Off the topic but how to travel cheaply in Europewithout getting bushwhacked or

>Has anyone driven?

Just a bit :) What did you want to know? Where are you going?

There use to be a pass called something like "Euro rail pass" which was excellent value. Depending on your age there may be special rates available for students and/or under 25s.

Bus services vary from country to country but are usually pretty cheap.

These days I would have to advise against hitch-hiking :(

Mike Harding

There has to be an oxymoron there somewhere!!

Cheap, comfortable, Europe.

Nice reasonably priced wine though. LOL

Son was over last year for about eight weeks.

Used pensions/backpackers accomodation and local transport.
Got a 3 day and 5 day rail passes to suit travel plans.

Cost him about 50 euros a day once landed including everything , food, lodging, entry to main places of interest. But he is known to travel cheap, must have got it from somewhere :o)
Live off the local food where you can.
Sister was over in 2006 and the three of them hired a car. Petrol was the killer.

My Daughter & Son in Law hired a motor home for a couple of months in Europe & they were very happy, I can try to get you details if you like.

We drove Germany for a time in 2006 and 2007 and found it great, Hostels are plentiful and cheap and comfy (saw them didn't experience them) and the trains there are excellent. Mike Europass suggestion is a good one too.

Rome keep your money in your bodybelt but everywhere else (in 2006 we did Germany Italy, Austria, Lichtenstein was wonderful, Oh we did Switzerland too.

Trains are excellent.On time, fast plenty of scenery. I rode a motorbike in 99 and even then the petrol price was a killer.Most affordable accom. is camping (difficult if travelling by train) followed by hostels (clean and comfortable ). Better still is relatives and friends. Also remember the further north you go the more expensive everything gets. If you're only going for 4 wks perhaps a 2 wk tour then go back to somewhere you liked. My advice is don't try to see too much.It becomes a merry go round of castles and cathedrals
Happy travels Stuart

Hi, Wife and i did it in 2002. 28 years old at the time. Hired a car for 7 weeks, just make sure it is a diesel. Stayed mainly in caravan parks in a tent or cabin. Did alot of cooking in a trangia stove(Very good when you get familiar with it). Ate out a bit. The menu of the day in France(mainly countryside) 25 euros each for 5 courses including wine. Driving is very easy in europe. Just make sure when turning right, turn tight.
Matt

Hi. Myself and the wife did it for 6 months in 2005. We tried most forms of transport, hire car, train, bus, ferry and aircraft.

There are pros and cons for each, but with the time period that you have I would go train. (Unless you are going long distance, ie from anywhere to England, mind you the ferry trip was pretty good.)

The public transport in Europe is many times better than what you will get here in Oz. Trains go just about everywhere, at all hours of the day. Can also spend overnight on the train, costs a bit more but then you dont have to worry about accomm.

We spent some time in car (leased it through Renault Eurodrive, much better rates over a long period and less hassle than renting.) Personally I found a car to be a pain in the a$#, unless you want to get right out into the boondocks. Most accomm dont have parking, which means you have to find parking on the street, drive on the wrong side of the road, directions in foreign languages, maps which were wrong, price of fuel, tolls, wrong directions etc etc. City driving and parking each night was the most hassle.

Other benefits include, food service (buy before you travel if you can, much cheaper), no arguments with the missus when she or you misread the map, want to sleep just lean your head over and fall asleep, less stress, arrive safely, enjoy the scenery while you travel.

Most of the hotels/hostels were close to public transport, might have to catch a train or a bus, but believe me it was a lot less hassle.

Tours are great if you want to see a lot of sights in a short amount of time, but dont expect a lot of time at each place and too bad if you see something you want to have a look at but cant. It is also a full day, on the bus by 7am and not at the hotel until 7pm.

Euro pass, do your homework prior to leaving. Sometimes it is worth it, sometimes not. We did a Europass, but my missus was a travel agent so we got it fairly cheap. If we didnt, we did the sums afterwards and it wouldnt have been worth the money. Remember, you will have to pay reservation fees and other fees. If you are doing a lot of trips in a very short time frame it may be worth it.

Airfares are pretty cheap but beware of the pitfalls. Most of the airports are quite a way from the citys etc, which means train fares, long time travelling etc. Trains may be a bit more expensive initially, but saves the transfer. Most train stations are in the middle of the city, so you dont have to worry about getting to the airport, checking in, hanging around, getting on the plane, travelling, getting, getting your baggage, getting out and then travelling by train to the city.

For accomm, depends on what you want but accomm over there is a lot more expensive than here, along with everything else. We stayed in hostels mainly and were pretty happy. Check out a couple of websites, www.hostelz.com, www.hostelworld.com. We found them pretty good.

Expect to pay a lot more over there than what you will pay over here.

Probably babbling on here, but it isnt helped by the few bourbons that are in the belly at the moment.

We had a ball when we did it.
Spent heaps, (could have bought a new 100 series) but would we do it again, without doubt, even if it cost us half again.

Enjoy,

Chook

Try and stay away from the hostels in brataslavia no matter how good looking and plentifull the women are

Hi, on top of what's already been said, a mate and i started our three month trip in the uk and hired a car. No probs there with driving/parking etc as before. One thing which took getting used to was our bearings, sun is on the other side of you (north-south type of thing) although it only led us the long way a couple of times!! and also we were there in summer and headed up to Scootland and found ourselves a couple of times driving at 9pm and not realising it was so late because the sun was still well and truly up and going 'crap! we'd better find somewhere to sleep!'. When this happened we would usually be ages away from anywhere.(lol) Deffinately had no probs driving through England, Scotland ane Ireland, and would do that part of europe the same again. We did a bus tour thru continental Eu as well as backpacked, be we tavelled by cheap airflights and train. With the eurorail pass the seats can sometimes be limited on particular trips also. But the trains were good, spent 7 weeks on a bus,was good. Europe is good!!!! Also check out bus-a-bout. buy a ticket and get on get off type of thing. YHA offer discounts on some of these things, worth a look. Have fun, Paul. We stayed at hostels and some b&b's, and they were fine. A money belt/pouch is a good way to go. I wore my pouch around my waist hanging in front of my groin(under my shorts). If there was anyone trying to pinch my gear i would certainly know about it!!!!

Chris/Lindsay

1. We toured UK & Europe way back in the 60s. We purchased a small motor home (pre arranged ready for us to pick up on arrival) in London. Apart from when doing the important cities, we did the 'bush camping' thing, although a little harder to find good spots than in Australia, and we did stay in some unusual spots. Someone recently did a similar thing, and still found adequate free camping. We brought the vehicle back home with us by ship.

2. On of my work colleagues, who was originally from England and his wife was French, toured with their young family in an old car they purchased in UK cheaply. I think they stayed mainly at B&Bs. When leaving from Paris airport, he GAVE the car to the rather astonished luggage boy. The purchase and give away worked out much cheaper than a hire car.

3. A caution on Rome. My boss and his wife went to Italy last year, and when they got to Rome, used their ATM/Credit cards. Within a matter of hours, their cards had been copied ('skimmed' when used in the ATM) and all their credit limit gone in a number of quick transactions, and they were left with no access to money at all. Others have said yes, Rome is bad for crime.


Motherhen

Hi,

it´s hard to say do this do that. Europe has a size like Oz but it has a lot of different countries, civilisations, customs, conventions, big differences between prices etc. and it is absolutely not incomparable with Oz. A cheap but comfortable travel for about 4 weeks is in my eyes a hard work. It´s better you say what countries do you prefer and what do you like to do. The best way for travelling in Europe is to hire a mobil home. Yes indeed, the fuel here in Europe is very expensive, diesel too but it varies for country to country. The costs in Germany e.g. are like in Oz but in Euro.

Cheers
Helga