Cheap/Easy Travel in Europe?

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by stepka

The ferries are great, but if you want to save money and time, study the schedules and figure out what order you will do the islands in, because sometimes a ferry won't go straight from one to the other and you don't want to zigzag.

Yes, and even in high season, ferries don't always run on Sunday.
What we did was fly out to Crete, and then worked our way back to Athens/Piraeus.
Good advice about the markets: along with cooking at hostels, picnics are a cheap way to go, too.
I have a friend who did WWOOF and loved it, when her daughter grew up, she did it, too.

[sponger42]

Originally Posted by stepka

One thing to keep in mind about hostels is that you can cook your meals at many of them, which will help save a lot of money on food costs. If you do choose to cook, you can go to the street markets and farmer markets to get cheaper food.

Bingo! That's our intention.

Another way to save money is to go thru an organization like WWOOF or helpx. You pay an upfront fee, and they will place you on farms where you will trade work for food and a place to stay.[/quote]

I'll look into this and see if it fits with our plans. We're mainly sticking to cities, but it might be a good idea to try something a little different. I grew up on a farm, so I'm no stranger to this type of labor.

[sandyguzman]

hi... I believe everybody's fond of travel... talking about traveling Europe, I can say that Spain is one of the best destinations in Europe particularly Barcelona. The place is really great with a warm atmosphere and nice people. I love the nightlife and all other events in Barcelona. Aside from that, the place always have a perfect accommodation Catalonia. It wouldn't be hard to look for a very suitable one because hoteles de Barcelona are really excellent with lots to choose from. The best experienced I had in Barcelona was horseback riding over the hills. I did enjoy so much! So if you want to experience horseback riding and bonding over nature, then you must a start your experience in Barcelona.

[chielgirl]

hotels.com - WE KNOW HOTELS INSIDE AND OUT.® and Hostels.com - Every Hostel, Everywhere - 20,000+ Hostels Worldwide are pretty good sites. I used them for my trip to Egypt, Berlin and France.

For Italy, I had a book called Bed and Blessings for convent stays. Cheap, curfew, breakfast and run by nuns; no one messes with nuns. There’s another one for Spain.

I don’t move into my house for another week or two or I’d look for my books.

My preference in travel books is Lonely Planet. I’ve been using them for years. They have bus routes, accommodations, restaurants, suggested itineraries, etc. for all levels of budget travel. I have found it to be the most comprehensive of travel guides. DK are beautiful but weigh more than you’ll want to carry. They have a pretty good combined Europe book.

Rick Steves is good, but has you staying at a little more pricey accommodations.

If you can, make sure you see Prague. If you DM me, I can give you a good place to stay for €30 each w/breakfast outside of the main part of town. Prague is quite pricey for accommodations, but you can get good Budvar (the original Budweiser) beer there.


This is Carcasonne, France, not far from Montpelier. Great castle.


Have a wonderful time.

[miguel's mom]

I can only give you some recommendations for Germany.
The train routes are pretty expensive if you compare it to renting a car and the gas prices for the time being. It's also easy to understand and there might be a direct connection from Frankfurt to Berlin with few train changes.

[Nina in HD]

Check out RYAN AIR, this is so inexpensive it is crazy. The airports are normally out of the city but they offer an inexpensive bus to the city called "Terravision" Ryanair.com - Book your cheap flight, hotels, car rental with ryanair.com

The trains in Europe are pretty expensive. You can check out some of the prices at the BAHN; www.bahn.de - english

Never be afraid to take lifts with strangers while you are traveling here in Europe it is very common. If you get near my town, give me a shout.

Have Fun!

[ChunkyMonkey]

A caveat on Ryanair is that they charge for every little extras like baggage check-in etc. There are loads of other low cost carriers serving Europe. Easyjet, airberlin are two of the bigger ones.

European Discount Airlines - Cheap flights in Europe

Good luck.

[Nina in HD]

True, they do tack on fees. But I just went to Milan weekend before last for 20Euro Total Round Trip from Frankfurt-Hahn; that price is hard to beat...

[Nina in HD]

Oh, sorry I forgot to say, don't check a bag, don't take the insurance and don't get priority boarding...that stuff all adds up $$