I continue to meet people who are in need of information or tips on how to travel in Europe. Mostly, the question is how to travel on a low budget when already inside Europe. Below I will give some tips and links, but this is all very general and if you for example want to travel a lot within a specific country you can usually find a special deal for exactly that area.
Cheap airlines for Europe
There are a lot of cheap airlines for flights within Europe. The most cheap and unknown for people living outside Europe is Ryanair, which (during campaigns) have flight tickets for as low as 10 cent including flight taxes. If you can not find an airline that flies cheap to your destination, there are airline hubs in Europe from where you can change flight or even take a bus. Airline hubs are cities from where a lot of low cost airlines are operating.
Below is a list of the most common European low cost airlines:
* Blue Air
* Ryanair
* EasyJet
* Germanwings
* Norwegian
* Vueling
* Wizzair
Cheap bus companies for Europe
In east Europe bus is usually the cheapest option (as well as for outside Europe). Here are some of the most common bus lines within Europe:
* Eurolines
* Lasta (Eurolines)
* Linebus
* National Express
* Sindbad
* Touring (Eurolines)
Travel by train in Europe
Train is normally the most expensive option for traveling, with flight being the cheapest, and because of this nothing I recommend expect for the people who really enjoy riding the train. If you have to get around by train there are a few special offers that sometimes allows you to travel more cheap, but they all have in common that you also have to travel in a fast pace with very little time to spend in each country. Two of the most common of these offers are listed below, and you can also find price options for traveling just within one specific country.
Travel by boat in Europe
There is a possibility to find cheap boat rides between a few countries in Europe. The problem is that these are very few and difficult to find. Normally you have to find good offers by asking a local from the country where you want to travel from. Ferries can be found for as low as 2 euro and goes between Denmark & Norway, Sweden & Finland (alt #2), England & Ireland/France, Italy & Greece, Italy & Croatia and more. There are also normal ferries which sometimes cost the same as a flight ticket or even more. A good list of the ferries within Europe is to be found at aferry.co.uk
Hitch hiking in Europe
Hitch hiking is in general more easy the more south or east of Europe you go. In some countries people think that hitch hiking are illegal in their country, but this is in most cases not true and the misconception comes mainly because of a lack of hitch hiking culture in these countries. In the same countries it can sometimes be more difficult to hitch hike because of the same reason.
To put up a tent is usually illegal in Europe, but in most cases doesn’t lead to a fine as you will only be told (as a tourist) to pack up and leave. Exceptions can be found in Sweden, Norway and Finland where you are allowed to put up a tent on any non private land, see more info.
Car sharing in Europe
Car sharing is not so common or organized in Europe but in some countries it is really useful and simple. Two examples of this is in Germany and Denmark where they have well used web sites and a lot of people traveling this way.
Visa rules in Europe
Because of the Schengen rules there is no need to get a visa if you are a member of the EU and travel to another EU country. If you are from another country, you should check with your local consulate in the country you want to travel to, to be sure the information you get is up to date.
Although Bulgaria, Cyprus, Liechtenstein and Romania are not yet part of Schengen at the moment I write this, they also apply to the same (short time tourist travel) visa rules as mentioned above.
Money
ATM machines are to be found everywhere in most countries within Europe. In some countries they look different and you need to know how they look like before finding them easily. Choose a bank in your country that take none or a very low cost for every withdraw you make in another country. This allows you not to have to walk around with a lot of cash in your pocket at all time. In some countries the local bank also takes a fee for each withdrawal.
In a few countries in Europe it’s still not common to pay with a VISA/Mastercard in the shops, restaurants and other physical places. Examples of countries where you usually need to have cash is Denmark and Germany.
Euro is commonly used within the EU but not in all member countries. Currently you can pay with Euro in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy (including the Vatican City), Kosovo, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Electricity
European electrical outlets are 230V / 50 Hz and you can easily buy a travel adapter (type C with two round pins) that works with your technical appliances.
