Travelling for cheap?

[MurphC]

Hi,

My friend and I want to go to Europe about a year from now (June through whenever). The idea is to fly into Madrid one way, go wherever we want for as long as we want, and wind up on one of my aunt's or cousin's doorsteps in Ireland.

Everything I've read says $60-70 a day, and for us that's pretty expensive. So I have questions:

1) Is it feasable to camp outdoors in the country? I don't know about the laws or crime in rural areas, but if I were walking through my area here in Oregon, we would just stop in an empty field for the night if there was no one around for a ways.

2) Let's say we buy 99.9% of our food at grocery stores. Any estimates on how much that would cost?

3) I'm planning on bringing my guitar. Are there packs that accomodate this or am I SOL? Just to note, we could always busk in a tight spot. In fact I would count on it.

4) What's the best way to get from the mainland or England to Ireland? I know you can get anywhere from Ireland for cheap but my cousin told me that they make their money on flights coming back in to Ireland.

5) Would you recommend walking everywhere a majority of the time?

And finally, just how cheap do you think we can do it for? My brother travelled America on ~$450, but granted Euros are expenisve and that was only for a couple of weeks.

Thanks,
Corey

[Eagle]

MurphC, I'm not much of a Camper, so not sure I can answer your questions? However, I have a few thoughts anyway:

1.) I imagine you'll find that in some areas this is possible, and in other areas the owner of the land might have objections. Difficult question to answer. From what I can gather from other Posts here, many of the campsites are located quite a ways from the city centres, so transportation becomes an issue in some cases.

2.) Again, difficult to answer as it would depend on which country you're in, what you buy and how much you buy.

3.) I've never seen a Backpack that accomodates a Guitar, but I'm sure someone must make one? As far as Busking, you might run afoul of local ordnances or whatever in some areas. Hopefully some of our European members can answer that one.

4.) Often the easiest way to get from continental Europe or England to Ireland would be via budget airline (there's a link to these on the main page of this site). If booked early, the flights are often amazingly cheap! However in many cases the "budget airlines" use out of the way airports, so it's necessary to factor in the time and cost of getting to / from the airports.

5.) Do you mean "walking everywhere" within the cities, or between cities? I often walk around a city while sightseeing, but it wouldn't be practical to use this method to travel between cities. Rail or Coach would be your best (and probably cheapest) option there.

IMO your cost estimate of US$60-70 per day is close. One other point I was wondering about, was the duration of your trip. As a North American resident, I believe there's a limit on the time you can travel in EU countries (Schengen Visa). I'm not sure that you will be able to "go wherever we want for as long as we want" as you may run into legal problems. Again, hopefully one of our other members can fill in the blanks on that.

Once you've got a better idea of where and when you want to travel, you might want to post a note in the "Pre Travel Planning" section. It would probably help also if you were registered on the Board.

Good luck!!!

[MurphC]

Thanks for the help. I have an Irish passport as well as a US passport because I have dual citizenship, but my friend does not. I will have to look into that more.

[dakkie8]

I can't really answer any of your other questions, but about the guitar, my good friend just bought one of the martin backpacker guitars. He found it online for about $160, and it looks a little funky, but it plays well and is super light and compact.

[WillTravel]

MurphC, for estimating food costs, suppose you were in the US on a trip, moving every few days, and eating strictly from the grocery store. If you are pooling your money, you can save more than one person on his own. At any rate, consider carefully what your costs would be (I'd say a minimum of $10, because you don't have the advantage of being able to haul staples around very easily) and then for western Europe, I'd increase that figure by about 50%, and in London I would double it. Maybe in southern and central Europe you could get away with about the same amount (but then again, maybe not).

[herrbert]

Instead of flying in you can also take a ferry (Calais-Dover). If you only go as a passenger (so no car), you can get a crossing for about 18 euro's a person. (I only checked P&O for you, but maybe you will find an even cheaper crossing)

For using your tent you have to look it up for every country, because in some (at least in the Netherlands) you will have to put up your tent at a camping, and in other countries you can put your tent up, if the owner of the land is ok with it. So it depends on where you are.

I think Hitchhiking can be an attractive way to travel across Western Europe, a lot of people do, and if you are not in a hurry to get anywhere it's good. In most places it will not take to long too get a ride.

[commie]

i guess 20,-/day for food (1 person) or 30,-/day if you cook your own meals (2 ppl) is not to less, plus 15 for a night in a hostel each, plus some cash for petrol share.
normally you are not allowed to camp outside campsites in most countries, but i guess you get away if you say you didnt know it. personally i would use a dark green tent and set it up in woods somewhere not visible from streets and paths
be careful if you plan to camp in middle europe during summer, there is a very common spider in fields and woods waiting for animals and campers. may be a serious treat if he bites you because he carries a virus. search for "Ixodidae".