Here's an example of a trip one of our office staff members took last year in May. He bought a 6-stop flexitrip and took just over 2 weeks to complete the trip. He's been raving about it ever since so we gave him the chance to tell you all about it.
All images are his and are taken from the trip - no tourist board images here (as you can probably tell!). Here is a rough overview of his itinerary:
Day 1 (Fly) London-Salzburg
Day 2 Salzburg
Day 3 Salzburg-Munich
Day 4 Munich-Venice
Day 5 Venice-Rome
Days 6-8 Rome
Day 9 Rome-Florence
Day 10 Florence-Nice
Day 11 Nice
Day 12 Nice-Lauterbrunnen
Days 13,14,15,16 Lauterbrunnen
Day 17 (Fly via Geneva) Lauterbrunnen-London
The journey begins...
If you are based in London the best way to make use of a relatively short time-frame is to fly-in and fly-out. In this case flying in to Salzburg with Ryanair and flying out of Genenva with Easyjet. Both flights were ridiculously cheap because they were bought ages in advance. Salzburg is only a couple of hours from London and you are under no illusions as to where you are when you land. You get off the plane and are surrounded by the foothils of the Austrian Alps - stunning. A short bus ride into town and the first guidebook German comes into play, 'Wie komme ich am besten zum YoHo jugendherberge bitte?' Not sure if it was correct but a nice Austrian woman pointed me in the direction of the excellent YoHo hostel (the Busabout pick-up point). If you are worried about meeting people don't fear - that evening there was a sizeable collection of travellers both on Busabout and others. The bar was jumping - and with the price of the beer no wonder!
Next day a trip up to the famous ice caves - reputed to be the biggest in the world. Although pricey it was worth it for the views of the mountains at the top of the cable car alone. Definitely a unique experience. Arrangements were made for that night to meet with fellow Busabouters at the Augustinerbrau beer-house, which is housed in a 400-year-old monastery and has a massive beer garden where you can drink beer from steins the size of your head. Welcome to Busabout.
to Italy (via Munich)
The next morning with a surprisingly clear head - the monk's beer is very pure meaning less hangover apparently - we met the Busabout bus and received the travel-pass, Lonely Planet, and a rather attractive lanyard which has been used for a multitude of purposes. Nothing like getting free stuff. Munich is only a couple of hours up the road so there was plenty of time to visit the famous beer halls with the help of Jason from the famous Crawl - an informative and hilarious tour of some of the sights and beerhalls of Munich - before heading back to the backpacker-heaven which is Wombat's hostel. It was at this point that I realised that backpackers don't slum it anymore - this hostel is a bit special.
The drive from Munich to Venice is stunning - from the German Alps to the Austrian Alps to the Italian Dolomites to the vineyards and little hilltop villages of Northern Italy - the variety of landscape is amazing. We arrived into Venice around 5.30, just time to check in and jump on the local bus into town. A few of us were only here for one night so we headed straight for a gondolier and piled in. It was quite expensive at 100 euros but split between four it was ok. The sun was setting and we were being shown round the intricate canals with deathly silence all around - we had Venice to ourselves. Venice's old town is one of those places that revolves around tourism and pretty much shuts down after dark, which means heading back out to our campsite was great as we were greeted with one of Alba D'Oro campsite's famous toga parties in full swing. After a quick change we were in amongst it.
Roma
Arrival at Rome campsite was great - we had a warm greeting from the staff of Camping Roma, dumped our stuff in the cabins, stored some beers in the cabin fridges and headed down to the pool. The pool which has recently been developed, was great - although beach volleyball performance was embarrassing.
An early night was rewarded with a big day of taking in all that Rome has to offer - hot, exhausting, busy, but one of the most stunning places in Europe. My tip: don't try and do everything and do it by yourself. It's much better to do your own thing during the day and arrange to meet up with your travel-mates for dinner in the evening in one of the piazzas. That way you get to do what you want to do but then still hang out traveller-style in the evening.
next stop Florence
Onward to Florence with a cheeky bonus stop in Orvieto, a fortified hilltop village with awesome ice cream and stunning views that you access via a funicular railway. An unexpected surprise but two hours later we were on the road again and welcomed at Camping Internationale in Florence.
No time to stop though so we headed straight into town by local bus. Chance meetings with locals are what travelling is all about and here at the bus stop we met an old Italian man with struggling English. No fear as the international language of football took over - Ahh Maldini yes! Who is going to win the World Cup? Italy of course - I think he had a premonition. After a crazy night in the Red Garter - a favourite backpacker haunt with Francesco serving up lovely food and plenty of red wine - we headed back on the local bus.
Is it Nice in Nice?
We did get asked that in the office.... Anyway only one night Florence then off to Nice to rub shoulders with the rich and famous. Well not in the bars anyway as it is so expensive. My advice (which came from the guides) - grab a bunch of beers and head down to the beach and watch the sun go down. Tried and tested it works every time.
The coast along Nice has a lot to offer - Cannes, Monaco and other places with huge yachts moored in their harbours. But for me walking round the old town and browsing in the markets, practising French by ordering coffee, general people watching and capturing those photos of the locals going about their business is what travelling is all about - something you just can't do in a big group.
Heaven is a place called Lauterbrunnen
Yes it is expensive but my next 5 days were spent in Lauterbrunnen - which is officially the place, (if i am re-incarnated as a cow), where I want to be munching the pastures. It is jaw-droppingly beautiful, the people so accommodating and the food to die for. Switzerland is also the only place, for all you boy/girl scouts, where you can buy green swiss army knives. You will never forget the moment you see Camping Jungfrau for the first time: surrounded by waterfalls tumbling down the towering cliffs with the massive peaks of the Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau in the distance. For mountain lovers this is heaven - I walked up, cycled down, gazed around and lay upon these alpine flower strewn hillsides in total awe. And the best bit is that you can take trains and cable cars up to the top for an instant Alpine view . Unforgettable.
Rosti's in the campsite are a highlight as were the Trummelbach falls - a strange waterfall that has carved it's way through rock. This is also the place you will have your biggest hangover after a night at the infamous BombShelter. But the highlight is a trip up to Jungfraujoch, on top of the world at 3,454m, where you can leave the Japanese golf playing tourist hordes behind and trek round over the snow to an Alpine hut full of climbers and have lunch and enjoy the stunning views.
5 days of bliss finished with a train journey to Geneva an Easyjet trip home. Just over 2 weeks and memories for a lifetime.