I have a week off in April and I am looking to do something spontaneous. I was thinking of adding some stamps to my passport and heading to Europe. Eastern Europe sounds cool and I figured inexpensive however the airline sites are quoting round trip tickets 1000.00 or more. I live in Florida...any sugguestions

I have a week off in April and I am looking to do something spontaneous. I was thinking of adding some stamps to my passport and heading to Europe. Eastern Europe sounds cool and I figured inexpensive however the airline sites are quoting round trip tickets 1000.00 or more. I live in Florida...any sugguestions
'Thinking of doing something spontaneous' - you might want to reconsider that phrase! :confused:

Seriously - get a cheap ticket to London and take budget airlines to eg. Prague, Tallinn, Katowice. Check at www.dohop.com - for good deals.

E Europe is different and can be less expensive providing you don't insist on 'western' food and check out non-chain hotels

Eastern Europe sounds cool and I figured inexpensive however the airline sites are quoting round trip tickets 1000.00 or more. I live in Florida...any sugguestionsWell, first suggestion, look again at airfares @:-)

Seriously, I'll be in SoFla for a meeting at the end of April / first week of May, so I've been tracking fares MIA-PRG (in addition to Latin America), and they're nowhere near $1000 :)

That said, Eastern Europe is cool (though in all honesty haven't been since the Iron Curtain fell). From what I read on another popular budget travel board, Romania is very cheap and favored by budget travelers. Bulgaria is also quite popular, but of course they use the Cyrillic alphabet, so it may be a bit more difficult to read (not a problem for some of us :D ).

One other thing to consider if you are looking not to spend too much money is Latin America. Centroamerica is close and cheap, and if you live in Fla, you may even know a little Spanish. Or is that what you're trying to get away from?

EmailKid

Well, first suggestion, look again at airfares @:-)

Seriously, I'll be in SoFla for a meeting at the end of April / first week of May, so I've been tracking fares MIA-PRG (in addition to Latin America), and they're nowhere near $1000 :)



Depends when in April... don't forget there is Easter in mid-April, when cheap fares are generally few and far between.

your right didn't thin of that..thanks

LOL...thanks; maybe i should ask where to look for cheap flights. the beginning of April everything seemed kind of expensive...I will look somemore. As far as the food and hotels..I am looking into hostels and cause i am be myself I just eat on the fly :)

It doesn't exactly narrow down the dates, but Travelocity Dream Maps will give you an idea of the fare ranges for many eastern european cities from a given airport. You can then see if any of those fares apply to your date range.

http://dps1.travelocity.com/dreamMap.ctl?dep_arp_name=MIA

It doesn't exactly narrow down the dates, but Travelocity Dream Maps will give you an idea of the fare ranges for many eastern european cities from a given airport. You can then see if any of those fares apply to your date range.

http://dps1.travelocity.com/dreamMap.ctl?dep_arp_name=MIA
In addition to the excellent Dohop (www.dohop.com) I recommended try Skyscanner (www.skyscanner.net) where you can search for a period not only a single date. If you find that Ryanair is your preferred carrier, go to their site and click on the 'Lowest Fares' (http://www.bookryanair.com/skylights/cgi-bin/skylights.cgi?language=EN&culture=GB&mode=FARE) option

I have a week off in April and I am looking to do something spontaneous. I was thinking of adding some stamps to my passport and heading to Europe. Eastern Europe sounds cool and I figured inexpensive however the airline sites are quoting round trip tickets 1000.00 or more. I live in Florida...any sugguestions

I highly recommend Krakow and Prague. For a week I would fly open jaws into one, take the train between. A great way to spend a week. Lucky you. ^

There are places in Eastern Europe that I can recommend - though most of it I will be discovering myself come this summer around the World Cup trip I have planned. I am taking a flight to Berlin (where flights can be found for April as low as $300), then taking a train down with a stop in Dresden before hitting Prague, Budapest, Bratislava and possibly Krakow.

A few places I have been, and do recommend: Macedonia is very cheap and very American friendly. Skopje, the capital is a great city to visit. Pristina, Kosovo is also a VERY inexpensive and unique destination. A couple of places on the coast where you might encounter some great weather - (not Miami weather, but still nice) are Tirana, Albania and then all up through Croatia and to the capital city of Zagreb. In addition to being in expensive and unique destinations, these are a few of the last remaining places on earth where you will find a very loving and open-armed welcome simply BECAUSE you are American, and not in spite of it. Pristina in particular is interesting as the main street into the heart of the capital is called Bill Clinton Blvd.

I recentlty paid $400 from ORD-STR R/T on KLM, booking about 4 weeks in advance. It was over $50 cheaper than FRA or ZRH on any airline for the same days. Could have saved an extra $20 by leaving on Monday instead of Sunday.

A few places I have been, and do recommend: Macedonia is very cheap and very American friendly. Skopje, the capital is a great city to visit. Pristina, Kosovo is also a VERY inexpensive and unique destination. A couple of places on the coast where you might encounter some great weather - (not Miami weather, but still nice) are Tirana, Albania and then all up through Croatia and to the capital city of Zagreb. In addition to being in expensive and unique destinations, these are a few of the last remaining places on earth where you will find a very loving and open-armed welcome simply BECAUSE you are American, and not in spite of it. Pristina in particular is interesting as the main street into the heart of the capital is called Bill Clinton Blvd.

Always nice to here about areas I'm not familiar with. Perhaps I'll reconsider my hope for a Southern (Western Europe) backpacking trip this summer to these areas.

Moldova is supposedly dirt cheap, but I've not been.

Moldova is supposedly dirt cheap, but I've not been.

A friend (whose judgement I trust) has had to go there a few times on business. He says he wouldn't recommend it. He has described it as a very unpleasant place.

I have visited Moldova once. Some things are nice. Chisinau, the capital to me still looks exactly like what I would expect a Soviet Era city to look like. At least above ground. The underground clubs and parties that swept through Prague, Budapest and the like years ago are catching up in this area. And you would be one of the few to experience the country. (Which I understand is the poorrest in Europe.) Flights are not cheap either. Usually around $500 from London.

Travelin Dreams - Summer is the perfect time to visit the area. The beaches in Albania, Montenegro and Croatia rival any in Greece and Italy. And Kosovo is expected to receive final status from the UN, granting them independence from Serbia around September. That should provide a party unlike any seen here in the US.

Eastern Europe is cheap, and well worth your time. Id say you could survive pretty well on about $30 - $40 USD per day, and thats eating well.

I agree with crox, the beaches in albania and croatia are some of the best! Either way you cannot go wrong with Eastern Europe in my book an amazing place :)

Good luck and have fun.

NW is selling some fares from S. Fl to London for less than 400. A quick search shows that NW iis also elling KLM fares to PRG from LON for about 150 roundtrip. You may even be able to pick up something for less on Skyscanner.

I was born in Kiev and would recommend it, the only problem is the visa process. Ukraine is a cool place to visit, modernizing rapidly but still has some archane soviet aspects to it, like the visa restrictions. Still though, once you get there it's dirt cheap and probably nicer than moldova.

what happened with the ukrainian visas? I thought I remembered I read back in August that they had just waived visas for US citizens and a few months before that for EU citizens. I was planning on going there next time I was in the area. Now, when I read the embassy website there is no mention of this and it is back to the old 100+ fees. Was I hallucinating back then or has there been another change in the last few months?

what happened with the ukrainian visas? I thought I remembered I read back in August that they had just waived visas for US citizens and a few months before that for EU citizens. I was planning on going there next time I was in the area. Now, when I read the embassy website there is no mention of this and it is back to the old 100+ fees. Was I hallucinating back then or has there been another change in the last few months?

There should be no change, US citizens should still get into Ukraine for free. You might still have to fill out a customs form on arrival and unless you arrive at Boryspol, it will only be in Ukrainian. LP has a good guide to filling this out. Maybe all of this will change again, this is known to happen in this part of the world.

In terms of other cheap destinations, Bosnia, Transylvania (Romania) and Macedonia all are great places that are quite cheap. Especially recommended are Sarajevo and Ohrid, two tourist destinations that should be much busier than they are.

what happened with the ukrainian visas? I thought I remembered I read back in August that they had just waived visas for US citizens and a few months before that for EU citizens. I was planning on going there next time I was in the area. Now, when I read the embassy website there is no mention of this and it is back to the old 100+ fees. Was I hallucinating back then or has there been another change in the last few months?

I heard this too last July. I saw an article in an English-language newspaper in Moscow (the Moscow Times, perhaps) that claimed that visa restrictions for US citizens would be lifted for the summer. Later in the trip (August, I think) I asked at the Ukranian embassy in Riga and they said that it only applied to US citizens with a recently expired Ukranian visa (something like the last 6 months). So I don't think they ever let US citizens in visa free.

What about Lithuania ? I went there last month and found things really cheap. And most of all, the place is safe. Unlike most destinations you mentioned above, Like Bosnia, Moldova, Ukraine... :rolleyes:

Ok, I'm joining this discussion late, but to the OP: look into LTU Airlines out of Orlando or Fort Myers to Dusseldorf (and possibly connecting to Berlin). They have some very good airfares, and if you fly to Berlin, you're only a 3-4 hour train ride from places like Poznan, Poland, or a few more hours to Wroclaw or Torun in Poland. Beautiful small towns that are cheap. Krakow and Prague are also only about 7 hours or so from Berlin by train.

As for Easter, last year I got Miami to Warsaw tickets on Swiss for $460 rt during Easter time. Of course, last year Easter was in March, and a lot of intl airfares go up April 1st, so it may not be possible this year.

OP, please update us on what you chose to do.

I have been to Russia four times and always loved it. I can definately recommend it, but then again, Moscow is not cheap. I've been there three times.
If you want Russia still in Europe, you can try Kaliningrad, which must be the least developed of Russia still. I was there in May 05. However, I do not recommend it as a touristy place. Most people point out Croatia, and I must agree with that.
Also, north or south of Black Sea is really nice; Ukraine has the VISA thing, I don't know about Turkey for US Citizens...

Lots of great suggestions- esp the flight links.

Has anyone every seen a basic country cost comparison? My travel plans have shifted a bit- friend of a friend in London has graciously offered to put us up for a few nites. We want to go into Yorkshire to visit a school my boyfriend attended.

Other than that, we crave warm weather, and museums but not too hot and everywhere we research looks good to us. :) Is there some basic site or book that has a rule of thumb cost ranking of countries- i.e. how much cheaper Portugal is than Spain if you are say backpacking vs. staying in mid range hotels.

So does this exist or do I have a business idea on my hands?

Lots of great suggestions- esp the flight links.

Has anyone every seen a basic country cost comparison? My travel plans have shifted a bit- friend of a friend in London has graciously offered to put us up for a few nites. We want to go into Yorkshire to visit a school my boyfriend attended.

Other than that, we crave warm weather, and museums but not too hot and everywhere we research looks good to us. :) Is there some basic site or book that has a rule of thumb cost ranking of countries- i.e. how much cheaper Portugal is than Spain if you are say backpacking vs. staying in mid range hotels.

So does this exist or do I have a business idea on my hands?

that would be great. But i'd imagine it'd be very hard to compile a consistent list, as everything so varied.

Lots of great suggestions- esp the flight links.

Has anyone every seen a basic country cost comparison? My travel plans have shifted a bit- friend of a friend in London has graciously offered to put us up for a few nites. We want to go into Yorkshire to visit a school my boyfriend attended.

Other than that, we crave warm weather, and museums but not too hot and everywhere we research looks good to us. :) Is there some basic site or book that has a rule of thumb cost ranking of countries- i.e. how much cheaper Portugal is than Spain if you are say backpacking vs. staying in mid range hotels.

So does this exist or do I have a business idea on my hands?

As a portuguese that has travelled troughout most of Europe (and even North America) I can say that Portugal is as cheap as it gets in Western Europe, specially in off the path places. If you're backpacking and you like camping, you will certainly have a great time spending quite few money.

But I have to say, Eastern Europe still is a lot cheaper than everywhere in Europe. The only problem is, where I live its warmer :cool:

As a portuguese that has travelled troughout most of Europe (and even North America) I can say that Portugal is as cheap as it gets in Western Europe, specially in off the path places.

Glad to hear that, I was in Lisbon briefly as a teenager and it seemed lovely. My boyfriend is very interested in seeing the Tower of Belem, and Portugal would be a great base to visit Seville from (I am dying to see the Alhambra). Hopefully I'll still remember some of my Spanish from university days.

Eastern Europe would be lovely, heard wonderful things about Prague. How cold is it there in summer?

Eastern Europe would be lovely, heard wonderful things about Prague. How cold is it there in summer?About fourth link or so when I typed Average temperature Prague (http://www.world66.com/europe/czechrepublic/prague/lib/climate) @:-)

And I loved both Spain and Portugal; Madrid a little over a year ago, and an extended stay about 20 years ago :)

EmailKid

Yep, Google is our friend. :cool:

Temp wise that sounds good. Although really I think cost and crowds are of more consideration for us than temperature.

Grabbed a ton of Europe travel books at the library yesterday including a huge Eurail guide to Europe- hopefully reading up will help narrow down a destination. My pattern though is to get excited about anywhere I read up on, so I may just make it more complicated to choose.

I would recommend to try www.ltu.de. It is a major charter carrier, leaving from Orlando, Fort Myers, Miami and New York.
As they operate quite large a/c they should offer very competitive fares. They all head to DUS (Düsseldorf, a very nice city itself with one of the most beautiful historic quarter). A lot of airlines head to E Europe from there.
With LTU, there is "bid&fly"/"Biet&Flieg" in German and you may enter your accepted price and they see if it's possible; but try to be reasonable.

In the part of eating on the plane, there will not be anything to eat if you consider lccs as they not cut on this, but never introduced.

I would recommend you Prague, Budapest and Bratislava (though the center of either Prague and Budapest has become quite expensive in the past years). Krakau is a nice place to visit as well, and Zagreb too. I would neither go to Ucrania or Moldavia, but that's just my thought.

Don't forget to visit Warsaw, a very beautiful city and the capital of Poland. Tirana and Albania in general is very beautiful as well.

centralwings is a lcc to Poland. But riding the train is cheaper and a very nice thing to meet local people. There are night-trains guarded and therefore quite secure for a nights rest.

I have a week off in April and I am looking to do something spontaneous. I was thinking of adding some stamps to my passport and heading to Europe. Eastern Europe sounds cool and I figured inexpensive however the airline sites are quoting round trip tickets 1000.00 or more. I live in Florida...any sugguestions
I, too, highly recommend staying in Prague. I was there about a year ago and was astounded how little I spent on really good food and some of the best beer in the world. I recall a decent draft beer at a nice bar for costing about 30 CZ Koruny, which was just about $1USD at the time. It's a great city, to boot!