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Cheap Lodging ideas???

Price range under $200 USD please:
Paris Sept5-10
Amsterdam Sept10-14
Copenhagen 14-16
Berlin 16-17
Vienna 17-20
Switz. 20-22
Venice 22-24
Florence 24-27
Rome 27-31
Athens Oct1-???

Any suggestions for any times or cities would be greatly appreciated. If anyone knows a B&B, local room from families, etc. I would love to hear it. Thanks!

For Paris try :

http://www.paris35.com/

For many cities try :

budget accommodation travellerspoint (with the name of the city.)

Hi ER,

Quite an interesting itinerary.

150E/nite isn't exactly cheap. Is that for a single?

Have you entered <(city name) and hotel> in the "search this forum" box?

In Florence, I can highly recommend www.bedinflorence.it.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

((I))

The whole of Switzerland in 1 1/2 days? :)

Hostels or convents, as suggested by others in response to your other thread, are the cheapest options but you can get an OK 2-3* hotel for that price. What do you want - cheapest, in order to save money for other things, or best recommendations at prices approaching $200 ? Is this for 1 or 2 ?

I'm sure I won't be the first to say IMO your itinerary is completely mad, but I think you are quite young ? And I can understand wanting a quick look at as much as possible, if you don't need to relax. If that's your choice, go for it !

But bear in mind that e.g. Copenhagen 14-16 only gives you *one* full day there. And are you really planning to arrive in Berlin one day and leave the next ??

I'm sure you'll have lots of other suggestions; but mine would be to take days off Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna & Florence & add them to Berlin and Venice.

And "Switzerland" ?? It's a whole country, you know !! Where in Switzerland are you thinking to spend your 1 day ? Where would you be flying/training to ?

Are you planning to travel within Europe by train or air ? Have you already booked all this ? There is an Interrail pass for young people but I'm not sure if you have to be European or what.

Try www.eurocheapo.com - - and maybe clarify... is this $200 per night for a room accommodating _two_ people? Or are you traveling solo? While it costs a lot more to travel in Europe than it did even a year ago (and September will cost quite a lot more than say... the pre-peak - - yet still spring-like - - months of March or April in many of these cities) - - even so, a more typical "budget" lodging allocation would be under 70 euro per night for one, or under 100 euro for a room, accommodating two.

Are you a rookie, in the arena of living out of a suitcase for over four weeks, in countries where you do not speak the language?

If yes, then this is a good way to spend a lot of money, in an inexperienced way, when you could do this better as two trips in succesive years, and in the process, see more, do more, learn more and spend less.

Otherwise, this is a trip that I would recommend only to someone who has reached a stage in life that they don't need to be on a budget all that much (say, someone who is putting $10,000 or more - - _annually_ - - of discretionary income into savings or "money to blow") - - and even then, this is at least four (if not six) countries too many for a rookie trip to Europe, whether you are 22 or 62 years old.

Consider rethinking this itinerary. Take any 8-10 day stretch of this plan; remove 2 of the 5 big city destinations you have crammed into too little time, and expand the duration to 12 or 13 days, adding in adequate time to get from A to B and maybe see some of the smaller towns and countryside that lie around your main points on the map, or between A and B.

Your lodging budget will often buy you twice as nice, at half the price, if you go visit some of Europe outside these generally big, expensive cities.

Moreover, the intra-Europe transportation budget for this itinerary is huge, in both time and money. You're looking to spend over $1000 USD to spend 80 or more hours looking at the insides of trains, planes and/or buses - - not counting any travel between continents you may need to do to get to Europe in the firt place (I am guessing that you are originating from the US, but you might not be).

On the plan you have, I see you burning through $6000 (if not $8000) in 28 days, for lodging and intra-Europe transportation expenses alone (i.e., leals extra) - - when a better plan for some who is "budget-challenged" would bring that down to of $1500 (traveling solo) for 12 days, or not much more than $2000 for a couple (and this is still excluding meals).

Putting the $5000 differential in the bank, and planning the trip which follows a year or two after this one would be a much better idea.

All of us have changing ideas on how to travel to Europe as our age and travel budget increases (I assume that grayer hair and greater means lie well into your future) - - all this advice is meant as constructive only... from someone who has been to Europe a lot, spanning 35+ years, and advised a lot of rookies, especially in the past decade.

Best wishes,

Rex

Paris - Excelsior Hotel
Florence - A Teatro B&B (highly recommend)
Rome - Hotel Des Artistes

Rex, I think you're being a bit harsh. When I was a student it was de rigeur to spend the summer inter-railing, aiming to visit as many countries as possible on no money.

I know it wouldn't suit us, at my and (I presume) your time of life :-)

Paris - Hotel Monge
Amsterdam - Hotel Kap

Riviera Lodge in Vevey Switzerland

<< Rex, I think you're being a bit harsh. When I was a student it was de rigeur to spend the summer inter-railing... >>

Harsh? I don't think so. Paternalistic? maybe...

But I have some nieces and nephews (ages 17-32) as well as siblings and siblings in law, from late 30's to mid 50's... who have never been to Europe - - and my advice would be identical, particularly if they felt like it is a financial strain to take a trip like this, in the first place (I infer this from the message header - - why else seek "Cheap Lodging ideas"?

EuropeRookie seeks to spend at least 27 nights in Europe, and projects a lodging budget of (up to) $200 a night - - thus (again... up to) $5400 - - even before meals, airfare and the very large expense of intra-Europe transport for this itinerary.

We do not know his/her age, marital/partner status or overall ability to afford this trip. Could be 19, a freshman in college... could be 26, a recent law school grad ready to make $100k a year... could be 55, with a nest egg saved up over a decade or more, and a fresh appetite for life as a new empty-nester.

Just because kids of the 60's 70's and 80's went "inter-railing" over the course of the summer, doesn't mean that a veteran Europe traveler shouldn't advise doing something different today. At age 53, I still have my "Let's Go Europe" book from 1969 (I was 15 then). There were lots of hotels (not just hostels) - - even in Paris - - for $2 a night - - that's right, two dollars... not a typo); the book has lots of ads for car rental at $1 a day (based on 4 people sharing, for a 60 day rental... i.e., $240).

Today, a full blown Eurailpass (a terrible value, in my opinion for many young travelers) is over $900.

A trip of $6000 to $10,000 as suggested by EuropeRookie is a big purchase for almost any American who has the word "cheap" in their travel plans. I think it's the wrong way to plan a first trip to Europe. My advice may seem fatherly, but I think it's the smart way to approach it...

Put half of that allocated money in the bank, and cut the trip in half. Start planning trip two as soon as you get home from trip one, and try to accumulate more savings, so that trip three is in the bank when trip two begins. Each trip is so much smarter than the previous one, and you learn and experience so much more. The money saved (usually better spent - - not necessarily spending less) is money wisely used.

One dad's opinion...

the way you've listed things makes it seem you have a lot more time than you do. If you are planning doing anything in Paris on Sep 10 you really can't start counting A'dam until Sep 11. Doing something in Vienna on sept 20 and arriving in Venice on Sept 22 means ONE day for Switzerland. and so on.

(only 30 days in Sept BTW) Not counting Athens, you have 26 days for 9 major cities, which leaves you barely 2 days per city when you consider all the travel time, checking in, checking out etc.

I don't know why I didn't do this, as I almost always do... but I clicked on "EuropeRookie" - - and I see that there is a certain amount of other info in another post.

EuropeRookie plans to travel with another friend. The budget is evidently $3500-5000 per person not counting trans-atlantic airfare.

My advice remains the same. Cut the list of countries to visit to two, maybe three max. Shorten the trip to 17-20 days max, maybe less. Put $1500 in the bank, and start growing it into trip two as soon as is practical.

Regardless of age or station in life.

Become a repeat Europe traveler for decades to come. It's well worth the ride.

Thank you all very much for you suggestions. Rex I appreciate your honesty. The truth is I am traveling with a friend and the budget of 3500-5000 USD was her idea. We both can afford to spend much more than this amt. but we thought it would bring us a better European experience if we tried to live less like the typical tourist while we were there.
Once again thank you all the information was great.

EuropeRookie: "we thought it would bring us a better European experience if we tried to live less like the typical tourist while we were there. " is totally at odds w/ your whole plan/itinerary. Honestly - w/ that schedule you will see more of the insides of train stations and airports than you will living like a local.

Plus all that travel adds substantially to your costs. Fewer places for longer visits will be a lot easier and cheaper. Plus you would actually SEE see something.

Cheap? Why not 'inexpensive'? Try University hotels and dorms. Check luggage at the train station. Inquire at the tourist aid desk for accommodations. Walk out the station and find nearby B&Bs. The further you get from the station the lower the price. Rates will be posted outside their doors. Real tourist culture travel..busses.

To live less like a tourist more like a local you would need to spend more time in each place, not dash around so quickly. That opens up the possibility of renting apartments, shopping at the grocery store, etc.

Thanks again everyone. I have taken some of the advice and we have decided to eliminate Copenhagen, Berlin, Switzerland from the trip...adding those days to Paris and Rome. Would love more advice on hotels or anything else of interest!!

and to add......we have also pushed our travel dates back one week due to the fact that we are ROOKIES! Please keep the info coming!

I strongly second the Eurocheapo.com recommendation. I recently helped a friend (who is in the midst of his trip) plan a month in Europe.

Using Eurocheapo recommendations all of his hotels are absolutley central, clean, and within his under $200/night budget (inludes ALL taxes/fees). Not all have A/C but with your time frame that is not a big issue.

While poking around the website in each city, look in the $150-$200 range. This will almost ensure a private bath, etc. Those in the $100/night range will never have one.

In his email reports so far, he has been very pleased with all hotels.

My son is also currently on an extended trip in Europe. All of his hotels are in the "under $100" category. While none have a private bath, all are very clean and very central (e.g. two blocks to Notre Dame in Paris, two blocks to Old Town Square in Prague, etc.)