Budget European Travel Weekends..

Off Topic
1

Me an a few mates have come up with the idea of getting a budget weekend away every month or so from glasgow to anywhere in europe…

the plan is that the flight+hostel/hotel+drink and food will not cost more that 100 pounds.

the plan is the spend 10 pounds less a week than we normally do by walking, not buying that last pint etc etc.
and then then using the money that we would normally spend on the weekend we go away + this saved money to fund the trip.

this added together should come to around 100 quid each. so basically im after ideas of place to go, how to get there, how to save money etc etc…

our thoughts are:
bulgaria
poland
amsterdam (obviously)
ukraine
hungary

flying with either ryanair/wizzair from glasgow internation/prestwick

nearly certainly staying in hostels, and using public transport.

we will not be checking in any baggage as a backpack should be enough for 2/3 days. this should save money, and will be checking in online which should also be cheaper!

we also had the idea that it might be cheaper to hire a car at the airport for the weekend than use public transport and could potentially be more fun… ??

group size shouldnt be more than 5, so car is a possibility.

the latest we could be back in glasgow is sunday night, and the earliest we could leave is friday afternoon.

any ideas, tips, website, stories welcome!?

Cheers
Scott

2

go to budget travel et al.
they ALWAYS have late cancellations/ freed up seats that they all but give away for half nothing.
YES its going to be touristy spot but you want cheep :slight_smile:

3

Sounds like a great idea Scott. Keep me posted on when/where you are headed and if numbers allow I’ll hop a flight from Liverpool Airport.

The only downside I can see to the flights is that to get the really cheap deals you generally have to fly at night - no big deal for the return journey but it’ll put a hole in your cash if you have to fly on a Friday afternoon.

I’d still recommend that you spend the extra though as this gives you two full evenings wherever you head to and won’t leave you knackered from a 3am flight for the Saturday.

There are loads of very cheap places to stay at all the locations you listed. Check out local camp sites - it add’s a bit of kit to carry but splitting a tent between a few guys evens things out. A small cheap sleeping bag each and you are near enough sorted. At least during the warmer weather.

Depending on what you want to get up to, take a look at Chamonix if you can get out there cheaply. Good camping and lots of chalet’s and hotels. It’s good, tough walking country with Mt Blanc overlooking you and tempting you to go just a bit higher…

Depending on how much you are willing to carry, and where/if you can store it when you get there, taking food with you for at least one full day will keep the costs down.

When I go back packing - even for just a couple of nights, I find it easy to take enough food with me so I don’t have to think about finding civilisation. Maybe just friday nights feed and something for breakfast on Saturday. Stretch it out to Saturday lunch if you can.

If you are visiting towns/cities, take some staple stuff with you and then buy bread etc. while you are there. Keeps it cheep and leaves more money for a beer and sight seeing.

Don’t forget about places a little closer - How about Belfast?

Or Munich - awesome place to visit. Save a few quid for the hofbrauhaus and get yourself a massbeer or two - you won’t need many! Then head out into the city and check out the German girls - Munich IMO has some VERY hot girls - best in Germany. Check out the Bavaria Film Studios in Munich too - you can get on the set of Das Boot - actually in the U-Boat that they used in the film. really well worth a look.

Will any members of the party be over 25? you may find it hard to get insurance or a rental car if you are not.

100.00 each is going to be tight including flights but still doable. I’ve managed 10 days in Germany for that (excluding flights) but then I was walking so only had to pay for food - sleeping rough costs nothing! (was a few years ago though - ahem).

Might be worth looking at every 6 weeks so you have £150 for each trip. Would make things easier.

All in all - great idea mate. Good luck and happy travelling.

4

[quote]Corkonian wrote:
go to budget travel et al.
they ALWAYS have late cancellations/ freed up seats that they all but give away for half nothing.
YES its going to be touristy spot but you want cheep :)[/quote]

takeing a look at it atm,

seems to be more geared towards traveling to the coast to sleep in a concrete jungle and die hungover on the beach every day… lol.
not really are groups cup of tea atm.

they dont fly from glasgow either.

but ill keep checking the site for cheap flights, might find a decent weekend away for less than 150 euro

5

[quote]Renton wrote:
Sounds like a great idea Scott. Keep me posted on when/where you are headed and if numbers allow I’ll hop a flight from Liverpool Airport.

The only downside I can see to the flights is that to get the really cheap deals you generally have to fly at night - no big deal for the return journey but it’ll put a hole in your cash if you have to fly on a Friday afternoon.

I’d still recommend that you spend the extra though as this gives you two full evenings wherever you head to and won’t leave you knackered from a 3am flight for the Saturday.

There are loads of very cheap places to stay at all the locations you listed. Check out local camp sites - it add’s a bit of kit to carry but splitting a tent between a few guys evens things out. A small cheap sleeping bag each and you are near enough sorted. At least during the warmer weather.

Depending on what you want to get up to, take a look at Chamonix if you can get out there cheaply. Good camping and lots of chalet’s and hotels. It’s good, tough walking country with Mt Blanc overlooking you and tempting you to go just a bit higher…

Depending on how much you are willing to carry, and where/if you can store it when you get there, taking food with you for at least one full day will keep the costs down. When I go back packing - even for just a couple of nights, I find it easy to take enough food with me so I don’t have to think about finding civilisation. Maybe just friday nights feed and something for breakfast on Saturday. Stretch it out to Saturday lunch if you can.

If you are visiting towns/cities, take some staple stuff with you and then buy bread etc. while you are there. Keeps it cheep and leaves more money for a beer and sight seeing.

Don’t forget about places a little closer - How about Belfast?

Or Munich - awesome place to visit. Save a few quid for the hofbrauhaus and get yourself a massbeer or two - you won’t need many! Then head out into the city and check out the German girls - Munich IMO has some VERY hot girls - best in Germany. Check out the Bavaria Film Studios in Munich too - you can get on the set of Das Boot - actually in the U-Boat that they used in the film. really well worth a look.

Will any members of the party be over 25? you may find it hard to get insurance or a rental car if you are not.

100.00 each is going to be tight including flights but still doable. I’ve managed 10 days in Germany for that (excluding flights) but then I was walking so only had to pay for food - sleeping rough costs nothing! (was a few years ago though - ahem).

Might be worth looking at every 6 weeks so you have £150 for each trip. Would make things easier.

All in all - great idea mate. Good luck and happy travelling.[/quote]

cheers for the detailed reply…

im from Northern Ireland so i think belfast might be abit like you going to manchester for the weekend. not very exotic.

we however do want to go to wither donegal or southhampton/plymouth to surf.

we dont have to fly on friday afternoon… thats just the timespan we are free on the weekend, we could fly friday night/saturday morning. whatever is cheapest.

likeing the food idea… but i dont think i would be able to take food onto the plane, as we are thinking of only takeing hand luggage… but we could maybe check in one big bag. are u allowed food in checked in baggage?

with a few hours research… ive found flights to poland (gdansk, warsaw, katowice) from glasgow for just under 40 quid. friday night to sunday night. hostels are about 8 pounds a night. so about 60 quid for flights and accomodation. apparently some of the hostels will pick u up for free from the airport.

that leaves 40 quid for 2 days. i think that is just about doable! especailly as i think poland is cheap. that in October this year.

found a similiar deal to dusseldorf aswell.

got friends in biarritz, oslo, brussels, stockholm, valencia and paris we can stay with so trying to get cheap flght to those cities.

been using ryanair and wizzair. any other airlines that ppl could recommend?

dont think anyone will be over 25… i thought you had to be 21 to hire a car? one fo the guys had the idea of going into a dealership, and takeing a car for a weekend to test drive… dress up in a suit etc etc… any chance of that working?

the idea came came from watching a irish tv program called “how low can you go” where they basically do the same thing.

cheers
Scott

6

[quote]thosebananas wrote:
im from Northern Ireland so i think belfast might be abit like you going to manchester for the weekend. not very exotic. [/quote]

Manchester - not exotic!?!?! Pah - show’s what you know :wink: lol

[quote]
we however do want to go to wither donegal or southhampton/plymouth to surf.[/quote]

Your test drive idea would work well for this - You’ll have to really bare face it taking the car back with an extra 1,000 miles or so on the clock though! If you are headed to Plymouth remember I’m only 15 minutes away from the M6 :slight_smile:

[quote]
likeing the food idea… but i dont think i would be able to take food onto the plane, as we are thinking of only takeing hand luggage… but we could maybe check in one big bag. are u allowed food in checked in baggage?[/quote]

I’ve flown with food in hand baggage and also in checked in baggage. You are only taking it one way anyhow and depending what you take (camping food bags are great for this) nobody will raise an eyebrow. Check with your airline though.

Part of the fun in a trip like this is the fact that you are indeed living on a shoestring. $40 quid should be plenty. It’s all about getting the most from your money and trip.

Lots of good deals with easyjet.

7

[quote]Renton wrote:
thosebananas wrote:
im from Northern Ireland so i think belfast might be abit like you going to manchester for the weekend. not very exotic.

Manchester - not exotic!?!?! Pah - show’s what you know :wink: lol

we however do want to go to wither donegal or southhampton/plymouth to surf.

Your test drive idea would work well for this - You’ll have to really bare face it taking the car back with an extra 1,000 miles or so on the clock though! If you are headed to Plymouth remember I’m only 15 minutes away from the M6 :slight_smile:

likeing the food idea… but i dont think i would be able to take food onto the plane, as we are thinking of only takeing hand luggage… but we could maybe check in one big bag. are u allowed food in checked in baggage?

I’ve flown with food in hand baggage and also in checked in baggage. You are only taking it one way anyhow and depending what you take (camping food bags are great for this) nobody will raise an eyebrow. Check with your airline though.

that leaves 40 quid for 2 days. i think that is just about doable! especailly as i think poland is cheap. that in October this year.
Part of the fun in a trip like this is the fact that you are indeed living on a shoestring. $40 quid should be plenty. It’s all about getting the most from your money and trip.

been using ryanair and wizzair. any other airlines that ppl could recommend?

Lots of good deals with easyjet.

dont think anyone will be over 25… i thought you had to be 21 to hire a car? For UK use, yes - driving abroad may be a different matter (at least it was when I was oh so much younger than I am now!) - check it out depending on what country you are visiting.

[/quote]

well you should defo come down and show us ur surfing skills… ive never tried but i skated for years and am a lifeguard so im hoping i can learn quick enough. the plymouth idea will prob be a big last hurrah at the end of next year… so potentially 15 of us going down on a lovely megabus! 12 hours or something silly :frowning:

we were thinking of hireing the car in europe… i dont think there would 1000 miles on it… we wud just use it to get from the airport to the hostel then use it instead of public transport. which means we could go where we want, when we want… and even if there is 1000 miles on it, im assuming they could do fuck all anyway?

i wasnt sure where the whole food thing came in witht he new “no carrying liquids thing”. i suppose a big box of sandwiches could be ok… but then some countries ask u not to bring fruit + veg or dairy products. suppose it depends on where we go.

the shoestring part is defo what appeals to a lot of us… i could potentially bring a tub of protein with me and just V Diet for the weekend. :stuck_out_tongue:

Scott

8

LMAO - I’m up for the Plymouth trip but I never said anything about surfing skillz! I can swim & dive real well, but when it comes to standing on a plank at god knows what speed I suspect I know what’ll happen!

Having said that - if you are talking about surfing the bars…

9

im sure there will be some surfing of the bars! and perhaps a few females! :stuck_out_tongue: the streets of plymouth dont know what is coming for them. ill introduce you to an irish tradition of having a “night starter!!!” mayhem always follows!

you can be are guide… :stuck_out_tongue:

2 of my mates are awesome surfers… and we all love diving off stupidly high things! quarry diving used to be our thing… ie drive about the country side looking for old quarries then jumping into them.