Europe on a Tight 'R's Budget?

uniqualz on 15/03/2017 - 13:22
Last edited 15/03/2017 - 13:36

Hey All,

I just redeemed my AmEx velocity points to get me, my wife and 2 kids (15 and 11yo) to Europe.. how good was that AmEx 100k points deal?!!

Anyway, we last went thru Europe 25 years ago - back when I actually had money - and no kids. Now Europe's way different, and I'm skint. The reality of forking out for 5 weeks in Sept-Oct is starting to hit me. Thank God the airfares were free!

Does anyone have any current day redhot tips for cheap but bareable accom / internal flights / car hire / eurail pass ideas that they can suggest.. plus any other OzB tips that work these days? We fly into Istanbul on 10 Sept, then leave from Istanbul on 13 Oct 2017, so I guess we'll go south first so the kids can still swim, then do the loop north at the end as it gets colder.

We'll squeeze in a few days in Cairo too around the Istanbul bit, yeah.. how stupid are we?

Thanks,
UniQualz

Travel

Comments

  • donbot on 15/03/2017 - 14:09
    +6

    The further east you are in Europe, the cheaper it will be. Eg. Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Czech, Slovakia, Poland, etc.

    The more west you get, you'll give up one arm. Eg. France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, England, etc.

    The more north you get, you'll give up both arms and maybe a leg. Eg. Switzerland (Central, but same league), Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, etc.

    So depending on how cheap you want to be, make an itinerary that meets your budget as Europe aint Europe.

    Two of us went out for Coffee a bite at a cafe in Switzerland - cost 20 something Francs for basically a coffee and a small quiche (think a big party pie size tops)… works out say, $25 AUD.

    Three of us had about 8hrs of beers, bourbons, ordered in 3 large pizzas and bought 6 big bottles of beer for the overnight train ahead of us in Romania, I think it cost us the equivalent of about $25 AUD.

    • boomramada on 15/03/2017 - 15:53
      +1

      As ^ said, your bast case would be fly to Greece, then ( Albania, Croatia or Bulgaria, Romania, Hungry ) then Italy, then fly back to Turkey :)
      While you in Turkey, you could take a day trip to Anzac.
      Driving anywhere to or from Istanbul is boring.

      If I were you, I wouldn't fly in and out of to same country for Europe trip, not the most economical.

      Make sure book those flights in advanced or any flights you want to take within Europe.
      Good luck.

    • furys12 on 16/03/2017 - 09:47

      yep this exactly, if you want to do a European holiday on the cheap you need to forget about the things that instantly come to mind when people say European holiday like Rome or Paris and start looking east, a good thing to remember is that europe has been "civilised" (theres probably a better word, sorry various natives) for far longer then Australia and indeed a large portion of the world, you don't have to look very far to find beautiful old things and plenty of people to show you around them for next to nothing

  • tomsco on 15/03/2017 - 14:18
    +1

    With luck prices will be coming down a bit due to travel dates - when my wife and I traveled in August a few years back, we tried to averaged 40 euros a night for accommodation - not sure if that helps.

    On another point, when we were in Turkey, we went down to Marmaris - stayed at this huge all inclusive resort which was only about 30-40 euro a night. That was epic value, plus if you can hire a car, you can get to some of the nearby sites (Pammukale, ancient ruins, etc).

  • ShannonN on 15/03/2017 - 14:45
    -1

    take kids to pawn shop take out a loan on them for 50 dollars Pawn shop then has to store them, feed them etc till you redeem them

    so you dont have to take them waste money on them and you and wife can spend the extra on yourselves :)

  • Lil B on 15/03/2017 - 14:48

    me, my wife and 2 kids (15 and 11yo) to Europe

    I honestly wish you the Best of Luck, OP. I certainly couldn't handle it.

  • Donaldhump on 15/03/2017 - 14:52

    spend 5 weeks in moldova

  • The Wololo Wombat on 15/03/2017 - 15:43
    +6

    FREE TOURS. Every city has them. Pay in tips (if they deserve it)

    If you want mobile data: Get a '3 Mobile' (UK) sim (shipped here). £20 gives you 12GB of data in almost every country in Europe.

    Trivago (for accommodation) or AirBnB. A private room in a hostel is even cheaper (hostelbookers.com)

    Sell one of the children. There is a lot of human trafficking in Eastern Europe still. You should be able to negotiate a decent price.

    • enzioFirenze on 15/03/2017 - 19:28
      +2

      I agree with the 3 Mobile sim, it's bloody awesome deal, I'm currently using it. Also LycaMobile had a nice surprise for me cz they have fee free roaming in certain countries (ie: like Germany and 14 other countries) which means you get the local (AUS) rates rather than roaming rates.

  • Randxyz123 on 15/03/2017 - 18:42
    +1

    What is your budget ?

    Can you define cheap?

    • uniqualz on 16/03/2017 - 11:29

      Well.. it's kind of hard to quantify I guess.. But as my kids are teenagers, I'd like them to see some major items - Eiffel Tower/Vatican etc.. There's no point taking them to be Euro-edumercated if I scab out on the big ticket famous stuff. But to afford all that stuff these days, I hoped to get some tips on how to get it on the cheap - advanced purchase - prebook to avoid queues etc.. That kind of practical advice. I'll try to cut down on food and accom a little so I can maybe get the must-do stuff in. Kids need to see more kid stuff than cathedrals the whole time though.. Eg I want the boy to see the 80000 cappucin bones.. he'll love that..! I suspect we'll average maybe 3 days per town/city, so we're gonna be fairly busy.

      • tomsco on 16/03/2017 - 14:05
        +1

        Suppose you don't have a European parent? When I went over, I had a UK passport, got me into the Louvre for free (at least). There may be other attractions it will subsidise.

        • uniqualz on 16/03/2017 - 15:04

          Dammit.. the closest we get to that is a UK ancestry visa.. I don't think that will get us anywhere.. Probably not even into the UK soon..! :-D

  • Stewardo on 15/03/2017 - 23:06
    +3

    I find ibis hotels pretty affordable and dependable in Europe. Normally under $100 depends where you are, also "Premier Inns" in U.K. Also D.B trains and buses in Germany.
    3mobile unlimited sim is good
    Also "Rome to rio" website is good for transport ideas

  • Emli on 16/03/2017 - 10:16
    +1

    We went to Paris for a week with two kids the same age. We rented an apartment in the Bastille area for $150 a night. This was cheaper per person than a youth hostel further out. We had breakfast in our apartment and one other meal. Lunch was cheapest to eat out. We walked a lot and some of the iconic sights you could see from outside. Once a month they are free but also busy. Bought tickets for Disneyland using our Paris address and google translate. I found the Paris prices slightly cheaper than Perth but they do add up. We bought tickets to Palais Garnier to see a show and from memory they were only $70 total and we sat in a "box" on the side just like in the movies.

    • uniqualz on 16/03/2017 - 11:37

      Fantastic. Did you just do a random Google search for the apartment? Might you have the name/link I could try? Also the Garnier thing.. sounds like you scored there.. did you just front up at the ticket office for tickets? Sounds too cheap..?!

      • Emli on 17/03/2017 - 20:33

        Hi,
        Info on the Disney tickets is here. https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g2079053-i21935-k76…

        Billet Francilien

        I used Paris Best Lodge as the website to book through after doing lots of research. Have a look at crazy view apartment. As Paris is so popular, there are scam websites so I checked thoroughly before handing over any money.
        Happy travels

  • GOCAT9 on 16/03/2017 - 10:23

    Best tip ever is to make sure you buy travel insurance for the family before you go!

    • uniqualz on 16/03/2017 - 11:19

      What did you find the main benefit was for you in having it?

      • GOCAT9 on 17/03/2017 - 09:56

        Exactly the same reason as why you have insurance on your home, if you are lucky enough to own a home, or why you have at least TTP insurance on your ride!!

        Specifically, for travel insurance, look at the potential out of pocket costs you may incur in many western countries in the event of an accident. There are also lots of other inclusions relating to lost/stolen personal effects, travel delays etc, etc. it just goes on and on.

      • boomramada on 17/03/2017 - 10:14

        Imagine one of the family member got sick, what going to happen to your pre-book tickets? That's why you need to get is before you fly out.

  • Cazzle on 16/03/2017 - 13:40
    +1

    Stay Air bnb - will save you a fortune on accommodation and the people that you stay with can give you lots of local tips. I took my 21 year old daughter to Italy, Greece, Crotia and Turkey for 4 weeks last September and October and we had a ball. Also in most air bnb's you have access to the kitchen - even if you just do breakfast there - or make a sarnie for lunch, that can save you biiiiig bucks.
    Hop on hop off busses are fabulous - we took one in every city that we visited. First loop we stayed on all the time to see all the sights then went around again getting on and off as we pleased to see the spots that we wanted to. Most times we booked it as a 2 day pass as it is only marginally more than a one day pass and we used them as public transport to get around. Also if you show your ticket from any other hop on/hop off bus in the last year, you get 10% off the fare which meant we ended up with one free by the time we were done.
    In Italy, pizza or "sandwiches" (actually massive rolls filled with your choice of meat and salad/vegetables) are a very cheap and filling meal - one was big enough for the 2 of us and very tasty.
    Dont go on organised tours - get the local bus or train for about 1/4 of the price. When in Florence, we wanted to go to the Leaning Tower of Pisa - tours were around 80 euros for half a day. We got the local train for 8 euros then a bus for 2 euros and spent all day there.

    • uniqualz on 16/03/2017 - 15:02

      Awesome, thanks Cazzle!

  • moar bargains on 16/03/2017 - 20:59

    I went to write Europe for 7 weeks 2 years ago with my wife. Here are some of our tips.

    As others have said, use air bnb or booking.com for accommodation​. Quite often hostels are not the cheapest option anymore. If you do want/need to stay at a hotel for some reason, Ibis budget hotels are great​. Small rooms, but cheap, clean and all you need especially if you're out all day.

    Don't get eurail passes unless you don't know where you're going next, or plan on doing a lot of train trips (like intercity every day). Always cheaper to book train tickets in advance if you have some idea of an itinerary.

    Easy jet is a pretty good low cost carrier. I've got a few tips there if you go that way.

    Limit yourselves to max 1 meal eating out a day. Try and rent apartments with cooking facilities and​ cook yourself. Make simple meals. We ate bread rolls and butter for breakfast. Sandwiches from the supermarket for lunch and cooked very simple meals for dinner. We still laugh about how bogan we must've looked sitting on a park bench in Switzerland buttering our rolls. If you're eating out, lunch is a better meal to do so.

    Get a card with no foreign transaction fees, and always, always decline any "helpful" suggestion that you can pay in $AUD. Check your credit card for travel insurance. Sometimes all you have to do is pay something on your trip (book a tour, pay for accommodation) with your card and your whole family is covered. But check inclusions compared to something else.

    Basically, use this time now to do your research, and to can save heaps.

  • JoyVee on 16/03/2017 - 21:58

    In Paris, under the Madeline building, next to Madeleine metro, there is cheap eatery. You pay nominal amount to join and get small entree and Main course and ice cream or yoghurt for dessert. Costs about 11 Euros. Water provided, coffee extra. Called " Le Foyer" Is on left hand side as you face main front steps where people sit to eat lunch in sun.Was about 4 years ago when I was there, maybe someone can update details. This underground cafe is run by volunteers and subsidizeS homeless people. Local suits and office workers seem to be main patrons. Food season able and delicious. Worth a visit.

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