I want to plan a trip to Wales, France, and Germany?

[Katherine]

Hello, I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Wales, France, and Germany (From America). I'm a newbie to traveling via "Eurotrip" style. I've only been to Italy for a week (not that it was boring, I LOVED it!). My trip can be anywhere from 10 days to 2 months, and my purpose is to gain more knowledge about my heritage while also widening my perspective of world travel. Any suggestions, tips, or opinions will be greatly appreciated!!

Also, Scotland, Ireland, and England are next on my "travel to" list... Would I be totally crazy to squeeze those into the same trip?!

Thank you in advance for your advice
Oops, forgot to add that as of right now I'm traveling alone.
I'm also on a budget ($10,000 max, depending on length) and would be comfortable staying in accommodations that are 1 step up from hostels.

[Willeke]

If you are happy to stay in accommodation one step up from hostels you will likely also be happy to stay in hostels in private rooms.
The advantage of hostels is that it is very easy to meet others also traveling, which on a long travel is wanted or maybe even needed.
It is not as much a price difference between a hostel and the cheaper hotels and b&b's, it is that in hostels most people just pay for a bed although many have private rooms as well, but also that in a hostel you can use the kitchen, you will often find laundry facilities,

For your timing and how many countries you can fit in, you need to work out a bit of a schedule, so you can guess how much money you will need for that country.
There is no need to stick to this schedule, it will even be rather unlikely you do, but without it you will find the needed planning very difficult.
I always advice three days for the main city of an area and two days in a smaller town, add a few day trips out into the countryside or a stay in a village or a countryside hostel/hotel.
If you are not a city person, replace the town with some more countryside destinations, but do not skip all cities, as countryside and city together make a country.

In the countries you mention, staying in private rooms in hostels or in places just one step up from hostel dorms, eating out in a modest way, spending a little on sight seeing and entertainment, you should expect to spend about €100 per day.
At this time that is about $US 140 per day, with cost of exchanging it might even be $150 per day.
The UK in general and Ireland are in the same price range, so it will allow you to be flexible and change from only three countries to all six or the other way around.

If you use hostels and do your own cooking you can generally safe some money, it can go down to $US 100 per day if you are very careful.
That is using public transport, renting a car and paying for petrol/gas will be much more expensive.

Add, for planning purposes, $1000 for your flight, insurance, and emergency money.
That leaves you $ 9000.
Even with $150 per day that will allow you to travel for two months.

On the other hand, if you are not careful you might spend $250 per day, that will stretch only to just over one month.
The greatest risk for overspending is paying too much for a place to stay, the second is spending too much on food or shopping. The first is hard to adjust unless you do your homework and check out places to stay in advance. The second is to be adjusted by being more careful in selecting places to eat or even to make your own dinners from (super)market food.

If you are serious in learning about your heritage you should have some details on paper (or in digital shape) with you.
At least countries and the regions in them where your ancestors lived, maybe the social class they belonged to. So you know to look at the manor house or at the stables to see where your great great grandfather spend his time.

As England, Scotland and Wales share one island, you might want to combine those and for this travel combine Ireland with France and Germany, flying from Ireland to the continent, or taking the one ferry that combines them (if it is still in use.)
But if you go for the two months you will be able to see all six countries without over crowding your schedule too much. Ten days is enough to get a good taste of a country, on the other hand, you can spend your two months in just one area and not even see all that is there.

Train is often the best choice, but especially in the UK coach is often much cheaper.
If you prefer the train, try to book ahead, be flexible in what time of the day you travel, and go for the cheapest option.

In the UK http://www.transportdirect.info/ does give train as well as coach and bus information.
http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/pl...ney/search is one of the best for trains. Just remember that you can order the tickets and collect them at the station without paying more than just the ticket.
In Germany it is http://www.bahn.de/i/view/DEU/en/index.shtml for the trains and for local buses as well, it will also to rail information for most of the rest of Europe, except Ireland.
In France the site is http://uk.voyages-sncf.com/en/ (their site for England, not the USA, as they are not happy to send tickets across the ocean and so this site is more pleasant to use.)
For international coaches you can search Eurolines but also Mega Bus. And there are some more companies.

There is a lot more to tell you, but there is only so much that fits in one answer.
You will find more information in other/older questions.
Searching on Eurail and InterRail will give you many useful answers.

[maranta]

"Visiting a country" - that's a big ask, so if you plan to do that then you could spend your whole time in any of the named countries and never see all it has to offer. So, if we talk about sampling a country then your scheme to visit each place becomes more attainable. You need to know that in any of the major cities in the UK you can fly cheaply by Easyjet or Ryanair etc to anywhere you want ( you have to book online and its cheaper the earlier you book). So, if you used Liverpool as a base for instance -- you could travel to Edinburgh by train (4 hours), travel by train to London (2 hours), take a plane from John Lennon airport to Paris (45 minutes), plane to Berlin (2 hours), plane to Dublin (20 minutes). Strangely, Wales is the most difficult and you are best with a car -- however, there are lots of day trips in summer and you can use the trains. From Liverpool North Wales is easy enough by train.
I am only saying Liverpool because I know it intimately and there is plenty to see there as well but is a good base for all the places you mention. You also need to know that if you made your base in London for instance then you could just about afford a tent --Liverpool central hotels are very cheap in comparison. Paris is similar to London in relation to prices.
Hope this helps.

[robert43041]

Eurorailways, Sncf and Deutsche Bahn for trains. You should allow one day of travel between each city (waiting time at stations etc). Give 2 or 3 days of visit per city. Check with their tourism sites: cities like Paris have the Paris Card (excellent deal). Have fun. PS don't forget the travel health insurance card.