HELP! I'm going to Europe, what do I do? - EUROPE MEGATHREAD OWNZONE

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > HELP! I'm going to Europe, what do I do? - EUROPE MEGATHREAD OWNZONE

Chippay: Jul 2, 2007; Allah ordered Prophet Musa to enter the sacred land and expel the giants because it is a Muslim land that should not be ruled by the giant disbelievers

Chippay fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Apr 25, 2017

# ¿ Jul 21, 2010 04:29

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 03:57

Chippay: Jul 2, 2007; Allah ordered Prophet Musa to enter the sacred land and expel the giants because it is a Muslim land that should not be ruled by the giant disbelievers

Hey, thanks everyone for the replies about the hostel thing.
I've gotten a few suggestions about just booking a hotel, but all were from people who haven't actually backpacked in years.

About how much are some the cheapest hotels in Europe? I've had figures of 60 euros thrown at me but I'm not really finding those prices on travel sites.
As a sidenote, is 18 old enough to book a hotel in Europe?

# ¿ Jul 22, 2010 08:42

Chippay: Jul 2, 2007; Allah ordered Prophet Musa to enter the sacred land and expel the giants because it is a Muslim land that should not be ruled by the giant disbelievers

duckmaster posted:

The cheaper hotels will cost about that but they'll be outside the city centre (generally near airports and industrial areas) and you'll only get the cheap rates on weekdays AND if you book in advance.

However, these sites are good for last minute deals in more central hotels, in the UK at least:

https://www.lastminute.com
https://www.laterooms.com

It's a dangerous game to play though, because you might find yourself unable to find a cheap room and you'll be wandering around with all your bags looking for somewhere. I worked front desk (reception and night audit) in a hotel in central London and I'd always get foreign backpackers wandering in asking if they could have a room for �30. The answer was always no.

Yes. But in most places you will need a credit card, or at the very least a debit card. They may also pre-authorise the debit card for the room cost + a bit more (i.e. if you trash the room and run off), which means all that money is frozen in your account. It's up to the bank to unfreeze it and that could take weeks, which isn't so good when you're a poor backpacker.

Thanks a lot man. I'll definitely check out those sites. And yeah, the debit/credit card thing might be a problem, since I'm not particularly wealthy.

Landsknecht posted:

Hostels aren't expensive at all, depending what you want. I'm in poland (Krakow) RIGHT NOW (it's too loving hot to be outside so I decided to post). My hostel costs like 20 Euros per night, for a single person room, including breakfast. You can get good hostels for like 5 euros a night here (if you share a room with 11 other people). I'm 19 and travelling solo, 18 should be fine.

That being said, last year I went to the london (with a friend of the same age) and hostels cost like 35 per night for a shared room, no breakfast, and everything was more expensive. Short answer: come to eastern europe, everything is cheaper and just as good as western europe (no it isn't but it's still pretty good, way better than most american cities).

I mostly asked because I'll be with a friend and two people can share a single hotel room, but two people can't share a bed in a hostel.
I'm assuming English is a lot less widespread in Eastern Europe?

Chippay fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Jul 23, 2010

# ¿ Jul 23, 2010 05:10

Chippay: Jul 2, 2007; Allah ordered Prophet Musa to enter the sacred land and expel the giants because it is a Muslim land that should not be ruled by the giant disbelievers

HeroOfTheRevolution posted:

Only amongst the older generations. Generally anyone in their 20s or younger will be able to speak at least some English in Eastern Europe. It isn't a hard rule but English speakers are not particularly difficult to come by anywhere in Europe. A lot of the television and stuff is in English; imagine watching Telemundo all day with English subtitles, eventually you'd pick up some Spanish just by osmosis.

Well that's a bit of a relief. Are there any countries in Eastern Europe you really liked?
I've looked into Russia, but getting a visa seems like too much effort to put in on a backpacking trip.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2010 23:42

Chippay: Jul 2, 2007; Allah ordered Prophet Musa to enter the sacred land and expel the giants because it is a Muslim land that should not be ruled by the giant disbelievers

Is flying into Istanbul and then backpacking throughout Europe during the summer a great idea? Anyone ever done something like this or flew into Istanbul?

# ¿ Oct 2, 2010 05:33

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > HELP! I'm going to Europe, what do I do? - EUROPE MEGATHREAD OWNZONE