This past summer (2019) I backpacked Europe for the first time. Actually, this was only my second time ever visiting the eastern continent. I planned the trip 100 percent by myself, brought one carry-on and stayed in hostels (and one airbnb). Once we arrived, the only transport we used was trains and buses; going from Geneva (Switzerland) to Wroclaw (Poland). We passed through four countries (Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland) and made 11 city stops. This trip was 16 days long.
I posted in five separate blog entries the details of our journey, and now being home for over a month I wanted to reflect on what I learned from my trip to hopefully better yours!
Give more time to rest
Seeing about 11 cities in 16 days is A LOT. First of all, I was very thankful of my miraculous adjustment to the 7 hour time change. If you read my first entry from the trip (linked here), you know that we had a five hour flight that took us straight to 8am London and 3am Eastern Ontario. Luckily, by the time we were in Geneva that evening I was able to go straight into a deep sleep which immediately cured me from jet-lag the next morning. Most times, you may not be able to rely on your body to do this so well, so I would probably plan some rest in the front load of the trip first of all to really be able to soak in the environmental changes.
Most of all, having 1-3 days per city is another risky matter. Sure we got to see a whole lot but at the same time we missed a whole lot as well. This is a hard one to plan, as some cities we were very happy with the amount of time we had to spend there and were ready for the next destination, however others we sleepily got through and I left feeling like I could have soaked in more.
For EXAMPLE I really felt this specifically in Vienna and Prague. Realizing that those are both larger cities this is definitely something I will keep in account for next time. Both of these destinations were also on the second half of our trip and we stayed for two nights, only leaving ONE FULL DAY! On top of this the night we were arriving to Vienna was just one of those days where things didn't go as planned - affecting our sleep schedule quite greatly therefore affecting heavily our only full day in Vienna (read details here).
In conclusion, I would give at least two full days with no travel per chosen destination. If it is a highlight before you have even left OR a larger city (more to see) then perhaps give it more!
Don’t bother booking trains ahead
Before leaving on our trip I had made sure we had 3 things booked: Our flights, accommodation and trains/ long bus rides. I am a planner, so I find security in having everything ready to go and just follow the itinerary. HOWEVER, especially in Europe, I would not book my trains/buses next time around! All though it was cheap and easy to do before or at the station the beauty of not booking ahead is the flexibility you give yourself.
For example, our second day in Lauterbrunnen (Switzerland), we had a train pre-booked to go out and back from a nearby village called Grindelwald. However we were enjoying Lauterbrunnen so much we wanted one more day to JUST be in the village. So together we decided to skip our day trip - which ended up being a loss of about 30 dollars. As a budget traveller, this is a bit painful for me. Trains are extremely accessible and easy to book all over Europe (in my experience of these four countries at least), and next time I will not be worried about pre-booking.
Allow Flexibility
I recently watched a travel blogger who mentioned that she only books her flights and accommodations for the first night. The idea is that this allows the flexibility to be able to meet new people and roll with the wind along your journey. Hearing this idea opened my mind to a much more free way of travelling. While it is still important to do your research and know the main points you would like to see; who knows what you will discover.
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In conclusion the next time I am travelling I will definitely allow more time in the same places, even if that means seeing less, as well as book much less before hand! I feel much more confident in my abilities abroad and myself to have more lenient planning in the future! This makes me so excited! My next plan will be to make lists of things I must see in each place and create an inspo board online - book those tickets and go!
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