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travelthirsty
Traveller
1 comments

Posted 15 years ago

Hello

Hopefully this summer I will be working for a month in Andalucia and when that is over I plan on travelling through some of Europe. I will obviously be starting in the south of Spain and I want to eventually end up in Scandinavia.

I plan on relaxing in Spain for a few days and then buy an interrail pass, would I be able to purchase one in Spain? I ask because I am English.

As there are a lot of places inbetween Spain and Scandinavia I was wondering which places would be a must see? Which route would you suggest I take? I have already been to Paris and don't really want to go there so I was thinking going through the south of France, Switzerland and Germany maybe I'm not sure. I would love to see a lot of Europe and not just travel from one pub to the other.

Also in Scandinavia shall i always book accomodation before I reach the destination? I'm guessing I should because I would start travelling on the 1st of August but could I get away with not booking anything? Finally, I will probably have around £1500 for this trip, does anybody know about how long that will last me if I stay mostly in hostels getting to odd night train and not really going to any restaurantes?

Thanks for your help!
Mark

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Hetman
Traveller
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replied 15 years ago

learn some words in spanish before you go to buy you IR ;)

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travelthirsty
Traveller
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replied 15 years ago

yeah I can speak Spanish and French that's why I'm working out there so that will not be a problem :P

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gemma
Traveller
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replied 15 years ago

Personally I think you ought to book hotels in Scandinavia in advance. Scandinavia doesn’t have that many hotels compared to Southern Europe and you may therefore have difficulties finding a “cheaper” one if you wait until you get there. Scandinavia is generally more expensive than other European countries as well. I am Norwegian myself so I have witnessed distressed tourists who have had difficulties finding a hotel of they haven’t booked in advance.

What’s positive about Scandinavia is that everybody speaks good English.

BTW may I recommend (if you are visiting Norway) to visit Stavanger (4th largest town in Norway). It is a large town but with a small-town feel. It’s situated in South-Western- Norway in Rogaland county. The county is mainly a coastal region with fjords, beaches, and islands so it’s easy to get around by bus or ferry. Rogaland is very nice if you like hiking because it is home to many natural wonders, like Prekestolen, Kjerag and Gloppedalsura. But you could also of course visit Oslo or Bergen who are the largest towns in Norway. But personally I don’t think Oslo is much of a tourist attraction so I would skip that if I were you and see either Bergen or Stavanger (both on the west coast where there are beautiful fiords). You should see Copenhagen in Denmark too. And last but not least you must visit STOCKHOLM – A.K.A. “Venice of the North”.
There are train connection between Oslo and Bergen; Oslo and Stavanger (9 hours) and Oslo and Stockholm (6 hours). If you want to get from either Oslo or Stockholm to Copenhagen you have to take a train to Gothenburg where you have to change trains for Copenhagen (here you can take the train further down Europe). There is also boat connection between Stavanger and Bergen (4 hours).

Good luck! :)