930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: Chulahoma on May 25, 2007, 09:48:00 am
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I'm planning a backpacking trip in Europe for September and part of October. Does anyone know of any club size venues similar to the 930 club that i should check out?
Any tips on booking flights, hostels and countries to visit would be helpful too.
Thanks!
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What countries are you currently looking at?
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Check out lonelyplanet's message boards. http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/)
I did a contiki tour after graduation. 10 countries in 24 days. They have a budget tour with camping/hostels. I did the next price range up which was hotels and hostels. I liked it because they bused us around to each city then dropped us off with a map and said meet us back at the bus at a certain time. http://us.contiki.com/ (http://us.contiki.com/)
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Enjoy your trip, should be fun. Just try to make you being American (if you are American) not so obvious. Europeans aren't too big on doodles at the moment.
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Milkweg in Amsterdam
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I have friends in Germany and Italy and relatives in Holland, so those are a definite.
I'm getting a Eurorail pass, so anywhere that takes me is a possibility.
I was planning on buying my plane ticket through orbitz.com unless anyone has any websites they recommend.
Thanks for tips!
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I found their website, but couldn't understand any of the text on the site
Originally posted by Relaxer:
Milkweg in Amsterdam
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Originally posted by bizou311®:
I have friends in Germany and Italy and relatives in Holland, so those are a definite.
I'm getting a Eurorail pass, so anywhere that takes me is a possibility.
I was planning on buying my plane ticket through orbitz.com unless anyone has any websites they recommend.
Thanks for tips!
i dont think there are any great secret airfare websites out there anymore, but I do like farechase.yahoo.com, it searches all the websites
and check first, but it is normally a little cheaper if you buy the ticket directly from the airline website once you have found a flight you want
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Melkweg, Paradiso, and Bimhuis in Amsterdam.
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I can't wait until our kid is old enough to backpack Europe with her/his parents. Wish I was going; have fun!
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Unless you plan on hitchhiking, I'd suggest you break the bank and get a Eurail pass before you go. Expensive, but worth it.
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Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
I can't wait until our kid is old enough to backpack Europe with her/his parents.
<img src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ANYWXRPEL._SS500_.jpg" alt=" - " />
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Originally posted by bizou311®:
I have friends in Germany and Italy and relatives in Holland, so those are a definite.
I'm getting a Eurorail pass, so anywhere that takes me is a possibility.
I was planning on buying my plane ticket through orbitz.com unless anyone has any websites they recommend.
Thanks for tips!
www.kayak.com (http://www.kayak.com)
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It is a little pricey, but I plan on buying one after my next paycheck.
Originally posted by georgewendt:
Unless you plan on hitchhiking, I'd suggest you break the bank and get a Eurail pass before you go. Expensive, but worth it.
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Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:
www.kayak.com (http://www.kayak.com)
wow, looks like farechase with better tools, I am still surprised how many useful websites there are that I just dont hear about, maybe we should start a thread for that
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Originally posted by 6949:
Check out lonelyplanet's message boards. http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/)
Especially this memorable thread:
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=32&threadid=776884&messid=6606542&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=11&showall=true (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=32&threadid=776884&messid=6606542&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=11&showall=true)
;)
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Originally posted by pdx pollard:
Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:
www.kayak.com (http://www.kayak.com)
wow, looks like farechase with better tools, I am still surprised how many useful websites there are that I just dont hear about, maybe we should start a thread for that [/b]
kayak is fantastic, by far the best travel site out there ... root around on it and see all the different things you can do
this section: http://www.kayak.com/buzz (http://www.kayak.com/buzz)
is particularly cool
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this is the travel website that keeps me on planes:
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/prego/calendar (http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/prego/calendar)
a meta-search engine. lots of different way of planning your trip, the "Search any 30 day period for the lowest prices" and "Find the cheapest weekend to travel in any 30 day period" features are very useful.
www.sidestep.com (http://www.sidestep.com) is also good. but as pdx pollard pointed out, there aren't too many "hidden deals" to be found anymore... most sites have access to the same pool of 99% of the fares. occasionally i come across a unique fare, but it's getting rarer and rarer.
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hahahaha this is keeping me busy while at work.
Originally posted by Christine Moritz:
Originally posted by 6949:
Check out lonelyplanet's message boards. http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/)
Especially this memorable thread:
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=32&threadid=776884&messid=6606542&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=11&showall=true (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=32&threadid=776884&messid=6606542&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=11&showall=true)
;) [/b]
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You might find you have more flexibility and greater use of time if you use the cheap airlines once you're over there. It takes a bit of logistical planning but it might provide more bang for the buck. These sites are good for getting an idea about which destinations connect the easiest then I'd go to the airline site for details and bookings, nearly all of them have english buttons so don't fear the initial burst of foreign language.
http://www.flylc.com/directall-en.asp (http://www.flylc.com/directall-en.asp)
http://www.skyscanner.net/ (http://www.skyscanner.net/)
only note of caution, the reason why these flights are so cheap are they use underutilized airports sometimes so the lead time on getting to/from major cities may be an issue but there are many destinations that use major airports so it just depends on your itinerary. Think South West, but sometimes the quality is much better.
As far as venues, depends on where you're going. Once you have an itinerary PM me and I'll have someone provide detailed info on all the cities you're hitting.
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Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:
www.kayak.com (http://www.kayak.com)
seconded.
i was a sidestep user, but have since switched to kayak. i will never use orbitz again after a christmas-new years trip fiasco (well, that was more us airways fault, but orbitz was no help with the problem either).
and pollard is correct, use these sites for finding the fares, but then go to the airlines web pages to book them- fares will normally be about $5-10 cheaper, and you get bonus miles for booking online.
as for planning. . .i would recommend finding the cheapest flight you can to london or dublin or even paris, and use that city as your jumping off point by using the european budget carriers (like ryan air) to get to other places in europe. be forewarned that some budget carrier cities may be 50 miles or more away from the destination.
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Originally posted by Venerable Bede:
Originally posted by Hoya Paranoia:
www.kayak.com (http://www.kayak.com)
seconded.
i was a sidestep user, but have since switched to kayak. i will never use orbitz again after a christmas-new years trip fiasco (well, that was more us airways fault, but orbitz was no help with the problem either).
and pollard is correct, use these sites for finding the fares, but then go to the airlines web pages to book them- fares will normally be about $5-10 cheaper, and you get bonus miles for booking online.
as for planning. . .i would recommend finding the cheapest flight you can to london or dublin or even paris, and use that city as your jumping off point by using the european budget carriers (like ryan air) to get to other places in europe. be forewarned that some budget carrier cities may be 50 miles or more away from the destination. [/b]
There's an echo in here.
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Originally posted by Christine Moritz:
Originally posted by 6949:
Check out lonelyplanet's message boards. http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/)
Especially this memorable thread:
http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=32&threadid=776884&messid=6606542&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=11&showall=true (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=32&threadid=776884&messid=6606542&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=0&from=11&showall=true)
;) [/b]
I can't thank you enough for finding that. I'm up to post #51. I'm saving the rest for later because it's that damn good.
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Originally posted by Christine Moritz:
Especially this memorable thread:
Oh. My. God.
That will take care of my Friday afternoon downtime nicely.
Thanks in advance.