i want to travel to europe for 3-4 months, need advice for money, where to stay. etc. sorry if there's already topics about this.
have read many of post and didnt saw anyone said anything about Croatia...i think you should visit it...the people are always willing to help you and the food is great...the prices are little bit lower that other countrys(like spain) that live from tourism ...here is a web site you can visit so you can see the beauty of it <snip>
[Edited: 2011 Sep 12 00:37 - The Travel Camel:11053 - No link dropping on this forum, thanks.]
Reply to this $10,000 for 4 months in Europe is possible, it will be tight, but only achievable if you are going to do the dorm hostel scene or if you find a free bed at some places.
I see that you may now spend less time and return another day, if funds are small, that is a very wise option. For a shorter itinerary it is hard to go past the Spain-France-Italy-Switzerland-Austria area.
July-August is peak holiday time, and everything gets more crowded, and prices go up accordingly. If you manage to hit Europe in the May-June timeframe, it is a more pleasant experience.
Apart from accommodation, the next biggest expense in Europe is transport. The more you move around, the higher your costs, so it pays to linger in a city for 3-4 days (or longer in the case of Rome or Paris) before moving on again. Choose less places and stay longer in each is a great way to keep costs down. For rail transport, you can buy a three, four or five country Regional Eurail Pass instead of the full Europe version - these are cheaper. Another cheaper option is the Select Pass that allow 10 or 15 days of travel in a 2 month period.
Each person has their own opinion on this next one, but I never cut back on food when travelling - once your food intake drops, eventually your energy levels and health will go down too. Sure, shop wisely and self-cater (which I do a lot of) but being reduced to sandwiches every day for a few weeks will eventually come back and hit most people. If money is that tight that you need to do this, either delay your trip until you have more money, or just stay away for less time.
Reply to this Hi,
all your locations sound really great, however I will warn you all the countries you want to visit are expensive. You can save money if you stay in hostels, however that will limit where you want to visit. You could maybe consider joining a homestay organization to where you can stay with a host family for free. Unfortunately I'd have to get back to you with this information since I know people who do this; I don't do this personally. You can stay in hostels in all the countries you mentioned but only in certain cities, and actually my hosteling experiences in France were not as enjoyable as my stays in hostels in Italy, Spain and Poland. If you want to save money, I'd take a trip to Portugal or go to eastern Europe. I really enjoyed my visit to Poland and I am personally planning on doing a tour of the rest of the region. Spain is also a viable low budget option because of hostels and costs are not as high, but it's not as cheap as Eastern Europe.
However, you can do all the destinations you mentioned cheaply, and here's how: 1) stay in hostels 2) make sure your hostel or hotel has a free breakfast and also a kitchen and communal refrigerator 3) only eat one meal out a day or per city-cook your dinners at the hostel or hotel and/or pack your lunches. 4) use public transportation or walk, and be sure to get weekly or monthly passes 5) plan what you're going to see and limit how many museums you can afford according to your budget; remember you can always go back another time to see what you didn't see the last time 6) spend less than a week in one destination, especially in one that is notoriously expensive like London, Paris, Milan or Rome. 7) stay away major cities like Paris, London or Rome-these are cities you should see, however if you have a budget it might be cheaper for you to go to smaller cities like Bologna, Oxford or Rouen, however you'll be surrounded by great history, art, and culture but in a smaller scale. I hope this helps!
Reply to this You can always couch surf aswell there's a great website for it but I'm not aloud to advertise websites so search it on the net you'll find it and you can use that for accommodation
Reply to this You really must be so bored that you have to stay out for a long time. There are cheap accommodations that you can have while in europe. dublin hotels booking
offers a great lot deals.
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[Edited: 2011 Sep 24 08:44 - Jabe:6222 - No advertising on forums, please]
Reply to this In response to: Msg #135239
As Christopher and Diana have pointed out your budget will be impacted by the amount of partying that you plan on doing. Couch surfing will allow you to stretch your travel dollar.
Take a small pocket calculator to assist you with financial conversions.
We never leave our electronics or passports any where, any time.
Reply to this I backpacked Europe for three months and spent less then $10,000 and i lived pretty nice. I ate out pretty much everyday and did some fun things. I did couch surf in the western countries which is an amazing experience. I did do to a lot of Eastern countries which is a lot cheaper then the west.
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