Hey everyone, I have been deployed for a year and I'm looking to take some time to explore Europe after my tour is over. A friend and I are thinking about flying in, and getting a rail pass for two weeks and just seeing what it's all about, enjoying life. I have a limited budget, but I'm wanting to just take a backpack and a tent. Is this entirely unreasonable? Should I wait until I can afford to go to a hostel every night? We want to start somewhere around Dublin, and work our way west, then south. Is it expensive to get across the water from Ireland to the UK, and from the UK to France? Anyway, Possibly ending up somewhere around Athens. I don't know how long it would take, but we just want to see what we can in the time we have. Is this realistic, or should we just take a trip to one place and chill there? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much
As i dont live in the UK or Ireland, i dont really have an experience with getting to France from there. But travelling by train from Dublin to Athens, well, it just wont work. Theyre too far apart, and youll come across so many places that you might want to explore better that youll never reach Athens at all or if you do, youll never really get to know any of the places you visited. Maybe start in France, and go south-east from there, or just stick to the UK/Ireland.
If you're on a budget you don't want to spend much time in the UK, especially because you'll end up somewhere near London in order to take the Chunnel (Channel Tunnel) or get to a ferry port (Dover/Poole etc etc) and London's very expensive. So, I'd concentrate on Starting in France really, as mainland Europe is much cheaper than the UK. Lots to see and do and you'll be able to see/do a lot more on your budget.
