Budget travel websites: seeing the sites

First things first; one needs to know where to go for information. Whether your at home planning for your trip or sitting in a Swiss hostel spending way to much for Internet time you will no doubt need to know which websites to use when booking the next leg of your journey. Over the years I have used many sites and companies to book reservations, find train schedules (because that little book you get with your rail-pass falls apart after 2 weeks of travel) and get flights to my destinations. Generally I have found the following sites the most reliable and helpful. Of course there are other sites out there and many blogs will endlessly list them. I for one like to keep things simple and just give you the tried and tested basics. Here are all the essential sites you will “need” while planning or experiencing your trip.

Getting There-

http://www.kayak.com This site is great to look up plane tickets too and from Europe. It actually searches all the other sites, expedia, orbitz, etc and all the airline sites. Hands down I have found this site to be the most comprehensive search when looking for a inexpensive flight.

http://www.sidestep.com Pretty much the same as the one above.

http://www.statravel.com I haven’t necessarily found the cheapest flights here but if you are a student you may be able to find a flight that allows for more flexibility on changing return dates or departure airports when you realize you just don’t want to come home yet.

Getting Around Once Your There-

Planes

http://www.ryanair.com This is a budget airline over in Europe. If you book a flight in advance you can often get the flight for a cent plus tax…usually around 40 bucks or less. This would be a useful site if you decide to fly from place to place in Europe and plan your trip out in advance rather than city hop on a whim. The flights usually fly into secondary airports a little bit out of the main city your trying to reach but for the most part the airline has a bus that will take you into the city or it is a quick subway ride (usually connected to the airport) into town.

http://www.germanwings.com http://www.easyjet.com These two companies are just like the one above but fly to different places. Germanwings tends to be a bit more pricey but nice.

Trains

http://www.raileurope.com Here you will find information on rail passes, train timetables, maps and bookings. I prefer to make bookings in person at the train station but if your planning a trip that will utilize a rail pass check this out.

http://www.bahn.de A German site but you can put most of it into English . In any case it is fairly self-explanatory. This will be the most up to date listing of timetables for trains.

http://www.eurostar.com This site will give you info on the chunnel train from London to Paris or Brussels. If you fly into London this would be the quickest, not cheapest, way of getting to the continent. The raileurope.com above also has info on this and the eurolines.com below has another cheap but overnight alternative to this which I used that last time. They put an entire bus on a train and take it under water! Yeah, it is that cool.

Automobiles

http://www.europcar.com For those who want to do some driving overseas. I have rente

d cars from this company several times and like in the US there is often an upgrade in the type of car they give you when you show up. Several times I was pleased to find a GPS navigation device that really helps when your trying to find a way around cities like Prague.

http://www.eurolines.com If you decide to take a bus from place to place, this site is where you would want to book it. They are essentially the greyhound of Europe.

Sleeping Around-

http://www.venere.com This is a website that I found and used last time I was over there. If you want to stay in budget hotels (don’t let the name fool you they are nothing like a super 8, and often have their own balcony. The bathroom being down the hall is just part of the charm) or fancy 4 star places you can find them here. In general budget hotels are cheaper and nicer than hostels if there are more than one of you traveling together. This site is great for finding, comparing and seeing hotels you would not normally find. I never had any problems with bookings through it so it seems very trustworthy and reviews are accurate.

http://www.hostelworld.com Great site for finding a listing of any type of accommodation with reviews, pics and prices. Booking through the site is easy and it is well known. If you are planning on staying in Hostels this is the site to use.

http://www.eurocheapo.com This site started by a couple of really nice brothers based in New York provides a wonderful search engine for hotels throughout Europe. They send their staff and themselves overseas regularly to stay in budget accommodation, write reviews and pass on the valuable info to you. Stay tuned for some great additions to their site.

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