Budget Travel Through Europe

Cheap Europe Accommodation - Etap Hotels Review

2009-10-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Etap Hotels are a cheaper alternative to the traditional hotels and a more comfortable alternative to the youth hostels. Basically one could say Etap Hotels are somewhere in between the hotels and the hostels. I want to make it clear right from the beginning of this review that I have no connection whatsoever with Etap Hotels. I am simply a backpacker grateful to have discovered an Etap Hotel just behind the Munich main rail station while looking desperately for budget accommodation in an expensive city. Since then I´ve stayed in different Etap Hotels around Europe and they grew on me because every time I opened a hotel room door it felt like home as I knew what to expect. It´s like McDonald´s - everywhere same quality.

The Etap Hotel Network belongs to The Accor Hotels Network. There are more than 400 Etap Hotels around Europe in the main touristic cities and the prices and the quality is pretty much constant. The rooms rates go ruffly between 35 euros and 50 euros for 2 people. Some hotels charge a 12 euros fee for the third persons, others don't. The rooms are prepared for up to 3 people, with 1 double bed and 1 single bed. All rooms have private bathrooms and shower. Etap Hotels provide you the towels, the soap and the shampoo at no extra cost unlike most of the European hostels and you get daily cleaning service too. I found all the Etap Hotels I've stayed with generally clean, I would give them a 9 out of 10 points, as nobody is perfect. Plus most of the Etap network's hotels are of new opening and you can actually notice that looking at the furniture and the carpets. And speaking of carpets, I found the decision of having carpets instead of parquet a bit strange but in the mean time they give the rooms a warmer feeling.

All the Etap Hotels rooms have air con and small TV with remote control with volume limit, which is good for your neighbors and for your good night sleep too. The windows are modern PVC, which means they keep away the street noise. The shutters are easy to use and they fulfill their job successfully so you can sleep all day long. But don't! You are supposed to visit that great city, not to sleep!

Most of the Etap Hotels have 24h reception. There is always somebody at the desk ready to help you out and you can check in anytime you like. The staff speaks English except maybe the night shift. At the reception, when you check in you are given a card that is your room key digitally programed with a code that resets itself automatically at 12a.m. on the day of your departure as an extra security measure.

If you are a travel writer or a business person or you just can't live without checking your Tweets, Etap Hotels provides you with free Wi-Fi access. In the morning there is a continental breakfast buffet that you can contract separately, on a particular morning or every morning. You don't have to pay the breakfast in advance. Suffices with you going in a particular morning to the reception and pay for it. Pets are welcomed too, one per room, but they cannot enter the cafeteria area during breakfast.

Each Etap Hotel has hundreds of rooms and they usualy have short notice availability even during the high season. If you travel from one city to another in the same country you can ask your hotel to make a reservation in your name to another Etap Hotel from another city in the same country. They won't charge you anything for this service and they even give you a written confirmation of the booking.

Etap Hotel are suitable for any ages. You can be 5 or 95, nobody will ask for your passport except for the receptionist who will anyways keep your age secret. The elevators are disabled friendly and the rooms though modern and simple are useful and clean. There isn't much furniture in the rooms, except for the beds, a desk and a chair and some hangers for your clothes. No real wardrobe there, white walls and no fancy decorations, but for the price difference between Etap and a classy hotel, I think it is worth it. It's not like you are going to live in the hotel forever.

I hope this review was helpful. I personally like Etap Hotels and I think they are a great concept, a good choice for budget travellers and good value for your money. Though many Etap Hotels are located next to the airport, which is not particularly bad, or next to main roads, at the outskirts of the cities, some of them are actually located next to the city center, like the one in Birmingham or the one in Munich mentioned above. But no matter where the Etap Hotels are situated, there's always a metro station or a bus station near by so you won't have problems visiting the city center.

I hope this helps and next time you visit Europe and you are looking for budget accomodation you will have a look on the Etap Hotels page to see if there is an Etap Hotel in your city of destination. Enjoy your stay!

Remember that Etap Hotels are budget accommodation. In some countries they are not even considered hotels. If you are looking for luxury, a 4* or a 5* hotel is probably better for you. Etap Hotels are meant for people who don't want to spend much money on accommodation and for that they are great value. And they are far cleaner and comfortable than a slightly cheaper youth hostel with dorms for 12 people.

Cheap Travel - Food

2009-10-13T04:20:00.000-07:00

When you travel on a budget you need to set rules and goals. When you plan your travel itinerary you look for budget hotels, cheap air line tickets, European Rail Passes, etc. But one thing you cannot know, unless you contract full board with your stay, is the price of food in each destination. And underestimated food costs greatly increase the cost of a cheap travel plan.

Eating out in Europe can be very pricey. But here are some tips and tricks to take into consideration while travelling through Europe.

1. Before you start traveling, do some research. It's a pitty to go to Valencia and not try la horchata or Agua de Valencia, two of the most valencian drinks. If you find out about them too late is not likely you will go back just to taste them but you will be left with a bitter taste because of the missed opportunity.

2. Don’t buy food at the airport. Ludicrously expensive and often poorly made, airport food can cost you precious calories and cash. Skip the plane chow, too. Airlines need money for gas, and they’re taking it out of your meal budget. Why pay $8 for a sandwich you might not even like?

3. Many European hotels have all you can eat buffet breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so eating in comfortable limits can save you some money later in the morning. If the breakfast is not included in the hotel package, just go find a local coffee shop or bakery. Now here is where you are going to sample some of the local specialties and they are always cheaper than hotel breakfasts. It's a win, win situation for you and your pocket.

4. When in Rome do as the Romans do. This applies very well when you try to travel cheap. Just adjust your eating habits to you destination habits. It's as much a part of your visit as the highly rated museum or scenic outlook.

5. A picnic lunch purchased at a deli, market or take away is a great idea too. Bread, local cheese and fresh fruit make a filling lunch for a fraction of the restaurant costs. You don't pay for the table in the restaurant and you can choose the view. Just imagine having lunch in Champ de Mars looking at Eiffel Tower. Priceless!

6. Lunch menu prices are often lower than dinner ones. You can always alternate. Rules are meant to be broken. Just not too often if you still want to travel cheap.

7. Guidebooks direct you to certain local restaurants but in time these places become more and more expensive as the owners know that no matter what they do, the restaurant will still be full at dinner time. It's also good to make your own discoveries. As you walk through the city, some restaurants will definitely call your attention. You can come back later on and try their specialties.

8. Cheap travel is not about cheap experiences. A typical restaurant a few streets away from the center can be a few times cheaper that an over rated restaurant in the main city square. It's not always about the view.

9. And, for goodness sake, don’t get carried away in lovely Irish pubs and spend your food budget on Guinness. Yes, you might get some free peanuts, but that’s not going to help you tomorrow when the only thing that will cure a hangover is a trip to the buffet. I never understood the people that can only have fun when drunk.

10. From my experience the cheapest way to travel is by buying food from the supermarket. This doesn't mean that you don't get to taste the local food or you don't go to a fancy restaurant once in a while. It just means that you can save some money and invest them in other interests.

European Rail Passes

2009-10-12T04:09:00.000-07:00

Europe's modern rail network makes travel easy, efficient and environmentally-friendly. And regarding the fact that Europe is packed with lovely must see places, the hop on, hop off method is the best. I managed to visit up to 3 towns in one day, as they were 1 hour of less far from each other by train and had only one or two sights of interest. If you travel on a budget you might want to take into consideration writing down a list of priorities and don´t waste time wondering on the streets of a village that you know nothing about after visiting the up hill castle.

The European Rail Passes are specifically designed that you can literally explore Europe by train. The Rail Passes are the alternative to buying several Europe rail tickets. The most outstanding advantages are that they are cheaper than buying individual tickets, you don´t have to cue anymore in every train station and you don´t have to validate you pass before getting on the train, the time pressure is gone, if you miss a train, there´s always another one coming usually in the next hour or so, you don´t have to worry about the train connections, you can change trains as often as you like as many time as you like. Now there are supplements you have to pay from time to time, as if you want to use the super fast French TGV or if you want to cross the channel to Great Britain or to cross the sea by ferry to Denmark. For all the local trains thou you don´t have to pay an extra dime.

There are up to one month Interail Passes and up to three months Eurail Passes but if you have time and money left in your pocket you can buy yourself another and another month of Europe until the only thing everyone will ever remember about you is that you are a full time traveller.

The European Rail Passes are divided in two categories: EuRail and InterRail. The main difference is that the EuRail Pass is for Non-European residents and InterRail Pass is for European residents or persons which stayed the last 6 or more months in Europe. The InterRail pass is not valid in the pass holder's country of residence, meaning that once you start your journey your first stop must be outside of your country of residence.

The InterRail Global Pass is valid in all of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Ireland, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Eurail Pass is valid in all the countries above except Bulgaria, Great Britain, Poland, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

You can chose between a consecutive-day pass, a flexipass or a saverpass to suit your needs. Just remember that you travel on a budget and you want to make the most of your trip to Europe.

Consecutive-day passes: If you plan to travel nearly daily and cover a lot of ground, a consecutive-day pass is the right choice for you. You get unlimited train travel for the duration of the pass. If you have a 15-day pass, you can travel 15 consecutive days, taking trains many times each day. If you have a one-month pass, you can travel, for example, from June 10th through July 9th. But remember, more travel days on a pass equal cheaper costs per day.

Flexipass: If you like to linger for a few days in each place, a flexipass is the best choice. You have a certain number of travel days to use within a longer "window" of time (for example, any 10 days within a two-month period). You can sprinkle these travel days throughout your trip or use them all in a row. You can take as many separate trips as you like within each travel day. Flexipasses are cheaper than the Consecutive-day passes because they cover fewer days.

Saverpass: Designed to save money for groups, a Saverpass is a single ticket printed with all the names of two to five travelers. Members of each pair or group must order the same pass together and all must be present to validate the pass in Europe. Part of the group can use the pass while others stay in town or fly home early, but those sharing a pass cannot split and go different directions by train. If you are a group of four, you can give yourselves more flexibility by ordering a separate pass for each pair.

One pass is usually better than two. To cover a multiple-country trip, it's usually cheaper to buy one Selectpass or Eurail Pass with lots of travel days than to buy several single-country passes with a few high-cost travel days per pass. If you decide to travel over a border (e.g., France to Germany) using separate France and Germany railpasses, then you will use up a day of each pass.

Being young is all about advantages. If you are 25 years old or younger on your first day of travel a Youth Pass will save you some money. Youth Passes are valid in second class and give a 35% discount on the Adult first class fare. Youth travelers who prefer 1st class train travel can buy an Adult Pass.