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I'm a 20 year old Norwegian student, and I've never really experienced any places in Europe outside of the normal tourist/charter traps so I wish for something new. I've been planning to travel with friends for a long time, but it always ends up with a friend of mine not being able to travel due to financial reasons or something else so I'm incredibly tired of having a long list of cancelled trips. Therefore I've decided to say gently caress it and I want to travel alone, but I've no idea where to begin or what to do when travelling alone. I've always travelled with either friends or family, so doing something like this will be the first time for me. I have enough money to travel to many places in Europe and because of the highly competitive Norwegian travel business the ticket prices are relatively low, so what I'm looking for are places to travel for a weekend trip in Europe. I was recommended Bruges, because it's apparently a small city with lots to do and see and one is able to experience the city by travelling alone. I've also been thinking of Rome, Paris and Berlin but I'm not sure if that'll become too overwhelming. Most of all I want to experience places with rich culture and history, preferably something that is "oldish", so Bruges seem like a good option. But do you have any recommendations of places to visit, what to do etc. ?
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Sep 18, 2014 15:17
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Stay in hostels, not in hotels and travel as light as possible. It depends a bit on what you want to get out of your travel of course, but for me travelling is about seeing or doing some interesting things during the day and unwind with other people at night. In a hotel you're guaranteed not to meet other people because they're designed for maximum privacy and you'll feel lonely at night. Hostels will have people like yourself who, as long as they're not checking their phones, want to talk or go out for a drink or two. You could even arrange to do stuff with them during the day but I've always found this annoying and prefer to go my own way. Travelling light means taking the smallest backpack you have and trying to be creative on how to survive with limited space. My next trip is 5 weeks in South America with a 28L backpack, you can do weekends on a small plastic bag. When you shower wash out your shirt and underpants, wring them in a towel and it'll be dry next morning. With just that you barely need any spares. Bringing too much makes you less mobile and when something happens that you didn't prepare for just improvise. You can buy a raincoat anywhere. As for places to go, eh. If it's your first time find something closer to home maybe to find out what works best for you and how much/little you want to prepare. With a phone you can find stuff to do easily and as long as you get the basics right travelling is easy. You can always go back.
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Sep 18, 2014 19:41
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Do what you want when you want, what's the big deal.
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Sep 18, 2014 22:09
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I've been on the road alone for nearly 6 months now. If you want to be social, stay at a hostel dorm as Dancer said. You'd have to be incredibly socially inept to not meet people in one. I'm a social retard and I meet people. You're going to get lonely from time to time and miss your friends but it passes. You'll meet some really cool people and if your plans are similar, you might even end up spending a few days with them. Then you part ways and it's kinda sad but thats bound to happen  Places I've been with a lot of culture and history and can't be missed? Angkor Wat, Petra, Giza. Just saw the ruins of Troy today and drat, it's loving tiny in comparison. Like a bungalow next to a castle compared to those places. Also, the movies loving lied. It looks Mediterranean not desert like. Egypt is a great place to visit at the moment if it's on your to do list because tourist numbers are waaaay down due to recent political problems yet it's very safe for a traveler. There's military everywhere so nothing is going to happen. Pack at least a weeks worth of clothing - that's 7 pairs of underwear (don't be gross and wear dirty undies) and 7 pairs of socks (don't be gross, nobody likes smelly people) and maybe 5 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and at least 1 pair of pants, and a jacket or something if you're traveling in Europe.
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Sep 18, 2014 22:23
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Paris and Berlin have huge amounts of history. Everything I know about Bruges I learned from the movie In Bruges, which is probably the best travel documentary you'll find about the place. Paris is a romantic city though, so it might be better to save that trip for one with a future significant other. Stay in a hostel for sure. Look on Tripadvisor or hostelworld.com for well-rated ones and read the reviews. Usually I book the first night in a new city, then stay if I like it or go somewhere else if I don't. If you're just doing a weekend, you could book all the nights for simplicity, but one of the best parts about traveling alone is saying "gently caress it, I don't like it here, I'm going somewhere else." Pick a hostel in a central area you want to be, so you don't have to spend much time on transit, even if it is more expensive than a hostel in an outer area. Be prepared to meet people at hostels, chat with them, maybe join them for an adventure if you seem compatible, then have drinks later on. You won't need to bring friends since you will make them there. People on vacation are usually laid back and open to meeting new people, so don't be shy. And be open to doing new things. If someone asks you to do something, or offers you something, say, "YES!" Get a map, usually for free at the airport or bus station from tourist information. Get your bearings. Walk around your hostel. Take public transit if you want to get out of the touristy area. You do not need as much stuff as you think you need. You're not going on safari, you're going to a modern city, so plan accordingly. Overpacking is a common mistake first-time travelers make. You will probably overpack. Once you've done it a few times, you will know what you need. 20 by the way is a great age to travel. Really the only hard and fast rule I have from my travel experience in 30 countries is: if you hear two British accents in a bar, go drink somewhere else. They will cause a problem at some point in the night. Horatius Bonar fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Sep 19, 2014 |
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Sep 19, 2014 06:09
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Don't overthink it, it's just a weekend trip. Pack 2 pairs of undies, a spare shirt and basic toiletries. Pick 2 or 3 sites you would like to visit, book a hostel and fly. The rest will take care of itself. You're visiting a major european city for a weekend, not going on safari in a warzone, so you can safely ignore any advice regarding washing clothes, anti-bear safety precautions or how to best store your hydration pack in your convertible cargo jorts. Just act and dress like you would at home. Rome, Paris and Berlin are all perfectly fine places to visit. Never been to Bruges, but for a weekend why the hell not?
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Sep 19, 2014 08:12
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Didn't even realize it was just a weekend. It's 2 days. You don't even have to prepare. Just choose a city, pack some poo poo and go.
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Sep 19, 2014 08:32
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Yeah, hop on a plane and fly. Go to your hotel/hostel, and then go out and explore. I usually stay in hotels and limit my social interaction because I have mobile data and use Google Maps all the time, but sometimes I ask for directions! Obviously common sense applies in staying safe, and watch out for scammers. Start off small and go from there.
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Sep 20, 2014 06:17
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Pack light with things you can mix and match. Don't bring a shirt that doesn't match any pants. Don't overplan your itinerary. European youth hostels are a really lively social scene. You'd have to be a social leper not to make friends or more. Hostels like Kabul in Barcelona or Bob's in Amsterdam are legendary for their party atmosphere. For a weekend trip, I'd suggest Barcelona, Amsterdam, or Amsterdam. A weekend really isn't much time to know a place though.
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Sep 20, 2014 12:45
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Do a three day weekend minimum, i.e. leaving on Thursday night coming back Sunday night, or leave Friday night and come back Monday night. This will also save you a lot on plane tickets--Fri/Sat/particularly Sunday flights are more expensive than any other days' flights. Also any less than 3 days and you'll spend more time in airports and trains from/to the airport than you will at your actual destination. I'd recommend Berlin over anywhere else, but without knowing what you like (and you may not know what you like anyway) it's hard to go particularly wrong.
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Sep 20, 2014 13:20
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A lot of great tips here, I'm on a mobile platform so I'll just add a few bulletpoints. I only started travelling alone last year and in the beginning I made a lot of stupid mistakes, like mainly trying to meet people in bars and staying in cheap hotels. Create a couchsurfing profile. Even if you don't want to use it as a means to find a bed, there are a lot of social events posted there and it's a great way to meet people if your hostel is a bust. You can also use it to contact locals for questions on food, neighbourhoods and all sorts of stuff. People there are usually really friendly. You can meet people in bars, but it's a little bit difficult. Depends on the bar, country and city of course, but you'll be way better off meeting people at a hostel. Of course it's "cooler" to meet the locals, but it's also great fun to hang about with a group of international people. Make sure your hostel has a good common room and not just a crusty leathercouch where people compulsively recharge and check their smartphones. If you enjoy photography even just a little bit, bring a camera. That'll give you something to do and you'll be able to share your experiences with your cheapskate friends when you get back home. Take at least one selfie, your mum will enjoy it. Consider bringing a travel diary and a pen, but don't be that tit who sits writing in his journal with a look of cosmic importance written across his stupid face. Make a list of things you want to see. Don't be afraid to go fully-blown tourist. You're travelling and you're doing so on your own, so it's great to have things to do and places to go during the day, because you'll probably mainly meet people over a beer in the evening. Unless you're working, don't bring a computer or a tablet. Those things suck up enough of your time when you're at home. They are a safety net for the minutiae of everyday misery and you don't need it. If you're relatively healthy, try to walk everywhere if you're staying in a smaller European town. Otherwise try to walk around at least most of the time. It's a cheap way to "kill time" during the day and you'll see so much more of the city. If you enjoy reading, bring a book about whereever you end up going to. Not a lonely planet or a historical tome, but something like Joyces Dubliners for Dublin or Hemingways A Moveable Feast for Paris or Abes The Box Man for Tokyo or Hamsuns Sult for Oslo etc etc. It's definately an American in Paris clichι, but who cares - so is pizza in Rome and we all love pizza, don't we? I love food, so I used to look up local restaurants, but quickly realised eating alone in a crowded room isn't much fun. Find a takeaway, nice fastfood place, pub or a quiet cafι instead. Get drunk. Three personal ones I'm a compulsive planner and researcher, so I use SA, tripadvisor and google to gather a lot of intel on any potential destination. It works for me and if I meet a fun group of people, I can always just switch things around and hang out with them, but if I'm unable to meet people, at least I'll have a heap of things to do instead. If you enjoy that sorta thing, bring a bunch of audiobooks or load up your phone with podcasts. This has been a life saver for me in the past. Last one is probably only relevant to me, but I love to do geocaching when travelling. It's a fun way to explore a city, but it's certainly not for everyone. I mean, most of the people who do it are either pensioners or parents with young kids, but it'll definately take you places you wouldn't have gone to otherwise. Remember, since you're only going for a weekend to begin with, it's not the end of the world if it takes you a while to find your stride. Just don't give up, because once you start enjoying yourself you'll find travelling alone can be an amazingly freeing experience. edit: I went completely overboard in my post, but hope at least some of it is useful. prinneh fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Sep 22, 2014 |
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Sep 22, 2014 19:46
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If you're just going for a weekend, I'd say you don't really need any in-depth planning. I'd say in-depth planning is a bad idea on such a short trip; you'll end up trying to cram too much poo poo in those two days, you'll probably forget to have fun. Longer trips though (week or more), planning is more important. I personally enjoy longer trips, with a bare framework of planning though, because if something cool pops up, you can do it, without worry. Especially if you travel extensively on foot, you will run across cool stuff you'll want to try, and light planning gives you the option to do them.
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Sep 24, 2014 01:08
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prinneh posted: Get drunk. I'll just add a caveat to not get drunk in Venice otherwise you'll probably fall in the canal because it is pitch black in a lot of areas. You'll also get lost. But yeah, plan, plan, plan. For longer trips at least. I know some people like to just wander into a new city and organise accommodation on the spot, but that's not me. I rest much easier knowing everything is organised and all I have to do is show up at a designated location.
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Sep 26, 2014 09:28
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Octy posted:I'll just add a caveat to not get drunk in Venice otherwise you'll probably fall in the canal because it is pitch black in a lot of areas. You'll also get lost. If you're getting lost in Venice, you're doing it right! "Didn't we just cross this bridge 10mins back"?
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Sep 26, 2014 09:59
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Octy posted:But yeah, plan, plan, plan. For longer trips at least. I know some people like to just wander into a new city and organise accommodation on the spot, but that's not me. I rest much easier knowing everything is organised and all I have to do is show up at a designated location. Planning is the antithesis of traveling alone. Planning is the first step to disappointment. If you've planned out your whole vacation and bought tickets for everything ahead of time, what happens when a cute Danish girl in the common room invites you out for drinks at 11pm, when tomorrow morning you planned to go see the sunrise at 6am? He's going for a weekend, and almost no one in this thread is saying he should plan beyond packing light, booking a hostel, and preparing a few ideas of places he'd like to see. Preparing is different than planning. Prepare for your trip by reading online reviews, asking people (like the forums here), reading books - even history books, and political books. And check what day museums are closed, if you're really into museums. They can be closed weird days - and free on other ones. Know what you will need, and what you want to do in general, and how long it might take to do it. But don't have a Google calendar itinerary for your 3 day trip. Some of the best things you will do while traveling were things you didn't even know about before you left. edit: Now this: Octy posted:get drunk in Venice Horatius Bonar fucked around with this message at 10:05 on Sep 26, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 10:01
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Bring clean underwear and socks and money (debit cards are great, ATMs are everywhere). Hostels are great for meeting people and they're also cheap. You can also meet people on tours or even (gasp) talking to locals.
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Sep 26, 2014 14:36
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Octy posted:I'll just add a caveat to not get drunk in Venice otherwise you'll probably fall in the canal because it is pitch black in a lot of areas. You'll also get lost. To avoid stress: find a hostel/hotel with good reviews or figure out which part of town cheap hostels are in and go from there. Also a good idea to work out conversion rates for $$$ and read up on transport information. Is it worthwhile to learn the bus routes (most of the time, nah gently caress that)? How much is a standard taxi fare per km? Having a big list of things to do and when to do them isn't much fun.
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Sep 26, 2014 18:12
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I just decided to do the same thing for basically the same reason, and booked a flight & hostel for Rome. I imagine I can surely spend 4 unprepared days looking at beautiful stuff & eating delicious food there. Hopefully I'm correct? I basically know shamefully little about Rome.
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Sep 27, 2014 19:10
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Easily. 4 days isn't that much, especially if it includes the days you arrive and leave, and there's a lot to look at.
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Sep 27, 2014 19:15
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Walking Tours.
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Sep 28, 2014 00:21
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Horatius Bonar posted:Preparing is different than planning. Prepare for your trip by reading online reviews, asking people (like the forums here), reading books - even history books, and political books. And check what day museums are closed, if you're really into museums. They can be closed weird days - and free on other ones. Know what you will need, and what you want to do in general, and how long it might take to do it. But don't have a Google calendar itinerary for your 3 day trip. Some of the best things you will do while traveling were things you didn't even know about before you left. cent0r posted:To avoid stress: find a hostel/hotel with good reviews or figure out which part of town cheap hostels are in and go from there. Also a good idea to work out conversion rates for $$$ and read up on transport information. Is it worthwhile to learn the bus routes (most of the time, nah gently caress that)? How much is a standard taxi fare per km? Having a big list of things to do and when to do them isn't much fun. I think I came across wrongly. We're actually on the same wavelength here, except so far as accommodation goes. When I've just got off a 22 hour flight and I'm horrifically jetlagged, I don't want to be worrying about where I'm going to stay. I just want to get out of the airport, dump my things at the hotel and set out to explore this new city. Anyway, ultimately it's up to the OP's personality, I guess. Believe it or not, despite getting easily stressed on occasion, I still have a heck of a good time travelling alone, despite all my fun-inhibiting plans. Octy fucked around with this message at 09:55 on Sep 29, 2014 |
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Sep 29, 2014 09:46
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peanut posted:Walking Tours. Every time I've traveled alone so far I've done walking tours.
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Oct 1, 2014 06:36
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As someone who just spent three days in Barcelona curled around the toilet, make sure you know what you're putting in you. Youthful folly and whatnot.
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Oct 8, 2014 16:41
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Something I've realized is, unless you're going on a solo wilderness adventure, you never actually travel alone. There are plenty of people everywhere.
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Oct 9, 2014 15:44
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Horatius Bonar posted:Planning is the antithesis of traveling alone. Planning is the first step to disappointment. If you've planned out your whole vacation and bought tickets for everything ahead of time, what happens when a cute Danish girl in the common room invites you out for drinks at 11pm, when tomorrow morning you planned to go see the sunrise at 6am? Go out with her anyway and drink until 5? No poo poo, speaking from fresh personal experience here (although it was a group of crazy eastern Europeans and not a cute girl, as is my luck)! A friend and I went out for one drink before he had to leave the next day, ended up drinking until 2 (when Americans quit drinking) and bullshitted around outside another hour. Then had to drive 6 hours the next morning to his airport 
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Oct 27, 2014 05:53
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peanut posted:Walking Tours. For sure. Some cities also have "cool" free tours (i.e. tip your guide at the end) which are great ways to discover places you would never know to go by yourself and also to meet other people. I really recommend the one in Berlin ( http://alternativeberlin.com/ ). I did their free tour and it was really cool. I also did their cheesy pub crawl, where I met some cool people. I know it's short notice actually but if you happen to go to Berlin next weekend, it could be really cool. They're lighting the entire length of where the Berlin Wall used to be with 8000 illuminated balloons. Nov 7-9 only, apparently. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2014/10/20/fall_of_the_berlin_wall_25_years_ago_germany_commemorates_the_wall_s_demise.html?wpsrc=fol_tw
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Oct 29, 2014 00:06
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Anyone here have much experience in using the Couchsurfing website/app to plan a solo trip? I have never used it but I have a profile on it and occasionally jump on to see who's using it in places I want to visit. Edit: Sorry, I did not see that someone had started a thread specifically for this question before posting this. Gern Blandsten fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Nov 10, 2014 |
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Nov 9, 2014 21:38
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nelson posted:Something I've realized is, unless you're going on a solo wilderness adventure, you never actually travel alone. There are plenty of people everywhere. Agreeing with this. I've done both, but when I was in Australia and New Zealand by myself I had plenty of people to talk to, sat down with strangers for meals, even made a couple new Facebook friends. I met so many interesting people I probably never would have talked to if I was with my husband or some friends.
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Nov 16, 2014 19:30
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