Saturday, November 8, 2008

Make a good budget for European Travel


You can get still have lots of when traveling to Europe even if you think such a trip is quite expensive. The key here is to plan your trip well. Choose your meals, lodging, and mode of transportation wisely and thoroughly, and you will definitely see your money’s worth for your European trip. Coming up with a feasible budget for this trip can be a little hard, though still doable.

Exploring this kind of location can be pleasurable if you know how to get around without spending too much on your transportation. You actually have three options that make it very convenient for you to go around Europe. Taking the bus is really easy, for starters. Taking the train is even faster and saves a lot of your time. Taking the plane, lastly, gets you to far places, especially when you need to cross islands and such to get to your destinations. However, if you are thinking of taking your car or renting one, this could become tedious, especially if you are not familiar with the different road types and road conditions that you will encounter in Europe.

Intercity bus lines do not give you the hassle of purchasing tickets or passes most of the time because their passes, like that of the rail passes, have schedules of unlimited travel during your tour. So, with a single ticket, you now have city-to-city travel for any specified time you want. The catch here though is that travel time is too slow, especially when compared to air or rail. Secondly, you cannot stretch your legs because buses do lack legroom. Thirdly, some buses do not have toilet facilities on board.

While some would definitely choose to travel by bus, others would prefer to take the train instead. Train passes are still affordable and convenient for anyone who has the budget. Overnight trains do have the advantage of toilet facilities and sleeping areas, though there could be extra charges for these, even if you are a rail pass holder. Thus, it is important to be aware of this from the start.



Finally, city-to-city air travel is a cost effective alternative to both train and bus. Sadly, this alternative is often overlooked by many. Interestingly, there are indeed air carriers that offer low rates – sometimes even than train fares.

As long as you have a good budget for your European trip, anything is then possible. A clean, nice, and safe place to stay is important, so make sure to book your reservations ahead of time. This also gives you the chance to score great deals.

Things to Keep in Mind when Finding the Best Hotel Deals


When it comes to finding the best hotel deals, this could mean being in the central location or near hot tourist spots while paying the least possible costs here. Interestingly, such convenient accommodations are often seen or experienced somewhere in the suburbs.




If this is the case, then think about the time you will spend to get to a certain location. Travel time, as well as distance itself, entails costs on your part as well. Do you think you can really save money by staying in a less expensive hotel, but then you would have to spend more on fare, gasoline, and travel time? This actually defeats the purpose of staying in the suburbs rather than stay in a hotel in the city to save money in the first place.

Other memberships do reward you with discounts so these allow you to save more for your budget.
If you belong to clubs and organizations that offer such privileges, then by all means, exercise your right to getting discount rates. Still, you have to make sure that these discount packages do stand so verify with the hotels concerned first.


If you are the early bird, then there are more chances of getting good deals as well. Most of the time, especially when off-peak season, hotels offer extremely low rates that you might want to take advantage of. Chances are rare for those who do not make early reservations so be sure to keep this option in mind.

Now that we have the advantage of the Internet, making hotel reservations has certainly become easier. You no longer need a week or so just researching or reviewing a particular location. All you need to do is browse the web for a few minutes and make that booking online.

The hotel’s location is very important, as well as all other amenities and essential establishments located near or within the hotel’s range. See if the hotel is also near hot tourist destinations it. Save a couple of Euros just to keep away from dangerous and really suburb areas.

Some websites of these hotels provide a comment page for their guests to leave their thoughts on. Make sure to check the comments posted so that the selection process is made easier when finding the best hotel.


Overall, thorough research is much needed when weeding out the best hotel from the not-too-good ones. When weighing your options, focus on the areas mentioned above, and you will do just fine.