More thoughts on travelling to Europe
Apparently today is a day for travel planning/thoughts, and not homework. Much more entertaining. :)
ahedonia fired some interesting questions at me after my last Europe post. Good questions to get my brain working, and as they lead to happy Paris thoughts, I don't mind devoting a good chunk of time to them. As with my resources post, I'll probably come back and change things from time to time.
What are the things you've learned about the cheapest, best ways to get to the most places during the course of the trip?
- The more time you can spend on researching your destination, the cheaper it will be. Because I've been fascinated with Paris/Europe since my first visit in 2002, I tend to browse through guidebooks and webpages whenever I'm bored. Take a look through a wide range of guidebooks at your local library or bookstore (Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Frommer's, Fodor's, Eyewitness...) and see which grabs you. Everyone has their own preference - I'm a big fan of LP, as I find their listings and maps very easy to navigate.
- This doesn't help with seeing the most things in a single trip, but generally, the longer you stay in a place, the cheaper it is. Most Paris apartments charge the same for a month as they would for 2-3 weeks. An extra week for the same price is a beautiful thing. You can find decent apartment rentals for less than €70/day, which makes them much more economical than hotels. You'll also save on food and be able to do laundry - major benefits over staying in hostels or budget hotels.
- I know very little about rail passes, but in just looking at transport between London and Edinburgh for this trip, the night buses seem to cost half as much. For a really comprehensive look at train travel, check out The Man in Seat Sixty-One. Small day trips out of larger centres (Paris to Versailles, Paris to Chartres, London to Oxford) are usually very inexpensive.
What do you find are the best ways to structure (and occasionally unstructure) your time, find other people to hang out with while you're there, etc.?
- When I spent my month in Paris, I didn't do much in the way of personal scheduling, apart from the week my mom came to visit. (aka the Whirlwind Trip of Too Much Walking and Never Sleeping) ;) When it was just me, I'd take a look in my LP guidebook the night before, and see what grabbed my attention. This is how I ended up at the Musee Guimet (Asian art) and the Musee National d'Histoire Naturel (natural history - plants, animals, general coolness).
- For this trip, because of the time constraints, I'll be doing a lot more planning. Still, this planning will mostly come down to half days. Figuring our your morning, then winging the afternoon, is a great way to travel. This is how I did things during my four days in Seattle. I'd figure out which museum/attraction to hit first thing, which got me out of the hotel in good time, and left me the afternoons to check out suggestions from the locals, or just wander around the neighbourhood until I found a good place for lunch and something to do for the rest of the day.
- I'm not a very social person, so I don't usually seek out new people to hang out with - I like travelling alone. That being said, I met some great people at the Fat Tire Bike Tours office, and at the Moosehead (Canadian expat bar). I also spent a great afternoon wandering around the Marais and the two islands with a guy I met while eating lunch at the Beaver (sister pub to the Moosehead, more frequented by actual French people). Since I already knew Paris at this point, and it was full afternoon, I felt totally comfortable wandering around with a complete stranger.
How often do you join groups/planned tours and how often do you just go solo?
- Paris I did solo, Italy I went with a group. I toured Italy with an Intrepid tour group, and it was a great decision. I don't speak any Italian, and had no idea how to plan a round-the-country trip on my own, so hooking up with these people was ideal. I also used a bus tour to get from Paris to Rome, but that was rather horrendous. Most of our time was spent driving, and for what it was, it was horribly expensive. I would not recommend the big coach tours to anyone.
- The best kinds of tours to hook up with are the local walking or cyling tours. Every large European city has a great selection of these - as with guidebooks, there's something to suit everyone. Ghost tours are especially fun, as they give a good introduction to the history of the city without the risk of being boring. You can also find downloadable walking tours online - fire them up on your iPod, take along a map in case you get lost, and you're set.
- It can be cheaper to do days trips on your own, but with all the train/bus transfers that can be involved in getting to smaller cities/attractions, it's often easier to just hand over some extra cash, and go with a group. If your destination is on a main train line - do it yourself. As soon as it's out in the country, involving buses or taxis, find a good group tour.
- No matter what your trip involves, make sure you have at least some time completely to yourself. It is essential to have a day where no one is talking to you, dragging you through a museum too quickly/too slowly and getting on your nerves. Take a break, go for a walk through a park or a long a river, and just breathe. When in Paris, buying a bottle of wine and a big old baguette sandwich really helps in this process.
What are some of the best planned things you've tried?
- My Intrepid tour was brilliant. I cannot recommend these people highly enough to anyone considering travelling to a country they've never visited before. If there's a major language or cultural barrier, it's much easier to travel with people who already know what they are doing. Yes, it will be more expensive than backpacking it on your own, but you'll end up staying in nicer hotels and be given a rather priceless sense of security and peace of mind. Their groups are limited to 12 people, so no worries about giant buses or not being able to fit into that great little restaurant you saw down by the river.
- Again, walking tours or biking tours are a great way to orient yourself in a city, both spatially and culturally. Take along a notebook and your camera, and jot down the places you see along the way that you'd like to come back to. Ask the guide for tips - they're usually experts on the city, or can tell you where to go to find the answer you need. Last but not least, if you think your guide did a good job, tip them! Most tour guides are students, and while giving them a couple of € won't really set you back, it may make their night. ;)
If anyone has any other questions - ask me! I'll do my best to dole out sage advice. XD
ahedonia fired some interesting questions at me after my last Europe post. Good questions to get my brain working, and as they lead to happy Paris thoughts, I don't mind devoting a good chunk of time to them. As with my resources post, I'll probably come back and change things from time to time.
What are the things you've learned about the cheapest, best ways to get to the most places during the course of the trip?
- The more time you can spend on researching your destination, the cheaper it will be. Because I've been fascinated with Paris/Europe since my first visit in 2002, I tend to browse through guidebooks and webpages whenever I'm bored. Take a look through a wide range of guidebooks at your local library or bookstore (Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Frommer's, Fodor's, Eyewitness...) and see which grabs you. Everyone has their own preference - I'm a big fan of LP, as I find their listings and maps very easy to navigate.
- This doesn't help with seeing the most things in a single trip, but generally, the longer you stay in a place, the cheaper it is. Most Paris apartments charge the same for a month as they would for 2-3 weeks. An extra week for the same price is a beautiful thing. You can find decent apartment rentals for less than €70/day, which makes them much more economical than hotels. You'll also save on food and be able to do laundry - major benefits over staying in hostels or budget hotels.
- I know very little about rail passes, but in just looking at transport between London and Edinburgh for this trip, the night buses seem to cost half as much. For a really comprehensive look at train travel, check out The Man in Seat Sixty-One. Small day trips out of larger centres (Paris to Versailles, Paris to Chartres, London to Oxford) are usually very inexpensive.
What do you find are the best ways to structure (and occasionally unstructure) your time, find other people to hang out with while you're there, etc.?
- When I spent my month in Paris, I didn't do much in the way of personal scheduling, apart from the week my mom came to visit. (aka the Whirlwind Trip of Too Much Walking and Never Sleeping) ;) When it was just me, I'd take a look in my LP guidebook the night before, and see what grabbed my attention. This is how I ended up at the Musee Guimet (Asian art) and the Musee National d'Histoire Naturel (natural history - plants, animals, general coolness).
- For this trip, because of the time constraints, I'll be doing a lot more planning. Still, this planning will mostly come down to half days. Figuring our your morning, then winging the afternoon, is a great way to travel. This is how I did things during my four days in Seattle. I'd figure out which museum/attraction to hit first thing, which got me out of the hotel in good time, and left me the afternoons to check out suggestions from the locals, or just wander around the neighbourhood until I found a good place for lunch and something to do for the rest of the day.
- I'm not a very social person, so I don't usually seek out new people to hang out with - I like travelling alone. That being said, I met some great people at the Fat Tire Bike Tours office, and at the Moosehead (Canadian expat bar). I also spent a great afternoon wandering around the Marais and the two islands with a guy I met while eating lunch at the Beaver (sister pub to the Moosehead, more frequented by actual French people). Since I already knew Paris at this point, and it was full afternoon, I felt totally comfortable wandering around with a complete stranger.
How often do you join groups/planned tours and how often do you just go solo?
- Paris I did solo, Italy I went with a group. I toured Italy with an Intrepid tour group, and it was a great decision. I don't speak any Italian, and had no idea how to plan a round-the-country trip on my own, so hooking up with these people was ideal. I also used a bus tour to get from Paris to Rome, but that was rather horrendous. Most of our time was spent driving, and for what it was, it was horribly expensive. I would not recommend the big coach tours to anyone.
- The best kinds of tours to hook up with are the local walking or cyling tours. Every large European city has a great selection of these - as with guidebooks, there's something to suit everyone. Ghost tours are especially fun, as they give a good introduction to the history of the city without the risk of being boring. You can also find downloadable walking tours online - fire them up on your iPod, take along a map in case you get lost, and you're set.
- It can be cheaper to do days trips on your own, but with all the train/bus transfers that can be involved in getting to smaller cities/attractions, it's often easier to just hand over some extra cash, and go with a group. If your destination is on a main train line - do it yourself. As soon as it's out in the country, involving buses or taxis, find a good group tour.
- No matter what your trip involves, make sure you have at least some time completely to yourself. It is essential to have a day where no one is talking to you, dragging you through a museum too quickly/too slowly and getting on your nerves. Take a break, go for a walk through a park or a long a river, and just breathe. When in Paris, buying a bottle of wine and a big old baguette sandwich really helps in this process.
What are some of the best planned things you've tried?
- My Intrepid tour was brilliant. I cannot recommend these people highly enough to anyone considering travelling to a country they've never visited before. If there's a major language or cultural barrier, it's much easier to travel with people who already know what they are doing. Yes, it will be more expensive than backpacking it on your own, but you'll end up staying in nicer hotels and be given a rather priceless sense of security and peace of mind. Their groups are limited to 12 people, so no worries about giant buses or not being able to fit into that great little restaurant you saw down by the river.
- Again, walking tours or biking tours are a great way to orient yourself in a city, both spatially and culturally. Take along a notebook and your camera, and jot down the places you see along the way that you'd like to come back to. Ask the guide for tips - they're usually experts on the city, or can tell you where to go to find the answer you need. Last but not least, if you think your guide did a good job, tip them! Most tour guides are students, and while giving them a couple of € won't really set you back, it may make their night. ;)
If anyone has any other questions - ask me! I'll do my best to dole out sage advice. XD