Budget Travel - Europe - 2 weeks and $3,000 where to go?

2 non-experienced travelers...

I've never been to Europe, Italy is a must. I don't even know where to start planning... any suggestions on how to get the most out of this amount of time and money and where to go would be awesome!

$3,000 before or after you purchase airfare to Europe?

before. and 3,000 each

Tracie, go to the library tomorrow morning and get an armload of travel books and videos. Rick Steves is a good intro for those who have no idea what's over there, but, anything will help more than people throwing random suggestions at you. You need to narrow down your search by something, be it a country or theme of interest such as food, wine, art, hiking, language, architecture, shopping, a certain kind of scenery that you like, whatever.

You have enough time that you don't need to stay in one place the whole time unless you want to. So, remember to consider open jaw itineraries. You can get a lot of places in Europe nonstop from Chicago but if your trip is this summer, it is late to book: you may spend almost half of your budget on airfare.

/pbz
PS: Italy is great for starters but there is a lot to it. Will you focus just on Italy, if so, pick a part or parts to focus on. If you will visit another country, think about what countries are reasonably close and how you would travel between them. Trains may be a valuable tool for you.

can help you better if you provide more info.
when r u thinking of going?
what particular interest do you have?
what languages do you speak?
with more info we can give better advice

Things to think about right now:

I suggest you buy something like Lonely Planet 'Europe on Shoestring' it'll give you an overall idea of destinations and costs for those on a budget.

Pick your starting point in Europe then sort out your US-EU flight ASAP especially if you're looking for the summer.

Once in Europe is it going to be -

Trains - Railpass let you see more and you can sleep on overnights therefore saving the cost of a night in accommodation and you can be more flexible with your plans.

Planes - Low cost airlines are widespread here, but you'd need to book early for really cheap fares which means a fixing your itinerary in advance.


When you've decided what you want to do and see, come back and I'm sure we can help fill in some of the blanks.

PPS: You're going to have a great time. When you have it narrowed down to some countries and have a few ideas of things you might like to see or do while over there, and a rough idea when you're going, come back here and people will be more than glad to help. Since this is the 'budget travel' forum remember to ask for whatever advice you'll need on inexpensive overnight accomodations and intercity travel while on the continent.

Depending on what time of year you're going, remember that Iceland Air goes to Europe via Keflavik & on fares to Europe, I believe you get a free stopover for upto a week in Iceland. Driving is on the right side of the road & you can camp almost anywhere if you want to do it superbudget.

I'd recommend flying into a major city (not London - they just significantly increased taxes to fly direct into the UK from the US) as fares will be cheaper. I'd recommend flying into Amsterdam as it's cheaper. From there, use the train to travel to city centers. Renting a car isn't necessary if you're trying to hit major city centers as flights & trains will do - but, if you want to have a great experience, rent a car & roadtrip. You said Italy is a must - when I was there with a buddy of mine, we rented a car for a week and drove from Rome through Tuscany & up to the Alps down into France, hitting Nice & Monaco, and then back down to Rome - we did that roadtrip in 6 days & I saw more of the Italian country-side & wine region than I would have had I not had a car.

Here's a link to some cool country-side hotel that aren't really supercheap, but they aren't as expensive as city center hotels - http://www.silencehotel.com/.

Depending on the fares, time of year for travel & your travel style, which is budget I'm assuming given you've posted here, I'd recommend doing US-Iceland (3 days) to Europe. In Europe, I'd fly into Amsterdam, spend 3 days there, then take the train to Paris, spend a few days there then down to Italy & see Rome & Venice & the Tuscany region - spending about a week there since that seems to be a focal point of your trip.

If you haven't traveled very much before, you may want to consider a tour. They are not right for everyone (personally I prefer traveling on my own and setting my own schedule and itinerary) but if you are very new to traveling and don't have a clear idea of what you want to see, a tour might be a good way of seeing a few highlights, then you can come back on your next trip to spend more time in the places you really enjoyed. A tour price should fit your budget (which I wouldn't really consider "budget travel", but anyway :D )

Some other things to think about:

-what time of year are you traveling? If it's in the next few months, Northern Europe will be rather cold, and may not have the best weather for touring around.

-are you interested in seeing museums? historical sites? beaches? shopping? hiking outdoorsy stuff? By figuring out what you want to do, you'll be in a better position to determine which countries/cities should be a priority.

Even if you don't take a tour, you might want to look through the itineraries of some to see what sounds interesting, and use that as a basis for an itinerary of your own trip. I do that all the time.

Beautiful, sunny, historic, amazing...but much cheaper to my mind would be Portugal. It might be my new love. You could stay much longer than in Italy. Just a thought. It won't be the only time you go to Europe, and Italy will still be there is what I'm saying. Also, Rome was everywhere, for instance, in Lisbon, they are excavating an old Roman theater. If you go to England -- not that I suggest you do on $3,000 -- then you have the old ruins in Bath and even in London. They really did go everywhere and if you need to economize, an alternative may be to research what Roman remains are to be found in the area you are visiting. So you get a little taste of Italy wherever you go and still economize.

Check out my cool Lisbon/Sintra pictures:

http://peachfront.diaryland.com/lissin06pix.html

These were done with a cheap pocket Elph. Think of what you could do with a real camera! And food and wine is to be had for a song in the area.

Beautiful, sunny, historic, amazing...but much cheaper to my mind would be Portugal. It might be my new love. You could stay much longer than in Italy. Just a thought. It won't be the only time you go to Europe, and Italy will still be there is what I'm saying. Also, Rome was everywhere, for instance, in Lisbon, they are excavating an old Roman theater. If you go to England -- not that I suggest you do on $3,000 -- then you have the old ruins in Bath and even in London. They really did go everywhere and if you need to economize, an alternative may be to research what Roman remains are to be found in the area you are visiting. So you get a little taste of Italy wherever you go and still economize.

Check out my cool Lisbon/Sintra pictures:

http://peachfront.diaryland.com/lissin06pix.html

These were done with a cheap pocket Elph. Think of what you could do with a real camera! And food and wine is to be had for a song in the area.


I completely agree with Peachfront about Portugal. I took my SO to Europe for his 50th last, year, and managed to stick to a $3,000 CDN budget (for two) for 10 days (airfare included) -- the budget was firm, as we also travelled with a friend who had only very limited funds on which to travel.

Our itinerary was YYC-LGW-LIS-CDG-YYC, all cobbled together with LCC and BA -- check the LCC sticky reference on this forum.

England is extremely expensive to Canadians, and our budget would've been blasted if we hadn't utilized Travelodge's extensive hotel network. Check out their internet specials -- I didn't spend over $50 CDN/night for London accommodation, and that is certainly one hell of a bargain.

Portugal is a lovely country, ignored by most North Americans, and cheap by Northern European standards. I stayed at a luxury hotel on the coast for 75 Euros a night, but you can find many cheaper hotels and/or guest houses in and around Lisbon. Sintra, Obidos, and Evora were simply amazing, and the sights that they offered rivalled anything that I saw in England and France. As a definite and added plus, the food was extraordinary, and I still dream about the many excellent seafood dinners that I had in Ericeira. Yum!

Paris lodging can be very expensive, but there are few good deals to be had -- take a look at the typical hotel review sites. You should be able to find a decent room in one of the inner districts for about $100/night.


Good luck -- with a bit of planning, you should be able to travel where you want, when you want, and within a reasonable budget. You'll have a wonderful time!

Paris lodging can be very expensive, but there are few good deals to be had -- take a look at the typical hotel review sites. You should be able to find a decent room in one of the inner districts for about $100/night.

Can you recommend any websites for Paris lodging?

Hope I'm not breaking any rules here, but I found that Venere.com often has pretty good deals for Paris, and you should check out TripAdvisor as well. I have to admit, though, that I used neither of those for my trip; I stayed at the Hotel de L'Avre (no website, 70-85 Euros per night, in October), which has an excellent location in the 15th district that's very close to the Eiffel Tower.

Hope I'm not breaking any rules here, but I found that Venere.com ...

No worries, we like to share info. It's the first / second time posters that post sites they make a profit from that are off limit.

And no, it's not because I'm a former Calgarian ;)

Posting in mod mode, EmailKid

2 non-experienced travelers...

I've never been to Europe, Italy is a must. I don't even know where to start planning... any suggestions on how to get the most out of this amount of time and money and where to go would be awesome!

Check out the usual suspects, Rome, Venice, Verona etc. The lakes (Como/Garda) and mountains in the far north are worth a visit if you have a bit of time and want to get away from the cities for a bit.

Please try not to speak loudly in an American accent though. :D :p

Try avoiding London or UK is general, as even breathing is too expensive there. Some of the Eastern European countries maybe? Prague is beautiful. The hotels can be expensive, but I've heard it is easy to rent a room in private house for very little. Once you have accom sorted, most everything else there is very cheap.

Can you recommend any websites for Paris lodging?

I like www.venere.com. It has a very wide range of hotels at all prices. Not just for Paris, either.



Edit: Oops, just reread the thread and realized info had already been posted. Just skimming can be a problem...