Thanks to BMI's very gracious fare ORD-MAN, I'm set to visit Europe for the first time 30Aug-7 Sept; and being a serviceman, would like to do it budget style. My early thinking right now is to make it down to London and do the sites, possibly visit Normandy also, or fly/take the train to Germany, where a friend of the family lives in Moenchengladbach that would provide me with a few days of free German hospitality.
So, budget travel board, help me out! What are the good guidebooks, the way to find good hostels/cheap hotels, great things for a single 21/m to do in Europe for a week, etc... I welcome any/all advice!
I also have the option, being in the Air Force, of skipping the return flight home and trying to fly Space-Available later from one of the bases, but I would prefer not to do this as it is not guaranteed, and I would have to buy a last-minute ticket to SAT from wherever I land (most likely New Jersey or South Carolina)
In advance, Thanks!
okko
Oct 14, 05, 8:58 pm
Having visited MAN possibly ca. 20 times over the past two years, I have at least a vague idea about the flight connections to/from MAN – so I hope I will be able to help you at least somewhat.
(i) Travelling between Manchester and London
(a) Flights
As you might be able to book quite far ahead, flying between Manchester and London could actually work out very cheap.
(b) coach & train
As for myself, I would avoid these in the UK – although for example the coach company, National Express, is quite often a reasonable option for tourists as the company has a nationwide network.
http://www.nationalexpress.com/
(c) budget accommodation in London
http://www.discountcityhotels.com/London/Hotels/Caring-Hotel-Paddington-INFO.htm
- don’t have much experience on that front, but I think this one is reasonable (stayed there 3 nights once)
(ii) Travelling between Manchester and UK/Europe (by air)
(a) Low-cost flights to/from MAN e.g.:
www.jet2.com
www.ryanair.com (only MAN-DUB)
http://www.hlx.com/de/ (between MAN and Germany)
www.flybe.com (intra-UK from MAN)
www.airberlin.com (between MAN and Germany)
http://www.airsouthwest.com/ (to South of England)
And for example www.opodo.co.uk is good for checking prices on more traditional carriers;
http://www.dohop.com/ gives low-cost options between city-pairs – do check the budget travel forum for other web sites
(b) Random ideas
If you´re prepared to travel a bit further, you could e.g. fly MAN-Mediterranean w/ http://www.flymonarch.com and come back through e.g. Germany; or why not fly to Estonia http://www.estonian-air.ee/?keel=eng (MAN-TLL – could be as low as 50USD if you book in advance) and fly to Germany from Tallinn
(iii) Other stuff
- Train timetables in Europe (German railways – but I recall there’s an English language version)
www.bahn.de
...you mentioned possibly visiting Mönchengladbach. I believe the most convenient airports would be Düsseldorf (DUS), Köln-Bonn (CGN) and Dortmund (DTM).
Options from MAN (at least):
(i) MAN-DUS
Currently it's only BA and Lufthansa that fly this route - you'd probably have to book a return ticket to get a decent deal.
(ii) MAN-CGN
www.hlx.de will most probably provide a cheaper alternative
(iii) LPL(Liverpool)-CGN
I believe easyjet fly this route, and it could work out quite cheap as well; www.easyjet.com
emailkid
Oct 14, 05, 10:24 pm
Thanks for taking the time to post all that info ^
EmailKid
Budget Travel Moderator
terrysalmi
Oct 14, 05, 11:14 pm
Thx for the links...I don't know what's gonna be more fun, the trip or planning it over the next 10 months... :)
farci
Oct 15, 05, 4:15 am
Don't forget the easiest way to plan flights is through:
Skyscanner (http://www.skyscanner.net)
or
Dohop (http://www.dohop.com)
colmc
Oct 15, 05, 5:11 am
As for myself, I would avoid these in the UK – although for example the coach company, National Express, is quite often a reasonable option for tourists as the company has a nationwide network.
http://www.nationalexpress.com/
Another one to check (if anyone is going anywhere by coach in the UK) is www.megabus.co.uk, a "budget" coach company which works on the same principle as the low cost airlines.