Europe on the cheap.......and I mean dirty Cheap.?

Question

So I have a month off from school in September, and I thought it would be a great time to go to Europe(I've been dying to go for a while and at this point Im willing to go with 5 bucks in my pocket and sleep on the street) I will be flying out of Portland and I am a student so any knowledge of anything with a student discount is great..so..

What cities in Europe are the cheapest to get flights to? I don't have a country preferance.(Student discounts?)

Any particularly good advice on cheap accomidations? hostels? camp sites?(oh yes.....Student discounts?)

Since I may go with pretty much nothing......which country would be the best to panhandle in? most dangerous? Which countries are most open to hitchhikers?(I'll b with some boys....lecture not necessary)

I'm a big history nerd so your opinion on best castles, museums, ect? (and the annoyingly redundant question....any student discounts?)

Please just give me any info you can on doing Europe CHEAP!!! The closer to free the better!

Answer 1

Also Czech Republic is nice and cheap. There are several UNESCO monuments, churches, cathedrals, castles, chateaus, muzeum, galleries etc. (Prices for students are usually from 20,- to 50,- CZK. - today 1 USD = 14,614 CZK so 1 CZK = 0,068 USD)

I recommend you to buy some train ticket to reveal more countries in Europe by train.

If you want to really save money you should be camping in tent (Price depends on the place - it can be 50,- or also 100,- CZK per night  or for example dormitories in Prague - cheapiest about 190,- CZK per night; but in *****hotel can 1 night cost for example incredible 3000,-CZK).

There are plenty of discounts for students. To have a discount for entrance it is ussually enough to have any card that looks like student ID. Maybe it's better to buy ISIC card - it's accepted through all Europe and there are many discounts on accomodation, shopping etc.

Prices of food in CR:

If you must eat in restaurant, the prices are of course very high in places where are many tourists (It can be for example 600,- CZK for 1 person). But in restaurants for locals the meals are usually about 70,- to 150,- CZK + drinks from 15,- (1/3 liter of mineral water) to about max. 30 for 1/2 liter beer. There are also american fast foods and they have similar prices like in USA so they are quite expensive - it's better to try Czech food.

There are many supermarkets, so you can cook by yourself or eat something without cooking.

800g of bread (but it isn't like am. bread, it's dark an bitter) can cost about 30,- CZK

500g of spaghetti cost max. 30,- CZK

1 kg of cheese Eidam (the cheapest) 150,- CZK

1 kg of ham also about 150,- CZK

1 l of milk max. 20,- CZK

1 egg about 2,50 CZK

1,5 l of bottled water max. 10,- CZK (but tap water is usually potable)

etc.

Gross wage in 2007 was about 24 600 CZK but half of the emploees earned less than 21 900 CZK (median).

Health:

Don't forget about travel insurance.

Maybe it's good to be immunized against Tick-borne meningoencephalitis (maybe the name of the insect is dog-flea) especially if you are camping - they are in grass and some of them can have this disease. But you can solve it using repellent againt them.  You should also buy some bug repellent against annoying but harmless mosquitos.

In CR is health care almost free for locals and if you have urgent problems nobody is asking about who will pay it (as I have seen in american films - but I don't know if it's true).

Languague - try to learn at least few basic words in the languague of the country you go to. You can buy a dictionary (you have the advantage that we Europeans are learning English, so in the bookstores you can find local lang-Eng. dictionary) or write some important sentences in the local languague on paper so you can show them the locals. And don't expect that everyone can speak English! (Especially many older people and many people on the countryside where aren't many tourists can't speak English.)

Ask me if you have any other questions.

Answer 2

Eastern Europe would best fit your description of cheap.

-Poland-Krakow, Warsaw, Many castles throughout country; look on Wikipedia for list of Polish Castles.

-Hungary-Budapest

-Lithuania-Vilnius

-Slovakia- Bratislava

- and anywhere that doesn't use the Euro yet except for England.

As for airfares: every airline is extremely expensive. It won't matter on which airline

Once you get there, train would be the best transportation; fast and cheap.

Hope this helped and have a safe fun trip to where ever you go: ALL of Europe is georgous!!

Answer 3

Don't bother

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdwSxwLYF...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW8ifS84F...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNi7Txzbz...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXWWQ2ZqX...

There are sequels!

Answer 4

Darlin' there ain't NOTHIN' cheap in Europe these days!

With the sagging dollar (gets worse almost every day) and inflation there, EVERYTHING is expensive.  

You want to go to Europe to BEG!???  That's no way to do it!

The thing to do is to save up as much as you can.  Seriously.  Don't do it this year.  Take a year or two.  Put twenty dollars a week or so into a special account.

You are flying from Oregon?  It's going to take you, like 15 - 17 hours to get there, and cost over $1000 - 1500.  Just for the airfare.  

How about the idea of studying there?  If you don't want to learn a language, you could go to England, Scotland or Ireland, and take a semester or a year, study, and travel that way.  The cost of doing that isn't all that much more than staying at your home university, and then you take the whole summer and backpack or take those cheap flights and crisscross the continent.

Best Castles:  (IMO)  Alcázar in Segovia, Alhambra in Granada, Neuschwanstein in Füssen, Germany, Salzburg, Edinburgh, Windsor, São Jeorge (Lisbon), Vlad's Castle in Romania,  Tower of London, and the one in Prague is supposed to be nice, too.  I haven't been to all of them, but I have seen them in photos, and all.  (Been to some, twice).  

For lodging, there's supposed to be this network of couch surfers and homes where you surf.  If you're with guys, and it looks like one is your boyfriend, you're probably safer than alone.  I wouldn't do it, not alone, though I did stay with a couple of complete strangers once.  And we all became friends.  

If you want to do the Hostel thing, you get your card at the first one you stay at, and, I think a guide of all the hostels.  This is the International Youth Hostel program...they are clean, basic, and safe...most have a little kitchen to cook dinner, and they serve breakfast in the mornings.  But they have a curfew, too.

Oh, and for monuments...your International Student ID card ought to get you into most of them for free.  Some might ask a fee.  Churches usually charge nothing, anyway, though some larger ones do.   If you are a student IN Europe, you don't even need the card you pay for, because your ID from, say, the University of Dublin, will do the same.

Answer 5

Not sure but bring some wash cloths with you. I lived in Europe for 3 years and one thing I found is that in hotels they do not give you wash cloths...