Her Winter My Summer: BACKPACKING THROUGH EUROPE: THE FIRST STEPS

Everything you need to know to start planning your European backpacking trip

Backpacking through Europe has been far and away one of the most fun, adventurous, and enriching experiences of my life. All of my overseas journeys, but in particular my backpacking trip, challenged, stretched, and delighted me in ways that I never expected—I cannot stress enough how rewarding trips like these can be. If you have the time and money (of which you don’t need loads! My own backpacking trip only cost me $2,000, airfare included), a trip like this will be one of the best experiences of your life.

Ghent, Belgium

I've always been drawn to foreign cultures and unfamiliar lands, a wanderlust that only grew stronger as I began traveling abroad when I was 18. Kaitlin, too, is an avid traveler and this passion we share is one of the things that instantly bonded us when we first met. Based on our own travels, we’ve decided to write a travel series that we hope will function as an extensive source of information to enable and encourage those considering an extended overseas trip. We’ve decided to write about what we know best—Kaitlin will discuss the ins and outs of spending a one year working holiday in New Zealand while I detail the necessary preparations and considerations for backpacking through Europe for 3.5 months.

Zakrzowek, Krakow, Poland

In this post, I’ll cover important logistical information to take into account when you first start to plan your own epic adventure, from understanding the visa requirements and planning your itinerary accordingly to knowing what you need to smoothly make it through customs. The topics I discuss in this post are essential to the beginning stages of planning—I would recommend that you begin the steps I’ve listed below 3-5 months before your intended departure date.

Lake Constance, Uberlingen, Germany

Understanding Visa Requirements

An important factor before you begin planning your itinerary is understanding the visa requirements for the countries you will be visiting. Most of the countries in the E.U. form a zone known as the Schengen Area. The amount of time you are permitted to travel in this area (as well as the countries that are not included in this area) without a special visa will greatly affect your travel plans.

What is the Schengen Area and why does this matter?
The Schengen Area is group of 26 countries in Europe that have open borders with one another. This means you can move freely from country to country while traveling within this area without having to deal with border patrol -- as easy as crossing State lines in the US. However, on a US passport, without a special visa, you are only allowed to stay in the Schengen area for 90 days in any 180 day period (otherwise risk a fine and deportation).

The 26 countries in the Schengen Zone:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, & Switzerland

Map of the Schengen Area

The good news is not every country in the E.U. has signed the Schengen agreement (God bless you, UK and Ireland!). Days you spend in the countries listed below do not count towards your 90 day limit.

Countries that have "opted out" of the Schengen agreement:

United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
Ireland

Countries that are not a part of the Schengen area but are in the process of joining:

Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Romania

You can stay in each of these non-Schengen E.U. countries for 90 days without a special visa, except for the UK where you can stay 180 days.

So, if you plan wisely, you can stay in the EU for more than 90 days. For instance, I backpacked through Europe from mid-May to the beginning of September (around 110 days total). To avoid spending more than 90 days in the Schengen area, I flew into Dublin and traveled through Ireland and the UK for two weeks before entering the Netherlands. A week before the end of my trip I flew from Norway to the UK. Traveling around the UK/Ireland at the beginning and end of my trip made it so of the 110 days I spent in the EU, my total time in the Schengen area was just under 90 days.

For more information/tips on long-term travel in the E.U., obtaining extended Schengen visas, a list of which countries are lax or strict about checking how long you've been in the Schengen area, check out these articles:
How to legally stay in Europe for more than 90 days & Long term Europe travel

For information on American passport holder visa requirements for European countries that are not a part of the E.U. or for more information on any of the countries that are listed above, visit The US State department's website.

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Booking Flights

Because of the warm weather, long days, and extended school breaks, summer is the ideal season for backpacking through Europe. (Not to mention, no one wants to lug all that extra winter gear around in an already crammed backpack.) Of course, millions of other tourists feel the same way, so airline ticket prices can literally double in the summer. Here are a few tips to save money on airfare to Europe in peak season:

Either book an outbound flight for May or a return flight for September. Doing this easily saved me $700+ on my backpacking trip. Peak travel times are June-August, so if you can fly into or out of Europe before or after these months (ideally both if you’re staying that long), tickets will be significantly cheaper.
Check multiple arrival airports to see which one offers the cheapest flights. Unless you have to fly into a specific destination, look up ticket prices for various European airports. I’ve found that flying into London is generally the cheapest (eat your heart out, Paris), but for my particular backpacking trip it was actually cheaper to fly into Dublin. We therefore planned our trip itinerary to begin and end in Ireland.
Book at least 3 months in advance. Any time less than 3 months and ticket prices start going up dramatically. I just booked overseas tickets for a trip I am taking two months from now. I waited a week in between when I first checked the ticket prices and when I actually booked, and within that week the prices went up by $200.

Between the price variation of booking early as well as flying into one airport versus another, booking your flights should be one of the first steps of planning your trip. Even before you plan your full itinerary, look at pricing of different flights. Planning your journey around when/where you fly will allow you to pay less for your airline tickets.

My favorite airfare websites:

STA Travel - As a student, I always used this site to book overseas flights. They have special discounts for students and teachers that make it cheaper than booking through other travel websites.
Kayak - Now that I am no longer a student, I find the best deals on Kayak. I recently purchased tickets to New Zealand (for my upcoming trip with Kaitlin! Wahoo!) and I checked various travel websites before booking. Kayak.com led me to the cheapest tickets quickly and easily.
The Flight Deal - With this website, you select from a list of departure airports and it will show you all applicable flight deals. If you have a very specific destination/departure date, then this isn't the site for you. But if you’re flexible on where/when you want to arrive, definitely peruse the deals on this site before booking.
Iceland Air - Though Iceland Air doesn’t necessarily offer you cheaper airfare, they do offer a free stopover in Reykjavik when flying to any other European destination. If you’d like to see Iceland during your European travels (and duh of course you would), this is a great way to do it without having to purchase extra plane tickets.

Sections of the Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany

Getting Through Customs

Although getting through customs certainly doesn't seem like it needs to be addressed months before the start of your trip, there are items that are essential for immigration that you can't simply get the day before (*coughpassportcough*). In the months leading up to your journey, make sure you obtain the items I've listed below and you'll get through customs much more smoothly:

A valid passport. One of the first things you should do after deciding to go on a backpacking trip is get a passport. Processing time for passport applications is 4-6 weeks, not including delivery. Be on the safe side and apply for one as soon as you decide you want to travel. And for those of you who have well-used passports, it's important to know that for entry into the Schengan Area, your passport must be valid for a minimum of six months from the day you arrive and have at least one blank page for the entry stamp.
Return flight details. Assuming you've already booked your return flight, print a copy of the flight details to show to customs in case they ask. If you haven't booked a departure ticket, consider doing so before you arrive. When I studied in France, I flew into London and spent two weeks there before my semester started. I had yet to buy my departing train ticket when I arrived in London since I wasn't sure of exact day I was going to leave. The customs agent did not let me through easily, and I fear what would have happened if I didn't have my French student visa in my passport. In general, immigration doesn't give you a hard time if they know you’ve already shelled out the cash to leave their country.
A copy of your bank statement. Very often customs agents want to know how much money you have to fund your trip, so you don't wind up broke and unable to leave the country. Although I've never had to show my bank statement (though, in the situation mentioned above I was asked how much money I had to fund my trip), it's a handy document to have, especially if you don't have an outbound ticket. Make sure you have enough money to show that you can cover your expenses while you’re in Europe as well as purchase a ticket out of there if you haven't already.
The address of the place you will be staying, whether that be with a friend, a CS/HelpX/WWOOF host, or in a hotel/hostel. If you don’t have an address, it’s not the end of the world but they won’t give you as hard of a time if you do. (DO NOT mention couch surfing/WWOOFing/HelpXing to the customs agent — just say you are “staying with friends.” Although there is absolutely nothing illegal about any of these organizations, immigration officers tend to be very suspect of them, so it’s best not to bring it up if you don’t have to.)

The above list is what I’ve generally found to be necessary for my European travels (mostly flying into and out of London, where the customs agents tend to be particularly difficult). However, remember to check if the country you’re flying into has any special requirements in order to enter. For instance, it turns out that for my Australian trip I'm about to take, I need to apply for a visa before I go. This would not have crossed my mind if Kaitlin hadn’t mentioned it to me. So, double check the entry requirements of the countries you plan on visiting before you leave (fortunately, since most of Europe functions as one country in terms of visa requirements, this makes checking it very simple).

My co-backpackers and I fully support your backpacking goals!

See? Planning your backpacking trip isn't that hard! (Ha!) Ok, ok, there is still much more you need to consider before you can set off on your European adventure but this should hopefully get you started on the right track. The good news is I plan on writing at length about everything you should take into account when backpacking through Europe (such as budgeting, packing, languages/cultural barriers, destination recommendations, logistical information, and so on).

And in case the above pictures didn't excite your wanderlust enough, here's just a few more to really get you in the mood for taking an epic European journey...