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How to DIY your own cheap trip round Europe
If you are currently suffering from a bad case of wanderlust, but feeling like it's just unaffordable, look no further than this handy guide.
Getting around - consider buses, not trains.
Brussels, home of the best things: waffles, chocolate and beer
The interrail ticket is a popular option for young travellers wanting to see more of Europe, but depending on what you actually have planned, you could end up actually wasting money with this pricey ticket.
Buses can be caught from London to places like Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels. They may take a while, but they are SO cheap. Plus, once you’re on the continent it is easy to get around.
Paris, the city of love
Eurolines destinations from London:
Lille, France - From £22
Paris, France - From £22
Brussels, Belgium - From £18
Ghent, Belgium - From £21
Amsterdam, The Netherlands - From £26
Eindhoven, The Netherlands - From £22
However, before you stick to one form of travel, make sure to check out other bus companies. Megabus is famously known for its low fares and has a 10% NUS discount. While FlixBus offers intercity bus service all over Europe.
Once in Europe buses and trains are also much cheaper to get to nearby destinations, and paying for each individually and booking in advance can give you the interrail experience without the price tag.
Let's see some options if you were to start in Amsterdam on the 1st of August using Flixbus:
The Bulldog in Amsterdam where you can buy 10 different varieties of weed and 6 different types of hash
Amsterdam - Hamburg, Germany £22.90
Hamburg - Berlin, Germany £12.90
Berlin - Wroclaw, Poland £17.90
Wroclaw - Prague, Czech Republic £9.90
Prague - Vienna, Austria £13.90
Vienna - Ljubljana, Slovenia £22.90
Ljublijana - Zagreb, Croatia £7.90
Zagreb - Rijeka, Croatia £7.90
Rijeka - Venice, Italy £20.80
Venice - Rome, Italy £13.90
Rome - Milan, Italy £17.90
Altogether it comes up to £168.80 for intercity bus travel.
To fly back to London from Milan rates start from £16 - £86 in August. Along with the £26 to get from London to Amsterdam that brings the total to just £210.80!
That’s 8 countries, 12 destinations, for just over £200 including to and from London, without the time restraints and other complications that come with the interrail ticket.
To travel around this many places in Europe at peak time in August, I'd say that's a damn good deal.
Boats and gondolas in Venice, Italy
These prices prove just how cheap it is to get around. The beauty of affordable bus travel is that you can tailor your trip to exactly what you fancy!
For example, to keep costs to an absolute minimum, a mini-tour of a few places in The Netherlands and Belgium is as cheap as chips and still an awesome experience of touring around and exploring European cities.
You may even fall in love with somewhere you never knew about before...
Utrecht, The Netherlands best-kept secret
AND we only searched one bus company for these deals; proving Europe on the cheap can definitely happen.
Staying over - Airbnb is the way to go!
A private room in an Airbnb is a much cheaper option. The price is for the room, so if you’re sharing with another you can split the cost, instead of paying per person like in a hostel.
You can also use the kitchen if the host allows this and best of all you get a private space, usually with a nice bed, where you don't have to get loudly woken up by the 15 other people you would have been sharing a hostel dorm room with.
Another tip: Get buses overnight so you can save a night's accommodation. With longer journeys, why not get the 8-hour bus over night so you can save yourself the cost of an extra night accommodation, AND this also means you won't miss out on precious city exploration time by sleeping on the bus.
Altogether, if you do it right you can DIY your own Euro-tour on even the slimmest budgets. So what are you waiting for!?
