Assembled here are miscellaneous hints and tips for travelling in Europe. Please drop us a note with any further suggestions.

Is there an age limit in youth hostels?

Only in official IYHF hostels in Bavaria, Germany is there an age limit of 26, even there it can just be a question of younger people being given preference at peak times. Whether hostels are called 'youth' hostels or just hostels they will take older people.

Do I need to take a towel with me?

Great question! Hostels do not offer common hotel facilities, so don't expect towels, complimentary soap or shampoo. Hostels will provide you with a bed for the night, showers, toilet facilities and perhaps cooking facilities or breakfast. Don't expect the Hilton!

Cash and Security on Trains

'I don't know if it is still an issue but when I went Euro-railing during Sept of 1993 (By the way September is the best month to travel; not as crowded and still warm) every one was talking about how they got robbed on night trains, especially in Italy. Here's what I did.

First of all try not to carry too much cash or travellers checks, try to negotiate with U.S. currency sometimes you have more buying power incertain cities, like Budapest. Second travellers checks can be a pain in the ass, especially if you loose them. Use that credit card! Thieves generally don't steal them they are easy to replace and the Exchange rate beats any other method by far. Over time that makes a big difference.

When trying to sleep on a night train put all valuables at the foot of your sleeping bag lock your back pack to the top shelf of the cabin. Here's the important part... since most of the cabin doors dont lock sleep on your side with your butt leaning up against the door. When a would be theif opens the door you fall out of it and hopefully wake up to scare him off. This technique kept me and my valuables safe all throughout Italy.'

-J. Mark Piscitelli, USA.

'I have a train safety travel tip: I carried a combination lock and small chain to chain the doors shut. It really helped protect me and my valuables in both Italy and Slovakia. The train conductors seemed to understand and not get angry either.' - Julie, USA

Guide Books

'I noticed that a lot of people carried their "Let's Go" guides around for info and the sort. A good idea to have it along, but not such a good idea to let everyone else know you have it. I saw a lot of people with them, making them an easy target for those, "not-so-nice" locals. A tip for those that know exactly where they are going:

Copy the pages for the specific countries/cities that you know you are going to (i.e., the attractions, specific customs, hostel locations, etc.) Get a cheap and small binder (I had a small planner) and put the copies in there. You won't look like easy prey and you become less noticable with the big yellow book.

The only drawback is if you deviate from the planner. However, most hostels have copies of travel books. You can always jot down some info if needed.

It definitely helped from an "organized" standpoint...' - Jen Schero, USA

'I went to a copying place here in town and they sliced the binding off of my guide books for free and charged me a minimal fee to three hole punch it so it would fit into my notebook. This was much easier than copying each page. And if I decided to copy the pages rather than take parts of the book with me, it would be a lot easier to copy a book with no the binding. ' - Patrice Hall, USA

Daft things not to do on a plane

'If you are on a plane NEVER graffiti the flight safety leaflet.

My friend and I had spent a month backpacking around europe and we were on our return flight home from Paris to Glasgow. My friend had nothing to do and stupidly decided to write witty comments all over the flight safety leaflet. While he was scribbling away a stewardess sneaked up from down the isle and plucked the leaflet from his hands and proceeded down the plane and into the cockpit.

Nothing happened until we went down the gangplank out of the plane and a voice said "Thats Him" , it was the stewardess pointing at my friend. Two policemen promptly took my friend away and I realised the captain had radioed ahead to the police and told them to meet us of the plane

I rushed through the airport as quick as I could to try and find his parents but they were nowhere to be found so I just went home.

I phoned him that night and he told me that he was given a bollocking and threatened with prosecution and being banned from BA flights in the future.' -Allan Laidlaw, Scotland.