SamanthaSKY

Alright, here is the situation I am in right now. I have 20 days to spend in Europe from 27 Oct - 15 November, then I have another 14 days ( 19 November - 2nd December 2013). I am definitely on a tight budget.

I am in a dilemma situation whereby the first option 20 days is I will be travelling alone in Europe and the next 14 days I will be travelling with my family members. However, my parents prefer not to be in countries whereby the temperature is at freezing point, fairly chilly or slightly colder would be alright.

I would love to travel to France, Belgium, Luxemborg, Switzerland, Italy, Prague, Poland, Vienna, Budapest, Germany.


I do know that I would not be able to cover everything in 34 days but I am worried about the safety of myself travelling to East Europe alone and I can't speak other European languages.

so here is my question,

1. Would be safe for me to travel to East Europe - Poland, Vienna, Prague, Budapest by myself (female in mid 20s) ?

2. Do you recommend me to travel to East Europe (above mentioned countries) during 27 Oct - 15 Nov?

3. What is the budget like for a single traveller to travel in East Europe for 20 days?

4. I heard there would be a lot of crim such as pick pockets and thieves in East Europe, what would you recommend me to travel around with my money. I only have debit card from UK and I will be charge for service every single time i used and is not practical at all.

5. Is 14 days sufficient to travel around West Europe and what is the weather like?

6. What is the budget like for 3 persons's travelling in West Europe for 14 days. (covering Paris, Lyon, Belgium, Luxemborg, Switzerland, part of Italy such as Venice, Milan, Rome and Pisa).


If you have other suggestions, what would it be? I will be travelling alone and I am a female in mid 20s, I am on a tight budget and loves taking photographs, not into hiking at this time of the year as I do not have enough gears for wet weather hikings.

Please give me some suggestions.

Thank you !!! I appreciate your replies a lot !

michelhuebeli

You'll find that Prague and Vienna etc. are considered to be in Central Europe (the "East" is a throwback to the days of "Eastern Europe" beginning at the Iron Curtain).

Safety has a lot to do with commonsense - if you're out and about after dark you should know where it is you're going and how to get there. Going to a symphony concert is a different thing from going to a drinking establishment near a red-light district - but you knew that.

The budget can be minimal if you're willing to travel simply, with very little stuff, and stay at youth hostels and the like.

Use your debit card to withdraw Euros, not small amounts too often (or the fees add up) but a good chunk each time, and lern to be really safe and smart about how and where you carry your valuables including documents and cash and such. Don't take this lightly - in the US you can get great devices at places like www.magellans.com and advice and stuff from www.ricksteves.com and others. Get some, see what is practical for you, practice wearing them before the trip, and if it becomes automatic you don't have to think about it any longer.

Jean

#6 is nothing but moving from place to place. You need to research travel times between destinations and then pick 3 or perhaps 4 places that are fairly close together. I don't know what "fairly chilly or slightly colder" means in actual temperatures, so you should also research weather records to decide which places satisfy your parents' preferences.

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

http://www.weatherbase.com/

When you finalize everyone's itinerary, try to book flights in and out of different cities to avoid having to spend time backtracking.

centraleurope

My husband and I have lived in Slovakia and now Hungary. One thing my husband always comments on are the number of younger women walking alone late at night. These woman are not stupid (though not saying you should do this) - it is just very safe in this part of Europe. So from a safety perspective, I would have no more concerns in Budapest than I would in Paris.

Vienna is more expensive - as is Prague (tho not in the suburbs of Prague). I might suggest you start at Krakow and work your way south.

Move slowly to save money. You can easily spend a week in some of these cities (certainly you can in Budapest). And they are full of options for photography.

Once your family comes, I would suggest you stay in Spain, the south of France and Italy (or, if you want to stay more east work your way from Budapest down thru Slovenia and Croatia). This is both a statement of weather and cost. Many of the cities you mention (Paris, Luxemborg, any place in Switzerland) are very expensive.

SamanthaSKY

@michelhuebeli

Thank you for your reply.

Well, Poland is consider the central eastern europe and the rest is still consider as eastern europe. Probably is not in the States but in UK, we do.


I do understand safety has a lot to do with commonsense. In my point of safety is not about commonsense, what I am referring to is travel around as a single female. For instance, I have no worries about travelling in North europe alone as I've done that a few times. This is because North Europe is relatively safe and people are very very kind. I've met quite a few and they were the best people I've ever met to be honest. Also, I've read a lot of articles about crime and unsafe for single female traveller to be in Eastern Europe. Obviously I do not go out after dark for drinking or anywhere near red-light district because I have no whatsoever interest in those. My main concern is generally whether would it be alright for me to travel around alone.

As for debit card, even with a good chunk of money will still end up in almost the same amount of fees that I have to pay because it is go by percentage. I do need to pay an extra 1 pound for every international transaction. Hence, withdrawing using my debit card would still not be practical. What I am looking for is an alternative which I do not need to carry a lot of cash with me as I want to reduce the chances being picked.

SamanthaSKY

@Jean,

Thank you.

I was thinking of travelling by rail as these few countries I mentioned is close to each other.

SamanthaSKY

@centraleurope,

I find your reply is the closest to what I'm asking.

Thank you for replying. I am greatful to hear that it is safe to travel alone in Hungary because I've read many articles about raping and brutally assault in eastern europe but I am not aware of the situation right now over there. Hence, this is my main concern if it is alright for me to travel alone.

Well, I want to travel around those countries that I've mentioned as there are in my list to go. I do aware that cities from west europe is very expansive, that is why I was thinking to do a short trip around with the lowest budget I can and work my way east but not too east.


You've suggested me to start from Krakow, i've thought of that as well. What about Warsaw? I saw pictures of Warsaw and they are lovely. Would you recommend me to go to Warsaw ? Or there are not much to see in Warsaw?

centraleurope

I was going to back you up north... maybe as far as Gdansk... Warsaw would work also (and likely save a bit of money).

We also went to Zagreb recently and loved it - a bit more than 6 hours by train from Budapest. From there, we loved Ljubljana - about another 2 or so hours by train. From there, you can return to Vienna (or Bratislava, another city we lived in and adored).

I do not want to give you false faith - but I am in Budapest alone now (my husband is in the US for a few weeks)... My 20 year old daughter lived here before I moved. I think she always felt very safe (realizing you will use basic cautions).

adrienne

<< 1. Would be safe for me to travel to East Europe - Poland, Vienna, Prague, Budapest by myself (female in mid 20s) ? >>

I'm not sure why you would have any concerns in these places. They're all perfectly safe unless you do something stupid like pickup strangers in bars.

<< East Europe - Poland, Vienna, Prague, Budapest
3. What is the budget like for a single traveller to travel in East Europe for 20 days? >>

You can't combine all these places and ask for a budget as the prices vary greatly. You're also comparing a country (Poland) to cities. It depends where in Poland you plan to visit. I found the major cities in Poland very inexpensive compared to western Europe. The only thing I thought was expensive in Poland was wine. Poland will be less expensive than Vienna, Prague, or Budapest. I spent about $1,500 for 2 weeks in Poland (excluding airfare).

In any city you can find inexpensive lodging and food. Sightseeing is fixed. You can look up prices in any guide book and sightseeing prices are posted on the individual web sites for sights.

<< 4. I heard there would be a lot of crim such as pick pockets and thieves in East Europe >>

You've not done your research very well. There are pick pockets and thieves in all large cities. In the US you have the added concern of bodily harm (mugging, rape, etc.) so you're safer in the cities you mention than in many cities in the US.

<< 5. Is 14 days sufficient to travel around West Europe and what is the weather like? >>

Western Europe is a very large area so no, 14 days is not sufficient. You can have a cursory look at 3 cities or do 2 cities in more depth. Western Europe comprises Scandinavia to southern Spain and Portugal and all countries in between. No one can tell you the weather in advance for such a varied terrain. You can get an average weather chart from this site:

http://www.weatherbase.com/

Or you can read some guide books for average temps in the fall.

<< 6. What is the budget like for 3 persons's travelling in West Europe for 14 days. (covering Paris, Lyon, Belgium, Luxemborg, Switzerland, part of Italy such as Venice, Milan, Rome and Pisa). >>

It will be expensive because you'll spend a lot for transportation. You're planning on 9 cities in 14 days. That's a lot of moving around and you will see little because you'll have only 1 day in each city. It takes approximately 1/2 day to get from one place to another and you have 9 cities. Take 14 days and subtract 4 days for changing locations (or traveling from another city and back) and you have 10 days for 9 locations.

Budget is very subjective. It depends on the type of hotels and restaurants you choose. How much you eat and drink and what sights you'll visit. No one will be able to give you a definite budget for 9 cities for 3 people. At a guess, not knowing anything about you, E200 per day per person and a good chunk of that money will be for transportation.

Jean

SamanthaSKY, the countries may look close together on a map, but you need to check train travel times. Lyon might make more sense as a day-trip from Paris (although there are other, closer options). Luxembourg to anywhere in Switzerland is a train ride of several hours, and likewise "Switzerland" to Venice is several hours. It might make more sense to go from "Switzerland" to Milan, then Venice, but that's why you need to spend some time checking train timetables and make some decisions about your final itinerary.

Whatever the train journey time, you need to add time to get from the hotel to the station and more time to get to the next hotel at the other end.

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

KTtravel

I think you should consider trying to obtain a credit card (and paying off the balance on time.) Look into staying in hostels when you are traveling by yourself. There are hostel websites that rate various places by many factors, safety being one of them.

Your plans with your parents are unrealistic. You need to sit down with them and pick your top three or so priority places realizing that the less moving you do the more you can cut back on transportation costs.

StCirq

Is there some reason you can't open an account with a bank or credit union that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees and doesn't charge for foreign withdrawals? Plenty of places like that exist. I pay no transaction or withdrawal fees. And banks in Europe don't charge you for withdrawals, either. I don't understand why you're stuck with a card that isn't advantageous to you.

nytraveler

Um, I'm confused.

Weather is colder in the north and warmer in the south - not generally that much east to west (although the central - not eastern - european plain can be a little colder.

You need to specify what is cold or not too cold - but realize that with weather there are no guarantees.

As for cost - you can do countries at almost any budget but without specific numbers from you giving advice is very difficult.

michelhuebeli

Samantha, you are using the wrong debit card if what you wrote is fact: "As for debit card, even with a good chunk of money will still end up in almost the same amount of fees that I have to pay because it is go by percentage."

Debit cards that draw on a checking account when you withdraw cash from an ATM do not create percentages, just a set fee per withdrawal that your bank (not the foreign ATM) charges, the same small fee whether you take out a little of a lot at a time.

If the bank that issued your debit card really charges a fee based on a percentage of the amount you withdraw, then cut up the card and change bank!

And while you're at it, find a bank that doesn't charge those fees and reimburses you any fees that a third party charges when you withdraw your own money from your own checking account. I don't know which banks in the UK do that, I only know about several in the US, but if you look around you'll find what you need.

rrkapi

Visit Poland. If you want to take a cheap bus from Berlin, Prague or Wien or Bratislava, check: www.polskibus.pl. You can find a discountial trip to Poznań, Wrocław or Katowice even for 5 euros.

live42day

We have just done Prague, overnight train to Krakow, day train to Burapest , overnight train to Romania and at that point realized that it takes a lot longer to get around than it looks on a map. Prices are not terrible, and we saw many backpackers who were living very cheaply so in my opinion you can live on what your budget will allow. We spent anywhre from $30 a night to $120 for a room. Meals for us average 50-60 dollars per day for two, but we dont drink alcohol.
Being on an extended holiday we are trying to keep costs down and we find it is working well.

Trains are relitivley cheap and efficent. I would go out on my own now and then at night, Older Female but saw lots of single women out and about. I never felt unsafe and never worried about being robbed.

KL467

1. Yes, those countries are safe to travel in. As always, just use common sense when traveling.

4. I do not know why you would be paying for transactions. Not only do I not have to pay a foreign transaction fee, my credit card (Capital One) pays me back 1.25% of my purchases on an on-going basis. You should be able to get something similar.