Autah-gr.140 net.travel utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!mhtsa!ihnss!vax135!harpo!utah-cs!utah-gr!thomas Tue Jan 19 10:06:00 1982 Travel to Europe 1. Stay out of Switzerland!! (At least, this was the situation a couple of years ago). 2. I dunno about Germany. That's where we spent the most money/day of our whole trip (and we were staying with friends too!). 3. Definitely get Eurail or something similar, the convenience is worth it. We missed a train out of Paris by 2 minutes once, with the whole train system due to shut down at midnight for a strike, and were able to take the next train going in the general direction of our destination, with the assurance that we would eventually be able to get to our destination without extra expense. 4. Paying for a Youth Hostel membership is also worth it. These are (usually) the cheapest accomodations you can find. It may be a good idea to make reservations if you know when you will be somewhere - it avoids being shut out in the cold because the hostel's full when you arrive into town late. 5. Eurail can also function as cheap accomodations - you get on a night train going somewhere far away and sleep. (Pick one that doesn't stop too often.) 6. Scandinavia is EXPENSIVE, but generally worth it. Plan on eating bread and cheese - these are the only cheap food items (they're subsidized by the government). 7. Buy a good belt knife and wear it (or carry it someplace handy). It is invaluable for assembling impromptu meals (cutting bread/cheese/meat, spreading butter, etc.) A jack-knife (Swiss Army knife) is good, but the blade isn't big enough for a lot of the tasks you want it to do. 8. Be aware that the Eurail pass doesn't (last I knew) cover travel between W. Germany and Berlin - you'll have to pay for that one (about 35 DM in 1979). Well, that's probably enough ramblings. Have fun (and take enough money - I spent $600 in 1 month). =Spencer ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.