How much will 2 weeks in Europe cost?
Hello all,
I am planning a trip in July/August to Europe with my girlfriend, 14nights, hopefully to see Athens,Berlin and Vienna.
I realize they may appear to be odd choices, however we have already seen Paris, Rome and London, they are the next top destinations on our list of things we want to see!
It has been a bit of a pain trying to price this up, particularly with flights, could somebody give me a rough estimate?
We are both British students on a student budget, usually stay in 2-3* hotels, go for the history/art/museums, not clubbing!
Thanks!
Luke
Liverpool, Great Britain 12/21/12
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Since you have already travelled on the continent, and have (I am guessing) probably used EasyJet & Ryanair, or Eurostar, and you usually, as you say, stay in 2-3 star hotels so know the approx. cost of such hotels, I don't see how we can be of much help. I think the information you seek is at your fingertips and googling flights on EasyJet would be a good place to start. As EU passport holders & students, probably your museum entrances would be free. It shouldn't at all be "a bit of a pain to price it up", less of a pain than for us actually.
I think this is one instance where you should be able to come up with this information easier than we can from North America. You aren't giving us any good idea of what a student budget is, and there is just so much variability on prices of flights, depending on when you want to go and in what order and where you want to fly out of, that it is a "pain" for us to come up with it, too.
Luke,
Although it's been a long time since I had to consider a "student budget", I'll try to offer a few suggestions.
You could start your trip in Berlin. Using an arbitrary date in May, I found EasyJet flights from Manchester to Berlin Schönefeld for as low as £29.99 PP (but of course the prices may vary depending on when you book). I'm sure you're familiar with the baggage and carry-on policies of the budget airlines.
The trip from Berlin to Vienna by rail will be at least 9 hours, so you might want to consider a flight on that route also. One possibility would be to use Air Berlin, as they currently have flights listed from Berlin Tegel to Vienna for as low as £40 PP. If you don't mind a long rail trip, that's also an option.
One important point to mention is that AFAIK the airports in Berlin will be changing in 2013, so you'll have to check the status closer to the time you'll be travelling. Tegel and Schönefeld will be closing, replaced by Brandenburg (BER) in the spring.
For the trip from Vienna to Athens, Aegean Air would be a good choice. I've flown with them before, and they're a real "class act".
I'd suggest checking a few Guidebooks for information on budget Hotels. Your local Library should have a good selektion, and hopefully including some of the Rick Steves Guidebooks. That will allow you to choose not only the price range, but also the part of each city you wish to stay in. The books will also provide information on sightseeing, transportation, etc. You could also check Trip Advisor as there's a wealth of information there.
For the trip home from Athens, EasyJet has ATH - MAN flights listed for as low as £56.04 PP. You'll have to double-check all the information that I've provided.
Good luck with your planning!
Easyjet also fly to Berlin from John Lennon Airport, but generally you will likely find more options (and often better prices) from Manchester. I think Ken has already worked out the estimates for you, from here on you need to use one of the flight search engines multi-city options and then follow up with the actual airline sites.
You could try STA, but I don't think you will find any student discounts on the European city-city flights you are looking for.
Do you have NUS Extra cards? You can get an ISIC added for about three quid - it might be worth checking the European discounts that gives, including at some hostels/hotels and fast food type "restaurants", as well as museums, etc.
You might also want to seek advise on the Thorn Tree forum. I doubt you will find a Rick Steves guidebook in your library, but there will be plenty of others.
For art, the "museum island" in Berlin is excellent (spread visits across a few days rather than try to visit every museum on one day). I enjoyed, if that is the right word, visiting the Sachsenhausen concentration camp outside Berlin - easy to reach by public transport. The German History Museum in Berlin is interesting too, though I'll admit we skipped pretty quickly through the early modern period. In Athens, visit the Benaki Museum.
Luke,
As you indicated an interest in "history", you might consider taking at least one or two day tours when in Berlin. The Original Berlin Walks is excellent and the prices are reasonable. They offer a variety of tours (including Sachsenhausen and Third Reich tours), and I found that I learned far more about the history than if I had toured on my own.
Original Berlin Walks meets every morning in front of the McDonalds across from Bahnhof Zoo. Check Their Website for the details.
One Hotel that you might consider in Berlin is Pension Peters. They're located about halfway between Bahnhof Zoo and Savignyplatz in a nice neighborhood. If you're in the mood for a pint of Guinness, Dicke Wirtin's Pub is right across the street. Schwarze's Cafe is about two doors from the Hotel, and it's open 24-hours (as I recall, you can get a pint there also).
Cheers!
Thanks for all the help everyone! I like the idea of going to Berlin first and finishing with Athens. Thanks for pointing out the flight companies, when I said it was a pain I was reffering to trying to get flights from Athens to Vienna, I will most likely use the company you pointed out! Thanks for pointing out some museums too! They will be added to itinerary along with the walks in Berlin, I am very interested in world war 2!
Thanks all!
Luke, check out the Lonely Planet guidebooks (I think they also publish "Europe on a Shoestring" or something like that).
Luke,
Some sites to find flights within Europe are http://www.opodo.co.uk, http://www.skyscanner.com, and http://www.whichbudget.com.