Travelling Europe

skibunnie

skibunnie

Active member
My sister and I will be in Europe for most of August. I've never been there before. We're flying in and out of London. Trying to keep it affordable. Train passes are expensive! Any tips on how to save money? Our plan right now is to get a cheap flight from London to Spain, then go Spain-France-Switzerland-Italy-Greece. And another cheap flight Greece-London. We want to stay on the coast as much as possible. Amsterdam would be sweet but it's kind of out of the way. Has anyone taken ferries in Spain or Greece? Im having a hard time finding information about them. Also, since it's summer holidays, would it be better to book all our hostels in advance? Any help/tips is much appreciated!
 
www.ryanair.com is great for cheap flights from London.

Where are you flying from? The United States or Canada? If you're looking for a flight to/from Canada try these:

www.flyglobespan.com

www.flyzoom.com

www.airtransat.com

You'll have a great time but don't have nearly enough time for what you're planning to do. A month really isn't much time at all. May try just London and Spain or London and Greece. Those would be your cheapest options.
 
Oh don't worry too much about getting all your plans together before you go, that's the fun in traveling. Things such as ferries in Greece or Spain will work themselves out.

www.wikitravel.com is also a great resource!
 
We're actually going on our way back from South Africa, and then back to Canada afterwards. The flights to and from Europe are all set (thanks to my daddys company wooo!).

I don't want to have everything too scheduled but I'm just worried that because it's the busier season hostels might be full already.

We have people to stay with in Barcelona, Bern, and paris that's why we're going there. And italy is on the way to greece which we really want to see. yep.
 
Lots of ground to cover in a month, I would make a smaller tour and

like the man ^ me said, go to eastern europe instead of greece. Greece

is nice, but only for it's ruines that's it.

I would do something like, london to amsterdam (short stop), from amsterdam to prague to zagreb and then croatian coast (maybe a short stop in Berlin or something). Then go to italy, passing switzerland on your way to france, go through to spain and don't forget to go to Lisbon in portugal.

Damn, i really gotta learn to stop interfering with other peoples travelling plans
 
How to save money - spend as little time in London as possible, it's a fantastic city, but stupidly expensive. I am dreading going back (flying this afternoon).

Other good budget airlines are easyjet and bmibaby.

I'd definitely try to book hostels in advance as much as you can, but you don't have to plan that far ahead. In my experience, you can generally call ahead just a few days before and be ok. In really popular citys it might be tougher, but you will generally be able to find somewhere, though it may not be your first choice.

I've taken ferries in Greece a few times and they can be a but unpredictable, but they are generally pretty good. I always just turned up at the ferry and bought tickets so I can't help you with a website. Not sure about Spain, where are you trying to go? The only ferry I know anything about is the one to Morrocco.

 
Haha, I was in Tokyo and unable to find a hostel with any space left for my friends and I. We slept in internet cafes, which turned out to be about $30/night. Private stalls, comfortable chairs, blankets, hot showers, hot corn juice, soy based diet beer, and the final game of the world cup. It was a great time.
 
I'M GOING IN LIKE A WEEK!!! Yea, I would like to do the whole, lets just go and we'll figure it out thing, but hostels fill up like mad. So get reservations for them early. I'm going to Prague, Munich, Florence, Rome, Nice, Marseille and Barcelona. Should be a rockin time.
 
If your there just for a month pick a few countries and just spend your time there. yes rail passes are expensive but they maximize your travel time. flying back and forth to london to hopefully get cheap tickets is a bitch. so i would consider getting a 5 country 5 days travel pass.

what i would do is fly into london. spend a few days chillen and checken out the sites but get outa there quick. london is expensive. cabs, food, hostels are all the most expensive you'll find anywhere in europe. i would find a cheap ticket from london to athens. athens is dirty but interesting, so its worth a couple days i would then ferry around to a few island. eos, mykonos and santorini are fun places. if you have the room buy a cheap tent from home and pack it in your bag. you can camp on all the islands for like 10-12 euro and camping is usually right on the beach. i know for a fact paradise beach in mykonos has camping for 10 euro for 2 people and you get your own shaded camping spot like 2 minutes walk from crystal clear waters. when you want to leave the islands on the east coast of greece i highly recommend you go to the pink palace hostel on corfu. its a fucking party and the island is the exact opposite of the arid rocky islands of eastern greece. then id jump on a ferry across to italy, you probably land in bari and then catch a 3 hour train to rome.

for the big cities like rome, athens, barcelona etc. its smart to look online at hostels just to get directions or book beds if you know when your going to be there. these places are like visiting new york theres no small town charm, nobody is looking to help you. your on your own and its overwhelming to get around at first. oh and buy a small language book with basic phrases and words because although alot of people know some english they usually arent willing to speak it.

Italy is my favorite country in europe. and thats saying alot. for travelling on a budget, its the best. go to bakerys and markets and get yourself fresh cut meats, amazing bread, and your choice of like 50 different cheeses and make yourself some sandwhichs. hostel allesandro (sp) is close to the main termini and a supermarket. so its ideal for getting around on the fly. however there is no air conditioning and if its boiling your fucked. find yourself a walking pub crawl around rome. you'll visit a few bars and some crazy landmarks that you definitely wont remember in the morning so take pictures. I had to do that one twice. oh and a bottle of wine that would usually cost 9-15 dollars in canada is 90cnets to 3 euro there.

my favorite destinations in italy were rome, florence, certaldo/vienna, and perugia. venice is fun but you stay away from the old city and its a pain in the ass to get there. milan is fucking expensive but its great too. honestly you cant go worng anywhere the whole place is amazing.

my two cents: camp in florence at piazza michelangelo. its cheap its a short walk into the old city and the views of the city are unreal. also visit cinqua terra. i cant even begin to expain how amazing this place is.

if you wanted to go to switzerland. go through northern italy visit the swiss and then cut through to chamonix and back down to the frances southern coast. nice is okay, cannes is better. monte carlo is unreal. youll see what rich really is. there a bunch of small towns i never stopped at between france and spain that looks like fun but at this point i was on a mission to get to barcelona. anyways train it down to barcelona. depending on your time, money situation and party opinions, ibiza is fucking crazy end of august when they are wrapping up the summer. although expect to spend $1500 dollars for a 3 day trip. just cover at some bars is $100 euro.

Anways around spain there is soooo much to see. check out madrid, there is a wicked art gallery which holds some of boscos most famous paintings. the guy was a dutch painter more wacked then van gough. barcelona has some crazy architecture and crazy parties. nothing is really good till 1 and alot of parties rage on till 5 or 6am. its like that alot in europe. Kabul backpackers hostel is a great spot but book your beds a few days prior to arriving.

Last suggestion, on August 28th make your way to Bunol. The next day is La Tomitana. The largest food fight in the entire world. 10,000 people and some 240,000 pounds of ripe tomatos are brought into the town square and everyone just goes nuts. its packed though so if that souds appealing book a place to stay soon. head on back to barcelona, fly to london. if you still have some time. tickets to amsterdam are cheap and you can go smoke all you want and flatten out some hash bars and mail them home to yourself. IT WORKS!!!

anyways thats alot of reading. hope your stoked i want to go back now.
 
europe is the shit.

try to book a few hostels in advance because they book up pretty quickly during the summer.

i'm escoring my 85 y.o. grandma over to germany in late sept-early october which will be sweet since thats where we're all from but i want to go to amsterdam so badly since i could the last time i was there. i wonder if grams will mind?? i'll soon find out
 
Oh yea i'm going to cinque terre too, i forgot. I'll check out that piazza michelangelo. What does "camping" mean tho?
 
oh and any small trips, for example like rome to florence, florence to vienna, etc. just pay for the train tickets. any long trips use your pass. go to travelcuts in calgary they can hook you up with some rail pass deals and its a good idea to buy a stundent travel card or backpackers card because alot of hostels give special rates which will save you a good amount.
 
London-> Amsterdam-> Prague is cheap as fuck if you book a bit in advance. I've done London Luton to Amsterdam on Easyjet the past three years for £40 return, its about £30 one way to Prague from AMS. Try the following site for cheap European flights, but its best to book in advance. Easyjet have a sale on right now too...

www.easyjet.co.uk

www.ryanair.com

www.jet2.com

www.flybe.com

www.bmibaby.co.uk

www.skyeurope.com (for inside of Europe (not inc. UK))

Trains are expensive, if you have time and don't want to fly, do coaches, but our flight from AMS to Prague was cheaper than a coach there. If you need info on hostels, go to www.hostelworld.com
 
bring a tent and go to the campsite to the right of piazza michelangelo. camping is cheap your at your own vineyard, wine is cheap and the returant at the top of the hill is amazing and super cheap. 5 euro pizzas. from your tent you get an amazing view of the roof tops of florence. there is a giant piazza with a bronze statue of michelangelo only a few minutes walk away that also looks over the city. wine is cheap, the food is great and the girls are beautiful. plus everyone is travelling. your chances of have a good night just increased exponentially.
 
I can't stress enough that you stay in Hostels as much as you possibly can. Europe is incredibly expensive to travel and live in along with getting your ass beat down by the exchange rate.

I've been to the BeNeLux countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Greece and I must say they are all fantastic. If you're gonna be going from Italy to Greece I would suggest taking the overnight ferry from Greece because the night life on those things are just awesome. When you are about to land in Greece the view of the cities and coastline are unmatched.

Make sure when you in Greece to visit the ruins of Delphi and the town, I cannot think of a more beautiful countryside than the one that I saw in that area.

Good luck and watch out for the dudes on motorcycles at night in italy, they will honest to god stalk and possibly rape you if they find out you're a tourist!
 
if your thinking about doing eastern europe, make a decision on either or. dont mix the west and the east. they both deserve more than a month and spending only a couple weeks in both doesnt allow you to experience enough. if your going to go to the east though, go to hungary and go to croatia. party party party.

and im not meaning to tread on anybodies feet, but to mr levels, there is way way more to greece then just the ruins. if you want ruins, italy is way better. greece is for amazing beaches and crazy parties.
 
dang your really killing it all i want to say is that i hope you have a sweet time and that you should have no worries
 
It's been a while I've been to greece, 7 years or so and there wasn't much to do then anyway, ok I admit long time ago, things might have changed. Ibiza, Lloret del Mar, Lisbon are some of the hot spots for a couple of years now.

Don't forget corsica, perhaphs the most beautifull island in the mediterranean. But ok, can't have them all, and like I said, I gotta stop interfearing with other peoples travel plans.
 
It was awesome to be in Japan during the world cup. People don't get too excited in Canada because our team is absolutely atrocious. Japan did manage to lose all of their games. I had my wallet stolen that night and had spent the past couple nights sleeping in buses and chairs but it was still a dope time. I flew to Bangkok the next day. Yes traveling!

Thanks for the intercontinental flight websites. I am looking to get to Malta as cheap as possible... it looks like its Toronto --> London --> Milan --> Malta.
 
sell your self...just kidding i hear that its super small i would just rent a car cause each coutnry is like a state...so i hear
 
what you wanna do is go inter railing. Tickets afre cheap as chips and dont wanna spend too much time in london. chelsea fulham kensington olympia area is your best bet in london (west)

then get on the eurostar to france and go interrailing down eastern europe, more unspoilt and cheaper. The greek islands are sick for a week on the beach. Dont spend too much time travelling is the best advice, find the places you really want to go and spend time there rather than a little inloads of places
 
A lot of people say not to book things in advanc, and to keep the schedule loose and not rigid. I think its better economically to find a fine balance between the two, where it isn't super rigid, but some things like the expensive transportation (ie bullet trains) and some longer stays in cities are done in advance.

You can find some wicked good deals for trains in Europe and ferrys throughout greece.

If you take trains in Italy, and you're expecting to be on a Eurostar Italia Alta Velocita (their bullet train), you can get their fare dueperuno; just two for one, online ahead of time. Super damn cheap and fast. Extra reliable. Italy in general has so many trains in the country its not even funny.

I would highly recommend check out: http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/_SvTermDiscount?_TMS=1178841809046&_DLG=SvTermDiscount&_LANG=UK&_AGENCY=VSC&_CMD=processJSP&JSP=gestedit%2Fleisure%2Flayout%2Flaunch%2Ftrain_promos.jsp if you intend on taking the TGV anywhere in France (which you almost have to). It is wicked cheap early. For example, if you were able to buy a ticket from Paris to Avignon at the station, it will exceed $100/person easily, but on there it'll be like $30/person. super cool. Provence is the shit, too, and cheap there via scooter. Great sites and food and everything. Whether you come into France via Spain or from the North, go to Provence!

If you take the ferry anywhere in Greece (to like the Cyclades - Mykonos, Santorini, etc.) those are usually very cheap, like 10 euro/person. If you go from Italy to Greece, just get deck fare (check out http://www.bluestarferries.com for both in Greece and Italy-Greece ferries) and then sleep inside on a couch or something. Really comforatble. Just allow enough time to get to whatever port you're trying to get to (such as Bari or Brindisi). And just keep in consideration, if you are going to arrive in Patras, get to the train station early and be the first one on board the train, otherwise youre sitting on a floor in a hot ass slow train with no breeze, and more importantly, no view. In general, Greece is awesome.

As somebody mentioned, avoid staying in London for too long. Its wicked expensive for just about anything. And same with Switzerland. But Travelodge UK has a sick pre buy thing online where you can get super cheap rooms (at least for London) right in the city.

And a couple have mentioned Camping michaelangelo in Florence. Super sick place. Great view of the city, good food and drinks. Inexpensive as the city goes, comforatable tent thing available. And at least from my experience, to save money, "hostels" arent always the cheapest route to go, infact, they can be horrendously expensive.

Spain is rad. The coast, however, isn't all the grand, at least to me. The real good shit is generally inland (granada, cordoba, seville, etc).
 
for a start if you fly anywhere in europe you wanna go with easyjet, you get alot more baggage allowance and it means that you will avoid heathrow (worst place on earth) and gatwick.

You want to book a date into a country and a date out, then the rest is off the cuff, much more fun that way as you will find that you will want to spennd longer in places and less long in others.

If your looking for hostels in london, the best place is kensington high sreet, west london. Dont really know where the backpacker places are elsewhere as i only live an hour away.
 
definitely avoid the trains. they're expensive and time consuming. much better off reserving through ryanair or easyjet. book a hostel room at least a couple weeks in advance. make sure you get the chance to go to:

1) interlaken switzerland. its this village in the middle of the swiss alps and home to just about every insane sport that exists. you can go skydiving, bungee jumping, base jumping, white water rafting, canyoning, splunking, hiking, rock/ice climbing... basically an outdoor/adrenaline enthusiasts paradise. stay at balmers hostel.

2) biarritz france. this place is the surf capital of europe. the beaches are extensive and the waves are aplenty. theres also a ton of lakes in the area that are good for relaxing. they have 2 casinos if thats your thing. you can also take a day trip to san sebastian in spain and get wasted and watch bullfights. i stayed in the auberge de jeunesse biarritz (biarritz hostel) which is surf themed and real irie.

3) rimini italy. id say its the myrtle beach of europe. huge sandy beach, lawless italian nightlife. eurotrash at its finest. be sure to rent a 4 wheeler and cause a ruckus (you can just drive around the city). stay at hostel jammin'.

these are my 3 faves but they also are the three places with the most to do outdoors. if you want to visit nice cities, amsterdam is really cool and worth checking out. also might want to check out arles in the provence region in the south of france. madrid is off the chain, too. great place to party. i have a good friend that went to prague and he said that place is awesome too.
 
wow thanks everyone for all the help! definitely some good info in here! I wish I had enough time and money to be able to do everything mentioned.

^and to the guy who posted above me, those 3 sound amazing. we're gonna try to do them all if we can.
 
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