Comments on: Planning (way) ahead for our trip to Europe

By: Marcy

Marcy — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:00:13 +0000

Hi Karen,
I stumbled across a site called http://www.vayama.com. They specialize in international flights. I don’t know if you’ll be able to find a better deal or not, but it can’t hurt to check them out. You might find some options you didn’t know about before. I’m with you… I almost always book directly through the airline!

Best of luck!

By: Micaela | Striving Green

Micaela | Striving Green — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:28:50 +0000

Rick Steves from PBS has some excellent books for budget traveling. My husband and I let Rick Steves’ books take us all over France and Spain. Our budget was tight and he understands:
http://www.ricksteves.com/
You can probably check out his PBS videos from the library.

Micaela | Striving Green’s last blog post..Is it a Bribe? Or a Motivator?

By: Margot

Margot — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:09:40 +0000

I recommend Lonely Planet’s books and online resources (which has a “thorntree” where people can post and answer questions). If you want to save money, I recommend just buying 1 book for Europe or 1 book for each country at the most (instead of 1 book per city). Or, given that you’ll only be gone for two weeks, you could bring library books on your trip! I know that a Lonely Planet book covering all of Europe or all of France won’t be as detailed as city-specific books, but you’ll have plenty of information and you can supplement it with free resources from the sites you visit and tourist offices.

Also, the best luck I’ve had at saving money in expensive cities (including Paris) has been just finding hotel rooms when I arrive. You seem like a big planner, so this might cause excessive stress. But if you can tolerate less structure, I recommend this approach. Here’s what I did in Paris: I started with my Lonely Planet, which lists one star super budget hotels. Unfortunately, once a hotel is listed in the Lonely Planet, it is sometimes more likely to be full or to be a little more expensive. So, I went to the area where I wanted to stay that also contained hotels recommended by the Lonely Planet. Within 15 minutes, I was able to visit several hotels and choose one. My partner and I ended up getting a very nice hotel room for about 30 Euros, because the hotel was brand new and nearly empty. While planning can save money, not planning can also save money sometimes!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:45:34 +0000

One of my favorite budget travel guides is the Lonely Planet Guides. I have used them since I was a backpacker. I still use them today as they have great tips on saving money-and finding free or budget type activites and restaurants that are great!

By: Vicki

Vicki — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:55:30 +0000

I found that Fodor’s online community talk forum was a great resource when I planned a trip to Italy two years ago. You can search by city/country for suggestions, tips, and feedback on your plans.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/