Budget Travel - ASAP!!!Need inexpensive European Vaction Option after I leave Paris

We have only traveled to Europe a few times........We will be in Paris from March 6 -10.. After Paris we were suppose to head to Amsterdam from March 10-15 and stay with friends for free. That has fell through, so now we are not going to do Amsterdam. We have not booked any plane tickets yet.. The only plane ticket we have is the one in the begging of the trip from Barcelona to Paris. We will be headed back to Barcelona on the 15th.

So we need somewhere to stay from Tuesday to Saturday before we head to Barcelona!! Anyone have any ideas of places we can go in Europe, that are reasonable to get to by plane/train and pretty good hotel price options...

I have thought of Split, Madrid, Milan, Rome and Lisbon so far which i am exploring..

I am so nervous since I leave in 1 weeks to start my trip!!!! I am open to city or country-side exploring

Any Suggestions?????????

Edit: Sorry if I left out details.. I am a newbie so give me a little slack... Sorry for the ASAP!! I was just panic mode since the trip is approaching next week..

I wil be in Paris from March 6 -10.. After Paris we were suppose to head to Amsterdam and stay with friends for free that fell through so now we are not going to do Amsterdam. we will head to Barcelona on the 15th

So we need somewhere to stay from Tuesday to Saturday before we head to Barcelona!! Anyone have any ideas of places we can go in Europe, that are reasonable to get to by plane/train and pretty good hotel price options...

I am sooo nervous since I leave in 1 weeks to start my trip!!!!

Any Suggestions?????????

Why not somewhere in southern france? It gets u closer to barcelona anyways.

Why not somewhere in southern france? It gets u closer to barcelona anyways.

I guess because I spent almost two weeks in Cannes, Nice area about 6 months ago wen it was summer.. How is south of france during this time???

Can be windy and quite cold on the Mediterranean coast.

I gotta say I really hate posts that start with ASAP!!!! And don't list interests or anything other then somewhere in europe.

If someone wants help, they should provide more details about their travel plans and interests. Do you already have a flight booked from Paris to Amsterdam and amsterdam to Barcalona? If not what flights do you have booked, what are your interests? Do you want to visit a city or would you rather go to the country side? What is your level of travel experience, would you feel comfortable traveling to the balkins?

sorry, about the rant there are just too many posts in this the budget travel section with 'need it cheap and need it now'

I
sorry, about the rant there are just too many posts in this the budget travel section with 'need it cheap and need it now'

+1 ^

Since you are going to Barcelona anyway, maybe you could go a bit earlier and stay those extra days in that area. Take a look at hotel rates north of there along the coast - Costa Brava area. www.venere.com and others like Orbitz and Hotels.com. Those hotels are really struggling now. I found a 4* for under $40 in Calella a month ago. Including 1/2 board!!

Romelle

And I do agree there is no need for the ASAP. This board is the fastest I know for responses, and I wander through a lot of them. Also you get the best, most specific information. Unless of course you, um, tick?, everybody off by being too demanding.
And "inexpensive" means a lot of different things to different people. Youth hostel or 4* instead of one's usual 5*?? Couch surfing?

Thank you everyone for your responses.. I apologize if I have offended people with the "ASAP" in the title.. I am a new at the posting thing.. I see i don't need to do this again in the future.

Thanks for the love anyway!!!;)

OK, so the rest of what you need to do is let us know how you are doing. Intermediate/thinking/planning reports are good, but the minimum is to let us know the ending - your decisions and even how they turned out. FYI.

Sometimes the intermediate ones can even help you, because people will jump back in and help you fine tune after they know a little bit more as to your thinking and directions.

Romelle

Not to pick a fight, but you really missed the main point of my post. The ASAP is one thing, but asking for it 'ASAP' and then leaving out the details needed to answer your question is what annoys people.

If you want the best help and ideas, answer the following questions:

1. What flights do you have booked now? Are they flexible tickets?
2. How much are you looking to spend, what do you mean by 'inexpensive?'
3. What is your level of travel experience/how adventurous are you?
4. What are your interests, what kind of place would you like to visit

Thank you everyone for your responses.. I apologize if I have offended people with the "ASAP" in the title.. I am a new at the posting thing.. I see i don't need to do this again in the future.

Thanks for the love anyway!!!;)

The answers too your questions are as follows:

1. I only have the Barcelona to Paris ticket booked..

2. We are adventurous, but this is our second time to Europe...

3. In expensive to me is anything under 100 bucks!!! preferably around 65 though would be great! I prefer a hotel over a hostel.

4. We are really open to visiting anyplace that has a broad range of things to do ans see!!!!

THANKS

great, this information will help people give the best possible advise. By Barcelona to Paris i take it you booked a round trip from the US (or wherever) to Paris and then a one way from Barcelona to Paris to meet that flight?

There are others who can give you much more details information about an itinerary, but here are some general ideas. With such short notice, I would recommend the train over flying, flights are likely to be more expensive as such short notice and you can avoid the hassles of the airport. Europe's rail system is really good too, nothing like ours in the US.

Take a look at a rail map, broadly speaking the south of France is a good place to look. If you are under 25 you can generally get discounted rail tickets. You should do fine with 65-100 bucks (I think you mean USD) for a tourist class hotel.

The answers too your questions are as follows:

1. I only have the Barcelona to Paris ticket booked..

2. We are adventurous, but this is our second time to Europe...

3. In expensive to me is anything under 100 bucks!!! preferably around 65 though would be great! I prefer a hotel over a hostel.

4. We are really open to visiting anyplace that has a broad range of things to do ans see!!!!

THANKS

Check out regions around Paris, such as the Loire Valley, Burgundy or work your way south to Bordeaux. Another option, fly back to Barcelona and head north of there for a few days or to Bilbao. One last option, fly to Madrid. Madrid is awesome. From there take the highspeed train back to Barcelona or fly from Madrid Back to Barcelona. Madrid is a large capital city and will have a full range of different priced lodging. Also checkout whichbudget for flights. ASAP! Sorry I couldn't resist. Flying in many cases will be cheaper and faster than the train, even at this late date. I just saw on the above website Paris to Madrid 47.00 euro per person one way. Madrid to Barcelona is 35 to 70 euro per person via air versus 169 euro per person on train.

You may find that the website www.laterooms.com (European section) may help with finding rooms. If you are in France, you should find accommodation at Campanile, Formule1, Etap, and Ibis hotels fall within your budget for starters.

You may find that the website www.laterooms.com (European section) may help with finding rooms. If you are in France, you should find accommodation at Campanile, Formule1, Etap, and Ibis hotels fall within your budget for starters.

Balladins is also another decent budget chain.

I would stay with your original plans, and visit Amsterdam.

It looks like you can Priceline (name your price) a 3 or 4 star hotel in Amsterdam for well within your stated budget.

Look at biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com for winning bid amounts.

I second that. I got a 4* hotel in Amsterdam for $64 a night on Priceline and I think it's mainly because a newish hotel chain is doing aggressive marketing. NH Hotels is giving a lot of Priceline bargains. It's reasonably cheap to use the Thalys train Paris-Amsterdam, you can book online.

Not saying that this is my prime suggestion for what you should do--you may prefer to explore more major cities (the suggestion to go ahead to Amsterdam is probably a good one)--but for some reference material, check out this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/france/893485-couple-days-paris-couple-more-countryside-maybe.html) for some ideas of where to spend a few relaxing days in France outside of Paris.

I ended up staying in a B&B just outside Dijon. Beautiful place with a wonderful host, and the rate was only 55EUR per night. See the last post in the above-linked thread (post #26) for the name of the place and a link to my TripAdvisor review.

As I said, it's just an idea that you can read about...but if I were in your shoes, I'd probably go with a bigger city, since it looks like you want a place with a lot to see and do, and save something like this for when you are looking for a more relaxing retreat.

Amsterdam is a good choice, as is Madrid or some of the cities in the south of Spain (like Seville--great town). Rome is fun, too. You can stay pretty cheaply in nice pensiones in Spain (and their equivalents in Italy)--small guesthouses usually run by a retired person or couple with private rooms and either private or shared bathrooms (they're really a neat way to get more acquainted with the local culture as opposed to a large, corporate hotel). Pick up a Let's Go, Lonely Planet or Rick Steves guidebook to your preferred destination to find some suggested places to stay.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions so far..

Amsterdam is out as of now because the tickets in and out have been high all week and will continue to get higher.. plus the hotels.


A couple of places I am exploring for options are going back to Spain and exploring Spain as someone suggested

Expanding the Paris portion and stay for an extra few days or so.

-Going to Rome or Milan which the plane tickets are reasonable, but of course we have to still get a hotel!!

-Going to Lisbon because my sisters friend has offered their place for us to stay. though the one way tickets from Paris to Lisbon will be like 115 bucks w/ our bag pp. plus a return ticket back to Barcelona...

I can't offer any help as to prices, but you might like to consider travelling from Paris to Lisbon by train. OK so it's an overnight, but you will get to see a lot of different countryside en route - France, Spain and Portugal. Details from www.bahn.de - and the site can be changed to English ........ IMHO the best one for all European travel overviews!

"A couple of places I am exploring for options are going back to Spain and exploring Spain as someone suggested"


Southern Spain will be in the 70's in March.

We have only traveled to Europe a few times........We will be in Paris from March 6 -10.. After Paris we were suppose to head to Amsterdam from March 10-15 and stay with friends for free. That has fell through, so now we are not going to do Amsterdam. We have not booked any plane tickets yet.. The only plane ticket we have is the one in the begging of the trip from Barcelona to Paris. We will be headed back to Barcelona on the 15th.

So we need somewhere to stay from Tuesday to Saturday before we head to Barcelona!! Anyone have any ideas of places we can go in Europe, that are reasonable to get to by plane/train and pretty good hotel price options...

I have thought of Split, Madrid, Milan, Rome and Lisbon so far which i am exploring..

I am so nervous since I leave in 1 weeks to start my trip!!!! I am open to city or country-side exploring

Any Suggestions?????????

Edit: Sorry if I left out details.. I am a newbie so give me a little slack... Sorry for the ASAP!! I was just panic mode since the trip is approaching next week..

So I have decided to go to Lisbon.. Our ticket There was kind of expensive but, Overall I am very happy with the price of my entire trip!!!!!
Since this is the budget section I want to give a break down on how I am going to FRANCE, Spain, portugal for about $500 for 2 weeks!!!!!

For around $520
$144 ----Ticket from DCA-BCN ( found in November Mileage-run deals)
$27pp @4* hote lBarcelona---- (used hotelclub $20+$20 promo)
$46----Barcelona to Paris flight
$0.00- 4 free nights from the last minute travel promo paris 4 * hotel Champs Elysees
$120-----Paris to Lisbon Ticket
0.00------Staying with someone is Lisbon for 5 days
$60-------Lisbon Barcelona ticket
28.67pp---Barcelona 4* hotel in Sagrada Familia area (called expedia and complained and was given 50 off)
28.89pp---Barcelona 4 Hotel ( used expedia 20 off coupon)
31.87pp---Barcelona 4*(expedia 25 off coupon) same hotel as other nights!!
Head back to Us w/ Stayover in Madrid.
33.00pp----4* hotel Gran Via area Madrid!!!!


This is only possible because of the wonderful post here on Flyertalk!!!! It sure took some days of being on the computer around the clock to research, compare but it is all worth it!!!!


I can't wait to fill everyone in When I return.. Wednesday is onlya few days and my trip will begin!!!!


Thanks for all recommendations..

PS.. While in Paris.. It's the first Sunday so I will be able to see a couple museums for free!!! Yah!!!!! I mean this trip is basically free!!!;)

Have a wonderful time ........... and perhaps you'd like to report back after you return home.