How I Traveled Europe for a Month and You Can Too!

By Brittany Loeffler on October 6, 2016

When I ask successful professionals what their best advice is for someone my age a majority tell me to travel. Six months ago I had never stepped foot out of America; I wasn’t confident that I had the funds, experience, or common sense to travel to another country.

I was terribly wrong.

In one month I visited 12 different cities in seven countries within Europe over the summer.

Many college kids will make excuses as to why not to travel: lack of money, the part-time job they are working, concerts or events happening in America at that time, or that they aren’t sure where to start. I’m here to give you some tips and advice to travel through Europe for a month for around $3,000.

Plan Ahead

It’s important to have some kind of idea of where you are going and when you will be there. Since I was on such a time crunch, my itinerary was planned to the t. I listed the times of each bus, flight, or train, both departing and arriving and the time we could check into our room. When you buy tickets to transportation early, you can get some great deals!

Something I would do differently next time is to have a slightly more lenient itinerary. We found that in some cities there was a festival or concert happening the day after we left, but because we had already made our reservations for transportation and lodging we couldn’t stay.

Amsterdam

Airbnb

I will be the first to recommend Airbnb to anyone traveling. When we stayed in Paris, our host brought us freshly made croissants each morning! It was extremely beneficial to stay with someone familiar with the area and who could advise us on where to go, must-see attractions, and how to take the public transportation.

A great thing about Airbnb is that you can reserve a room months in advance or the night before! So if you do decide to plan out your trip in advance or just wing it while traveling, Airbnb is the way to go!

Pack Lightly

Pack light! Pack light! Pack light! There will be some days that you have to check out of your room in the morning but don’t have a bus to catch until later that night, which leaves you dragging your luggage with you everywhere. The best decision I made was buying a travel backpack.

Clothing-wise, bring enough clothing to last a little more than a week, depending on how long you will be traveling.

Make sure that most things can be interchangeable. Bring clothing you aren’t afraid to throw out; I ended up throwing out a pair of shoes and a couple of shirts to make my pack lighter. Dark colors are a good choice too because they don’t look too dirty after wearing them a couple of times. You’ll be surprised at how little laundry you can do. We washed our clothes maybe three times in that month. I picked up some small Tide travel packets and did our laundry in a bathtub or a sink when we had a day to let our clothes dry overnight.

Vacuum seal bags are a lifesaver! They condensed our clothing and kept everything together. Folding is also a skill you will need when traveling. Try to make your clothing as small and flat as possible so it doesn’t wrinkle or take up too much space.

As for shoes and accessories, stay minimal. I brought a black pair of walking sneakers that went with most of my outfits and a few earrings to accessorize. For nights we wanted to dress up a little I packed a black dress and some sandals.

Getting There

The most expensive part of the trip was actually getting to Europe. Skyscanner is one of the best sites to use when looking for the cheapest flight. Norwegian Air, depending on where you depart from, offers extremely low one-way flights to Europe too. Keep in mind that sometimes buying a one-way ticket is cheaper than buying a round trip, especially if you end up in a different city from where you started.

Traveling Throughout Europe

Take buses! Take trains! Take cheap flights! Traveling through the continent is unbelievably cheap. We used Flixbus for most of our transportation and never spent more than $25 on a ride.

RyanAir offers cheap flights, sometimes for as low as $30! For our flight from Florence to Paris, we used Skyscanner again and found a flight for $60.

To save on lodging expenses, if you are traveling for more than eight hours, take an overnight train or bus. I’m not saying this will be the most comfortable or the best sleep you’ll ever have, but it’s economical. We took an eight and a half hour bus from Munich to Berlin, which was pretty comfortable and an 11-hour train from Vienna to Venice. Make sure to dress warmly and bring a lock to secure your luggage while you sleep.

Food

Going out to a restaurant for every meal can get expensive so try your best to eat local food from markets or grocery stores.

Fruit, cheese, and sandwiches made up most of our diet. Depending on where you are there will be some foods that are extremely cheap compared to other countries.

German sandwiches were available for 3€

We decided that in each city we would go to a restaurant and try some authentic food. Take on the mindset that you’re in Europe and you should indulge a little to experience the culture and food!

Indulge A Little

It’s okay to indulge sometimes! You’re young and traveling — don’t miss out on something because it costs a little more than you expected. One regret I had was not paying to go into the bell tower of Notre Dame or going into St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. One of the worst feelings is knowing that you missed out on something when it was right in front of you.

Many attractions will offer student discounts, so make sure to bring your school ID! The Palace of Versailles, the Vatican, and the Parisian Catacombs gave us half off of admission with our student IDs. It also helps to buy tickets in advance. If you can buy a skip a line pass, do it. There are so many hours in the day and too much to do to be waiting in line for hours!

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