Bipin Savaliya: Europe

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Europe

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Whats the most inexpensive way to travel across Europe if going from India?

Also please suggest when to travel, how to travel and where to stay

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Arvind Bhatt, Nomad… Travel gives you answers

1. Travel before you are 26. Most places have student discounts, and train tickets are cheaper for 60 age group

2. If you get a eurail pass, have a friend with you. You get a 15% discount on eurail, AND 20% discount when you travel between Oct begin to March end. On the contrary to what people say, even though eurail is expensive, it gives you flexibility like no other. You can just hop into a train and travel. Yes few trains have reservations, but that takes 2 min to make, at the station vending machine. Ranges from 5-12euros.

2a. Eurail gives free ferries, bus rides etc. And a Firstclass ticket entitles you to lounges in Germany, Austria, Switzerland. Where you can take rest, have some food for free! and Internet access.

2b. Get the eurail 24 country pass, its slightly expensive than a 5 country pass but worth the extra charge. I was on a budget trip, and got it. ~600eur. Looks expensive, but with the convenience and flexibility, nothing can beat it. I spent 3 nights on trains travelling to and fro, instead of booking a hostel, just because I had the pass, and saved on the accommodation. Small things addup. And its fun!

2c. Golden Pass - Switzerland. One of the most beautiful picturisque routes - 2nd class ticket=79Eur, Ist Class=120 Eur. Eurail = Free.

2d. Eurail does not include city transport. Except in Germany and Austria where you can use only the s-bahn.

3. Euro-lines and flixbus.de are good bus operators. Check them out, prices workout reasonably well.

4. Hostelworld, Hostel bookers have hostels ranging from 12euro onwards per night. They are quite good for backpackers and super safe. Book a hostel nearby a railway station/old town. That way you save a lot of effort walking or travelling to there.

5. Avoid food at restaurants, eat at a take away, or buy supermarket food, and don’t buy water. Potable water is abundant everywhere.

5a. Have multiple small meals, instead of a large meal. Saves money and gives energy for walkathlons in the beautiful alleys.

5b. Eat lots of Gelato. Don’t repeat flavors.

6. Travel on night trains, it amounts to a little discomfort, but you save on a night’s accommodation.

7. Use lockers in railway stations. They are cheaper than having to get a hostel/hotel in-case you don’t need accommodation but just want to dump your bags.

8. Flight: Like, Diniel Patel said, Oman air is super reasonable, at 38-41K INR(~515eur) to Frankfurt, and is a rightly placed locale to start your journey. Their services are good too.

9. Don’t waste time in queues in Rome/Vatican/Florence/Paris. Book online. Although it costs some money, it saves a lot of time.
Update:
Vatican: Musei Vaticani - Sito ufficiale Book online here
Rome: Buy Rome Pass for direct entry to colloseum
Florence: David Museum Accademia Gallery
Florence Duomo: Buy it in the nearby shop. Go early in the morning
Paris: Eiffel Page on www.toureiffel.paris
Louvre museum: Louvre Museum Official Website

10. Have easy Sundays. Most businesses are closed on Sundays.

11. Get the book “Europe on a Shoestring”

12. The best and beautiful parts of Europe are free to see. The second best costs :-) Its a personal experience.

13. French trains are super expensive. Swiss>Austria>Netherlands>Germany>Italy>Slovenia>Czec Republic in that order.

14. Install the eurail app on your smartfone. Its useful to show train connections and timings. It works offline without a data connection.

15. ASK for student offers or discounts. Sweet talk. It works

16. Barge into Mc.D and Starbucks. They have Internet. Get a coffee/burger/muffin. Dont freeload.

17. Some Museums have free entries on some days of a month. Find out. It will be very crowded though.

18. Low cost flights - Ryan Air, Easyjet. cheap, but there is a catch. They donot operate in the main airports, and you might have to take a taxi. That costs. Ryan Air charges money for a checkin baggage. Say, you have a swissknife in your backpack, you have no option but to checkin. There are hidden costs that way.

19. Use discover how to get anywhere[Rome 2 rio dot com] no spaces.
One beautiful website which can help you plan things a breeze. The prices mentioned there are a reference. They might not be exact. It just gives you an idea.

20. ALL trains are on time. So not much need to factor in a lot of buffer time.

Note: There might be train strikes, but very very rare, happens mostly in Italy. So factor in that one.

21. Buy a city card, like Paris Viste, Roma Pass, Salzburg Card etc. Its worth in some places, and not worth in other. Most city card gives free public transport in the city.

22. Goto the countryside Europe. The best part of Europe lies there. Yeah don’t miss the old town parts of a city. Its quite an experience walking in the narrow alleys.

23. Museums: If you aren’t an ardent art lover, or a historian, limit your museum visits. Saves time and money.

24. Travel light. Use laundry services in cities, where you pay about 3-5 eur and get all your clothes washed and dried.

25. Carry a spoon, fork and knife. A bottle of getarode, an apple, and a pack of chips is sometimes all you need for a meal.

26. If your hostel serves breakfast for a fee, take it, and stuff yourself in the morning.

27. Most restrooms (WC) are paid. 50cents to 1Euro. Use ones in trains. Or sometimes pay. They are shiny and clean though.

28. Travel through the night, walk during the day, chillout in the evenings.

29. When to travel: Just before the season begins. cusp. Things are cheaper, less crowded, and beautiful weather.

30. Carry an Umbrella

31. Drink. Beer is insanely cheap than water. Vodka with Redbull is cheaper than Redbull. Behave responsibly though.

32. Use blah blah cars. Its car pooling, and works out very cheap. Also you get to interact with the locals.

33. Get advice of locals. No one knows places better than them.

34. Don’t invade privacy. If you want to take someone’s picture, ask. Its rude not to ask before clicking.

35. Dress well. Look like a true backpacker. Don’t be shabby and smelly. Europeans don’t like that. Also, be gentle, greet in the local language, and use generous helpings of thank you and welcome. People appreciate that.

36. Help the elderly to get into the trains/buses etc. Its a courtesy, and you get good advice. :-)

37. Register to Buy Overseas Pay Less[backpackbang dot com] you can get some stuff while returning and they pay you.

This much for now. I’ll update if more things crop up :-)
have a great trip.!

Updates:
38. The Julian Alps regions of Slovenia, have relatively less tourists, and unexplored. So are the Tatra mountains.

39. Poland just joined the Eurail. So that’s more power for the pass

40. Eastern Europe: Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia etc are relatively inexpensive. The erstwhile Soviet region and Yugoslavian Slavic region are treasure troves.

41. Certain small towns like Colmar are very beautiful. (Colmar lies in eastern border of France towards Germany.

42. Find a friend in Europe and drop your baggage there. Start your backpack from that place. Saves time and effort.

43. Lot of people in Europe are very curious about India. Spread some good aura :-)

44. Get a multicurrency forex card. Use less cash. e-payments are abundant except for street shops.

45. Appreciate street musicians. They play for joy, and play lovely, not money. Pay them a dime.

46. Attend symphonies. The ensemble is a treat to watch. They play in national theaters / concert halls. Schedules can be obtained from tourist offices. Prices vary from 5-20 Eur

47. Don’t waste time indoors. Spend less on accommodation.

48. Farm stays are popular in Austria/Germany or any alpine regions. Live there, play with the cows, dogs and horses and pluck berries. little joys.

49. ICELAND! mmm! I need a new post for that!

50. Take river cruises. Generally city travel passes include a free or discounted river cruise. Its fun. Try the evening cruise, Lights turn on.

67,810 views • 1,793 upvotes • Updated 23 Sep, 2014

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Geetanjali Tyagi Garg, co-founder @ http://www.tripfeet.com

I’ve been to Europe twice in the last two years and always on a budget.

From my experience, the cheapest city to enter Europe from India is Prague. You can use Aeroflot ~37 - 40K. Even a multi-destination air ticket should fit into that with +/- 10%. You’ll have to try different variations.For accommodation, you can try alternative accommodation like a b&b or apartment instead of a hotel. You can try Airbnb - Vacation rentals, private rooms, sublets by the night - Accommodations on Airbnb. I’ve personally used it and my experience was quite good. The advantage of taking an apartment is that you get access to a kitchen which can be very useful. Also,take a youth hostel membership in India, it is dirt cheap and can be used internationally. It can come very handy if you need to stay in a youth hostel.Within Europe, I would recommend travelling by train unless the journey is more than 6 hours. All of Europe is very well connected by train. To save money on trains, book in advance (40-50 days) you get excellent discounts in a lot of countries like Italy, Germany and France. For example, you can get a 39 Euros ticket for 9 Euros! Don’t buy a Eurail pass. It is expensive and in many countries (Spain, Italy, France) you need to pay a surcharge on many trains. Also, don’t buy tickets on RailEurope, they are very expensive. Use the official train sites of the countries where possible. If you have to take a flight you can try a low cost airline like Ryanair.On when to travel, spring and summer are the most pleasant seasons to visit (April - September). This however will vary a bit from country to country. If you’re into skiing and winter sports you can visit from November - March as well.To get started, you can see a few itineraries for Europe here: Featured Trip Plans - All. You can compare different travel options (flights, trains etc.) and see the approx. cost of your trip as you build it.If you have any questions, I’d be happy to help!

99,395 views • 2,288 upvotes • Updated 28 May, 2013

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Vikas Prakash Singh, Exchange Student, Jan-April ‘14

I was an Exchange Student at a Business School in France for a period of four months (Jan-April 2014), below is my experience, after more than 24,900 Kilometers of train travel in 14 Countries, 29 Cities in a span of 3 months(Duration of my rail pass).

1. Book flight tickets by yourself (online). You will mostly get a better deal and also you won’t have to shell out extra and depend on the agent for rescheduling. I booked Saudi Airlines and the fare was around INR 44,000 (Roundtrip)

2. Get a Eurail Pass before you leave India, as train travel is a costly affair, considering the high exchange rate.

3. Plan properly as to which EuRail pass suits you best, depending on your duration of stay and your total projected expenses. No pass is too much for a Euro Trip! Get you pass insured as well.

4. Pack things according to what you don’t get there, what’s very expensive and what is easily available….in that order!

5. Have a basic awareness about Europe as a whole and a few countries in particular by going through sources such as Wikipedia, Wikitravel. It will help you understand and appreciate the region in a better manner

6. Learn some basic and easy cooking recipes as you will find kitchens in almost every hostel, where you can cook for yourself.

7. It is advisable to get a backpack, regular bags are not ample in size. Europe requires a lot of walking which means other types of luggage will be uncomfortable

8. If you smoke, get as much cigarettes as allowed (and don’t forget to ration). It’s pretty expensive here, probably due to very high taxes

9. Look for big supermarkets for regular purchase of grocery, beers etc. The bigger, the cheaper. There is no concept of MRP in Europe

10. Various free tours are offered in almost all major cities across Europe, look for the best one in a particular city.Sandemans New Europe tours (Home of the Famous Free Tour) are generally the best whichever city they have presence in. Do not forget to tip the tour guide towards the end (refer TripAdvisor for other such tours)

11. Refer to ‘Things to Do’ section onTripAdvisor to have an idea about activities on offer in a city

12. Refer to Wikitravel pages of the cities you are planning to visit, particularly the ‘Stay Safe’ and ‘Things to Do’ section. ‘Stay Safe’ will provide you with info about unsafe neighbourhoods as well as about regular scams

13. Staying in hostels is both cheapest as well as one of the best options. They are basically dormitories with a common washroom, kitchen, dining area etc. They are generally safe and one gets to interact with a lot of backpackers.

14. While choosing hostel, assess a hostel by assigning weights to factors such as proximity from Train Station, rating at HostelWorld (with no. of reviews), proximity from major tourist attractions (mostly old towns of the corresponding city), and obviously price. A good selection will save you on a lot of travel time as well as city public transport passes

15. Use HostelWorld (Online Hostel Bookings, Ratings and Reviews) for booking hostel. It is advisable to pre book as there have been instances of hostels being full. You wouldn’t want to roam around on the streets of a completely new city at midnight[TrueStory]! You may also use Airbnb but I felt that its good only if you are travelling in a group.

16. Ask the person at Hostel Reception for the best (and inexpensive) restaurants, tours etc. They generally provide an honest recommendation

17. Cost of travelling (Rough estimate. Among the 14 countries I visited): Switzerland>France>Germany>Austria>Spain>Italy>Portugal………Slovakia>Czech Republic>Poland>Hungary

18. Don’t hesitate to ask for directions from Police. They are mostly helpful and will be more than happy to help (Except in Amsterdam, where they will give you wrong directions and may even ask you to spill you beer [TrueStory]!)

19. Take very good care of your belongings, particularly your Rail Pass and Passport. Don’t be overconfident about your smartness, I know a lot of victims and the number is huge! One bad experience can spoil the trip!

20. Visit Czech Republic and Hungary in the middle of the exchange term, you will be delighted to see the Purchasing power of Euro (in local currency)!

21. Use Rail Planner app for finding connections. Its offline, hence can be used on the go. Also, it contains an option to look for only non-reservation trains (as far as I know, the app is not available for windows phone!)

22. You may also use Eurorail Website (Travel Europe with the Eurail train pass) for train information as a few trains in Spain were not visible on app (while we were travelling)

23. The EuRail Pass is also valid for Public Transport (mostly limited to sub-urban trains) in some cities, such as Berlin (S-Bahn), Vienna, Lisbon etc. (refer Travel Europe with the Eurail train pass)

24. Adventure activities (such as skydiving) have huge price differences at various locations, plan accordingly

25. Plan trips to expensive locations such as Switzerland, Monaco etc. in such a way that you have to stay there for least number of nights

26. Use non-reservation night trains as much as you can, it will help u save time wasted in travelling as well as cost of a night stay

27. Save beforehand, a part of the city map which may help you reach your booked hostel from the train station. Do not always rely on people or wifi hotspots

28. Go through the Directions section of the Hostel (at HostelWorld) once you have booked it

29. Do not stay at train stations during the night. One, it gets really cold. Two, its get pretty unsafe at some of the major stations. (The waiting rooms at almost all the stations close by midnight)

30. Watch out for international 'once-in-a-year’ events such Expos, Mobile Conferences, Motor Shows happening somewhere in Europe during that period

31. Get a toggle SIM (toggle mobile) if you are planning to travel a lot. It provides very cheap rates to India in 7-8 countries and free incoming while roaming in more than 20 countries. It will help you stay connected wherever you are. It is advisable to get a dual SIM phone if you are planning on using data on the go, as toggle data rates are pretty expensive

32. Ask for a chip based card (which also requires PIN for authorization), when you get a Travel Card from the your bank in India. Firstly, it will ensure a seamless transaction at various outlets. Secondly, It provides safety in case the card gets stolen

33. While in non-euro countries, be careful where you exchange your currency. Looks for the rates at several places before deciding. A crude way is to see the difference between the Buy/Sell price, it should roughly be less than 10% (the spread should be small). Hostel receptionists are generally aware of the good places

34. Keep your EuroRail pass away from cash (at a different place). In case you get mugged, the pass might not be of any use to someone else but it will definitely cost you a lot

35. Remember, if its too good to be true, its actually not true. Be careful!

Bon Voyage!

4,341 views • 57 upvotes • Written 26 Sep, 2014

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Aayush Dubey, Quora कागज था, ये मन मेरा..

The cheapest way to travel to Europe ( including London/UK) would be to:

Book a cheapest return flight to London heathrow. Heathrow is the most convenient gateway to Europe for Indians as it is in an English speaking country. Besides that it has access to a must visit beautiful city London. As Heathrow is located in West London, you get Indian food easily and the advantage of London transport which is one of the best in the world.Cheapest accomodation near heathrow will cost you anything between £30 £50 ( Holiday Inn/Travelodge/ETAP etc).To save on the travel cost in central london you can use day anytime (£17.00) or day off peak ( £8.90) travel card. You can plan visiting tourist places of your choice by using public transport ( included in your travel card). Buses would be more suitable within the city as you get to see the city and while making your journey to/from heathrow ( or your hotel). You can take the advantage of Page on londonandpartners.com map.As Windsor is near to Heathrow, you can take City Sightseeing Windsor tour. Castle ticket price is £17 which i won’t suggest for tourists on tight budget.London has lot of tourist spots ( specially museums) that are free to visit and more information could be found at Free things to see and do in LondonSince there are a lot of Indians in the UK ( specially London), you can take Europe coach tours likehttp://www.startours.co.uk/, http://www.tajtoursuk.com/ or Sona Tours from London. Star tours have the best feedback and Sona tours have the worst. There are many advantages of booking a tour from London and not from any city in India. Tours from London are more organised and value for money while the tours from India ( like SOTC or Thomas Cook etc) are more expensive. Star tours provide the best balance of european and Indian food. For example: they providde Pizza while at Rome but they also served hot Chole Bhature or idly sambhar when you are craving for Indian food.
It could be cheaper to skip the tour operator completely and plan to visit each country on your own. But for a first time visitor ( specially a tourist) i would advice against doing that as:
At Europe each country has different language, culture and people. So and even your best laid plans would require better contingency planning. Sometimes missing just one train by a few seconds will affect your plans for that day.Tour operators are experienced in making best use of idle time. They would be arranging for your food and site visits while you are sitting in the coach and watching movie or playing antakshari with co-passengers or simply enjoying the picturesque view outside.There is seperate entry for tour operators at various tourist spots like Eiffel towers so they save your time.Many times they get parking close to the tourist spots so that you don’t have to walk a lot.You don’t need to carry additional baggage in the city as you can keep most of the stuff in coach and just carry what you need at the tourist spot.Lastly, You can make a lot of friends :-)
Tips:

Travel insurance should cover UK as well.Avoid traveling from October begining till March end as Europe has a gloomy winter where most of the tourist attractions would be open for limited time of day. Also the day could be as short as from 8:00 am till 4:00 pm.Best time is during June till September where days are as long as from 4:00 am till 10 pm.You will need seperate visa for UK ( not part of Schengen visa). But this cost pays off as you get to visit London and save the overall cost by
So if you wish to visit most of the well travelled and advertised ( yash raj films) places, you should go via a tour operator. However if you want to go for a relaxing vacation/good family time you should choose only a few places to visit and avoid travelling most of your time and just touching each country.

1,374 views • 4 upvotes • Written 14 Oct, 2014

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Vamshi Muga, Passionate about people.

This answer is particularly directed towards people who go to europe for a short term visit(aka internship) for about 2 or 3 months and travel in their weekends.Although I would also suggest most of these things to full time travellers too.

1.The first question which always troubles any short term budget traveller is whether to buy eurail pass(Travel Europe with the Eurail train pass) or not.From my personal experience, I would recommend people to buy eurail pass only if you wish to travel the countries among France,Italy and Switzerland.Yes, although I accept that these are right at the top among all touristic lists but europe’s got a lot more to it(especially the eastern part of it).

2.Travelling is more about meeting people and experiencing cultures rather than aimlessly roaming from one spot to another.So the first rule would be to limit yourself to one city every weekend.This is the best way to experience the local food,local culture and the people.

3.'Couch Surfing’(http://ift.tt/wqrhQv)…this is probably the best thing that happened to me this summer.Yes, like any another first time traveller I was very apprehensive about it…seriously speaking I just thought it was another shitty website on the internet…but one experience was sufficient to completely change my view about it.People in europe are very open,accepting,trustworthy and honest(most of them).But before you start couch surfing follow these steps(this is what keeps it alive)

a.Have a complete profile describing something unique about you and your culture… and do upload some pics and give links to your facebook or google+

b.Look out for potential hosts in the website and the only way to know if they are trustworthy is through their references…so read as many references as possible and send a personalised request

c.Once you have managed a host, try to ask for their contact no and have a talk about the place to meet etc

d.Couch Surfing is all about hospitality exchange…so do not use the host’s house as a hostel…try to live with them and be a part of their life…share with them things about your culture and spend as much time as possible with them….

e.Try to attend/involve in some of the local CS meetings/CS activities within the place you live.You will be amazed to hear the stories of some full time travellers and also share your culture

f.Finally, try to be involved in some of the travel groups within the website…you will easily be able to find many travel companions in case you are afraid to travel alone

It(Couch Surfing) is free,safe and the best way to explore a city.

4.Go for a biking trip in one of the weekends….this is the best way to explore the country side in france,germany,switzerland and austria…you will be mesmerised by the beauty of the hills,valleys and rivers within these places … and also its a very good way to stay fit.

5. In case you wish not shell out euros on a eurail pass….then the best way to move around europe is through BlaBlacar(http://ift.tt/18k63Z4) or CarPooling(http://ift.tt/JmZ2HE)…these are car sharing websites that allow you to move cheaply within europe and sometimes they are even faster than the trains.

6.Spend one weekend totally away from the city..from all the buzz..in the quiet country side..this will give you a lot of 'inner peace’

To Conclude:
'Travel Alone’,'Live with the locals’ and 'Couch Surf as much as you can’ …. the best and the cheapest way to experience europe.

4,150 views • 34 upvotes • Written 28 Jul, 2014

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