Europe On A Budget

[hymen4us]

europe on a budget?

 

you must be kidding me

[crossroad]

if youre on a tight budget use trafalgar ( they have a sis company that caters to backpackers) or the likes .that way you can have a better chance sticking to your budget because your itinerary already in place. lean season is around feb cuz its cold... that means cheaper rates and lots of promos...at least you get to use your leather jacket again. book in advance. wait for promos. when eating there some restaurants charge differently when your standing or sitting down, always buy water in supermarket, you dont need to tip waiters, if in package tour it usually includes breakfast...eat your heart out!!

[Zarbor]

Cosmos has excellent escorted budget tours....went on one, was able to visit 5 countries for about $800 excluding Manila-London-Manila airfare

[kanski]

europe on a budget?

 

you must be kidding me

 

 

europe can be had on a budget- a big one

[OmgItsCarmen]

if you want to go to munich, than its better to get a hotel in augsburg. its only 45 minutes to munich but a loooooot cheaper. and augsburg is a very nice city too. over 2000 years old and founded by the romans. also has a very good nightlife. its true, cause i live here. in augsburg we say: Munich is nice... if you live in Augsburg ^^

 

and if you want to see a bit of Bavaria you can buy a "Bayern-Ticket" from the "Deutsche Bahn" (german railway). you can go to every place you want for only 27 €.

[chipmaker]

When in Zurich...

 

DO NOT get a paid tour of Zurich. Definitely not worth it.

 

DO get a ZurichCard or better yet, a ZurichCardPlus. You get free rides on the tram, bus, boat, and rail, but the ZurichCardPlus will also get you in at the museums for free and some great discounts at some shops.

 

if you want to go to munich, than its better to get a hotel in augsburg. its only 45 minutes to munich but a loooooot cheaper. and augsburg is a very nice city too. over 2000 years old and founded by the romans. also has a very good nightlife. its true, cause i live here. in augsburg we say: Munich is nice... if you live in Augsburg ^^

 

and if you want to see a bit of Bavaria you can buy a "Bayern-Ticket" from the "Deutsche Bahn" (german railway). you can go to every place you want for only 27 €.

 

Hi OIC. Are there Adventsmarkts already on your side of the border? I miss Sunday shopping! :cry:

[labadabdab]

In Paris, I strongly recommend Hotel Alcyon, near Bastille. Beside Ledru Rollin Metro. Simple, clean and accessible.

 

:thumbsupsmiley:

[sliderule]

if youre on a tight budget use trafalgar ( they have a sis company that caters to backpackers) or the likes .that way you can have a better chance sticking to your budget because your itinerary already in place. lean season is around feb cuz its cold... that means cheaper rates and lots of promos...at least you get to use your leather jacket again. book in advance. wait for promos. when eating there some restaurants charge differently when your standing or sitting down, always buy water in supermarket, you dont need to tip waiters, if in package tour it usually includes breakfast...eat your heart out!!

 

Hi Crossroad,

 

My budget isn't exactly tight, but not exactly sky is the limit either.

 

So I check out travel websites like Trafalgar or Globus to learn what tour options are available depending on my schedule and tour package type....how much it will cost....iteneraries and all....etc........then whats next..?

 

Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question but I really don't know.

 

To make it a bit tricker, I'll be travelling with family (3 of us) and since we have different ideas of where to go, it will be tough to select a tour package that will cater to all our individual destinations. We don't want to rough it out in backpack type of tours.

[poppinfresh2k5]

kaya on a budget if youre willing to eat shawarma and falafel for each and every meal

 

anyhoo i suggest a whole lot of research. maraming places and tourist attractions sa europe a waste of money. so plan out well but also be flexible for those sidetrips thatll come along the way. believe me youll have a lot.

 

also try looking into getting signed up to the hostel orgs such as the youth hostel foundation or if youre a student, sign yourself up to ISIC. lots of freebies and discounts sa museums, hostels, transpo, shows, etc. plus you get a whole lot of info from these groups as well. very valuable for travelling.

 

with regards to transpo, i suggest getting a eurail pass for flexibility. mahirap sa budget tour buses, limited mobility pati no flexibity whatsoever. mas mahal ang eurail pero for those in the know it can turn out to be the cheapest way to go about europe. for example i got a 15 day unlimited eurail pass. what that means is i can travel 15 times anytime i want (a day of travel means literally that, a day of travel... from this time to this time. if your trip overlaps, sometimes considered one day pa rin depends on the time stamped na umalis ka from an origin). some european countries like monaco you can do in a day. heck pisa in italy you can do in half a day. so ayun. what id do before was for example, i took the ride from paris to madrid gabi to early morning so i got a freebie in terms of lodging plus i get to maximize the day. anyhoo... got to madrid, got a cheap but nice hotel around 15 bucks (i was sharing with 2 people so 45 a night actually). tapos hopped on a 1 hour train to toledo also in spain. went around the whole day sa toledo (lovely place. better than madrid), hopped back on the train to madrid and ayun. i got to maximize my one day train ride. same with monaco. left barcelona late mevening, got to monaco early early morning, ikot monaco the whole day, took the train to rome. got a hotel again around 60 dollars. hopped on for a one hour train to pisa early eveningi. went around pisa hopped back to rome. all in one day yun so thats just one day of my train use.

 

also whats nice with the trains is you can view it as a hotels or hostels if youre in transit sa gabi. some trips will take 6 to 8 hours depending on what type of train you ride. i suggest getting the cheaper older classic trains then just nap sa train. get off the train sa morning then youve got the whole day of going around. oh and theres that eurail trick wherein you can change dates like if you were stamped on for example the sept 7 for rome. tapos youre moving out sa 9th to florence, what you can do is pen the 7th as 9th and you get a free day of travel illegal but it works most of the time. some really scrutinize the tickets and some just barely look at it. to each his own. from my 15 day ticket naka 21 yata ako with this trick. oh and again, they have this cutoff for what constitutes a day, you can play around this as ive said earlier. minsan if you can make it before the cutoff, di magoverlap ang trips mo. like for example you travel in transit early evening and arrive sa destination mo any time in the morning i think, its still considered the previous day and not two days of travel. also if your cant help but leave agad and fear the overlap cutoff... leave late para considered as the next days travel and you dont waste your current day with the next.

 

as to hostels, there are a lot of cheap and nice hostels around. the guide books will be just that, a guide, but it wont give you the real picture. i suggest when you get to a destination, mag tanong tanong. like when i arrive in every train station, i have a hostel in mind, but i go around inquiring sa toursit desks and with people na hindi tourista. they know which places are best kasi mga tiga dun yun. oh and explore explore explore. i once found a quaint 4 star hotel in venice na tago and wasnt listed. 5o dollars a night and can accomodate 4 people to 50 divided by 4 yun. nice noh? what i did was i followed this touristy couple but not backpackers. yung tipong may alam na. so i followed them through the tight and weaving streets of venice until they went inside this quaint resto. the resto had a mini hotel sa 2nd floor. with the hostels, youre going to need a lot of quarters for phonecalls for hostel inquiries. pero sulit. hostels are just really places to sleep. in most cases you wont hang out in hostels unless may pinopormahan ka dun. one caveat though is the shared showers in some. coed showers without cubicles. kahiya

 

i bought my 15day eurail for 500 dollars on a promo kasi sa US and had it mailed na lang through an aunt. tapos spent an average of 30 dollars living a day, (around 18 for lodging and the rest for food and going around), tapos 15 on average pala for train transpo kung gusto mo umupo. a eurail will get you on board a train but not seated in one. you still need to buy a seat. seats are cheaper on old classic trains and more expensive on the super modern super fast ones like ICE. if tipid ka talaga tumayo ka na lang sa baggage area or sa aisle. as to my miscellaneous gimik, if not free, discounted ako with my ISIC and youth hostel memberships. or if youre up to it, find big tour groups and tag along. you get free info from the guides without having to pay for it. sometimes they assume youre part of the group tapos you get into places for free as well pero pagdating sa food nagheheadcount and attendance sila so malabo pag food na. anyhoo ayun in one month i was able to skip through spain, monaco, italy, austria, germany, denmark, netherlands for a 1k USD. 50k pesos lang yun. i was able to go to several touristy cities and off the beaten path but lovely escapes. i was able to go in to the standard toursity fare museums and attractions as well as the not so famous ones. i was able to eat nice food but most of the time i had to bear a falafel and shawarma diet for 25 to 50 cents. id walk a lot and rent bikes, ride subways and trams to travel within a city. id get free maps from train stations and hookup with random people to get further info and sometimes free food and lodging. look for pinoy communities! a whole lot of freebies seriously. in rome nakakuha ako ng free souvenirs and offers for lodging. pero nakabayad na kasi ako sa hotel ko beside the vatican. sayang naman. theres this mall in vienna near a post office thats mostly pinoy tenants. hang out there and youll get offers for food and lodging. in spain naman ride the subways and chit chat a lot. ingat with snatchers though. best if you have a hidden money belt. oh and another budget saving tip, some tourists and backpackers will ask you if they can share the cost of a hotel room with you. fairly safe if youre the adventurous type and even better if youre looking for hookups. there was one girl in pisa who came to me asking if i could split the room she was eyeing. unfortunately pisa for me was a side trip kasi theres nothing there to see basically except the cathedral and the tower. sayang talaga. hot spaniard.

Edited December 10, 2007 by poppinfresh2k5

[Missionary]

kaya on a budget if youre willing to eat shawarma and falafel for each and every meal

 

anyhoo i suggest a whole lot of research. maraming places and tourist attractions sa europe a waste of money. so plan out well but also be flexible for those sidetrips thatll come along the way. believe me youll have a lot.

 

.....

 

 

ey poppin kailan pa to?

planning to do my first euro sa summer 2008...cross fingers sana matuloy..

kaya nga di ako uuwi ng pinas hehe

anyway, im still in the early planning stages...

[poppinfresh2k5]

ey poppin kailan pa to?

planning to do my first euro sa summer 2008...cross fingers sana matuloy..

kaya nga di ako uuwi ng pinas hehe

anyway, im still in the early planning stages...

 

2001 pa pare pero still applicable naman. matinding research lang pati atapang na tao dapat.

 

pati lots of commons sense, street smarts, and social skills.

 

research ka sa net ng destinations na balak mo pero keep it fairly open and flexible kasi once your in one place you get to learn about it and neighboring places. some will pique your interest while others will make you not want to go doon sa mga balak mo.

 

safest of course would be to join tours. however limited flexibility. your given very little time to explore the costs may or may not be worth it in the long run. tours are good for three or more people. pero kung magisa ka, mag sarili ka na lang at makisali sa tours for free! pa epal ka pag may makita kang tour group pare. ako nakalibre ako sa palace of versailles. nakipila lang ako sa tourgroup entrance nobody bothered to check if i was really with that group or not. plus dahil i was in the tour group i got to experience yung may tour guide na nageexplain about the palace. fun! :thumbsupsmiley: saan mo ba balak pumunta pre? usap na lang tayo sa parokya mo about it.

 

oh and make sure you do not pass by switzerland if you dont have their visa! a friend of mine got detained for a day or two ksi he didnt know the train he was riding was passing through switzerland.

[Spadez]

ok tong thread na to ah... sana nagbasa ako d2 earlier.. haha... nwei kaka-euro trip ko lang for the past 3 mos... currently still in germany... nwei tama si poppin.. research lang.. and diskarte lang...

 

personal exp. kc la din ako idea e.. so ang lagi kong gnagawa besides tanung sa peers is tourist info and reception sa hotel... ask ako ng top place na kung anu pwede puntahan.. then isipin ko if interesting sa akin and plan agad kung anung route... pero the best tlga is to ask the locals. kc i remember nung nasa paris ako pumunta ako sa versai (not sure with the spelling). Then ang entrance pala is 50 eur buti na lang may nakausap akong local na if 1st sunday pumunta libre entrance. imagine if nde ko nalaman un agad and monday ako pumunta... sayang.. hahaha...

[Spadez]

and just to add regarding sa seats sa trains using euro rail. mern ngang reservations na around 20 eur balikan. required to for lets say paris. pero if munich for example. kahit lang reservation pde.. upo ka sa cabin 7. pero unahan sa seats un kc un ung cabin for ppl na walang reservation or if ubos na wat u can do is wait for every1 to be seated tambay ka sa aisle or cr watever. then hanap ka ng libreng seats. kc nde nila i-check if may reservation ka or wala unless may uupo sa upuan mo gawin mo na lng tayo ka and hanap ka ibang upuan. they will just checking your euro-ticket.

 

sa daya naman.. ok ung papalitan mo ung date or may nagsabi sa akin although nde ko gnawa kc matindi ang penalty d2 e.. pag ung conductor padating mag cr ka.. kc pag nalagpasan na nya ung cabin mo nde na cya babalik unless nagstp ung train sa isang station. magiikot ulit cya.. minsan swertehan may colleague ako here nde natatakan so kahit ilang trips. ako once lang nde natatakan. tinignan lang nila. hahaha.

 

sa hostel, tama si poppins pero i have to warn u bout sa gamit.. mern akong colleague here nawalan ng gamit sa bag. so ingat tlga sa gamit. actually sa lahat nde lang sa hostel kc mas madami pa atang mandurukot d2 sa europe kaysa sa pinas e.. and swertehan tlga lalo na pag nakakita ka ng mga pinoys.. grabe turo tlga nila lahat nung nasa barcelona ako punta kami sa restaurant.. tpos pinoy ung waiter.. nung magoorder na kami sabi nya eto order nyo and wag kau magorder d2 nyan punta na lang kau dun sa kabilang kanto mas mura and mas masarap.. samahan kita.. luge kau d2... hahaha...

 

so safe trip mga tol.. and ingat sa mga manloloko... kc sorry pero kahit pinoy minsan nangdadali pa din...

 

 

oh just to add.. we went to luzerne, switzerland 3 weeks ago and it seems the sengen visa is enough. however don't go to prague yet coz my friend was "invited" by local officials due to some visa issues. so read the news also before going to places.

[Zarbor]

Cosmos has good budget tours tailored to how you want to go....

[poppinfresh2k5]

schengen is enough for a few days yata not prolonged stay and it has restrictions sa non schengen treaty countries. unless member na ng schengen ang switzerland or they made concessions... then lucky nung panahon ko bawal. sya lang and di ko mapuntahan and it was right smack in the middle of several countries pa naman.

 

yung sa nakawan... yes. mas wild pa europe than in manila. ingat. ako di naman na nakawan. street smarts lang. wag lang mukhang tourista. i didnt bring those big backpacks. obvious na backpacker eh. what i do was have small luggages that can fit in train station or airport lockers and a small backpack lang. parang pang school. i stuff whatever i dont need sa lockers and get what i need for a day or two and stick in my backpack. plus i carry a moneybelt and not wallet. a friend of mine twice ninakawan. one was like magic. i was even watching her wallet kasi it was a fishy scenarion na eh. nawalan pa rin. ang galing! the other medyo katangahan. she wasnt so mindful of her things. like i never put anything valuable in my backpack. and id make my backpack as my pillow most times. for example sa train may nagbukas ng backpack ko that i made to a pillow. wala silang manakaw they just left it unzipped. so ingat ingat lang and always be smart

[kanski]

...and swertehan tlga lalo na pag nakakita ka ng mga pinoys.. grabe turo tlga nila lahat ...

 

actually, there is a good chance that you will meet pinoys all over europe (they are like what converse was in the 80's: "they're everywhere"). you can meet one in a bus, at the local mcdonalds, while at the hotel, or at church. try to befriend one and like spadez says, they will give you tips that only locals can.

 

if you see a person that looks pinoy and you are with somebody, start a conversation in tagalog wiht your companion and chances are you'll hear a "ay, pinoy" remark and treat this as a sign to instigate a conversation.

 

if you are alone and see somebody who looks pinoy looking at your direction (equally wondering what your nationality is), smile his way and ask "kamusta?" if he replies, cool, you've found a kababayan and ask away. if he doesn't, he'll just return your smile with one of his own and you can just go mind your own business.

 

and a word or two on safety... i have a separate wallet that i use when i travel. i leave my bulky main wallet home; taking just my driver's license and credit cards so that my travelling wallet remains thin. then, i keep this travelling wallet in my front pockets instead of the back pockets where I normally would place them... and moneybelt- good, belt bag- bad. the latter is like an invitation for thieves to steal from you.

 

p.s. only old folks would understand my converse joke in the first paragraph. :-)

[pla2nicguy]

appreciate if anyone can post the cosmos contact nos....thanks

[louiemagic]

guys any contact numbers of travel agents you could recommend for me & my wife. were planning to celebrate our anniv in europe eh... thanks guys...

[muskabeatz]

sarap magtravel sa europe.. hay how much kaya ang budget para malibot buong europe? and madali bang kumuha ng tourist visa?

[luckystrike]

its very ironic that a lot of pinoys want to travel to europe but having difficulty because of budget resources. and we pinoys here in europe are the one who want to go back to phil and have a grand vacation but also having difficulty also with budget and resources , kung pwede lang tayo magpalit ng lugar. hayyy miss ko na gmick satin

Edited March 26, 2008 by luckystrike

[chipmaker]

Travel by train, it was cheaper. There are a lot of pinoys who know the language to ask around. BTW, women in Switzerland liked to wink a lot, it has a different meaning. Cheaper during the winter.

 

Exactly what is cheaper during winter?

 

I beg to disagree on the trains being cheaper. Cross country across Europe, you'll end up with more money for other things if you take the budget airlines (ryanair, airberlin, etc) than if you take the trains.

 

 

guys any contact numbers of travel agents you could recommend for me & my wife. were planning to celebrate our anniv in europe eh... thanks guys...

 

If you dont have any time constraints, I suggest you do the booking for flights and accommodations yourself. You'll have plenty more time to immerse in the culture and sights, and you dont have a pesky tour guide to shoo you around. If you dont mind staying in youth hostels, that's the way to go. There are youth hostels across Switzerland that have rooms for couples, and these have separate toilets and baths. Visit http://www.youthhostel.ch/home.html?&L=1 and http://www.youthhostel.ch/international0.html?&L=1 for lodging, and http://www.ryanair.com and http://www.airberlin.com for intra-europe flights. Really cheap if you book early. Otherwise, you can visit the rail websites of operators across Europe for packages within their respective countries: Switzerland - http://www.rail.ch, France - http://www.sncf.com, Germany - http://www.db.de, Italy - http://www.ferroviedellostato.it

 

 

its very ironic that a lot of pinoys want to travel to europe but having difficulty because of budget resources. and we pinoys here in europe are the one who want to go back to phil and have a grand vacation but also having difficulty also with budget and resources , kung pwede lang tayo magpalit ng lugar. hayyy miss ko na gmick satin

 

The higher cost of the Euro is not helping either... Konting ipon pa bro LS, makakapagbakasyon en grande din tayo sa Pinas soon! :thumbsupsmiley:

Edited March 26, 2008 by chipmaker

[chipmaker]

And if you're already here in Europe and want to have a holiday someplace, i discovered some excellent websites recently:

 

http://www.kuoni.ch

http://www.ebookers.ch

http://www.hrs.com

 

have fun!

[luckystrike]

And if you're already here in Europe and want to have a holiday someplace, i discovered some excellent websites recently:

 

http://www.kuoni.ch

http://www.ebookers.ch

http://www.hrs.com

 

have fun!

 

 

bro san ka sa europe?

[wizard23]

its very ironic that a lot of pinoys want to travel to europe but having difficulty because of budget resources. and we pinoys here in europe are the one who want to go back to phil and have a grand vacation but also having difficulty also with budget and resources , kung pwede lang tayo magpalit ng lugar. hayyy miss ko na gmick satin

 

 

agree. such is the realities of life.

[Magaling]

Exactly what is cheaper during winter?

 

I have been traveling to Europe on business between 3-4 a year on the average for the last 5 years. From my observation, the only thing that might be considered cheaper during the winter are the hotel accomodations. But only slightly...Now, is this small saving enough to offset the inconvenience? I don't know. Some say that airfares are also cheaper. However, this might be true only as compared to peak-season (spring and early summer). You can get these cheap rates anyway as long as you plan your trip and book way in advance (say, 2-3 months before).

 

I beg to disagree on the trains being cheaper. Cross country across Europe, you'll end up with more money for other things if you take the budget airlines (ryanair, airberlin, etc) than if you take the trains.

 

Yes, the budget airlines have become very competitive especially if you book in advance. Also, since you are typically squeezing your itinerary when you travel to Europe, it saves you the long hours that it takes to travel from point A to point B. I did that during my first trip to Europe and took the train from Rome to Geneva. Took us one whole day! Sayang ang oras! IMHO, the so-called view of the European countryside is good only for the first few hours. After that, nakakasawa din so I told myself NEVER again. That trip could have been only less than two hours by plane.

 

These days, I'd choose to take the train only if the ride is less than two hours (say, from Barcelona to Madrid etc). Otherwise, go for the budget airlines. The only exception might be traveling from London to Paris. Kung first-timer ka, it would be quite an experience. But you really don't save a lot of money doing this compared to taking that a one-hour flight via BA Express or FlyBe airlines.

 

In my case, I've always used bookings.com to check out the hotels and expedia.com for intra-Europe flights. Unfortunately, expedia.com does not (at least not yet) accept Philippine-based credit cards for booking flights.