Planning A Trip To Europe (PJ Related)

Rearviewrelease

HEy guys. So I'm 17, about to graduate from high school. MY graduation is June 4th, 2010, and after that I'm done with EVERYTHING.

It just so happens that I scored tickets to the free rage show in the UK on June 6th. But...I'm in the US.
I was also checking out a European date for Pearl Jam in June. So my question is this...have any of you visited Europe before?

I was thinking of asking my mom to send me on a European trip, like touring the major countries, as a graduation gift. That way I could attend these shows and still have an awesome time.

I've been looking online for information but...how much would this cost? Maybe if it was just me and my other friend who just graduated. We could tour Europe ourselves. Only have two plane tickets, for going and coming back, and using the train/tram/public transportation for getting from country to country. How much would all this be? Does anyone have any experience?

Thanks a lot guys!

Brisk.

Rearviewrelease wrote:

HEy guys. So I'm 17, about to graduate from high school. MY graduation is June 4th, 2010, and after that I'm done with EVERYTHING.

It just so happens that I scored tickets to the free rage show in the UK on June 6th. But...I'm in the US.
I was also checking out a European date for Pearl Jam in June. So my question is this...have any of you visited Europe before?

I was thinking of asking my mom to send me on a European trip, like touring the major countries, as a graduation gift. That way I could attend these shows and still have an awesome time.

I've been looking online for information but...how much would this cost? Maybe if it was just me and my other friend who just graduated. We could tour Europe ourselves. Only have two plane tickets, for going and coming back, and using the train/tram/public transportation for getting from country to country. How much would all this be? Does anyone have any experience?

Thanks a lot guys!

There are non-americans on this forum you know :P

2 months after i turned 18 i came to USA for some pj shows, so its cool to someone doing the similar thing!

Personally, Google maps is a god send, you just type in the postcode of the venue and use the 'search nearby' function and just look for airports, train stations and hostels/hotels. That's how i've planned the previous tours!

I dont know them off by heart but there are some great sites that compare all the airlines to find you the cheapest tickets. I think my tour to USA (last 5 shows in 08) cost me around 1000 bucks, though the airline i went with went bust a week after i came back lol, was about £300 return to JFK.

Coming over 1 show as well isn't really worth it in my eyes, may as well try and do a few more, if you cant then you might as well stay in usa and do them but i presume travelling europe is your priority and not seeing pearl jam. Also the club shows here are sold out, so unless you want to pay some serious big $$ for festivals then hmm..

Not sure if this is any help but feel free to pm me with any queries!

philthehip

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

Rearviewrelease

philthehip wrote:

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

Whats the exhange rate for $?

And I don't know if that would be too costly, since the Rage show is June 6th and Dublin is June 22nd.

Sian-of-the-dead

philthehip wrote:

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

Fuck, you got screwed... our flights to Ireland we're £5 each remember

My boyfriend and I are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Nijmegen and Berlin. Our tickets to shows have cost just short of £600. Our accomodation is around £250 (we do have a very generous friend in Amsterdam who's giving us a free bed for 3 nights). Spending money is anyone's guess... i'll probably have a good few hundred quid/equivelent Euros, probably more (I also get paid while away) My blokey will probably have the same.

The transport system from country to country in Europe is supposed to be good, depending on where you are... but that depends on what shows you wish to see. Some counties have better transport systems (Germany is supposed to be excellent) and other's aren't so good. Some countries are also expensive (I know Dublin is supposed to be VERY expeno.) and again, other's are cheaper.

I think you should decide what shows you want to do first and then arrange everything else around that.

I English and that's how I've done it :thumbup:

philthehip

Rearviewrelease wrote:

philthehip wrote:

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

Whats the exhange rate for $?

And I don't know if that would be too costly, since the Rage show is June 6th and Dublin is June 22nd.

Its about $2300 I think.

philthehip

Sian-of-the-dead wrote:

philthehip wrote:

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

Fuck, you got screwed... our flights to Ireland we're £5 each remember

My boyfriend and I are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Nijmegen and Berlin. Our tickets to shows have cost just short of £600. Our accomodation is around £250 (we do have a very generous friend in Amsterdam who's giving us a free bed for 3 nights). Spending money is anyone's guess... i'll probably have a good few hundred quid/equivelent Euros, probably more (I also get paid while away) My blokey will probably have the same.

The transport system from country to country in Europe is supposed to be good, depending on where you are... but that depends on what shows you wish to see. Some counties have better transport systems (Germany is supposed to be excellent) and other's aren't so good. Some countries are also expensive (I know Dublin is supposed to be VERY expeno.) and again, other's are cheaper.

I think you should decide what shows you want to do first and then arrange everything else around that.

I English and that's how I've done it :thumbup:

Not everyone got the bmi sale now did they Sian :evil:

wolfamongwolves

Rearviewrelease wrote:

I don't know if that would be too costly, since the Rage show is June 6th and Dublin is June 22nd.

That's about as good as you can get, I'm afraid. The Dublin show is the earliest PJ show in Europe.

Sian-of-the-dead

wolfamongwolves wrote:

Rearviewrelease wrote:

I don't know if that would be too costly, since the Rage show is June 6th and Dublin is June 22nd.

That's about as good as you can get, I'm afraid. The Dublin show is the earliest PJ show in Europe.

Wolfy's right... That's one hell of a costly gap between shows :?

dimitrispearljam

philthehip wrote:

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

and some ceazy of us will be everywhere... ..so the cost is crazy..
i think if someone wanna tour a part go to Dublin-Belfast-London.,or Bilbao-Lisbon

chime

But may be as you def have your RATM ticket if you can't afford to stay in Europe long enough to catch the first PJ show (which is in the most expensive city and tickets are currently extremely hard to get) consider seeing other bands than PJ in the week or two around that as it is festival time so loads of bands will be in Europe and playing their own shows to fill in the gaps between festival weekends.

You could search the sites of a few bands you like and see if any of them are over here at that time ... or choose a few cities you would like to visit and see what gigs are on in those cities around the time you are planning to be over.

Transport around Europe ... don't rule out flights as with low cost airlines you can get some pretty cheap deals.

May be use http://www.tripadvisor.com to look up hostels in the cities you want to visit.

Once you have more of an idea of what you want to do I'm sure we'll be able to assist with ideas about how to do it.

luke.harvey3

Im doing Belfast, London and Berlin... tickets approx 160? Flights are cheap between cities on the right airlines! Hotels depend where u wanna stay and if you are able to "slum it" or wanna go in good hotels etc!
you make it as cheap as you need!!

Last year i spent about £800 altogether on 3 shows(Manchester, London and Berlin) but i paid for 2 people(my dad) to attend with me! trying to pay back for all the gigs he has taken me to when i was younger!!
i drove to and from manchester and london from our home in birmingham, and had hotel in london the night. and a few days stay in berlin before those shows!

this properly didnt help you at all but gives some idea lol!

dimitrispearljam

stop putting numbers,,ill start think my total for this tour and ill get a heart attack..

Rearviewrelease

chime wrote:

But may be as you def have your RATM ticket if you can't afford to stay in Europe long enough to catch the first PJ show (which is in the most expensive city and tickets are currently extremely hard to get) consider seeing other bands than PJ in the week or two around that as it is festival time so loads of bands will be in Europe and playing their own shows to fill in the gaps between festival weekends.

You could search the sites of a few bands you like and see if any of them are over here at that time ... or choose a few cities you would like to visit and see what gigs are on in those cities around the time you are planning to be over.

Transport around Europe ... don't rule out flights as with low cost airlines you can get some pretty cheap deals.

May be use http://www.tripadvisor.com to look up hostels in the cities you want to visit.

Once you have more of an idea of what you want to do I'm sure we'll be able to assist with ideas about how to do it.

Does anyone know any bands in Europe during that time.

I probably could only do Dublin, because my 18th birthday is July 2nd and I'd need to be home in time for that.

But Since RATM is 6/6 and Dublin is 6/22 thats a HUGE and COSTLY gap between shows. That's why the focus of the trip wouldn't be the shows, it would be a tour of Europe, sandwiched in between shows you know?

Claireack

Rearviewrelease wrote:

my 18th birthday is July 2nd

Sorry, this is totally unrelated, but my birthday is that day too. It's a good day for a birthday

dimitrispearljam

Rearviewrelease wrote:

chime wrote:

But may be as you def have your RATM ticket if you can't afford to stay in Europe long enough to catch the first PJ show (which is in the most expensive city and tickets are currently extremely hard to get) consider seeing other bands than PJ in the week or two around that as it is festival time so loads of bands will be in Europe and playing their own shows to fill in the gaps between festival weekends.

You could search the sites of a few bands you like and see if any of them are over here at that time ... or choose a few cities you would like to visit and see what gigs are on in those cities around the time you are planning to be over.

Transport around Europe ... don't rule out flights as with low cost airlines you can get some pretty cheap deals.

May be use http://www.tripadvisor.com to look up hostels in the cities you want to visit.

Once you have more of an idea of what you want to do I'm sure we'll be able to assist with ideas about how to do it.

19-20/6 stp play in Germany

Does anyone know any bands in Europe during that time.

I probably could only do Dublin, because my 18th birthday is July 2nd and I'd need to be home in time for that.

But Since RATM is 6/6 and Dublin is 6/22 thats a HUGE and COSTLY gap between shows. That's why the focus of the trip wouldn't be the shows, it would be a tour of Europe, sandwiched in between shows you know?

Pegasus

dimitrispearljam wrote:

philthehip wrote:

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

and some ceazy of us will be everywhere... ..so the cost is crazy..
i think if someone wanna tour a part go to Dublin-Belfast-London.,or Bilbao-Lisbon

I wouldn't do Bilbao-Lisbon since getting from one to the other will be a nightmare (why I'm skipping Bilbao.. and Poland)
Dublin-Belfast-London-Nijmegen-Berlin is easy though. You can Train all that too.

dimitrispearljam

Pegasus wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

philthehip wrote:

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

and some ceazy of us will be everywhere... ..so the cost is crazy..
i think if someone wanna tour a part go to Dublin-Belfast-London.,or Bilbao-Lisbon

I wouldn't do Bilbao-Lisbon since getting from one to the other will be a nightmare (why I'm skipping Bilbao.. and Poland)
Dublin-Belfast-London-Nijmegen-Berlin is easy though. You can Train all that too.

i skip poland too..couse i book the flight to paris from berlin early at 2th July,,and just today air berlin open new link from berlin to gansk..and is cheap..93 euros total..around trip!!!

chime

Pegasus wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

philthehip wrote:

Well a few of us are doing Dublin, Belfast, London, Berlin and Arras. We have paid £200 for all our flights and £200 for all accomodation. Im trying to save 800 euros for the tour plus some other money which will clear while we are away. So Im guessing for us it will cost about £1400 minus tickets which are of coarse paid for already too.

and some ceazy of us will be everywhere... ..so the cost is crazy..
i think if someone wanna tour a part go to Dublin-Belfast-London.,or Bilbao-Lisbon

I wouldn't do Bilbao-Lisbon since getting from one to the other will be a nightmare (why I'm skipping Bilbao.. and Poland)
Dublin-Belfast-London-Nijmegen-Berlin is easy though. You can Train all that too.

Thing is he said he will be here be the 6th for RATM and PJ in Dublin was to be the end of the trip so shows past Dublin aren't in the equation I don't think :?

Jennytree

There is lots to do in Europe in June, but the gap is huge there.

Flight from US to London/Dublin return - €600
Hotel in London for 1 week - €300-€500, hostels will be much cheaper
Flight to another European country e.g. Germany - €50
Hotel there for another week - €300
Flight to Dublin - €60
Hotel in Dublin for a week - €600
Pearl Jam ticket - between €100 and €300

Works out at about $3000 (about €2k) for 3 weeks, in hotels (not hostels), not including food/other goodies. You can always tell how expensive a country is by the price of their pints - Dublin €5, London €3, Berlin €3 etc...

Some websites:
www.ebookers.ie
www.tripadvisor.com
www.skyscanner.net
www.ryanair.ie
www.easyjet.ie
www.hotels.ie
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml - trains in Germany
http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite/travellers - trains in Holland
http://www.irishrail.ie - trains in Ireland

chime

Jenny that's awesome

Also if seeing some music in between is something you'd be interested in a few days experiencing a festival would be a fun way to pass a few days.

Also trains in the UK:

http://www.thetrainline.com BUT go to the website for the train provider that will be covering most of your journey to book so you went have to pay card booking fees. Also the cheapest fares are usually released about 8 weeks before travel and are limited. On some websites like http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/ you can set up an alert to e-mail you when the tickets go on sale.

For travel around London use http://www.tfl.gov.uk

Hotel chains in the UK http://www.travelodge.co.uk http://www.premierinn.co.uk

dimitrispearljam

dont put numbers!!!!!!!!1dont put numbers!!!!
ok my cost only for concert tickets,flights,hotel ,trains,buses is 3000 euros..+ 22 days of food,goodies...and DRINKS...
p.s..5euros a beers in Dublin?. :shock: .ok Jenny u pay the beers in Dublin,ill pay the drinks in Athens show..

Jennytree

dimitrispearljam wrote:

p.s..5euros a beers in Dublin?. :shock: .ok Jenny u pay the beers in Dublin,ill pay the drinks in Athens show..

Not a chance, darling! Yep, pints are expensive here - you don't even wanna start on the spirits (e.g. 2 jagers and a red bull can cost about €12 - €15, no jager bombs here!). Wages are higher here too, it's all relative. It means that my money goes further in pretty much every other country in the world, which is why I love travelling!

dimitrispearljam

Jennytree wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

p.s..5euros a beers in Dublin?. :shock: .ok Jenny u pay the beers in Dublin,ill pay the drinks in Athens show..

Not a chance, darling! Yep, pints are expensive here - you don't even wanna start on the spirits (e.g. 2 jagers and a red bull can cost about €12 - €15, no jager bombs here!). Wages are higher here too, it's all relative. It means that my money goes further in pretty much every other country in the world, which is why I love travelling!

so ill drink the traditional Irish Ouzo ill bring with me in Dublin???

Pegasus

dimitrispearljam wrote:

Pegasus wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

and some ceazy of us will be everywhere... ..so the cost is crazy..
i think if someone wanna tour a part go to Dublin-Belfast-London.,or Bilbao-Lisbon

I wouldn't do Bilbao-Lisbon since getting from one to the other will be a nightmare (why I'm skipping Bilbao.. and Poland)
Dublin-Belfast-London-Nijmegen-Berlin is easy though. You can Train all that too.

i skip poland too..couse i book the flight to paris from berlin early at 2th July,,and just today air berlin open new link from berlin to gansk..and is cheap..93 euros total..around trip!!!

nah, even with the cheap flight, Polish crowds (nothing against the people) haven't left a good memory.
And going to Werchter anyway.

pjbiz

Advice? Don't worry about going to too many PJ shows. You're going to Europe. Explore. Do one show if you like, and I would definitely recommend doing a festival because euro festivals are like no other, although they are quite expensive (anywhere from 150 to 300 euros for the weekend).

Stay in Hostels, they are cheaper and more fun. www.hostelworld.com is good to book from. You could also try www.couchsurfing.com

If you're trying to do this cheap, Eastern Europe is much cheaper than Western Europe (even half the cost sometimes). Poland, Hungary, Czech, Slovakia, Croatia, etc are all great places to visit. Learn the basics for each language. Ireland and England will put a massive hole in your wallet.

The Rage show might be free, but staying in London will not be. You could fly out of the UK to Eastern Europe with many cheap airlines. www.skyscanner.net is a good site to search flights with. Then book the flights on the airlines sites directly.

Don't plan too much, just go over there with an open mind and have fun.
Jason

Hinn

Rearviewrelease wrote:

Does anyone know any bands in Europe during that time.

I probably could only do Dublin, because my 18th birthday is July 2nd and I'd need to be home in time for that.

But Since RATM is 6/6 and Dublin is 6/22 thats a HUGE and COSTLY gap between shows. That's why the focus of the trip wouldn't be the shows, it would be a tour of Europe, sandwiched in between shows you know?

This is the part where it's on YOU to do your own research. No one knows what kind of bands you like. It's the summer festival season, as others have said, so you just go ahead with looking up who you want to see, and see if they tour around that time.

Want cheap? Forget flights. Forget trains. Go with buses. If you're looking for a touring thing, look up busabout. You're stuck with the routes they take, but at least unlike Contiki, you actually decide where you wanna get off and see things you're interested in, where you want to get off the bus to stay the night. I'd personally never go along with something like busabout, but there's a market out there and you might be it. Getting a Eurolines bus pass gives you more flexibility in choosing which route you'd like to take.

You're not going to get a true flavour of Europe with any tour company- you'll just be surrounded by Aussies, Kiwis, a couple of Poms, the token Scandinavian, some Saffa, and other Americans. Eurolines isn't a tour company, it's just a whole bunch of buses. Depends what you're preference is, really.

The other thing- I wouldn't plan this trip around anything more than the RATM show and the PJ show. Too many set itineraries, of places you have to be at a certain time, and the costs will blow out.

Eastern Europe is cheaper than west.

Hostels are cheap. Camping is cheaper. Couch surfing is cheapest.