Thursday, November 24, 2011

What is the best way to save money when travelling in europe?

im hoping to go europe the cheap way- obviously its still gonna cost quite a bit, but im trying to figure out where i can save the money.


is a eurail pass the cheapest way to go??


any tips on saving??


thanks!|||Eurail is not necessarily the cheapest way to go. It depends on how much travel you do, how far and where you go, and whether you stick to the slower regional trains or use the higher speed trains. It is often cheaper just to get point-to-point tickets directly from the national rail systems. This is particularly true if you have a travel plan and can buy tickets in advance in order to take advantage of available discounts.





With the Eurail pass, you can't just hop on any train and go. Many of the higher speed trains require reservations or supplemental fees that you have to pay before you get on the train. Here in Italy, the fine can be another 40 euro on top of the supplement if you haven't done this. There's information on the supplements on the Eurail website at: http://www.eurail.com/1_reservations_sup鈥?/a> , http://www.eurail.com/1_reservations_sup鈥?/a> , http://www.eurail.com/1_reservations_nig鈥?/a> .





You need to plan an itinerary and determine what Eurail pass meets your needs. Then you would need to go to the various national train websites and look up schedules and prices. You can find the national train sites simply by searching for "train" and the name of the country you're interested in - I've listed a few links below. Add any required supplements to the price of the Eurail pass and compare the overall cost to that of individual tickets. Note that there are discounts available for many individual tickets bought in advance. Here in Italy, the Amica fare provides a savings of up to 20% on the higher speed trains, but the tickets have to be bought at least one day in advance.





http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en鈥?/a> (Germany)


http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/cms/v/i鈥?/a> (Italy)


http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite/travellers (Netherlands)


http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite/travellers (Austria)


http://www.sncf.com/en_EN/flash/ (France)





About 75% of the time when I've done calculations for people who had detailed travel plans, it turned out to be cheaper to get individual tickets.





One possibility for saving money is using the night trains for longer trips. You can sleep in a berth using the night to travel and not also have a hotel bill for that night. Again, there are often discounts available if you buy tickets in advance.





There are also a number of budget airlines still operating. A couple of good resources include: http://www.whichbudget.com/en/ , http://www.skyscanner.net/|||If you want to see lots of Europe on the cheap, you can't beat a Eurail pass. It is incredibly convenient, you just go to the train station in what ever city you are in, decide where you want to go, and jump on the train! The passes cover MOST western European countries (when I went it did not cover Czech Republic), and as long as you stick to the non high speed trains you won't need to pay any extra to ride any train. I was able to visit 12 cities in 14 days.





If you wanted to take the high speed train (instead of the regular trains) called the "Thalys" from say Amsterdam to Paris, you would need to get a reservation and pay a supplement to be able to use your pass. Other than that the pass covers pretty much everything. In some cities the pass even covers public transport like trams and subways. It's a great value if you want to see many countries in a short amount of time.





When I went my friend and I would pick train routes that would take all night and then just sleep on the train thus avoiding having to pay for night in a youth hostel or hotel. The in the morning when you get to the station you throw your backpack in a locker at the station and hit the town. Some stations even have shower facilities.





I recommend picking up a current copy (they are published once a year) of "Let's Go Europe". They are jam packed with lots of practical and money saving tips for traveling in Europe, these guides are worth their weight in gold. Whether you want to go the backpack- youth hostel route or just inexpensive lodging, the Let's Go guides are great.





Another tip, food can get expensive if you have to eat out all the time so in order to save money my friend and I would find grocery stores wherever we were. We would load up on stuff to make sandwiches and fruit and then buy a box of Ziploc bags and carry it around in our backpacks. The Let's go guides are also full of info about places you can eat inexpensively.





I could go on and on because I love Europe, start with the Let's Go guide, decide what places you want to visit, and go for it! I hope you have a great time!|||Stay in hostiles and get take the regional trains if you can. Here in Germany we have this thing called the Bavaria ticket its a Flat rate. The hostel is a very cheap hotel where you share space with people. Also pop into the local grocery stores for snacks and drinks not gas stations. I also wouldn't exchange your american money for euro at the airport. Maybe just engorge to get you too a real bank, because the exchange rate at the bank is alot better. I would also avoid cabs if you can and rent a car. Cabs cost alot, and the exchange rate will kill you.|||Yes, eurorail is the cheapest way to save in transports.


Also don't eat in restaurants. Better to buy food in discount supermarkets. (well, there are really cheap restaurants but they are hard to find. Better ask some locals where to find those.)


Be careful on taking taxis - you can spend a lot of money!!!


you have also to win the temptation to buy souvenirs and other ridiculous expensive stuff.


Believe me: you can also bring cheap and original stuff from the countries you visited without spending a lot of money!|||Efcollegebreak.com has the cheapest way of flying to europe plus they take care of everything for you from airfare, hotels, transportation between countries and cities and tours.I go every year and have a blast..plus the prices are really good...prices are around 1,200 but they includes everything i mentioned...plus if you use the discount code Vincig7397 you can save more money...whats great about these trips is you can go all over your not just at one place they bring you to different countries|||Sharing a room in hostels is one of the cheapest ways to travel around. Try websites like www.hostels.com, www.hostelworld.com, www.hostelbookers.com or www.lonelyplanet.com.


If you can save on accommodation costs everything seems better.





Its cheaper to go by bus (www.eurolines.com) but its slower. I never got a eurorail pass as my sitiation was different but it depends on how much travel you are going to do and how long you are staying.





I did not buy much unless it was food ( and cheap hotels and some hostels provide breakfast then i ate big so i didn't have to buy much lunch!)..very few souveniers unless they were small and cheap. I took LOTS of photos and bought postcards.


Different times of the year are cheaper as well which can helps and it depends on where you go as the west and north is much more expensive than the east and south|||Stay in hostels or find Formula 1 hotels. http://www.hotelformule1.com/formule1/in鈥?/a> These hotels are very clean but you don't get a private bathroom in your room. I loved it!


You can save money by using a euro rail pass to get around from city to city. That's really the only way to go unless you'd like to hitch hike, which is what a lot of young people do here.





Europe is not cheap, but you can have a great time on a small budget.|||Keep it in yo pocket...|||hostels


rail pass

No comments:

Post a Comment