By: Lindsay Hogg
Leaning Tower of Pisa
At first, I never travelled to Europe because there were a lot of other places that I was far more interested in seeing. I know it’s a stereotype, but when I think of Europe, I picture Rome and all the super touristy ruins, museums, and other sites which just don’t make my toes curl the way scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef or walking along the Salt Flats of Bolivia does. I try to keep an open mind about all destinations and my interest in Europe has begun to grow. It helps that I’ve enjoyed countries I go to without expectations more than those I go to expecting too much from.
For example, in 2008 I stopped off in Japan for ten days on my way to Australia. My friend was teaching English there and I wanted to drink some beers with him. I wasn’t overly excited to see the country and ended up loving it. It still remains one of my favorite destinations and I can’t wait to go back one day and drink more Asahi. Yet, when I went to South East Asia in 2009 I was slightly disappointed. Friends and blogs I read built everything up too much and I went there with my expectations too high. This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy myself – swimming in waterfalls, delicious food and $1 USD beers, how can you go wrong? But it lacked the greatness I anticipated.
Tokyo, Japan
Now that I’ve gained more of an open mind about Europe, one of the other things that holds me back is thinking about how much longer I could spend in South America or South East Asia with the amount of money I would spend for a few weeks in Europe. From Toronto, flights to Belfast or London are quite affordable, but it’s the spending I’m concerned about. I know I can budget and manage to not fall into tourist traps, but let’s be serious, it’s still going to burn my bank account. On that note, I’m not good with budgets either, I’m a spendthrift, a money whore, that drunk girl insisting on buying rounds of shots… and so on.
I do have one money saving benefit though: I’ve made crap loads of friends who live in Europe because I give sweet high fives. The downfall to this is that since these friends are so spread out among different countries, I’ve become overwhelmed thinking about tyring to visit them all. I know it would save me cash money money to have a couch to drunk coma on in different destinations, but to do the trip right and see everyone, it would have to be a big one (that’s what she said).
The bottom line is, I fear how much money Europe would cost me. I like backpacking and living on the cheap end of travel, but I don’t want to be living on the ghetto end. I still want to see things, do specific tours and drink beer when I want to drink beer. I will make it to Europe one day, but it I don’t know if it will be in the near future.
Any advise from those who have been to Europe?
39 Comments
Too expensive! Well maybe if you get some house sitting gigs it would be worth it, like Betsy and Warren over at Married with Luggage & the Globetrotter Girls. Go back to South America! Wait, unless you want to tear up Amsterdam I am all over that shit.
HAHA I think the two of us together in Amsterdam would be deadly… not sure it’s a good idea… or possibly the best idea ever???
You used my catchphrase about “making my toes curl!” Europe’s not so bad, give it a go 🙂
That was totally subconscious!
Pick me, pick me! I LOVE Europe – or at least the countries/cities I’ve been to and you would be CRAYZEE not do at least part of it. It is absolutely expensive and touristy, but in Rome, for example, a lot of the churches are free. And if you go with locals, they will know the less expensive/cheaper places to go that tout that location’s history, but aren’t overrun with tourists. And go during off-season maybe? And you can get between different cities for little money and I think eastern europe isn’t as expensive as the western side. I never had any desire to go to the countries you went to…I would rather do all of Europe (please remember I’m a medieval euro history minor).
I’ll pick you if you’re paying!
Yes, I am also an art major. But Modern period was my favorite, not big on medieval period.
It depends on where you go… cause we found some sweet deals. Roundtrip flight for under $700 to Paris. Our B&B in Rome was under $25 a night and right across from the Vatican wall… which I will talk about later.
I don’t know… you won’t find the same deals as a third world country but its not that bad, especially if you do some planning. When I consider all the things I did in 25 days, the overall cost seems reasonable. But yeah… if you’re comparing it to South America or Southeast Asia… yeah… you’re not going to be happy… but keep in mind… completely different experiences!
That’s very true. I’m just not sure I’m ready to dish out the cash for this kind of experience. Although I did when I visited you in Japan and Lucy in OZ. But that was my graduation present, so technically I wasn’t actually paying for it myself haha
I am currently travelling around South America for the first time and I am shocked by how expensive it is! I am spending no less for food, drinks and transport here than I did last year in Sweden, so if money is the only reason that you are putting Europe off for, it doesn’t need to be!
Europe has budget airlines galore, something South America could really benefit from – you can fly London-Stockholm for £20 on Ryanair! You could use ferries from Sweden to Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, St Petersburg for next-to-no money at all (Stockholm to Helsinki for £5). I stayed in Venice for 4 days and it cost me £150 (flight, accommodation and ALL spending). Sorry that the prices are in pounds, I don’t know the dollar conversion at the moment. Europe is not as expensive as it seems if you are prepared to research the best deals.
Of course you can’t beat South East Asia for budget travel, it breaks my heart that I have spent more money in one month in Argentina than 4 in Vietnam 🙁
Europe is amazing, you should check it out!
Really????? Where are you in SA? I know some places like Argentina and Colombia are becoming more expensive… but I still found a lot of places cheap..
Yes. I have only been to Argentina and Chile so far and as they are the more expensive ones I’m hoping it’ll get better when we head to Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. Argentina has been the worst for prices as it has risen so much even in the last year. Our 2010 Lonely Planet tells us that a bus ride will be 150 pesos but a year later we pay 450 🙁
I’ve mostly avoided biting the bullet and going to Europe for similar reasons. (Though I have spent a week each in Ireland and Italy.) I feel like going and just visiting one or two countries wouldn’t cut it. I want to see it ALL. Which basically means there’s no way I can afford it on a grad student budget. BUT, I’m going to give it a go next summer anyway. I’ve started saving now, and will hopefully be able to afford a month in Europe next year!
Ahhhh you’re gonna do it!… yeah, I should just go and see a few things and not get all worked up about seeing it all.
I spent 6 weeks in Europe before heading over to Asia, and Europe KILLED ME! I was spending £30 a night on accommodation in Croatia, and I’m now spending less than that for a WEEK in Asia.
I’m glad my parents took me to so many places in Europe when I was kid as there’s no way I could afford it alone! 😉
See! This is what I’m saying. No matter how hard you try to budget, it’s still gonna be so expensive!
I think you would be crazy not to get your butt over there as soon as possible. It is easy to travel everywhere and anywhere cheap if you put your mind to it 🙂
You’re right… I feel like it’s still gonna be more expensive though. Where in Europe have you been?/Would recommend?
I love Europe but agree that it’s expensive – perhaps you could start in the eastern countries and see how you like those? Budapest is really affordable, for example and our friends rave about Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania. Serbia, etc. You probably want to stay away from places like Switzerland, even though they are so amazing – just too expensive – you’ll cry, haha. I’m finding Germany to be really affordable for things like food and alcohol, less so for accommodation but I don’t know how much hostels cost here.
That’s really helpful actually… I may look into those eastern countries.
The only thing I don’t like about Europe is that I haven’t seen more of it. Expensive? It can be. I spent a small fortune in Rome, but I didn’t have to. Dip your toes into European travel by heading to the cheaper countries. If you find it to your liking, hit up the traditional hot spots: Rome, London, and Paris.
You’re right. I can always do a lot of the cheaper countries and come back in a few years to do the more expensive ones.
I’m glad that I went to Europe many many years ago when it was still reasonably affordable. I think the only way I could do it today would be to couchsurf or housesit. Would love to get back there — still so much to see.
There is SO much to see! And so many friends to visit!
Party at people’s houses. Since you have friends there, you don’t have to go out to bars to have a fun night. I’m a huge fan of potlucks where everyone brings their beverage of choice and something to soak up the alcohol.
I may have hosted a few in Buenos Aires since I’ve actually made a few friends here 🙂
There are still wildernesses in Europe, but you’re right – a lot of our continent is pricey. Get away from the cities as soon as you can. You can camp quite safely most places. Try Sierra Nevada in Spain, follow Robert Louis Stevenson’s long hike in France [ http://www.enlightened-traveller.co.uk/pages/Package_Pages.aspx?pkId=d679adcf-a05b-4136-b404-7a841334cfe3 ] or visit by ferry and stay on many Greek islands very cheaply.
Europe is obviously going to be more expensive than South America and S.E Asia, but it’s very similar in prices to Australia! In fact (obviously depending on where you go) I found that 9 times out of 10 a beer is way cheaper in the UK than in Aus.
You just have to make sure you plan – coach surf, shop in supermarkets… Europe is such an incredible experience and so unlike the places you have mentioned. Every country has something different to offer. It would be such a shame to miss out on such an amazing group of places because of money worries, just takes a bit of planning!
That’s true. I had heard OZ was expensive and it was, but I did find ways around a lot of it… I also had a lot more money to burn when I traveled there.
I have something similar with the US and Australia. I don’t feel heavily attracted to visit those countries, and I think that’s because they won’t change heavily within the next couple of years. I prefer to go to South-America, Asia or Africa, because I know that I can do and see things now, which may not be possible anymore within five years (e.g. in Guatemala I walked on a volcano only centimeters from the lava stream, on the Etna volcano in Italy I was not alowed to come closer than 1 kilometer from the lava. See what I mean?)
Living in Europe, I can tell you that it’s indeed quite expensive over here. In big cities you’ll have to be lucky to find a hostel bed for less than 20 euros or a beer for less than 3 euros. But there are ways to cut the cost.
Sleeping: couchsurf or go camping
Eating: make your own food
Drinking: buy beer in the shop, not the bar. The big supermarkets often have their own cheap brand (which tastes like horse piss, gets you drunk).
Transportation: Trains are incredibly expensive. Try long distant buses (Eurolines) or cheap flights (Ryanair, Wizzair,…)
Tours: Use forums like Couchsurfing to find people that want to take you on a free tour.
Also, European countries with a different currency than the Euro are often a lot cheaper (and they have a different name than Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, UK, Ireland or Finland)
I get that, sometimes you need something more intense, culturally different.
Eastern Europe is cheap; it’s only the West that’s expensive. To save money, you can camp in summer, couchsurf, or get monthly housesitting gigs. You can also self-cater for food most of the week, and skip the expensive tours for ‘free walking tours’. Drinks are affordable in most places, and if not, you can get them cheap at the markets (instead of bars and clubs). Europe is totally doable on a budget. You can even hitchhike if you’re feeling brave.
Europe is great. It offers a very different travel experience. If you can travel with a group of people buying a cheap Eurovan (campervan) is a great way to do it. We had 4-6 girls in ours and would park in the free parking lots of a night and cook all our own food. It worked out to be really cheap and lots of fun
That does sound AWESOME! Now I just need to find 4-6 ladies up for the challenge!
i live in europe (norway) and i totally get your jist girl. however, i would totally recommend eastern europe. ukraine, for example, can be done on such minimal costs if done right! it is the cheapest country ive ever been to! a beer was 80 cents (USD). i guess that is all i cared about 🙂
Europe may be overdone, but it’s overdone for a reason… glad you are going to check it out! Our idea (whether it was brilliant or not has yet to be decided) was to start in the most expensive and head to Eastern Europe overland. UK first, then Ireland, then from the Netherlands overland to Slovenia and Croatia where it starts getting more affordable. The small train journeys in Western Europe add up quick, so we used ridesharing a lot of the time. It’s much cheaper, sometimes more comfortable… but I have to give in and take a train sometimes because I love them. It’s possible… now that we are in Eastern Europe, the sights are actually less touristy and the prices are low. Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria… all affordable. Hope it works out!
You could travel around Europe and spend thousands or you could easily see the continent on a tight budget. If you do your homework you can travel cheaply; use budget airlines and book flights in advance, couch surf, stay in cheap hostels or camp, stick to Eastern Europe &make the most of the free attractions and tourist sites (Paris’ Louvre is free the first Sunday of every month & most of London’s museums are free). Europe is not however just about the history and museums. It leads the world when it comes to fashion, art & design (you can tell I’m from London) and if spectacular scenery is your thing (you mentioned the Barrier Reef) it’s got a host of amazing places to compete on this level – Norway’s fjords, the Alps, the beautiful Greek islands. You’ll love it I promise.
I totally had the same expectations of Europe, I mean I was super excited to get here but I expected it to be expensive. Coming from Australia, Europe is built up as this amazing cultural place where prices are out of control. Travelling for a few months and it’s totally not the case. If you travelled Australia and survived our exorbitant prices you can totally do Europe. Things are totally affordable especially if you stick to the southern European countries. Beer is so freaking cheap here! Oh and if you do decide to come you can totally crash on our couch, I’m Tom’s girlfriend (from Activebackpacker) and we both agree you would be a hilarious surfer of our couch.
I don’t know if you’ve seen this already, but I’d take a look at priceoftravel.com for the annual backpacker’s index…side-by-side comparisons of eastern Europe and South/Central America seem pretty reasonable, at least.
But you’re right in your hesitation about places like Rome…it’s insanely expensive, and even after living there I’ve found it difficult to cut costs. At least the trains in Italy are cheap, though…
Europe can definitely be expensive. However, it’s probably my favorite place in the world to travel. You can get away from the crowds and save a little money by exploring my favorite part of Europe – Eastern Europe. Once you make it there, you will be glad you went.
I think Europe is great. I might be a bit biased though, since I live there (Belgium).
It’s great because you can travel really easy between so many different countries. You can couch surf, stay in hostels, go camping… Public transportation is great in a lot of places (definitely in Spain!) and if you plan efficiently, you won’t be losing too much time going from one place to the other.