Europe Travel Forum

I will be traveling with my two teenagers in July and need advice!
I'm getting a little overwhelmed. We are on a tight budget. Does anyone have tips on hotels, eurail passes and must sees? I know it is a lot to ask and cover but we are trying to take advantage of a once in a lifetime situation.
Thanks!

I know certainly about Eurail passes: please don't. They are a rip-off in general. Poor value in France, horrible value in Switzerland and Italy is one of the worst place to use them. It's basically a cleverly marketed scam (OK, too strong wording - but almost like that).

Suggestion:

- Fly into Central European country. Hungary and/or Slovakia is the best from certain point of view to get the very special tickets all over Switzerland
- Budapest->Venice is a mere 55 Euro (regular tariff by train), special is easy a week in advance, 29 Euro each way
- You can buy pretty neat "almost-all-France" train tickets in Slovakia or Budapest easily, no more than 150 Euro/person
- The local tickets within Central Europe is a joke (Budapest-Bratislava round-trip is 16 Euro, for instance)
- Many Swiss tickets are the best value if bought in Slovakia or Hungary...

And depending on your luck, you can sometimes fly cheaper to Central Europe than to West.

So all depends on your time and willingness to follow a bit unusual pattern, not of Rick Steve's or Eurails... :)

BTW: as I see, you going presumably to Ireland (from USA?) first.
That's good because you can easily fly by Ryanair to Budapest or Bratislava. An other thing is, Air Lingus does fly to Central Europe, too.

Hi, for accommodation, I reccommend you look at www.venere.com or Bookings.com for hotels/ B&B etc. properties are listed in price from cheapest to most expensive and vise versa. Plus you get comments from travellers who've stayed there.
Check out Vters pages on your planned destinations for tips of things to do/ restaurants/ transport etc.

In Venice, you could save a bit by booking room only - the breakfasts in budget hotels are usually quite basic - probably better to buy a coffee and pastry at an off the beaten track cafe as the locals do. However, with 4 of you on a budget, it might be as well to book a hotel breakfast, then buy yogurts, fruit, juice etc to supplement it. There are a few supermarkets, and the Rialto markets are a good place to stock up on fruit, 'picnic' stuff etc. Pizzas start about 6 euros, but you can buy a good sized slice to take away for about 2 euros. Plenty of places sell sandwiches/ panninis etc. Eat/ shop away from the main tourist areas such as San Marco/ Rialto Bridge for better deals.
Venice can be expensive, but it is also possible to see/do a lot without spending a fortune, with good planning. Gondola rides are expensive, but crossing the Grand Canal by gondola traghetti costs 50 cents.

Buy a tourist travel ticket for unlimited travel on the vaporettos (waterbuses)and enjoy a ride along the Grand Canal day and night, as well as the islands.

Some churches/ museums you pay to get in, but many are free.

There might be free entertainment in some of the campos - concerts etc. www.turismovenezia.it will have listings of What's on in July.

Have A great trip!
Best Wishes,
Sue x

I would suggest you look into staying in apartments wherever you go. They are available almost everywhere for as short as a 1-night stay and for as long as you want. My travel agent turned us on to apartments overseas a number of years ago and we haven't stayed in a hotel since. It's a wonderful way to get to experience an area. You can meet the locals, fix your own food--much cheaper, even if you buy packaged food to heat up in the micro--and what a great way for teenagers to really get a feel for an area, the lifestyle and the food.

Thank you so much for the great tips!