Decisions, decisions!

Ever wanted or needed to travel alone but were afraid to try? Don’t know how to make arrangements and what to take? Over the next couple of months I’ll walk you through my upcoming 6 week travel experience.

My plan is to leave on August 19th and spend 6 weeks in Europe, commencing in Sweden and moving south through Germany, France, Spain and Portugal. Being in my sixties, I have decided I am too old for hostels or hitch-hiking so am going to use a Eurail Pass for transportation, and stay in small hotels or with friends along the way.

Luckily, my airline ticket to Stockholm and returning from Lisbon was a freebee thanks to frequent-flyer miles - I always save my miles for the big trips instead of using them on short hops - and after plotting my route it was time to order my train pass and make some seat reservations. Using DB Bahn (a train timetable for Europe), I was able to check that there actually were train connections between the stopovers I had chosen, and if not, make adjustments to my plans. Eurail passes come in a variety of types and the people at All Europe Rail made choosing the right one easy. They then took care of arranging the pass and all the train reservations, and were extremely helpful.

I decided to rent a car for the week I am spending in Provence, as traveling between villages would be otherwise difficult. In major cities I prefer to use the Metro or buses, and find the best way to see the sights and enjoy the atmosphere, is by walking.

My criteria for choosing a hotel from the myriad available on the web were, safe location, level of comfort, and price. I don’t need five-star luxury and in fact prefer charm, cleanliness and a friendly atmosphere, but I do want my own bathroom. I checked out most of them on Trip Advisor and the prices of the hotels I chose range from $76 to $124 per night for a double room as singles were generally non-existent. I will let you know how each one worked out as I travel.