The European continent invariably attracts many tourists. Someone wants to admire delightful artistic masterpieces, someone is interested in unique culinary delights, someone just wants to see the famous cities with their own eyes. Many reasons motivate people to visit France, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic and other countries. But there are only two alternatives in the ways of organizing this trip: pay a travel agency and go on the "beaten track" of ready-made tours, or start an exciting adventure in the form of an independent trip. Both options have their pros and cons. An organized tour does not require any preliminary planning efforts from you, but it seriously limits your freedom of movement and action. Traveling on your own means planning your route and daily activities without looking at other people, getting to know and discovering a real, non-tourist Europe. But it is also a responsible preparation, without which it is difficult to get only joy and pleasure from the trip. Read this article on how to organize your trip yourself!

Route planning

Route planning before independent trip to Europe is a very exciting process in itself. At first, you should leave aside your rationalism, and allow yourself to dream up. Which European countries are you most attracted to? What cities and landmarks make you thrilled with thoughts? Open the map, go over it with your eyes and write down the places that you would like to visit.

Then fantasy should be relegated to the background and rational thinking should be included. While traveling on their own, most tourists are limited in time and resources. You can, of course, schedule a visit, for example, to all european capitals, but is it realistic to do it in two weeks without flying on private jets or using fantastic transporters? Choose from all the places on your list the most attractive ones and think about how they can be combined into one route.

Choice of transport

One of the most economical ways to travel in Europe is to use low-cost aircraft... The ticket prices are really low and the comfort level is excellent for short flights. But these air operators have two features that must be taken into account. Budget planes are visited by many, but not all cities. And the number of tickets for them is limited, and they are in demand. Here are some names of European low-cost airlines: Wizzair, EasyJet, Ryanair, Air Berlin, Vueling. Each of these companies has its own website with convenient destination maps. Match actual flights to your list. Choose the most convenient starting point for your journey, possible flights within the European continent, the final destination from where you will return back.

Having traveled to Europe on your own, you can go beyond visiting just one country. If you wish, you can quickly move to even the opposite part of the continent, if you choose the appropriate flight and thoughtfully enter this flight into your route.

When planning trips on your own, tickets should be bought in advance. Especially if you want to save money. If you are not tied to specific dates in your trip, this will allow you to save on tickets. Indeed, on "hot" days (weekends, holidays, vacations, tourist season) flight prices increase significantly. And when passenger traffic diminishes, companies cut their rates significantly. More tips to Europe.

Already planning a trip? Check out what flight options you can choose right now:

Don't be limited to just plane flights. It is convenient to move within a certain country by train... As a rule, the distances between cities are not very great. Traveling around Europe by train is an interesting adventure in itself that will make you feel like a local, observe people, get to know the peculiarities of the country and acquire a whole baggage of impressions that you will enthusiastically tell your friends about. Of course, for this kind of travel, it would be good to know at least English (or be fluent in sign language!) Given the relatively close proximity of European capitals, you can travel by train and between countries. The Interrail.eu website will be useful for planning rail trips between European countries. In addition, it is quite easy to find information on local bus and rail transportation within the country of your choice on the Internet.

If you feel confident behind the wheel and crave maximum freedom of movement - take it. This travel option will allow you to be independent of the timetable and have maximum freedom in planning your route.

Choosing a hotel and obtaining visas

Perhaps, in every more or less large European city there is a sufficient number of good hotels. The hotel should be chosen and booked in advance. In addition, it is required to apply for a Schengen visa yourself.

First of all, you need to decide on the type of trip and your needs. If you plan to spend a lot of time in one city, then the choice of a hotel should be especially scrupulous. In what area is it located? Where do the windows go? What kind additional services are provided in it? Pay attention to reviews from real people.

Accommodation options in the suburbs or on the outskirts, as a rule, can significantly save on accommodation. But in advance, specify how you will get to the city center and objects of interest to you. The inconvenience and cost of transportation may cause you to change your choice.

If saving is more important to you than comfort, then you should pay attention to mini-hotels or hostels. This is a budget accommodation option and is especially suitable for those tourists who plan to travel a lot between cities and spend little time in the hotel.

Rent of apartments and rooms is becoming more and more popular and demanded. This option allows you not only to save money, but also to get to know the local life better. Check what airbnb has to offer and compare with hotel options to make your best choice.

Going on a trip to Europe, you can use the opportunity to visit several countries at once with one visa. It is not difficult to get Schengen on your own if you strictly follow the official rules presented on the websites of embassies and consulates. Check them out, prepare required documents and do not hesitate to apply for a visa. In some countries it is easier to get a visa - in many respects this concerns the Eastern European members of the Schengen agreement. Remember that you will have to enter Europe through the country that issued your visa. If you want to simplify the process of obtaining a visa as much as possible, you can use a special one.

Check what accommodation options are currently available for booking:

Travel without haste

When planning a trip, it is important to remember that independent travel to Europe is not a competition in the number of sights seen. The main thing in them is the journey itself and the joy that it brings. By organizing a trip on your own, you have the opportunity to create a "handmade" route, directly for yourself. Travel at your own pace, follow your interests, not just the recommendations of travel guides. There is no need to rush between all the attractions in the city. Choose the routes you like and enjoy the ride! And they will help you with this.

Calm walks in the historic center or leisure, cute gatherings in cafes or visiting museums, close examination of great architectural masterpieces or observing the locals - take enough time for what you love!

Think over a cultural program and do not be afraid of surprises

If you are traveling "on a voucher", then the issue of organizing leisure activities is largely decided by the tour operator. This is not always convenient - everyone is offered the same program, regardless of the preferences of individual people. When traveling on your own, you can plan your days however you like. Visiting museums and attractions, dining at certain restaurants, shopping, out-of-town excursions ...

Don't be afraid to stray from the beaten track hiking trails - Learn about lesser-known but no less interesting places. Be a pioneer, feel the spirit of the city, get to know it from a new side unknown to tourists. Read ahead for information on selected destinations, tips and tricks from experienced travelers. Celebrate what you like best. Do not forget to coordinate your plans with all travel partners. Try to find different types of activities so that you know exactly what to do with yourself. Still, you shouldn't follow your plans too harshly. Be prepared for the unexpected and easily change your mind!

Chat with local

Europe is not a distant planet inhabited by an unfamiliar form of life. Ordinary people live there who will be happy to communicate with interesting personalities. And the fact that you are a bearer of a different culture and go on a journey on your own makes you interesting. Feel free to get to know the locals, ask them questions about their city and country, just have fun with them! And if you manage to "show off" the knowledge of at least a few phrases in the local language, you will almost certainly conquer your new acquaintances.

It is very convenient to make an appointment with the “natives” in advance, via the Internet. There are special sites for travelers in which people offer to walk together, show interesting places, to help "integrate" into local life. For example, this is couchsurfing.com - the site is also aimed at finding free housing in different cities, but its users are much more willing to make contact when they are not asked for an overnight stay, but simply offer to meet and chat. You are unlikely to recognize european cities it's just as good if you roam them solely on your own. Naturally, for this you need knowledge of at least English.

Don't take too much luggage

Luggage lightness is a significant factor in good trip... Think in advance about what you need to take with you on your trip, make a list. Narrow down the list to the bare essentials, excluding everything you can do without. Do you need a thick book on the road? Maybe three pairs of jeans are too much? Each tourist has his own individual needs, so it's better not to look for a universal list of things. The less luggage you have, the more mobile you are. Ideally, everyone should have one medium backpack on their back or a small bag and free hands. And instead of heavy guidebooks - convenient on your smartphone and headphones!

Thorough planning and a reasonable amount of adventurism

The independent travel experience is truly amazing. It opens the boundaries of your worldview, allows you to look at the world in a new way. Going on such trips, you need to follow a simple but important rule - enjoy everything that happens! Thorough planning will save you unnecessary anxiety. An inner readiness for the unexpected will allow you to see in unforeseen situations an opportunity to learn something new and a unique chance to experience an exciting adventure. Tourists who have tried to go somewhere without a tour operator are often so imbued with this fascinating experience that already on the next trips they do not even consider the option of participating in a "mass" tour. The main thing is to decide on the first thing!

Country selection

Choosing a place to travel is a purely individual thing, I usually focus on several points when choosing a country for a new trip. Firstly, it is desirable that it be a new country for me or a place where I have never been, and secondly, you need to think about what you can do there, what sights are there or what you can do there (I prefer active rest), but thirdly, you need to pay attention to various promotions from airlines, when the price of tickets to a certain place can be very favorable. Sometimes the choice of the country happens completely by accident: friends can invite, or get caught cheap ticket on a plane or I can read some interesting book about this country, there can be countless reasons, for me it doesn't really matter where to fly, the main thing is that it be interesting. With basic information about different countries you can check the website.

Flight search

The next step after choosing a destination is to find a suitable and preferably cheap air ticket. First of all, you need to check whether discounter airlines (low-cost airlines) fly in the chosen direction, for example, in Asia it is AirAsia, and in Europe Ryanair, such companies usually offer the cheapest flights, but this is not profitable in all cases. After checking low-cost airlines, it is imperative to search for air tickets for regular airlines, it is impossible to check all airlines, so it is better to use aggregator search engines that collect price information from a variety of airlines and ticket sales agencies and give it out in a convenient form. With the help of such flight search engines, it is very easy to find the cheapest options (offers are sorted by price) in the desired direction. There are several such search engines, and for the most part they all have similar functionality, but I am used to using it and have been looking for and buying tickets through them for 3 years. Search cheap air ticket very simple, just enter the direction we need and choose the dates of the flight. (You can read the detailed instructions on how). There, promotions and special offers from airlines are published on the website - this is very convenient for those who have not yet decided where they want to travel. Sometimes you can fly to Europe for 5000 rubles with all round-trip fees for a promotion of some airline.

For 4 years now I have been buying air tickets exclusively on the Internet - it is much easier and more convenient, the whole buying process takes no more than 5 minutes and you don't have to go anywhere. During this time, I have bought hundreds of air tickets via the Internet and never had any problems with this. To purchase, you only need a bank card that can be used to pay on the Internet.

Another tip for those who do not live in Moscow or St. Petersburg - check the price of an air ticket with departure (arrival) from Moscow (or other large cities close to you), it can be much cheaper.

If you are looking for an air ticket to a popular tourist destination, then you can also check the last-minute offers on air tickets for charter flights, this can be done for example.

Hotel search and selection

Different hotel booking sites work in different ways, someone offers to pay for the hotel immediately, and someone books without prepayment, but you have to pay directly upon check-in, the first option gives more guarantees that the room will be booked for you, and secondly in case of booking it is easier to cancel.

The process of searching and booking hotels is similar to searching for air tickets, the main difficulty is finding the most suitable option (in the case of hotels, reviews can help with this).

Obtaining a visa on your own

There are 130 countries in the world where Russians do not need a visa or a visa is placed upon arrival - this is more than half of the world! (With a complete list visa-free countries can be found on Wikipedia)

At the same time, there are countries that are of great interest to travelers, but where you need to get a visa (USA, Europe, China, etc.), but the process of obtaining a visa is much easier than it seems at first glance, or how they want to present it travel agencies. I independently obtained visas to the USA (2 times), Europe (to France), China, Myanmar, and at the same time, in no case was there any need to contact a travel agency. All the work of travel agencies consists in sending documents to the visa center and for this they take quite a lot of money. When I needed a visa to France, I saw offers from travel agencies that went up to 500-600 euros for assistance in obtaining a visa, this is just a robbery! I myself collected the necessary documents and went to the French Visa Application Center in Moscow. After 3 days, I received a ready-made Schengen visa, it cost me 70 euros (35 euros consular fee and 35 euros for visa center services). You can contact the consulate directly, then the visa processing will take longer, but you can save 35 euros.

The process of obtaining a visa is very simple and is described on the websites of the embassies (or consulates) of the respective country. All you need to do is find the website of the embassy (or your nearest visa center, if there is one), look at it for a list of documents required to obtain a visa and make an appointment (if necessary). Most often, a passport, airline tickets, hotel reservations and insurance are enough to obtain a visa. After that, you just need to submit the documents and wait for the visa to be issued to you. This is not difficult. It is especially easy to independently obtain a Schengen visa, given the fact that recently many new visa centers for European countries have been opening throughout the country.

It is worth noting that it is much more difficult to obtain a visa to some countries (such as Japan) without the services of travel agencies, so in this case, contacting a travel company may be justified.

Language problem

One of the main problems that stops people from traveling on their own is the lack of knowledge of English (de facto English is the international language). But it seems to me that most people overestimate the importance of this problem. Yes, not knowing English can complicate the trip a little, but it cannot make traveling on your own impossible. I had to visit places where the local population did not speak english language and then I had to explain myself with gestures - this is certainly more difficult, but this makes it even more interesting. In Thailand, you often saw russian touristswho came to rest on a tourist voucher and do not speak English at all, so these tourists walk around the city perfectly, buy fruits at local markets, while they speak Russian, and Thais answer them in Thai, and everyone understands each other perfectly ... Sign language is a very universal language and can explain almost anything. I will also give two examples from my experience. In China, I once met an Irishman who was going to travel from Irkutsk to Moscow in a reserved seat car, during our meeting, he learned five Russian words - that's all he knew in Russian. And another time in a train compartment I met a Swiss who was traveling to Tobolsk alone, moreover, he spoke very poorly English (but in Russia, knowledge of English can help a foreigner little, especially in the provinces), so he did not speak at all in Russian, but this did not prevent him from traveling from Moscow to Beijing by train, making stops in many Russian cities and studying them on his own. On his return to Switzerland, he wrote to me that he really enjoyed this trip and he was simply delighted.

There is no language problem - there is only fear of this problem.

Search for information. What to do and what to visit.

If you prefer to go on excursions in an organized way, then most of the popular tourist destinations such excursions can be ordered on the spot from local companies (with a Russian-speaking guide), more often than not, it will be cheaper than ordering excursions from the travel company in which you bought the ticket. In countries such as Egypt, Thailand, Turkey, there are a lot of local companies that will gladly organize an excursion program for you, but I would suggest driving through the sights on your own, for this you just need to arm yourself with a guidebook.

But I would recommend hiring a local guide yourself for a private excursion, it might be a little more expensive than group excursionbut you can get personalized service and a very interesting experience for sure. Self-guided programs are often more exclusive and you will be able to visit places that you might never have seen yourself or with a group. There are several sites where you can find and book a tour from independent local guides, I recommend the Russian site, which has already shown itself to be good.

Travel insurance and safety

Buying a voucher at a travel agency does not give absolutely any guarantees of safety. Your peace of mind is only in your hands, and the travel agency cannot provide any additional security. Most accidents happen to those who come on an organized tour, as they have a false sense of security and they lose their guard.

When traveling abroad, always take out an insurance policy for those traveling abroad, this can be done quickly and inexpensively (less than $ 1 per day). For a visa to Europe (Schengen visa) and to many other visa countries, the purchase of insurance is required. You can get an insurance policy in almost any insurance company, or, even easier, you can get insurance online. You can compare the offers of insurance companies and take out insurance online on the website, where you can find the most advantageous offer from the largest insurance companies (for more details on the instructions for choosing and buying insurance, see the article -). An electronic insurance policy has the same legal effect as a paper policy. If you have an insurance policy, in case of an accident, you will need to call the phone number indicated in the policy and they will give you all the instructions on what to do next, and if necessary, they will call a doctor. Take care of your safety yourself, no one else will do it.

What are the advantages of independent travel over tour packages?

The main advantages of independent travel are freedom and cheapness. You yourself are in complete control of your journey, you go where you want, and not where your guide tells you. You do not have to live in the same place during the whole vacation, if you want to move to another place or another hotel, then you can easily do it. When traveling on your own, you will never find yourself in a situation where your tour company went bankrupt and did not pay for your hotel stay. I think everyone remembers when hundreds of tourists around the world could not return home and were not allowed to leave their hotels, demanding to pay for their accommodation - in independent tourism, this is basically impossible, since only you control everything.

Traveling on your own is cheap, the price of your trip depends only on you and your preferences. You do not need to pay for unnecessary services of travel companies, you can always choose the most advantageous offer. Let's compare the cost of an independent travel and a tour package with a specific example. Let's take one of the most popular destinations - Pattaya resort (Thailand) and the largest tour operator TezTour. Let's say we want to go to Pattaya at the beginning of November for 7 days (departure on November 6th), one of the offers of the tour company includes a flight from Moscow, a transfer and 7 nights at the WELCOME PLAZA 3 * hotel with breakfast, the price for this tour package is 68,086 rubles for 2 people. Now let's see how much it would cost if we went on our own. We go to the site and look for a flight Moscow-Bangkok with a departure in early November for 2 people, as a result, we get a price of 42880 rubles for two. Then we look for a hotel on the site, enter the name Welcome Plaza and the dates in early November into the search bar, we get a price of 9035 rubles for 7 nights with double occupancy. A bus from Bangkok airport to Pattaya costs about 100 rubles per person. Thus, the total cost of the trip with self-planning is 52,115 rubles, which is 15,971 rubles cheaper than the tour package offered by the travel agency. It's simple math, it's up to you.

Or, for example, one more popular destination - Cuba. At the beginning of October (departure 2.10.12) a package with flight, transfer and accommodation at the Vedado 3 * hotel (reviews about the hotel are not very good, by the way, but you will not have a chance to change it) TezTour costs 113,256 rubles for two. If we carry out a search, as we did above, we get that the flight Moscow-Havana-Moscow on Dovih for these dates is for 72,381 rubles, and the same hotel for 7 nights costs 11311 rubles, which in total gives 83,692 rubles, and this almost 30,000 rubles less than the offer of the tour company.

And if you take a non-standard route, which is very easy to organize with independent planning, then buying it from a travel agency can be several times more expensive.

In rare cases, it happens that in a particular direction there is no inexpensive air tickets and then it turns out that it can be more profitable to use a tourist voucher. But this happens quite rarely, and over time it will be even rarer, especially against the background of the fact that this year tour operators have significantly increased the cost tourist vouchers against the background of bankruptcies of large travel companies and the rise in the dollar.

In fact, you pay travel agencies for the following services:

1. Flight. Often old planes with poor maintenance, but you cannot change anything and choose an airline.
2. Hotel. You cannot change the hotel if you do not like it or if you want to go somewhere.
3. Transfer from airport to hotel by shared bus.
4. Visa. If the country is a visa (and there are not so many of them), then your documents will be collected and sent to the visa center, but they cannot guarantee the successful receipt of a visa.
5. Excursions. You may be offered excursions, but the price for them will be several times higher than if you went to the same places on your own or through local excursion bureaus.

This is where the tour operators' services end. No one will help you to communicate with the store or in the market, if you do not know the language, you should not also wait for help from the guide, if an accident happens to you, they are not obliged to help you, this is not included in the list of their services. Really, after reading this article, you will not be able to organize your trip yourself, making it cheaper and more interesting?

If, however, I still did not convince you that it is better to travel on your own, and you still intend to go on vacation on a voucher, then I recommend that you read the instructions - "" so as not to waste time on trips to travel agencies, but it is easy and convenient to find and book everything online.

Conclusion

The hardest thing is to take the first step, but you only have to go somewhere on your own and you will never want to buy a package organized tours. Do not put it off until later, start planning your next trip yourself and you will see that it is much easier, cheaper and more interesting than it seems at first glance.

PS: If you have any questions or want to clarify something, ask in the comments, it is important for us to know if this material turned out to be useful and how it can be supplemented. Share this article with your friends via social networks, let them also find out how easy it is to go abroad on their own.

A huge number of traveling brothers with backpacks pass through me. And the most frequently discussed question is: how to travel the world cheaply? Like, where to start? Where to look for these most notorious promotional tickets, where is it better to book hotels, how to make a route. What features are there when visiting a particular country?

Nuances, ambiguities and minor subtleties ...

It seems that I have been traveling for several years, but I myself constantly encounter new quirks. Either they are not allowed on a flight, or a visa is denied, or a card is blocked ... Especially, where something is not an airport, it has its own coordinate system, where it is somehow inappropriate to climb with its charter.

And you have to constantly keep your finger on the pulse: read, communicate, ask. It's good when you have time. And what about those who have planned the route in advance ??? Of course, take advantage of the experience you already have! This is what the article will be about!

It all starts with a map. Explore the arrival and departure points. And it doesn't matter: whether you are traveling abroad to Europe, whether you are traveling around the world or riding around your country. All this is easy to do without travel agencies and large labor or material costs.

For example, I have long wanted to see with my own eyes the monument to Duke in Odessa and the Potemkin Stairs, so the route I built is very strange, although not devoid of a certain internal logic.

What I usually do:

1. I always look at where the airport is located on the map in relation to the city. Or, for example, a train station in relation to an airport.
2. Looking for public ways to get to the city. Often, the airport is connected to the station by some kind of route vehicle: train, shuttle bus, tram, etc. IN large citiesexcept for mine hometown, Almaty, there is such a thing! Saves tons of taxi money right away
3. I am looking for hotels closer to transport hubs. In China, for example, I have always found hotels within walking distance of train stations. The latter, thank God, were almost always in the center (except in Kashgar somewhere on the outskirts)
4. I read electronic versions of Lonely Planet. You can easily find it on the internet.
5. I look at thematic forums. For independent travel to India or Thailand, I always study the forums of the Indian subcontinent (this is generally a treasure, where the collective mind works) and bpclub. Less often - Vinsky's forum. Themed blogs also help. For example, before my first trip to Thailand, I read life-trip.

Useful transport tips

1. Uber taxi... (on my link you will get a nice bonus of about $ 5 as a discount). For the lazy ones, here's the Uber promo code nbq1zaduue. Roughly speaking, these are private traders who are registered in the Uber system, each have their own rating and can take you anywhere, even in super-luxury cars. I used it in Indonesia, the official price from the airport to Ubud is from 250,000 local rupees (a little less than $ 20), while Uber gave 150,000.
2. Bla-bla-car. If you are going to travel far, use it! Also a travel companion search service. Lots of options for choosing drivers, cars and departure times. And if you are driving yourself, then this great option save some money by finding a travel companion.

After you have more or less decided on the route, you can start packing your things. Check out the contents of your luggage and how to assemble your backpack.

By the way, you can also travel cheaply through. There, of course, there is no such makhnovo backpacking, but quite an interesting option.

Here is the roof of the Nepalese bus that carries my things

In general, with all my hands, I am in favor of learning to manage finances. Therefore, a little earlier I wrote an article both at home and while traveling. This article can be expanded with all the recommendations available there.

Now it's time to buy air tickets

On the nuances - there will be a separate article. Here I will give general recommendations.

I always use only 2 sites to find cheap flights:

Option times

Wonderful metasearch engine with the ability to choose the cheapest month of flight or find the most cheap city in the country where you are flying and from where. In general, a huge number of settings and search capabilities.

If you are looking for tickets in advance (which I highly recommend for finding the lowest price), you can subscribe to the destination by email and the system will send you notifications of price changes by email.

Option two

Their feature is a low price card.

The rest of the functionality is a little more modest than that of the SkyScanner. But tricks by subscription for number and direction are also realizable.

After you have found the desired ticket, do not rush to buy it right away. Visit the airline's website directly. Perhaps there will be additional sales and discounts.

So, I managed to find a great option Moscow-Colombo from S7 at a price of 17,200 rubles. Moreover, this offer was not listed either on Scyscanner or on aviasales, and the carrier was Qatar Airways, which are famous for their service and comfort. For the Qataris themselves, the price for this flight started at 22,000.

For more details, I wrote a separate article.

There is a nuance here! If you are going to fly one way, be sure to print your return ticket reservation. There are a lot of stories about how people got paid simply because they did not have such tickets. I was asked when leaving Domodedovo.

And yes: don't forget that it's best to buy tickets at a lower price in advance! 2-3 months before the trip.

Have you bought tickets? Excellent! As you can see, everything is extremely simple and the question of organizing a trip on your own is becoming less and less frightening. Now we will solve housing issues.

Where and how to book accommodation?

There are even more options. I will write separate articles about each of them. But for now, I'll go over the most basic ones:

1. Asia is better Agoda I have not met yet. I found the most delicious proposals for budget accommodations right here. Especially in SEA. In India, I must say right away, it is better to look locally - there is a huge amount of discrepancy between expectations and the real state of affairs.
2. Booking - smaller, but also there. A lot of options have something in common with paragraph 1. Almost always in favor of Agoda
3. Wonderful room guru metasearch... It works like a skycanner - it gives offers from different booking systems (booking, hostelworld, agoda, etc.) in one place. True, in the backpacking segment, the most interesting offer for some reason remained with the same agoda.
4. Ostrovok is a pretty nice Russian booking system. I used it when I traveled around Russia. Delicious offers and an interesting bonus system.
5. Airbnb (Get $ 20 Bonus upon Sign Up). To be honest, I have never met an adequate offer for long term... It is much more interesting to search locally, but you can and even need to use it as a guide. But in Europe, this option is much cooler.
6. Well, no one canceled coaching too. The easiest way to find free housing with locals, coupled with a unique life experience.

Here, by the way, is our home in Sri Lanka, in Hikkaduwa. Found for a month in half an hour

Found a place to live? Super! Now we take care of insurance (a useful thing ... especially if you are going on trekking). In general, traveling inexpensively and comfortably is very easy.

The main thing is to strain a little during the preparation stage. Then, with experience, all this happens in some kind of background.

Travel insurance

This is serious business! To the extent that some embassies require you to show insurance for the production of a visa. For example, the consulate of Thailand in Almaty.

But, you shouldn't do it alone for the sake of bureaucratic troubles. Health problems can dramatically affect not only your physical condition, but also your budget.

• So, in Indonesia, we had to go to the hospital because of the bite of some unknown local creature. One meal with a small prescription cost over $ 50.
• In Goa, they made teeth.
• In my presence, a group was evacuated from Everest by helicopter, which was cut down by a cruel miner. If not for insurance, money and nerves would cry ...

True, there are incidents with insurance, but more on that separately. In any case, there will be a lot of benefits from it on the trip, costs are minimal.

Insurance is like a climbing rope. See how monumental I'm attached? It's not scary to fall

Here I also refer to the metasearch engine Cherehapa... Of the advantages - very flexible options for comparing the terms of policies + there is a feature for making insurance during the trip (My friend and fellow traveler, Igorekha, did this when we went on trekking to Everest).

Conditions of insurance companies - see the website. It's hard to recommend something here, because the choice is very wide. Fortunately for me, I haven’t come across an insurance scammer yet.

Where to get money for travel?

Of course, cheap travel is great! But the money supply sooner or later dries up and the only thing that remains is to return to their homeland and try to earn a new feat. It's like samsara: when you plow for a few months a year for a short vacation.

It is much more efficient to work during the trip itself! I myself am an experienced freelancer, so I recommend remote work to all those in need.

Watch Sasha's webinar on how search and find a job remotely... He says really worthwhile things!

Everything is ready, let's go!

So, tickets have been bought, accommodation has been booked, maps have been studied, guidebooks have been read, health is insured! You can go;) What will be in your hands, a suitcase or a backpack - it doesn't matter. What a travel budget - too! X

Sometimes I am asked which country to start traveling the world from? The answer is: with my own! I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities and adventures in your immediate vicinity.

Go!

It is according to this algorithm that I always organize independent trips both for myself and for my friends. This is how, for example, we rode on. Each of them, of course, will have its own characteristics. However, the basic idea always remains the same: to use the Internet. Each item is mine personal experiencepainful and valuable!

Independent travel or travel agency?
A savage vacation or a package trip?
Travel agency or yourself?

Cheap as the purpose of life

The measure of the majority is price.
If the product is cheaper, then the majority willingly takes it.
And this is in most cases.
Despite the production date and shelf life.
The consequences of such an acquisition are a dark matter.
No one will write about spending the night on the toilet.

What to choose - a tour or an independent trip?

It all depends on the person: on his outlook, solvency (not monetary, of course) - that is, the level of development.
The average Russian is lazy and the social and educational level is such that even questions do not arise - of course on tour.
What you can do to yourself independent tour even out of the question.

Russians with a level of development above the average have a choice.
Knowing about the existence of reservation systems, hotels,.
Having information that any visa can be made independently, and travel insurance - such tourists look at the price.
Without a doubt - in some batch turkish hotel with the all-inclusive system, beloved by Russians, it is cheaper to buy a tour.

But, and here you need to look at who to buy the tour.
So that it does not happen as it happens very often:
- go - let's go, but return - fails.
- did not go at all (the tour operator suddenly ceased its activities).

The current situation with the clients of the travel agency Ted travel very indicative.
The essence of the events: the Ted Travel firm was selling tickets to Turkey the cheapest.
There was no end of clients.

But then something went wrong (I will not delve into the difficulties of the charter sharaga Vim-Avia and the consequences of this) and as a result we have:
- 755 tourists who have rested in Turkey are awaiting evacuation from Turkey: these are those who were abandoned by the travel agency Ted Travel.
- 3000 clients who bought vouchers will not go on vacation at all.
Which of these two options is the best - I do not presume to judge.
For me, both are bad, because spoiled vacation \u003d loss of money.

July 2018: again 25

This summer, on tours from Natalie Tours, it will hardly be possible to go on vacation.
Several more large travel agencies have ceased their activities.
A reason for stopping activities like the FIFA World Cup is, of course, valid.
Although, if the travel agencies did not dump and boast that independent travel is more expensive - you look and stay in their niche for servicing the lazy and narrow-minded.

Self-travel or travel agency

When organizing your vacation on your own, you communicate directly with the airline, hotel, visa issuing consulate, insurance company.
Without intermediaries in the face of a travel agency.

By booking a hotel on your own, you understand that the responsibility for the choice lies only with you, and you are responsible for choosing the airline and hotel.
And you have something to compare with - that is, you have a choice:
- charter sharaga or normal airline,
- a package hotel for 100 rooms or apartments
- Crowd excursions or individual sightseeing according to your own program.

You can compose your package - independently, as from the Lego constructor to mold what you need:
- route with convenient connections and departure / arrival times.
- a combination of hotels / apartments without compulsory feeding services and a standard-killed package number.
- you yourself choose your route: where to stay, and where, being not dependent on anyone, to rush past.

And despite the axiom “” (which is actually a theorem - that is, something that needs to be proved), going on an independent journey - you get more for less money.

First of all: you will get a wider range of experiences than the standard tour program for the average Russian.

And also you will gain the experience of independent rest, which will be an impetus for your further development as a person, not an element of mass.
What I am constantly calling for and what I advocate.

Well, if you go back to the eternal the Russian issue “What to do”, just keep in mind that nerve cells are not restored, and life and health are given only once, and then you cannot buy it for any saved money.

A trip to Europe is surely a must-visit for anyone with a fondness for travel. And since Europe is a very complex concept, the prospect of buying a tour to several countries at once seems dubious and, of course, expensive. Planning a trip on your own is a direct path to the sea of \u200b\u200bvivid impressions and equally pleasant savings.

You should not be afraid to take organizational issues upon yourself, a trip to Europe by car (or by plane 🙂) is not so scary as the imagination draws it. The main point - choose a priority method of movement for you between the countries mentioned above. We will help you decide, write out all the nuances and calculate the approximate cost of your future adventure!

The difference between auto and air travel is only in the principle of preliminary preparation. And if everything is simple with an airplane - we buy tickets and a huge winged car takes us to the land of our dreams, then with a car it is more difficult, because the planning process here requires more meticulousness. Well, if only because you will control the four-wheeled beast yourself.

To make a successful trip across Europe by car, it is necessary, first of all, to draw up a reliable and detailed route.

P.S. The starting point of our trip, both by plane and by car, is the city of Moscow.

We are looking for steep angles for photos with Eiffel tower - how do you?

We are laying a tourist route in Europe

It all depends on your fantasies and desires. Perhaps you are an avid explorer of Europe and this time you strive to explore France inside and out, or maybe you are discovering the western expanses for the first time and want to capture all the great capitals. The extreme option is unlikely to fit into a standard 14-day vacation, but you can try.

In any case, first decide on the main cities where the adventurous spirit attracts you, and enter the points in the navigator, having estimated the type of route, and along the way mark the stops on the good old map - in case of an unexpected shutdown of the gadget. Remember, your plan should be as specific and detailed as possible.

By the way, special planning sites help to calculate the route of the trip. They will roughly calculate the kilometers and hours that you will spend traveling around European lands, as well as the approximate (from the word very) cost of fuel consumption. And following the well-known recommendation - build your path so that you can drive no more than 5-6 hours, and in relation to distances, limit yourself to 250-300 km daily. You don't want to contemplate the landscapes from the car window during half daylight hours?

Walking the streets of Barcelona somewhere in the Gothic Quarter

Favorite a tourist route for traveling in Europe with a starting point from Moscow, it goes through Belarus and smoothly flows to the border with Poland, and there already - wherever the navigator tells. We advise you to familiarize yourself with customs regulations in advance, as quite often there are restrictions on the transportation of certain groups of goods.

Behind the border checkpoint, ideal roads begin that will accompany you throughout your journey by car. Riding on them is not burdensome. But here's what really can cause inconvenience: most of the highways here are toll. Therefore, in order to avoid collisions with formidable inspectors and payment of fines, inquire in advance about the payment of fares in the countries included in your route through Europe. The tolls.eu website shows that in the Republic of Poland, for example, the fare varies from 150 to 1000 rubles.

An important point is the calculation of gasoline for a trip. Mark at least a few petrol stations in between each of the long journeys, but never make it to the last en route. If the tank is half empty, refuel at the nearest station, and do not rely on the "one" after ten kilometers. In general, you will hardly be surprised to learn that the cost of gasoline in Europe is an order of magnitude more expensive than at home, and gas stations along the highways offer fuel at higher prices than in cities. The approximate price of gasoline in the Schengen countries is about € 1.20, or 70 rubles.

As we said, with an airplane, everything is much easier. However, how to save money and how to find the cheapest air tickets to Europe have their own snags.

Photo of Paris taken from the Arc de Triomphe (rise - 12 euros)

We buy cheap air tickets in Europe. What are low-cost airlines?

We issue a Schengen visa ourselves

Actually, one of the main points of our trip. Without this insert in the passport, alas, the lights of Europe will not shine for us. Where to apply for Schengen? The most budgetary option would be to collect the documents yourself and apply to the visa center. By the way, we already have a ready-made article () that will assist in obtaining a Schengen visa. Read, study!

In short: we form the necessary package of documents, fill out an application for a Schengen visa and pay a visit to a visa center with consular accreditation. The algorithm is quite simple, but for some reason many go to travel agencies, or intermediary firms, preferring to shift the burden of organizational red tape onto the shoulders of "professionals". Of course, for some extra payment.

Don't overpay. Prepare the following documents:

• bank card statement (balance - at the rate of € 50 per day);
• confirmation of accommodation booking;
• certificate from the place of work indicating the amount of income or a sponsorship letter;
• medical insurance (ideal - travel insurance online);
• air tickets. If you travel around Europe by car, you must provide the exact route with the number of days spent in each country.

Study a sample of filling out an application form for a Schengen visa 2019:

And, having checked again the availability of all documents for obtaining the Schengen, go straight to the accredited visa center of your city / region.

In Montserrat, near Barcelona
(the second time we thought it was boring, and it started raining)

Determine the cost of a trip to Europe

If we undertake to calculate the price of such an undertaking as an independent travel across Europe, then it makes sense to take into account the cost of visa, tickets and accommodation, because everything else depends only on the traveler's appetite. And these points are very approximate, because everyone chooses his own ideal route.

According to the results of our searches, albeit not so detailed, we go by plane to the western possessions (in theory) along the following route: Moscow - Berlin - Cologne - Milan - Bucharest - Berlin - Moscow from July 1 to 8 with an approximate cost:

• Visa to Germany \u003d 3500 rubles.
• Flights \u003d RUB 16,000
• Accommodation \u003d 7500 rub.

Total \u003d 27,000 rubles. per person. If you ask why not by car, then we will answer that the gas consumption alone for the road from Moscow to Berlin will be about € 190 (and 24 hours of travel). It is certainly not entirely true to compare the distances covered by an airplane and a car on the same route. Still, it is better to travel cheaply in Europe by air.

But there are probably more adventures behind the wheel and with a company of friends.

The best sights of European countries

Are you traveling to the Schengen area for the first time? Then, for sure, the places that you long to see with your own eyes will coincide with our list of the main attractions of the countries of Europe.

1. Eiffel Tower, France. For some it is a boring pile of iron, for others it is a dubious construction that disfigures the city's appearance (an approximate interpretation of the words of Dumas and Maupassant), and for others it is an eternal symbol of romance. Only one thing is certain: a date with her is exciting and exciting even for the tenth time in a row. Travel guides to Europe will tell you the same thing, annually giving the tower the title of the number one European landmark.

1. Colosseum, Italy. The grandiose structure of times Of the ancient world today everything also gathers thousands of people every day. True, she seeks not for bread and circuses, but for a piece of history and photographs.

1. Temple of the Sagrada Familia, Spain. Perhaps the only sight in Europe that attracts crowds of tourists even in an unfinished state. What will happen in 2026, when the Sagrada will be shown to us in all its glory, just in time for the centenary of the death of the chief architect of Gaudi?

Sagrada Familia and crowds of tourists - come here early in the morning (at 7 o'clock)

1. Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany. This is an ideal collective image of all the castles and palaces that we contemplated in cartoons in childhood and which we read about in legends, novels and fairy tales. The most fabulous place in Europe, it inspired Tchaikovsky to create Swan Lake. What will Neuschwanstein inspire you to do? 🙂

1. Louvre, France. Visitors to Mecca visual arts and its adjacent territories are usually divided into two types. Those who can't wait to break into the crowded halls and appear before the original painting of Mona Lisa, and those who first prefer to "grab" the pyramid - the main entrance of one of the most famous European landmarks.

But - the morning Louvre, there are practically no people!

Well, will you try to draw up a cheap travel itinerary to Europe, or maybe with a ride through our Top 5? 🙂 It's up to you, the main thing is - do not be afraid to organize your adventures, and not only European ones, on your own!

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