europe accomadation

[vanman_75]

hi all just some thoughts on booking hotels etc in advance .got the trip around most of Europe planned in June July , and though we have our train pass for the month and most destinations planned for specific dates ( so can book those days ) we do have flexi days where we may stay either longer / shorter / add destinations . In aus you can easily wing it , never really need to book ahead just look for hotel on arrival ( with a list of hotels usually or Google em ) ,going by the hotel sights accom in some places looks like it sells out fairly quick at that time of year .

Ok to wing it or book now and forget about flexi days , just add em on to a place we are already going .been solid on trip advisor , but it doesn't really tell you much .

Thoughts.

[Miss_XR6]

Where in Europe are you wanting to get accommodation

London is completly sold out for July/August for nearly every hotel due to the olympics and alot of others countries surrounding are fulling up for people doing pre and post
I would suggest for this year to book now simply due to the olympics
I work in travel and am already having to tell people there is nothing in London ect

[vanman_75]

brussels , koln,berlin,prague,wein,venise,rome,bern,paris,lon don (got rellies there but will dodge london as much as possible) belfast ,dublin,edinburough,paris ,hong kong then home .couple nights in each ..week in scotland (booked already for sisters wedding )gunna book up until venise and a couple places like paris etc but its the little bits in between i dont want to book ,if i dont like em i can move on ,i see cancellations are fine but getting next place with maybe 1-2 days booking in advance is where im thinking ...thanks in advance

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by vanman_75

brussels , koln,berlin,prague,wein,venise,rome,bern,paris,lon don (got rellies there but will dodge london as much as possible) belfast ,dublin,edinburough,paris ,hong kong then home .couple nights in each ..week in scotland (booked already for sisters wedding )gunna book up until venise and a couple places like paris etc but its the little bits in between i dont want to book ,if i dont like em i can move on ,i see cancellations are fine but getting next place with maybe 1-2 days booking in advance is where im thinking ...thanks in advance

Ok... hmmm lets see.

Are all these places just 'could be a visit' places or are you hell bent on staying in all of them for a few days?

Also, how many people to worry about??

You say you have a train pass, when I was city / country hopping (been to many of the places you posted) often the bus was a better option in terms of travel times or connections. Eurolines was great, but don't disregard the local transport people.

I mostly stayed in hostels / mates couchs etc. Some places get booked out pronto, (well the cheaper places anyway).

What sort of budget are looking at per night?

Actually, looking over your list, got WAY too much to do. Paris, Rome, Berlin, Koln (and surrounds), London, Hong Kong plus the ones you have locked in. Spend 3 WHOLE days in each as a minimum.

Winging it always has its risks. I got a private hotel room in Rome for 40euro in the middle of the night after an airport strike, and there were heaps of hostels available in Berlin during the World Cup...

Luck of the draw... only problem is, booking accomodation means that you hope to God transport fits in. Don't forget, that also gets full fast.

Have fun... I did a lot of Europe day by day. Only planned ahead for 3 days (was in each city 3 days and the 4th night was a travel night).. but I was alone and just worked around what transport was available.

Cheers, and HAVE FUN!!

Jason

[vanman_75]

Yer yellow staying in those in that order ,budget up to 250 a night ( but will be fine if more ) , got the train all sorted all main lines with hourly service so as long as I can get on some time that day is fine (i hope ) the thing is I'm only looking about , not really holiday kind of trip more recon for proper trips. As above most should be booked in but not all .its more of a case that if I get somewhere like Venice and I can't stand the smell( for example) I can just keep moving ..
In two minds and every trip is an adventure... so half booked half Wingin sounds like the go .
Only a couple things I want to do and the rest well its a road trip bars , tucker , relax and look at anything close

Oh and just me and the handbrake thanks for the insight .

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by vanman_75

Yer yellow staying in those in that order ,budget up to 250 a night ( but will be fine if more ) , got the train all sorted all main lines with hourly service so as long as I can get on some time that day is fine (i hope ) the thing is I'm only looking about , not really holiday kind of trip more recon for proper trips. As above most should be booked in but not all .its more of a case that if I get somewhere like Venice and I can't stand the smell( for example) I can just keep moving ..
In two minds and every trip is an adventure... so half booked half Wingin sounds like the go .
Only a couple things I want to do and the rest well its a road trip bars , tucker , relax and look at anything close

Oh and just me and the handbrake thanks for the insight .

No Worries! It's something I know a wittle bit bout ;)

Venice... that changes things. Was there last year, that was the only place where you MUST book ahead. Also, if you are not aware of the geography of Venice it is essentially an island linked to the mainland via a road / train bridge. Make sure you Google maps / earth your place to stay. Many sites list their hotel as being '3km from central Venice' etc.. Which then makes it on the mainland....

Venice also has 2 train / bus stops, make sure your stop is on the island, not the mainland... their names escape me now.

Also, Venice is a bloody maze of footpaths and alley ways. As there are no cars, there is a long line of sharks at the bus / train terminal waiting to charge you 70-100euro for a water taxi to your accomodation. That trip will only take you all of 5 min... Buy a tourist map, and cross reference that with the map yopu have printed out of your accomodation. Most times it will be within 1500m of where you got off, but will still take you half an hr to find as you are forever getting lost lol. Oh, I didn't notice a smell when I was there

Venice will cost you a bit as well. We stayed in a private apartment there as it was a lot cheaper than the cheapest hotel.. I think 3 nights in a 1br place set us back almost 700Euro?? Cheapest hotel option (2 rooms) was around 1000 for 3 nights.

Prague, also stayed in a private aparment. Was very cheap and well located. (I booked both their 1br apartments for I think something stupid like 75euro each for the 3 nights??). When I say private, they are still listed online, but you are essentially dealing with the owner. Also, the reason why it's good to stay in self contained acomodation every now and again is you have access to more space, and a washing maching to do EVERYTHING while there... I will n ever pay a hotel 2euro to wash my 1euro socks lol.

250AUD a night is pretty good money actually. If you are ready to spend that I doubt you will have an issue. Most places will come well under that.

Prague... beer drinking capital of the world.... enjoy

[vanman_75]

Awesome stuff , yes Venice is booked ahead ..thanks for the tip on the taxis , didn't think they would be that expensive ( we are walkers anyways for short stuff) while moneys good I'm not in the habit of wasting it .
You have sorta got me on the thought that , the very popular spots - book now , and the lesser should be ok as long as I give it a couple days notice.
LOL yer my geography is ok too , made sure we double checked all train stops ( awesome when they can have two names ) we got the whole euro train timetable downloaded and printed as backup .
I was hire car , till I found out the logistics tolls time frames etc , sleeper trains for a few of the trips is a good time saver ...got two of them booked
Must add Google earth is an absolute must for the train and hotel location side of it .
Oh and question I checked the phone arrangements such as international plan / or just payg ..and cricky both ways are super dear ..how do you manage your phone usage ( do you just buy local sim or WiFi it up ) the data costs are out of this world @ $15 a mb .was hoping to use maps on my phone at times if not should I just mark it all on a map ( paper )

Was thinking you would drop in I'm always watching your travels .
Cheers tez

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by vanman_75

Awesome stuff , yes Venice is booked ahead ..thanks for the tip on the taxis , didn't think they would be that expensive ( we are walkers anyways for short stuff) while moneys good I'm not in the habit of wasting it .
You have sorta got me on the thought that , the very popular spots - book now , and the lesser should be ok as long as I give it a couple days notice.
LOL yer my geography is ok too , made sure we double checked all train stops ( awesome when they can have two names ) we got the whole euro train timetable downloaded and printed as backup .
I was hire car , till I found out the logistics tolls time frames etc , sleeper trains for a few of the trips is a good time saver ...got two of them booked
Must add Google earth is an absolute must for the train and hotel location side of it .
Oh and question I checked the phone arrangements such as international plan / or just payg ..and cricky both ways are super dear ..how do you manage your phone usage ( do you just buy local sim or WiFi it up ) the data costs are out of this world @ $15 a mb .was hoping to use maps on my phone at times if not should I just mark it all on a map ( paper )

Was thinking you would drop in I'm always watching your travels .
Cheers tez

Re the phone. Depends. If you are wanting to make and receive calls I would get a travel sim. You buy then from Aus post and they work very well. People can call you for free in many countries (for you at least) and there is also a free txt service from their web site if memory serves. Pretty easy to use, link to your credit card for auto top up and credit does not expire, you just need to call / text once every 6 months to keep active.

As for internet... McDonalds is your friend ;) I would not roam data for the simple fact that it's hard to monitor, ie when data is flowing in the background that you cannot see. So, I took my smart phone, stole as much free wifi as I could, and used my netbook at an internet cafe when I had to pay for it. If you don't know how to turn off and on all the background data ask your mobile provider to bar all internet while roaming.

I always prefer paper for maps. Been to some sus places where pulling out a phone is not the smartest idea. Having said that, perhaps you can download maps that can be used when you are not online? And besides, you can scribble / write comments on a map, I keep em all as a souviner ;)

I have an app for currency conversion that allows you to compare as many rates as you like. Saves the latest rate when you get online so it can be used offline. App is called "Exchange Rates" and the icon looks like a 2 Euro coin.

Enjoy

[vanman_75]

Yep cheers mate , phone savy too lol ...just the costing is out there , wonder how many cop the 10-20 thousand $ bill when they get home ..
And yes I like my maps too ..great to look back on .WiFi it is , and I think most hotels I looked at had WiFi so that will work ...maccas is good for that
Any extra you can think of I'm all ears ..

Thanks
Tez

[vanman_75]

I will take snap shots ( Google earth ) and keep on my phone plus photos of maps works for me .city maps ( paper ones) I take a photo of them too as I have a habit of loosing them right when I need em ..

Cheers
Tez

[Yellow_Festiva]

No worries. If you are buying little nick nacks don't get them from the first shop you see. There is a street in Venice that is full of souviner shops and the further away from St Marks square you go the much lower the price becomes (especially for those plaster masks)...

Like 15 euros at the start and 7 euros at the end.

In Prague, when you eat out don't bother with water or soft drinks.. it's beer breakfast, lunch or dinner... it also cheaper lol. Also, the train / tram system is great, get day 2/3 day pass. Know how to use your camera for night shots and never leave it at home. Take a picture of the 'ugly' tower with the babies crawling up and down it. Visit the old town and run across the bridge that was in the amazing race.

There is also a famous clock tower in Prague, the name escapes me. At 12 the tower figurines do a little parade. While people are looking up in awe the pick pocketers go to town.

If you are a walker you will love Venice. Part of the fun is getting lost several times! Jump on the water busses, around 6 euro each direction but an interesting experience none the less. Food is costly, but there are a bunch of supermarkets and cheaper restaurants away from the main hoo haa.

Koln.. if the Cathederal still allows it, climb one of the spires... Visit the chocolate museum / factory on the river and get a ferry down to a town that has a large castle for a day out of town. You can get the train back.

As for the rest.. it's the usual take little, buy heaps and get your money on arrival. If you are in Hong Kong towards the end of your trip and a little over weight (bags!) ship stuff home using surface mail from the post office. 12kg was around $34... and around $2 per kg there after... much better than paying what the airlines charge. The clothing and shoes are soooo cheap there. Markets are full of other stuff.. buying up fast takes little time.

[vanman_75]

Cool yer koln is just a train stop with 2 nights at the nurburgring, Berlin is city with whatever we can walk / train to without being too busy .clocks I love with most of the cities we are staying having a major one to see taking my Canon 5 d ( hope it isn't too risky having the good one ) thanks for the sight info I have now jotted that all down .
Our luggage bags are those flash roll / carry / backpack ones ( for walking purposes) are all countries postage reasonable as we will post all souvenirs not worth the extra weight in backpack .
Trying not to be too focused on all the sights as they deserve longer stays to appreciate.
And the beer , well that's one of our main goals .ha ha.
Awesome stuff thanks for your time
Thanks
Tez

[Yellow_Festiva]

Very few places post by ship. Much of Europe does not (Germany and Italy certainly does not - I tried)... so you are left with economy air. You may be lucky in some other countries, only way of knowing is trying to find their public post site and scanning its pages for the info.

Only prob is, sending bit by bit, even by surface can be costly as there is generally a high starting fee (like, $15 for the first 2kg then a much lower rate per kg till 10kg, then lower again per kg till 20 for arguments sake).

I generally carry a 'do not open' box in my bag that gets filled with stuff as I travel. If I find a place to ship, and its 8kg+ then off it goes.

Also... 100% KNOW and confirm your baggage limits. Our last trip to Africa was code shared between 3 carriers... Baggage limits ranged from 1pc @ 20kg to 2pcs @23kg, depending on which site you read. They told us it was 20 when that contradicted their own site, finally got it to 23 and confirmed it prior to departure. We were already overweight returning and had it been 20 we would have been up for several kg each @$60US per kg!

No worries Tez,

Jason

[vanman_75]

Update booked , Brussels, nurburgring,Berlin, Venice , Hong Kong , ...so have Prague, Vienna,Rome ,bern as open , will book Paris as well still looking at hotels and will leave Ireland open as I only want pub accom.stay with friends in London , Scotland is already booked for week .europass paid( 30 day pass ) with two sleepers booked Vienna to Venice overnight and Rome - bern overnight .just gotta do hire car for koln to nurburgring ( got that track side hotel ) and book a ring taxi with sabine smitz...
Ya sorta got me nerves up so booking most now ha ha ...with just a little Wingin , its more my style and don't worry where I have to camp lol
Maps printed off , directions and some short basic needs phrases like where are the pubs , hello thank-you and hotel info ...all coming together .
Cheers
Tez

[Uncle Niceguy]

and don't forget the most important thing PICTURES!!!! so we can all drool over them lol