I'll take this time to introduce myself to the forum. I'm Brian, also known as Krutch, from Cape Cod, MA. My travel experience is mostly domestic as I've toured most of the US as road manager of a world beat rock band, but I spent a week in Italy in High School... and many nights in Montreal while in college before I was 21 ;)
Always had a passion for European History, I'm an avid follower of most of the European Soccer Leagues and I quite enjoy many of Europe's fine beers, especially those of Bavaria!
So, I finally did it. I planned a 13 day trip to Europe this march as I get 2 weeks paid vacation this year! I'll be heading to London for 4 days starting 3.13 and I have tickets to see Fulham v. Everton @ Craven Cottage which I am so excited for. I then head on over to Munich where I plan to rent a car for a few days then visit the brewery in AYING!!
After checking out some Castles and other Bavarian gems, I may head thru Austria, Liechtensten, Switzerland on the Euro rail, but none of that is set in stone.
I'll be making my way into France, but my goal is to avoid Paris and avoid being a cliche tourist. I plan to head to Normandy to visit Mont Saint-Michel and then to LeHavre to see a Ligue 2 Football Match there. The following day, I will head to Nancy or Lyon for another fooball match, though tickets will likely be difficult to get for those matches.
I'll then head into Luxembourg to meet up with some musicians I've been in contact with thru myspace. I fly out of Dusseldorf a day later and there is my trip.
I'm very excited, but I've been very busy, so my planning is shoddy at best. I haven't booked hotels, hostels, cars, europass or anything like that, so I've come here to seek your advice!!
My budget is limited and I plan to have about 1500 Euro and 300 GBP in spending money while using my debit card sparingly for hotels or car rental.
I'd like to rent a car in my few days in Germany, because I NEED TO DRIVE ON THE AUTOBAHN!! Otherwise I'll be looking into the Europass for the countries I'll be visiting.
I've been looking into hostels without much luck and it seems most budget hotels are at least 100 Euro per night. Are there any online resources for budget european travel??
Am I better off trying to do the hostel thing in nearly every city??
Any tips for a first time European traveler on his own??
I know I have more questions, but I may have to add as they come up. 3 weeks and counting!!!
