Europe

Accomodation

I collected URL's to a lot of budget hotels & B&B's, it might be helpful to you (but note that the prices were from 2002 in many cases):

http://www.employees.org/~amyfong/travel/LodgingResearch.html

Free Accommodation

www.hospitalityclub.org/

http://www.globalfreeloaders.com/

Temperature

August is the warmest month in most of southern Europe. The exception is northern Portugal and Atlantic Spain (Galicia, Vascongadas, Asturias, Cantabria) where in August temps fall somewhat and it starts to rain, rain, rain. The rest of Spain will have summer weather well into September.

It will get hot where you are going, and you may be uncomfortable at times, but NOT unlike anything you've experienced in the US. If you are from the US east or south of the Rockies or from southern Toronto, Spain will not be hotter than anything you've experienced.

I always tell people that in southern Europe, no matter how hot it gets during midday, the heat does not last long. Med climate means dry heat and low humidity in most areas (especially inland areas). Without moisture in the air, the atmosphere is less able to trap heat, and evenings will be pleasantly cool, except inside un-air-conditioned buildings -buildings tend to trap heat. Wear very light clothing during the day and sandals, and don't carry heavy items.

But the heat is not that bad. There are much hotter places on the planet. You may not even feel uncomfortable. For most people, the unbearableness in their head. Wear very light clothing during midday, and you'll be fine.

We honeymooned in Italy in August and everyone thought I was nuts. It was hot, but we took siestas or went to museums to cool off. It was in the 90s F most of the time, and it felt no hotter than at home in Massachusetts. Actually, once we got into September, I had to start wearing a sweater during the day because it felt cold after being so hot.
It might help you to check out the weatherbase.com temperature and precipitation averages for Europe. I looked briefly at southern locales in the countries you mentioned, and it seems that the average high temperatures in the winter months are in the 50s Fahrenheit.

Sleeping in Airports

If you have to sleep in any of the airports, take a look at this site:

http://www.sleepinginairports.net/

Public Transport

I use Eurolines quite regularly and have only had a serious delay once which was 2 hours from Brussels to Munich. I don't know what caused it as it was already late when it arrived in Brussels from London. In fact I've had minor delays on other busses that came from London and most of the complaints I've heard from friends were on trips to/from London, so maybe those are less reliable. I could tell many more stories of delayed trains.

I would look into budget airlines (RyanAir, EasyJet, Virgin, etc.) for longer trips first, then Eurolines (or other bus companies) and take trains for shorter/internal journeys or when there's really no other option. Keeping in mind the cost & time to get to & from airports, security etc

Keep in mind that trains in Belgium are cheap compared to neighboring countries and that international trains are nearly always more expensive.

You need to live in Europe to buy an interrail pass. It can purchased online or just buy it at the train station.

There are Eurail passes for non-Europeans but I understand these are more expensive and cover fewer countries. It is almost always cheaper buying point-to-point tickets along the way.

I used to take the Eurostar from Lille to Brussels all the time. Really nice trains.

It's also wise to check with the tourist boards of the countries you plan visiting to see if any public holidays fall during your trip. Besides playing havoc with transport they play havoc with accommodation availability.

I've found some awesome air ticket deals from Canada to London on http://www.flyzoom.com/ Travel Cuts and Applefares have some decent ones too.

Railpasses prices are set so you are not going to find a better deal than Travel Cuts but look out for the "bonuses" they have sometimes. If you buy a railpass, ISIC, plane ticket or something with them, they give you a kit of a guide book and some misc stuff.

Driving in Europe

There's nothing like doing 90 mph (yes, mph) on the German Autobahn and then a big Mercedes roars past as if your own car is standing still. The last time I drove a car in Deutschland, though, it was tough to go that fast with all the road construction going on. Hopefully things will have improved by the time I do it again someday.

For the best scenery, stay off the 'A' roads (autobahns) and stick to the 'B' roads. As good as nearly anything in the US with half the speed and three times the views. If on the bahns before pulling out, look, look, look once more. Cars going 240 or more are on you before you can even see them! That said, the Germans are great drivers they always give the right of way even if it appears they aren't going to just make damn sure YOU know who has said right of way!

I've driven The Romantic Road and Black Forest Highway, and enjoyed the scenery along both. Then here's the Hunsruckhohenstrasse, Autobahn tales, Autostrada, St. Gottard pass and the coastal highway in Croatia. How about those traffic circles in Belgium?

Navigating the Applecross Peninsula in the fog in Scotland caused a few white knuckles.

The screeeeeeeeeechCRASHas we enjoyed an al fresco dinner on the Amalfi coast.

The unmitigated terror of merging into traffic just outside of Rome. We never did find the hotel; we gave up.

Driving past the smoking aftermath of a roll-over on Crete.

Getting lost in Ireland was fun.

The road through the Wye Valley is dangerously attractive. Well, the view, the road itself is pretty blah

I loved driving all around SW France in 2002 too and appreciate the efficiency of their traffic circles instead of stop signs. I admit to a certain fondness for Sandwich Village rest stops on the French Autoroutes

Driving in Paris was interesting at best. I was very relieved when we finally stopped. Of coarse driving in some of the larger cities in the USA can be terrifying too! The roundabouts are cool. Driving France between Paris and Caen we noticed people for the most part did obey the rules and were fairly polite.

I do prefer small cars (Renault Twingo, Peugeot 105, etc) when I'm in Paris. It's just not as easy to find your way to traffic in a big car. The little baby car that took me all around SW France. It was very convenient for parking in small spaces and navigating narrow, winding roads

Finding your way around

Mappy.com is sort of like a European Mapquest.

I also like http://world.maporama.com/idl/maporama/. It defaults to France so I assume it originates there, but it can be used for other countries.

My favorite European road guide is Via Mitchelin

Working in Europe

I participated in an independent project called La Sabranenque in August 2000. You live and work in a small town near Avignon, France called St. Victor la Coste doing historical restoration.

It is not free but well worth it. You work long, hard mornings (it was more physically demanding than I had anticipated) eat amazing lunches and dinners cooked by a chef using all local produce, spend time in the town, relax in the pub in the afternoons, go for a picnic and to a local market on the weekends, and don't want to leave when you are done. In two weeks time, you also really get to see the difference you are making with your work.

I loved it and would do it again. I highly recommend it. It has about 40% North Americans during the summer months and a wider variety of age groups than some of the other options. As you can see from my description above, it also tries to make sure that the volunteers have a vacation as well. It was difficult to get back into the normal pace of American life when I returned.

You work about 8am until 1pm Monday-Friday. Afternoons are free, though if you want to learn more about restoration, there are certain days you can do more with the French workers who lead the volunteers. The accommodations are pretty nice, and they give you three meals a day, including wine made down the street with dinner.

No laundry facilities when I was there, but if you do your laundry on Sunday, you can get most of the line to yourself. Their website is http://www.sabranenque.com/.

I've worked on several archaeological digs in the USA and Canada. Most I paid to be involved at around $400 for two weeks and got university credit for a few, others didn't involve money at all and once I had experience, one even paid me a pittance.

Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities list paid and volunteer fieldwork positions from all over the world. They also have a good links section for other sites you can check out if you don't find what you're looking for on their own site.

There's also http://archaeologic.com/

Organised Tours

I used to be a travel agent and from what I remember, Contiki can be pricey.

I have found week-long guided backpacking tours for about $200 (accommodations not included, but in hostels), for the British Isles and was looking for something similar throughout the rest of Europe.

The man tour companies are:

Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland & Czech Republic: http://www.toot-tours.com/english/

Holland & Belgium: http://www.lowlandstravel.com/

Switzerland: http://www.swisstrips.com/

Russia: http://www.beetroot.org/

Busabout only operates in the summer.

It all depends of what are you looking for (more culture or cities vs more nature , more of the traditional life or more modern life), but...

Outdoor Holidays in Europe

ISIC Cards

ISIC Cards were really good for discounts at museums. Student rates are a lot cheaper than regular rates.

My daughter purchased the ISIC card when she was a university student in 1998 - 1999 and found its discounts helpful with airfare and museum discounts, among other things.

It got me a $100 discount on my first ticket to Ireland so the ticket purchase alone made it worth the cost of the card. I only used it a couple times in the UK for museums--never used it for anything else.

I got lots of discounts with it in Germany, Austria and Spain but not so much in France as they already have an under 25 discount at most places.

In Russia the card is not popular, it's just small discounts at the cinema, in museums, exhibitions and internet cafes.

When I was in the Czech Republic, I had a good discount at this Hostel and also on trains and buses.