Thursday, April 10, 2014

Travel Tips - Traveling between cities - Planes, trains, buses!!

Word has gotten out that I have a knack for travel
and all of the components within.

This news makes me SO happy!
I love when people send me emails asking
questions about how to do this or that while traveling.

I could probably sit down and talk about the ins and outs
of travel all day long and never get tired of it.

Which is probably why i'm dedicating like 100% of my time at the moment to
writing up a business plan that has travel written all over it.

I love to travel, I love to talk about travel
& I love to help other people travel easier and cheaper.
Cheaper being a BIG bonus to most people.

Casey {a reader of le blog & a really nice lady} 
asked me a question the other day and I thought I'd address it on the blog.
It's a great question and I feel like loads of people have it.
So I thought I'd just blog about it.


Ok, so traveling between countries can be really cheap or really expensive. 
That's a pretty obvious statement...

I've taken my fair share of trains, buses and planes. 
Telling you that one is better than the other would be a lie
because they all have their pro's and cons.

Trains
If you are thinking about trains I would suggest a euro rail pass, 
you can buy them online, they aren't cheap up front but it could save you tons 
if you plan on traveling by train frequently. 

The way a eurorail pass works is kind of tricky.
It looks like a train ticket but it's a pass that will act as multiple tickets.
You have to buy the pass in advance so if you like the idea of buying tickets
at the drop of a hat then forego the pass and just buy tickets as you travel.

The pass covers the cost of train tickets over a certain number of days.
The cost of the pass depends on how many days you plan on traveling by train.

So if you have a well planned out trip where you know
the days you'll need to get from point A to point B then you
would know how many days you'd need to buy for your pass.

Every time you ride the train, whether it's for an hour or for 12 hours
you are using a day off your pass so you have to be careful
not to use up all of your days on just small train rides.
Use the pass for getting from one town/country to another.
Make it worth using a day.

I used a euro rail pass when I studied abroad 
and it saved us some serious cash. 
I would recommend the Euro Rail Pass to anyone
wanting to travel through Europe, just remember it will
feel expensive when you buy it up front but later on when
your train trips are basically free you'll feel better about it.

Planes
If you don't mind dealing with airports then you can go a cheap route 
and use Europe's budget airlines called easy jet and Ryan air. 

Both airlines have scandalously low flight prices, 
for example, we are flying to Italy round trip for £50 per person. 
It's crazy!! 

The only con to these budget airlines are that they
find ways to make you pay more than you thought you'd have to.

I think it's easy jet that charges for picking a seat.
If you choose to forego that step they will assign you a random seat.

They also charge for baggage and have really strict carry on rules.
So keep that in mind as the cost can add up quickly,
but also remember that a train can take 12 hours to get to Rome
while a plane only takes about 3.


Buses
Last but not least are the buses. 

The only bus system I've ever tried has been MegaBus. 
We payed about £20 for a round trip ticket to London from Liverpool. 
I know it can be cheaper than that and also more expensive than that.
It all depends on time of day you travel and where you're going.

It's meant to be a really cheap way of traveling and it's pretty comfortable too. 
Plus If you don't mind the trip taking longer and you like the idea 
of seeing Europe as you drive by (at a slower pace than a train) 
then you might like the bus option.

Honestly you can't go wrong getting to places in Europe...
unless you hitch hike, I wouldn't advise that ;) 

That's all for now.
Feel free to throw any and all questions at me
that have to do with travel or living abroad or any of the above.

e-mail: hopelesswanderings@gmail.com

:)

2 comments:

  1. I've found that airports can sometimes be a bit outside of the cities, while train stations tend to be more central.

    www.raileurope.com was great for a two week very planned, very on the move vacation - able to book every trip we needed, and all came in a booklet. Yes, you pay an extra travel agency fee, but the actual train trips were at cost and it made everything very smooth.

    If you're going to rent a car, talk to your insurance agent about what exactly they cover, you might not have to take the rental place's insurance. A car is a great way to explore independentally outside of cities.

    Emily, hope I didn't over step here - just some tips I discovered. You covered it pretty well.

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    1. Great tips, love additional comments :) Thanks! :)

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