Travelling Europe?

Former Member

I'm considering traveling Europe for a month or so either this summer or next(more likely as I haven't found a job yet). We'd want to visit the big cities such as Paris, Madrid, Milan, Prague, Berlin etc. We'd both be working on a budget but would prefer to stay in cheap hotels rather than hostels. Does anyone know of any european equivalents to Travelodge and other similar places? I know of Campanile and Kyriad but they're mainly based in France with a few other hotels dotted around.

Also can anyone suggest places to go or things to see that we might not think of but would be worthwhile visiting? Basically, we just want to see new places, be it major tourist attractions or more cultural, historic kind of places.

To anyone that may have done this in the past - how much money did you spend/need including accommodation, flights, trains, general spending etc.?

Former Member

A lot of hostels offer private rooms, which are generally much cheaper than an equivalent hotel room, but you don't have to share with strangers, and some have their own bathrooms.

Could you get an inter-rail pass?

There's a company called Busabout, I think some of their trips look quite appealing.

www.busabout.com

Even if you don't go with them, their website offers a lot of ideas of routes and interesting places to visit.

Former Member

Yeh, i think we'll be looking into getting an inter-rail pass. I'll take a look at that website, thanks.

Former Member

can i ask why you would prefer to stay in hotel than a hostel? and we might be able to advise better.

Former Member

For me it's mainly because I don't know much about hostels so would feel more comfortable in a hotel. It's possible I'd change my mind if I looked into them more though.

Can't say for my friend though, it might be for the same reason or possibly they'd just rather use hotels.

Former Member

right i see, just a word of advice, you are unlikely to meet like minded individuals in hotels while you are travelling around and therefore missing out on a lot of fun.

as has been said, most hostels have twin rooms, even en suites sometimes so as good as a hotel but hell of a lot cheaper, not all hostels are dorms.

i've had fantastic times in hostels, even staying in hostels while on holidays, they are great fun, normally everyone congregates in a part of the hostel and get drunk together, go out for days and nights and all sorts. major good times

Former Member

http://www.magictours.co.uk/stray.htm?PHPSESSID=70ce2a35f83fa659b4ed6ce259af0443

I went with these guys, admittedly 8 years ago so it was alot cheaper...

it was wicked fun tho, hostels r the best, there are crummy ones its true,but so are there hotels, and you dont pay thru the nose (xcept in Rome) for staying in a hostel.

Former Member

for booking hostels and even low budget hotels i cant recommend www.hostelworld.com enough, fantastic site

Former Member

LuckyStrike wrote: »

right i see, just a word of advice, you are unlikely to meet like minded individuals in hotels while you are travelling around and therefore missing out on a lot of fun.

as has been said, most hostels have twin rooms, even en suites sometimes so as good as a hotel but hell of a lot cheaper, not all hostels are dorms.

i've had fantastic times in hostels, even staying in hostels while on holidays, they are great fun, normally everyone congregates in a part of the hostel and get drunk together, go out for days and nights and all sorts. major good times

I'll definately take that on board and look into it. It's something I'll have to talk about with my friend I guess.

Thanks for the website links, I'll take a look at both .

Former Member

If you're on a budget, you have two choices:

Stay in hotels, but travel for a shorter period of time, and perhaps focus on cheaper countries or avoid capital cities.

OR

Stay in hostels and travel for longer.

I know which one I'd go for!

I've stayed in hostels in various countries and they've all been fine. In some countries, as there's two of you, you'll be able to get apartments or a hotel room quite cheap though. Eg: I stayed in a nice apartment in Prague which worked out as £50 for 3 nights, including breakfast.

Former Member

When I say we're on a budget I mean it in the sense that we couldn't stop in 4 star hotel type places, but if we wanted to stop in Travelodge kind of places then we'd just make sure we saved enough to be able to afford it, it'd just take a lot of budgeting at home in order to save. I've looked at that hostelworld website though and it looks quite good. My main problem with hostels is I wouldn't want to stay in a dorm room with people I don't know and would want my own bathroom, so a private ensuite twin room like some of them have would be fine.

When it comes to the actual places we visit, can anyone recommend anywhere that we should definately try to get to?

Former Member

Well it depends where you've been to already..what sorts of things you like? Beaches/cities/culture/food/men

Former Member

if you go to Prague you HAVE to stay at Hostel Elf, its possibly the best hostel in the world, and one of my favourite places in THE WORLD

Former Member

katchika wrote: »

Well it depends where you've been to already..what sorts of things you like? Beaches/cities/culture/food/men

Well mostly we just want to see new places, do touristy things, but also experience new cultures, so cities/culture/food mainly. We may take a break at some point to relax on a beach, or pay more and stop somewhere with a pool, but that's not really the point of the trip.

Just looked up Hostel Elf and it sounds like a really good place to stay .

Former Member

Where have you been already? I think Spain would be a good place to visit, plenty of cheap flights, and away from the tourist resorts there are some great places to visit.

Former Member

Most holidays I've been on already have been family holidays, the beach/pool type. We've been to a few places in Spain, but mostly when i was younger, a few in France and the Greek island Crete (also when I was really young). I've already been to Paris and Monaco, but my travelling buddy has never been and it's a few years since I went and I didn't fully appreciate it at the time so I'd like to go again. I've never been to any of the big cities like Madrid and Barcalona in Spain before and I'd really love to visit a few places in Italy and Prague, but apart from that and the capitals of other big European countries I don't really have a clue where to look at.

Basically I know of a lot of the touristy places we can visit, but I'd also like to go to quieter places if there's something there that's worth seeing or experiencing, even if it's just good food.

Former Member

I went to Prague in October and it was pretty busy, dread to think how crowded it would be in the summer.

I love Granada in Spain. It has a great atmosphere and good nightlife.

Croatia is nice,and easily accessible from Italy.

How long are you planning to travel for? It may be better to pick a certain part of Europe and plan around that.

Former Member

A month or so probably. Our original idea was to decide where we want to go and plan our route/how long we stay in each place based on how much there is to do and see in each place. We haven't had chance to talk about it properly yet though because I'm at uni and my friend is back home.

Former Member

Stay in hostels. Yeah there are some crap ones, but most are fine, and some are great fun. If you're that worried about having to share a bathroom, get your friend to keep an eye out for you when you're having a shower and vice versa or something. Though most people will be in the same boat as you, so you'll have an ace time.

And don't plan too much. Not every last detail. Sure, have a basic idea, but remember that plans can change and be willing to let them change. Its way more fun that way. One of my friends got obsessed by every last detail and freaked out when me and our other friend wanted to spend a day in some random town that looked cute but wasn't on our schedule. We won the argument eventually and had a great day in that town, then travelled onto Canada and continued with the plan. We were restricted to some particular dates because we'd had to book buses and stuff ahead of time, but it was nice to improvise when we could.

Have a great time! :thumb:

Oh and maybe try the Thorn Tree forum on the Lonely Planet website for more travel advice if you haven't already. They're pretty good over there.

Former Member

I was going to say that there are loads of cheap hotels in europe - such as Formular 1 (which has shared bathrooms) Etap's, logis etc but like travelodges they are all usually on the edge of cities or in the countryside and really only practical if you have a car.

If you go to spain you can stay in Hostal's which are like small pensions - so not a hotel usually with quite a basic room which is en suite but don't expect luxaries like a TV or restaurant. They are great though always reallly clean and well looked after.

If you want somewhere to chill out then i reccomend llanfranc in spain its really nice and suprisingly unspoilt.

Former Member

Check out accorhotels.com, hotels start from as little as 30 euro's per nite. i satyed in 3 * hotel in berlin for 4 nights and it only cost about 140 euro's..
Hope this helps. angelsxxx

Former Member

If you want to save money try with coachsurfing.com I have many friends that tried it and they told me that it's a great experience.

I suggest you Spain, I love it the cities just like Granada or Barcelona are fantastic and the sea is really really beautiful!!!