A sojourn in Europe.

[Nathan]

Hi, my name is Nathan, I am 19 and hail fom Vancouver Island B.C. and I'll be in Europe two weeks. I'll be flying into London and travelling around the UK for a while. Then I'll be travelling throughout the rest of Europe in no particular order(probably France or Germany next)

I was wondering if anyone knew of any ways to travel cheap, work under the table, cheap places to stay, or any great places I should visit. Actually what would be rad would be to visit or stay with any of you guys! If you would be cool with that, or want to talk to me, please dont hesitate to respond on here or email me at bardofbc@hotmail.com.

I suppose it is a little weird to just ask random Canadians in Europe if you could stay with them. But hey, I figure, I'm young, I'm adventurous. And hey, if you dont ask, you'll never find out. Thanks.

Nathan

[MoniqueG]

Hello Nathan:

Nice to see someone from home come to Europe for a look-see. I am from the Vancouver area also!!

You will find London extremely expensive - as you probably already know. As for Germany, I live near Cologne on the Rhein and it is a very interesting place to be. You should check out the Dom in Koln (Cologne) which will amaze you! Extremely easy to findI The shopping-if you like to, is fabulous. Koln is famous for its Karnival celebrations, which starts soon and where anything goes!
Aachen is another must-see if your into history / history of Germany etc.
The Hot Spring Spa in Aachen is another great place, I suggest 'evening' visits during the week!
etc etc etc
In general, most towns - and there are very many, have their own bit of history. Comes with the territory!!

For cheap accomodation try the hostels or look on this website.

As for asking for accomodation with others, you will find in general here that unless you know a person extremely well, you just wouldn't ask - meaning, in that perspective, people are very reserved in Germany. That, and the apartments and homes are just so darn small! sorry.

You will have a blast here though, go to Karnival!! Lots to do and see! Have a good trip!

BTW, there are 100-200 (guess-timate) [b]kinds[/b] of beer here in D-land, all fabulous, and if you go to a drinks shop, the beer is much much cheaper than in a pub or what have you. You can even buy beer in a gas station! Now thats funny!

[CanuckAbroad]

Hey there,

Can't believe I missed this post!

Yeah, you can book hostels via this websites (Check out Hotels and Hostels on the side menu). As far as staying with people - When I travelled on my own I stayed with many people I had just met. Of course, use common sense. But you'll find as you travel you'll meet other people and hit it off. Before you know it, you'll meet a guy from Rome whil you're on a train in France and he'll say "Yeah, when you get to Rome give me a call - You can crash at my place" - It happens. But don't bank on it..When it happens, cool, but always have a backup.

If you've got any questions feel free to ask!