Wow, I am really fascinated by these exotic stories since I have never done anything in my life that wasn’t thoroughly planned in advance. What would be a doable budget today without any network?
My daughter and I have taken several trips to Europe over the past few years. Twice we stayed over after a family vacation, and once we went by ourselves. We weren’t quite on a super-budget plan, but we did try to save money. One of the best ways to save is to get a really cheap airfare or find a 60,000-point reward ticket, which we usually are able to do.
One thing I’ve done several times is to buy Choice Hotel points during an annual Daily Getaways promotion that has been held anywhere from March to June each year. These points are offered for about .45 cents each. I was able to use 10,000 points as part of a special to get some very nice rooms at a hotel off St. Mark’s Square (three times!), as well as Paris redemptions for 16,000 and 20,000 points (so that comes out to $45, 72, and 90, all of which are good rates for the hotels where we stayed. Note that to get these points you need lightning fast fingers, because they sell out in about 15 seconds.
We spent a few days traveling on the Saar and Mosel on bikes and staying at youth hostels or point hotels. One of the things we noticed is that there are no youths in the official you hostels. Plenty of families, youth groups, young couples, old couples, etc., but no college kids. The food wasn’t too grand and was in desperate need of salt, and I was unable to find a salt shaker anywhere. So if you plan on staying at any of these hostels, pack your own salt; ketchup, too.
All in all we had a grand time, and I’d love to try to do a full 10 days or two weeks on bikes. You really see things in a different way from the seat of a bike.
update—out of interest I just checked online with the Mensa in Florence and they are open to foreign students and charge 4 EU for a large meal and 3 EU for a small meal. Still a pretty good deal.
@planner03 ---- this was the bad old student days in the 70’s. Europe was not as crowded then as it is now. The internet changed everything! Booking ahead pays off now. Why not check Airbnb out and look at those budget options?
It was a completely different world. Sometimes the dollar was really great. It was before the EU. It’s not the same as if we had been Americans in post war Paris, but still nothing like today. In all honesty, I think I had the $10 per day book and of course, that didn’t include the eurail pass.
Some interesting stories! Thanks for the replies.