Bag purchased - check
Time booked off from work - check
Pants packed - check

so just one problem ... where to go!

As this is a 'training holiday' for my 'round the world' trip next year I had to make sure I hit certain aspects:

1) That I carried the same equipment as I'm planning to take with me on my world travels
2) That I used as many different forms of transport as possible
3) That I have a healthy mix of rural and city stops
4) That I stay in hostels5) That I keep it flexible
5) That I have fun

With so many places to go to in Europe how was I going to fit it all in; simple answer, I'm not going to even try. Instead I'm going to follow the same theory as my world tour; i.e. pick the places I really want to visit. For me these are...

Berlin,
Transylvania (I'm going to get me a vampire)
and Austria

Luckily for me these three areas are all on a line ... well sort of.



So where to start ... well firstly I plan to get the Eurostar to Brussels as a starter. I reckon I will spend a couple of nights there (have a look around Brussels and get myself settled in to this travelling lark) and then 'inter rail' it to Berlin; three nights there and then possibly back towards Cologne and travel parallel to the river Rhine (it's supposed to be beautiful around there) until I arrive in Vienna. After three nights in Vienna I think a trip to Budapest (3 nights) and then onto Bucharest and finally arrive in Transylvania for three or four nights.

After this I reckon I will spend a bit more time in Austria before flying (or going by train) back home ... umm sounds like I've got a plan there, huzzar! Have a look at the map at the start of this post and see what you think.

So what's next?

Well with the plan sorted it was time to flick through a guide book or two to get some ideas




Okay so after reading the above guide book (please note it's part of the 'on a budget' range ... very handy) I have more ideas than I know what to do with ... which is good.

I've decided to keep my trip flexible by purchasing an 'inter rail ticket'. £300 gives me 21 days unlimited travel within Europe; this means that if I manage to meet up with Angelina Jolie, in a youth hostel in Brussels, and she is off to Italy ... no problem.

More seriously it means I can keep flexible and 'go with the flow'.

Bag purchased - check
Time booked off from work - check
Pants packed - check

I'm sure there's something I've forgotten