Seeing Europe, One Weekend Away At A Time

August 23, 2011 2:04 AM

Help me figure out the best way to see Europe on a budget during my seven months there. Special snowflake details inside.

So I'm going to be a teaching assistant in France. (Yay!) The job comes with a lot of time off (seven weeks split into one- and two- week chunks, plus weekends.) I'd like to use some of that time to explore Europe, but given that I've travelled very little and never by myself, I'm kind of lost.

-- I'll be based in Lens, in the north of France. FWIW, I'm fluent in French and speak passable Spanish.
-- I'll be in Europe between October this year and April next year.
-- I'd like to do a mix of things- day trips, weekends, and maybe one big(gish) trip of say a week to ten days.
-- I have about 400 Euros a month to spend on travel; would it be reasonable to expect that I could do one weekend away and a daytrip on this budget, or even two weekends if I stretched it thin enough?
-- So far, these are the places I'm thinking about visiting: internationally, I'd like to do London, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Madrid, Italy (Rome, Venice and Milan), and maybe Athens or Istanbul. Within France, I'm looking at Normandy and Paris. I'd love suggestions in either category.
-- To help narrow things down: I'm not a huge nature person. Or a party animal, or even much of a fan of crowds. But I love history and museums and just wandering around exploring a city.
-- I will eat meat if I have to, but I really prefer vegetarian food. How difficult is this going to make my life? Also, does anyone have suggestions/recommendations for foods/restaurants to try?
-- I have an account on Couchsurfing and friends I can hit up for a place to stay for a night or two, so that's sorted. But I'd like some suggestions on how to find cheap flights. Is there some sort of budget airline version of skyscanner?
-- Any other tips for a first-time (young, solo, female) traveller will be much appreciated. I've looked at previous questions, but they're mostly focused on summer travelers/people from outside Europe/people who will be here longer than a weekend.

Thanks in advance!

posted by Tamanna to travel & transportation (16 answers total)

To address a small part of your question, many tips for solo travelers, and women in particular, can be found at the excellent solotravelerblog.com. Check out the links at the top.
posted by danceswithlight at 2:27 AM on August 23, 2011

And ugh, I forgot to ask this in the main question- any recs for travel guides, for Western Europe in general and France in particular? Bonus if they have iPhone apps.
posted by Tamanna at 2:43 AM on August 23, 2011

Will you have a car, or are you only travelling by trains and planes? I thought skyscanner _was_ the budget airline search engine. It checks RyanAir, easyJet, and transavia...
posted by knile at 3:14 AM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

skyscanner already covers the main budget airlines in Europe. Ryanair fly quite a lot of routes out of Charleroi airport, which is about 1.5 hrs away from Lens. Many of the destinations that you mentioned are served directly from there. The best strategy for Ryanair is to book during special offer periods, and as far in advance as possible. Avoid checked luggage and beware of additional charges. If you manage it carefully, it should be possible to get return flights and city transfers to most of your destinations for <100EUR.
posted by Jakey at 3:20 AM on August 23, 2011

@knile: Trains and planes. And oops, hadn't realized that. I seem to remember being told that it /didn't/ check the budget airlines...
posted by Tamanna at 3:21 AM on August 23, 2011

The further in advance you make plane and train reservations, the cheaper your tickets will be. Since you know your vacation dates well in advance, make your reservations as soon as you get to France.

Just as in the US, traveling on weekdays at odd times is cheaper than going on a weekend. A caveat about Ryanair. They practically charge for the air you breathe. Bring the smallest possible bag no larger than a tote, or it will cost you. Find out before you book what the transportation costs are to and from Ryanair's airport. I found Easy Jet much easier and cheaper in the end.
posted by Elsie at 3:51 AM on August 23, 2011

If you're prepared to travel light, book months in advance and jump through a few hoops when it comes to printing out your own boarding pass, it is entirely possible to fly with Ryanair between any two European destinations for £2-3 all in. Return. I know this to be true for I have done it, many times.

In Britain, trains are considerably cheaper (30-60%) if booked more than two or three weeks in advance. If you're willing to book onto a specific train rather than just book the route and jump on any train going that way, you can save even more.
posted by dougrayrankin at 4:08 AM on August 23, 2011

Bring a few plastic jars of peanut butter. When you travel, you can buy bread and jam cheap, and make sandwiches for your meals.

One of the big hidden expenses that will mess you up is the cost of meals on your excursions. You could easily end up spending $15 per meal, or $50 per day on food. And that is if you eat cheap.

If you bring something like peanut butter with you - your daily food cost can be reduced to just a few dollars per day. Or, a few dollars per day, and then one nice meal (rather than 3 cheap meals)
posted by Flood at 4:36 AM on August 23, 2011

I forgot to point out that for UK and UK-Europe train trips, The Man in Seat 61 is an excellent resource.
posted by Jakey at 4:41 AM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

I've found the best value for money, travel wise, to be carpooling via websites organised for it, like this one. I and many friends have done so without problems, and you can often find people undertaking big trips across continental Europe.

You might also want to look into buying an InterRail pass, which allows you to travel by train through many different European countries, and is pretty good value for money.

Berlin, Germany is a great place to add to your list if you like museums, history and wandering. Take an overnight train from there to Krakow in Poland for something different and lovely.

Also, I doubt you will have many problems eating vegetarian - there will be many options in all the major cities you mention.
posted by guessthis at 4:43 AM on August 23, 2011

That close to the border it would be a waste not to include Belgium. Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges and Gent are all perfect for day trips distance-wise.

All the destinations you mention are weekend destinations rather then day trips, and even then you'd be pushing it. Istanbul in one weekend? It'd better be a long weekend or else you'd be spending most of your time travelling to, not through, the city.

400 euros a month is probably manageable as long as you're couch-surfing and manage to get cheap flights.
posted by Sourisnoire at 5:04 AM on August 23, 2011

I grew up in that region; it's not exactly the prettiest or most sophisticated part of France, but has some glorious reminders of its wealth during the Middle Ages, and people are generally very welcoming.

For day trips, Lille is a nice city, and very close. The Fine Arts museum is the second largest in France, behind the Louvre, the old town is very pretty, and it has other interesting spots like this Art Deco swimming pool transformed into a museum. It's also your best chance to find restaurants that have vegetarian options other than 'this dish without the meat, please'. The local specialties like carbonnade flamande are heavy on the meat, but you'll find lots of cheese-based dishes, if you eat it. Maroilles is the best of the local ones, a washed-rind cheese that stinks to high heaven but tastes rich and sweet.

The Belgian cities like Brussels, Ghent and Brugge are wonderful and easy to reach. In late February and March you can go to Dunkerque for the carnival, although there will be crowds. Other towns like St Omer will have smaller ones, with papier mache giants. Boulogne-sur-Mer has a lot of history and a very large aquarium; the coast of the Channel has some nice bits like the Cap Gris-Nez, but will be utterly miserable in winter. Arras is next door, where the main squares and citadel are worth a look.

Travelling to Paris and London is easy - Paris is a direct TGV and less than 90 minutes away; it's very easy to do a day trip and not have to pay for an hotel. London is two trains away with a change in Lille; you can get a return Eurostar for as cheap as £40 (without discount) if you are willing to travel at horrible times and plan a few weeks in advance.
posted by Spanner Nic at 6:07 AM on August 23, 2011

I was an assistant last year (in Normandy). For Toussaint, plan to stay in France. Why? Because you may be required to go in for your OFII medical visit then, and those visits are pretty freaking hard to get rearranged. (How do I know? Because I missed the first one and then called every day for a month straight trying to get a new appointment)

For weekend things remember that a lot of places in France are pretty much closed on Sunday, so if you can get a day off with your school, choose Friday.

Re evaluate the fact that you have 400 euros a month for travel. I don't know what your housing situation is, but even if it's really cheap your total bills may add up to more than expected (cell phone, internet if it's not included, etc)

Weekend trips can be more expensive than expected, especially with the trains (if you can, get yourself a 12-25 the second you arrive, you will have enormous savings)

One final piece of advice: How are you approaching this year? Is it your only trip to see Europe for the next 10 years, or do you see yourself going back? If you see yourself going back, take advantage of what is close. I regret not seeing more of France while I was in it for 7 months. Also, definitely go to Belgium and the Netherlands. If your heart has been yearning for another place, go there too, but if you spend all your time traveling to and from, you just won't have as good of a time. If you're coming back again, then it isn't necessary to see EVERY city while you are there.

Mefimail me if you want more info on Normandy attractions/ link to my blog from last year.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:56 AM on August 23, 2011

I would add Florence to your list of Italian cities.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:11 AM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]

idTGV is quite a good site for getting French railways tickets at a cheaper price than you may be able to find at the SNCF site. The train system is very good and will whisk you to many other destinations other than just Paris: Nice, Strasbourg, Montpelier, Toulouse, Biarritz, the Alps, etc.

I would recommend you talk with your colleagues at the school where you are working to see if they have recommendations - or to see if they would like to team up with you for a trip. A break taken with some friends to a somewhere more local may turn out to be more fun and less expensive than a weekend by yourself in a capital. French employers often manage to get some special travel deals for those who work for them - so keep your ears open.
posted by rongorongo at 7:17 AM on August 23, 2011

FYI, Geneva and environs speak French (as well as excellent English, for the most part, bless the Swiss). It's a small city and you can see pretty much everything you'd like in a day. It sounds like it would meet your history/low crowds criteria well, especially the historic quarter. It was lovely at the end of August/beginning of September when I visited.

Oh, and largish train stations are your best bet on finding food on Sundays or other off-meal hours. And don't get the pink-ribbon designed-for-women bottled water, it has fiber in it or something, ech.
posted by maryr at 8:29 AM on August 23, 2011