Backpacker

Backpacker – freedom to travel

A backpacker is a master at “traveling light.” Little luggage in the backpack, literally physically first and mentally later. Traveling as a backpacker provides freedom in many ways. Here are some things most backpackers share in their travel patterns:

Backpacking: A hiker gets some water in the Amazon

A Backpacker travels mainly via public transport.
Interrail is still extremely popular for backpacking trips
Backpackers are big consumers of cheap accommodation such as hostels.
Backpackers travel for longer durations compared to conventional vacations.
Backpackers show interest in meeting locals as well as seeing sights.
Backpackers have a strong interest in meeting other travelers.
Backpackers necessarily use smartphones and online resources for planning.
Backpackers carry all their travel belongings in a backpack.
Backpackers have traditionally carried their belongings in 30-liter to 60-liter backpacks, but suitcases with rolling wheels and some less traditional carrying methods have become more common, and there has been a trend to keep pack weight below the 8 to 10 kg limit for most airlines.
Backpackers often choose cheap accommodation such as hostels.

Backpacker travel agencies

Kilroy

Known by most younger backpacking travelers for bringing together a number of valuable services and presenting them to the otherwise “do-it-yourself” oriented backpacking travel segment.InterRailNot a travel agency per se, but more the famous backpacker mode of transport to 44.000 destinations in 33 European countries with a starting price of only 185 Euro, which easily and without obligation and not least cheaply takes you around large parts of the world. On Interrail, young people are from 12-27 years old and adults are from 28-59.

Jysk Travel Agency

Jysk travel agency writes, “You are a group of travel-loving people who are going away together. You can be accompanied on the entire trip or just meet up a few times along the way. This way, it doesn't feel like you are traveling alone. You will experience the joy of community – but at the same time decide for yourself how much you want to travel with the group.”BBGA good place to start your train journey. Hardly anyone else has the right to call themselves the natural supplier of train services, even abroad. See travel suggestions throughout Europe and a special section on Scandinavia.

Backpackers reach around the world

Backpacking to NepalOur deployed backpack globetrotter found his way to Nepal and hang-glided for an amazing view of the Himalayas.River rafting in AfricaWhen you're in Uganda, you should go bungy jumping and river rafting on the Nile.

On a backpacker jungle trip in Costa Rica

Kilroy is happy to help you with Costa RicaKilroy writes, “Costa Rica has an extremely varied landscape, and this beautiful country contains no less than 35 national parks, and nowhere else in the world do you find so many different species of animals in such a small space! You can find more than 850 different species of birds in this small natural paradise of a country.”Jysk Travel Agency has long focused on Costa RicaJysk Rejsebureau also specializes in helping backpackers have a better trip: "Experience Costa Rica's greatest highlights at a budget-friendly price - and explore on your own some of the country's most impressive national parks, which are rich in animal and bird life. The journey takes you first to the Caribbean coast, and the cozy beach town of Cahuita, and to Costa Rica's "mini Amazon" in Tortuguero National Park."

Read more about Jysk travel agency

Themed trips/Holiday ideas – Here are over 25 categories of themed trips to the whole world from Antarctica to Borneo.

Backpacking in Patagonia — hiking with a backpack in the Patagonian landscape — Patagonia is still one of the destinations that a backpack opens up best

The Interrail trap no one tells you about in advance

A Global Pass covers 33 countries, and that's what everyone remembers. What blows the budget is the seat tickets. On the French, Spanish and Italian express trains, reservations are mandatory in addition to the pass, and they typically cost between 10 and 30 euros per leg. If you travel Paris–Barcelona–Rome in the high season, the reservations alone can add up to the cost of the pass. The cheap route through Europe therefore goes through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland, where most regional and intercity trains can be taken without reservations — you just have to get in.

Night trains are back and solve two problems at once: the route and the accommodation. On the other hand, they have to be booked early, and a berth is more expensive than a seat. From May 2026, you can also travel directly from Copenhagen to Berlin and on to Prague, with boarding in Ringsted, Odense, Kolding and Padborg. More about the rails in our review of the Interrail pass and in 10 iconic train journeys in Europe.

The right backpack size is an airline rule, not a matter of taste

The 8 to 10 kilo hand luggage limit on most airlines really determines how big a backpack is worth it. A packed 40-litre backpack usually fits within the cabin dimensions; a 60-litre one never does and has to be checked into the hold for a fee and with a wait at the conveyor belt at the other end. For a route with many short flights, these fees are the biggest single item after the tickets themselves. If you choose 40 litres, you have also decided that laundry will become part of your weekly routine rather than something you do when you get home.

The long walks that don't feel like a vacation

The backpack is also the ticket to the hikes where the route itself is the journey. Shikoku 88 in Japan is a pilgrimage route of about 1.200 kilometers past 88 temples, walked for centuries and still walked by Japanese people in white clothes — it is far less known in Europe than the Camino and on the other hand has neither queues nor booking pressure. If you want to stay in Europe, the Camino of 775 kilometers to Santiago is the classic, and mountain hiking in Norway is the Nordic variant, where the right of way makes it legal to pitch a tent in uncultivated nature.

Southeast Asia is still where the money goes the furthest

Thailand is Asia's most popular travel destination , and there's a practical reason for that besides the beaches: the infrastructure for independent travelers is fully built. Buses, night trains, ferries and domestic flights are all connected without having to be arranged from home, and a room can be found on the same day all year round except for New Year and Songkran. That's one end of the scale. The other is Patagonia and the Andes, where the distances are so great that the bus becomes part of the day rather than a transition between two places.