guide and a rope" so I checked with the travel insurance company and sure enough I was covered for rockclimbing on my own WITHOUT a rope.

Last time I went overseas I used the same company and they had removed all mention of rockclimbing.

 

[notb4dinner]

I can't remember the exact wording but it was along the lines of "not covered for rockclimbing when using a guide and a rope" so I checked with the travel insurance company and sure enough I was covered for rockclimbing on my own WITHOUT a rope.

The cover for death/funeral is much less than for injury right?

 

[Cave Dweller]

I just came back from a round the world trip. Including my airfare, taxes and travel insurance i spent around $7500 for 6 weeks. Went to Canada (Banff, Jasper, Vancouver and Whislter) and Europe (London, Glasgow, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Mallorca).

Tips
1. Travel light
2. Stay in backpackers places as they are cheaper
3. Cook your own food for dinner, and make sandwiches for lunch. Takeaway food is uber expensive
4. Learn some of the language. Minimum is hello, please, thankyou and learn how to count to 10.
5. Get travel insurance. I got mine from Student flights. Cost $250 and covered everything except snowboarding.
6. Don't hang around with Americans, they are so so so freaking annoying. Canadians are cool, as are most europeans.
7. Padlock all your bag with little locks on the zippers. Take a small bike lock with you and chain your bag to the bed or water pipe whenever you leave it unattended.
8. Have your passport and plane tickets with you at ALL times
9. Don't leave anything valuable in your pockets
10. Planes are dirt cheap but sometimes the train is actually faster. Remember with flights you should be there early + check in + imigration can be a pain in the arse. If you are planning on using the train a bit buy a eurorail pass, they will save you heaps of money
11. Book accomidation well ahead of time. Walking around for hours trying to find somewhere to stay is not fun and you could end up sleeping on a park bench somewhere.

Amsterdam was cool. If you go, stay at the flying pig dowtown. In the heart of amsterdam, cafe just accross the road You need to book ahead, it is super popular. I thought Berlin was really cool as well, same with London, and glasgow, and canada was sick! Infact, it was all good!

Have fun!

-Matt