Confused about planning my europe trip

[digital_nomad]

Heya folks,

I will be traveling to Berlin next week and was thinking of extending my trip for a week. I was thinking of visiting neighboring countries, but It's my first time there, so I don't know about the places. Any recommendations on which countries I should consider? How much would it cost me for a 7-day trip, excluding the flights from/to berlin? Are there any services that can arrange a customized Europe tour with reasonable charges? 

How to have a friendly and pocket-friendly trip? 
Would appreciate the help!

[CassyL]

Hi @digital_nomad, awesome that you'll be staying in Berlin next week – we hope you'll have a great adventure! If you have the time for it (about 7hrs) and are heading West anyway, you could consider taking a few days exploring Amsterdam or Brussels. Perhaps @Gabriele could provide some of his experiences since he was just visiting and working remotely in Brussels! 

Keep us posted on how it goes and where you decide to explore, 
-Cassy

[Gabriele · Accepted solution]

Hey @digital_nomad, Berlin should be pretty well connected to a lot of different cities, and the

advantage is that many places will be a train or bus ride away, so you can take advantage of that to work while traveling and enjoy sightseeing once you arrive to your destinations. 

Flying will obviously open your options to further destinations, but for trips up to 6 hours it can be a good idea to opt for overland travel, as you will avoid check-in/out time, and commuting to and from airports. 

Plus, many trains like German ICE will often have wifi.

Cost of traveling can depend a lot on many factors, but for budget trips, take a look at Flixbus, as it connects most of Europe with practical and cheap bus trips. 

One example of what you may be able to do in 7 days could be Berlin-Amsterdam-Paris and back, or Berlin-Warsaw-Vienna-Prague...

Flixbus may give you maximum last minute flexibility, but if you take a night train you will save on the hotel, so there are pros and cons to each approach.

Another cool option could be a night train, though that might be limited if booking last minute. 

Try looking at these websites:

https://global.flixbus.com/

https://www.thetrainline.com/

https://www.rome2rio.com/

https://www.nightjet.com/

I'm just throwing some ideas down, assuming you are in a hurry to plan your trip, but I'm happy to give more details, or answer any further questions 🙂

[digital_nomad]

Thank you @Gabriele, for answering in so much detail. 
Can you tell me how much budget I should keep in my mind for this trip?
Also, how can I re-route this if I want to include Lisbon as one of the places?

[Gabriele]

Budget can be tough to calculate, as it depends on a lot of factors.

A Flixbus trip can cost anywhere between 15 to 50 euro, in my experience, whereas night trains can go from 50 to 300, depending on whether you book a seat in a common area or a private sleeper cabin. (but consider you save the hotel fare for the nights you are traveling)

Hotels and hostels are wild at the moment, so I can't really help with price indications. 

As for Lisbon, it's rather out of the way, in terms of overland travel, so a flight is probably your best option.

To keep things budget-friendly, I suggest not moving too far from Berlin, and looking at big cities which are close to each-other. 

Amsterdam, Bruxelles, Paris, and London, for example, are all just a couple of hours apart, and about 8 hours by train from Berlin. This will greatly reduce travel time, and give you more opportunities for sight-seeing.