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Posted: 4/14/2009 7:09:21 AM | I am going travelling around Europe this summer for a month and as a student on a budget i would like to make my travel plans as cheap as possible!! I was wondering if anyone knows the cheapest way of travelling round europe for a month... interailing OR just buy train tickets as you go?
OR are their other ways? I'm not really looking into driving around either. | |
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Posted: 4/15/2009 1:20:07 AM | I use the guide books from Lonely Planet. I travel a lot and live in Europe and think they have the best advice for English speakers. Every time I have stayed in a budget lodging (the only kind I do use) which they have recommended, it has been exactly as they described. For a one month trip, I would get an 8 0r 15 day flexible Eurail Pass. You can use it any time over the 30 days. That way every 2 or 3 days you can go to another place. It covers most travel needs, except within a city and possibly inter-city travel. It may seem expensive, but train travel is expensive here, and in the long run, it is cheaper...depending on the distances you want to travel. You need to buy it before you leave the States.
For younger people, Let's Go Europe is a great guide book. I used it a lot when I was younger and traveling around Europe. As you are a young woman, I would just remind you to use wisdom and judgement as you go along, meeting people, especially men. Have a great time and take care of yourself.
Also, get a student youth hostel card. And bring student ID so you can get a break on admission prices to museums and other sites.
Oh, sorry, you are not an American!!
<div class='quote'>You need to buy it before you leave the States. | |
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Posted: 4/15/2009 5:14:22 AM | | check out www.europeanrailguide.com | |
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Posted: 4/16/2009 2:25:24 PM | Get a Eurail Pass, individual train ticket prices add up very, very quickly and the passes can be as flexible as you want them to be. If you pre-plan where you're going you could look into flying with the cheap airlines such as Ryanair or Easyjet but it limits your flexibility if you do that. Occasionally you might get lucky and get a ride with people who are traveling as well, but it's rare for that to happen.
If you're going it on a budget, don't go anytime between May-September. It's high season and you will be paying more. If you're Canadian and flying out of a some of the major cities (Toronto, Winnipeg) I can recommend an airline that is extremely cheap. Downside is they only fly from Canada to the British Isles. For sure get an ISIC card if you're a student, or the Youth card is you're under 25, it saves you a lot of money.
I second the Lonely Planet series. Their book Europe on a Shoestring saved my butt more than once in Europe. Good luck, and have tons of fun. | |
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Posted: 4/17/2009 6:02:22 PM | first of all you need to work out (roughly) what countries you want to visit........
once you have done this, pick the furthest one away from home, and book a cheap ryan air / easy jet / german wings / monarch flight........... (one way)
(www.skyscanner.net)
then make a rough plan on which way youre gonna zig zig back to the uk, ending with a foot passenger crossing from calais to dover..............
buy a cheap tent - you can get them for about £30 for a basic set up with a sleeping bag (www.halfords.co.uk) and research hostels in the countries / cities / towns you want to visit. you probably wont want to camp the whole time!! but if you have the tent, it can be cheaper to camp up than stay in a hotel or hostel, and the weather will be good as youre planning to travel in the summer.
sweden is amazing any time of year, but especially during the summer, and there are some fabulous lakes.........
hope this helps!!
Caro | |
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Posted: 4/19/2009 2:27:14 AM | Interailing- sleep on overnight trains and camping.
Well you did ask for the cheapest ! | |
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Posted: 4/19/2009 8:10:13 AM | As a seasoned traveller myself, could I just point out a few things....
Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy....all quite expensive on the trains and it's wise to get a rail card before you enter these countries.....you cannot use a railcard in the country you buy it, but you can buy it anywhere. For 21 days you can travel for 10 days using it....which means, after 7pm it counts as the next day, if you are going overnight though you mostly have to pay extra on overnight trains) check out how much (it can be cheaper to stay in a hostel, but travelling long distance in the day is a waste of the day!
Once you get to wherever you're going, you can have several hours there before hoping on another train and having a few more hours somewhere else....and so on, until you get as much travel out of your one day as you can get.
One day I did breakfast, lunch, dinner in different cities and ended up in another to sleep and stay a couple of days. Around the Netherlands this is quite easy and you get to see lots more places.
Outside of the expensive countries the train costs are very cheap, here in Slovenia €10 gets you a long way, plus there are special deals whereby you can go to Budapest on a return ticket cheaper than a single, and Vienna with a Sunday in your trip is half price!!
There is a travellers site you may be interested in, www.couchsurfing.com
this is not just a free bed service, but a way of making new friends as you travel and feeling safe, being shown the interesting parts of the place you're visiting and getting travel help. Though don't abuse it or you won't get any replies.
Another quick tip, as others have pointed out....if you see a free flight going somewhere completely different...take it, and enjoy the adventure.
Buy a money belt and wear it always!
There are sites that offer lifts, but it can be tricky.....and check out coach companies, England National Express gets you across the country overnight for £10, and other countries in mainland Europe could offer a seat on an excursion and drop you off on the way.....quite a good way of covering long distances!
Happy Travels! | |
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Posted: 4/19/2009 8:58:07 AM | Rinkydoo had a great idea ... Interailing- sleep on overnight trains.... then you will get to your next destination early in the morning rather than spending a good part of the day traveling ... travel light .. take less stuff and more money! Have a great time! | |
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Posted: 4/20/2009 10:33:24 PM | Well, just to be a contrarian, I would suggest you consider the benefits (cost and otherwise) of only visiting one city for a month, and preparing for it in depth, for example by reading books written in previous centuries by its inhabitants, etc..
You're young, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to see the rest later, and at least you will have gained some real knowledge of a foreign culture, rather than simple travellers' bragging rights. | |
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Posted: 4/21/2009 2:52:31 AM | Depends on which counties you're visiting : Eastern Europe is still very very cheap for trains : think I paid about £15 last year for a 18 hour trip from Krakow , Poland to Kiev , Ukraine - and got rather a nice room with a bed on the train. Western Europe can be cheap-ish if you book in advance : you can get just about anywhere in Germany for 29 Euros if you book far enough in advance , for example.
But then , as you're under 26 , you qualify for 'youth rates' which means you get an Interrail card for about a third cheaper.
Best bet is to knock up a rough itinerary of places you want to see. A pass might be overkill if you're only making 3-4 long journeys.
There is a coach company called 'Eurolines' which might be cheaper then going by train , but train would probably be more comfortable.
Interailing- sleep on overnight trains.... then you will get to your next destination early in the morning rather than spending a good part of the day traveling
Seconded. It saves you a hotel bill , and it's quite a wonderful feeling to wake up and be in a new city / country. | |
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Posted: 4/21/2009 5:26:57 PM | Cheapest way has got to be by train- with a student railcard which allows train travel throughout most of western europe- check out flights as weel by looking at sites such as skyscanner.net , easy jet, jet.com ryanair , lufthansa and KLM perhaps acouple of strategic cheap flights may help your budget. for cheap hotels smoothhound is agood locate of cheap hotels or if walking into hotels + guesthouses wait until 4 oclock ask for the price and thenhn tell them you are on a tight budget and that you can't afford it! often if hotels are nowhere near full the manager may use his discretion since you may have a meal or have drinks in the hotel.
also if you plan your itinery look on facebook for groups in the locations you are going to viist especially workers groups in tourist resorts and ask questions such as where are good places to eat and stay.
Night trains are also a good suggestion since you can sleep through the night as you get to your destination with no hotel bills- sports gyms or swimming pools can then be used for personal hygiene. or perhaps try one of the specialist holiday tour operators such as contiki- not brilliant but will do europe on abudget- although the hotels are often abit distant from the center of cities, the food is average and dependant on the other travellers turns into a booze tour of europe
best of luck with your plans/trip
and why not post your successful trip on here when you get back. | |
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Posted: 4/23/2009 3:37:09 AM | | Hi grab yourself a copy of a Lonely Planet Guide on Europe and there is a whole ton of information in there on budget accommodation places, restaurants, attractions, and local transport info. I hired a car and travelled around Scotland any used my guide to find bed and breakfast places etc. If your flying into Heathrow, underground is a great option to get into London and is located at the airport. Accommodation in London is very expensive and not of the same quality you may expect in your country. | |
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Posted: 4/24/2009 8:31:39 AM | | there was some programme on ages ago about some geeza going to somewhere like australia by any transport, u should pack a bag and go with the flow what an adventure lol | |
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Posted: 5/2/2009 2:30:58 PM | | Definitely train. Take it overnight and you'll save hotel money. | |
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Posted: 5/10/2009 3:23:29 AM | Could I just make a note to the overnight train comments.....
On most trains you have to pay extra for it!!!
And you have to reserve a seat/bed, unless you are very lucky and they have a free space when you turn up at the station.
The price can be anything from €10-€40 ontop of your ticket price.....so the only real advantage is not wasting time travelling during the day.....but it can be very uncomfortable and noisy in the cheap carraiges, so I wouldn't advice planning many overnight train journeys as you will soon be too tired for anything else.
The average hostel price is €10-20 and you quite often get a free breakfast thrown in!
Happy Travels! | |
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Posted: 5/10/2009 5:21:18 AM | | If you want to visit Europe cheaply, go east young lady. Bulgaria and Romania are cheap and there are far fewer annoying tourists. Also Poland was cheap when I was there (1997). | |
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Posted: 5/12/2009 10:12:02 AM | | go to www.couchsurfing.com ..... youll find plenty of wonderful people willing to host you for free | |
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Posted: 5/13/2009 6:41:36 PM | | You are horrible at travelling!!! Last year I visited 11 countries including Greece and Cainary islands and flew to each country Spain, UK, France, Italy( venice, Florence and Rome ) Germany, Portugal and Poland. All my flights costed $312 euro but took alot of planning and timing. Likely i made a few friends in hostels prior in different countries and stayed at there places for up 2 weeks. Planning to do a year around the world trip next year Im at 2500$. sorry to hijack the thread but is there a cheaper flight to bangkok then $750 from the UK? | |
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Posted: 5/13/2009 6:56:01 PM | You are horrible at travelling!!! Last year I visited 11 countries including Greece and Cainary islands and flew to each country Often times I would prefer to travel by train in Europe. If you fly from one country to the other, you miss an awful lot. It's like when you visit a big city, like Paris, if you get around by the Metro instead of buses or walking, you miss half (or more ) of what there is to see.  | |
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Posted: 5/14/2009 8:10:57 AM | Also check into buses .. and prior to getting rail pass check the different country passes .. might surprise you .. a couple years ago I packed a bag .. flew to Madrid with one nite reservation in a pension and 3 months to my return date ... and had a trip of a lifetime. My girlfriends all argued about where to go how long to stay and oh yes got to take a bag of flippin shoes .. lol. Sooo .. I went alone .. ran with the bulls in Pamplona .. people watched in Barcelona .. found a great litttle fishing village beach town and spent a week as a beach bum .. Met great people, drank great wine, ate unbelievable foods ..
So .. go have a ball .. do you homework .. oh and about travel books .. read them all .. ripe out the pages you need, upload all important documents and stuff to yourself on the internet. So in the event of misplacing or losing them you can always retrieve them. If you have time look into Servas ..
Go have fun, make a lifetime of memories ..  | |
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Posted: 5/16/2009 9:20:49 AM | Just my two cents, having lived in Germany, and traveled to every country in the EU (and as far as Ukraine/Turkey, and all in between).
The trains are EXTREMELY expensive! I would not suggest taking them, unless you have very many destinations. If coming from Germany/Switzerland/Holland/Czech/Poland/France, check out this website called Mitfahrgelegenheit (www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de). It's a rideshare website, that is EXTREMELY popular and efficient! I have used this site for both taking passengers, as well as getting rides. The average rate is about 5EU/100KM. With that said, for example, I lived in Dresden. To take the train there, would have cost me 35EU. With a rideshare, 7EU. I've taken people as far as Portugal, and everything worked out great every time!
Another cheap way to get around, is with budget airlines. The only thing to take into consideration is how much luggage you will have (as some of them charge per bag). If you are not taking too much stuff, this is a great option. Fast, and efficient. Some airlines to look into:
ryanair.com (this is one of the cheapest, but they charge you for everything; on-board water too)
airberlin.com
tuifly.com
air lingus.com
For more budget airlines, check out this site: http://www.etn.nl/lcosteur.htm
Also, take a look at couchsurfing.com for lodging; or if you don't feel comfortable with that, then do your research in advance for hostals. If possible, try to book them a bit in advance, as the summer season in Europe is extremely busy. Everyone is on holidays, and there are festivals all the time.
Hope this helps, and write if you have a question. | |
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Posted: 5/16/2009 9:39:20 AM | | ^^^I currently live in Europe. There are special 29 euro tickets between cities. The times you can go are limited but not difficult to work with. I recently travled to Zagreb from Vienna for 29 euros each way. One can travel from most big cities in Europe to other big cities in Europe for this 29 euro fare. For example, from Vienna to Venice. That's quite cheap...29 euros. As I've written before, traveling by train means being able to see the countryside, as opposed to traveling by air. I wouldn't be comfortable with a rideshare, but maybe that's my age, and I like to be completely independent. I would be concerned about a young single girl doing the rideshare thing though, but maybe that's a mother type issue, worrying about a girl's safety. | |
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Posted: 5/16/2009 9:56:16 PM | | Use the buslines there. You can go from one city to another at the cost of maybe 50 dollars, depending where you are. I can tell you that Eastern Europe is a really cheap place to travel in. When I was in the Czech Republic, I could not believe how affordable it was. A glass of beer was approximately 90 cents American! Hope you have fun there. | |
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Posted: 7/20/2009 2:44:32 PM | | Buy an Eurail Pass to travel around... It'll be much cheaper than buy seperate tickets. Stay in Hostels to save on accomodation. | |
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