There are three eternal lies told to every University of Utah student, first that earning a degree will actually gain you employment, secondly that a U parking pass will actually allow you to find a parking space, and finally that it’s impossible to spend a month in Europe on student’s budget. While sadly the first two lies are inherently true the good news is that is actually possible to spend a month traveling to Europe on a shoe string budget. For the next month I will be backpacking through Europe while sending out weekly updates on what to see, how to see it, and most importantly how to do it on a student budget.
There has never been a better time to travel to Europe as the US dollar is practically even with the Euro which is a rare phenomenon right up there with seeing Haley’s Comet which only happens about every 75 years. So my advice is get in on the action while the going is good. The biggest obstacle for most students is the price of a plane ticket to Europe which in the summer will be upwards to $1500 and much like a lost balloon it likely isn’t ever going to come down. While I wish I had better advice on that the best I can offer is get on your knees and beg your parents to invest in your future or get a part time job. That said it will be worth every penny begged or earned and then some.
The next most outrageous expense is finding a place to stay while traveling in Europe but that is a lot easier to solve than buying a plane ticket and best of all doesn’t involve begging your parents for money, unless of course it works in which case be my guest. Otherwise by avoiding overpriced hotels and staying in hostels instead I was able to find accommodations for as low as $20 a night.
Hostels are not as scary and murderous as Hollywood makes them out to be in movies they are actually clean, comfortable, and a great way to meet likeminded people. I booked my rooms through the website www.hostelbookers.com which allows you to book rooms from all over Europe without any extra fees and with the ability to read reviews from other travelers as well as see pictures of the hostels and were they are in proximity to the sites you want to see.
I started off my European adventure in Rome, Italy as it serves as a perfect starting point to not only explore Italy but allows me to move north to Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic before ending my month long journey in Paris. Which brings me to my first tip aside from begging your parents for money which is to buy a one way ticket to Rome and then a one way ticket back from Paris which is allowing me to explore everything in between as I work my way from Rome to Paris.
There is nothing quite like starting off a trip to Europe in the eternal city of Rome where you can count seeing the ancient Roman ruins along with the heavy scent of urine that is the end result of a city where bars outnumber restrooms almost 20 to 1. However that aside there is nothing like seeing the evening light reflect off the Colosseum and the Roman Forum to make up for the fact you will be forced to breathe through your mouth for your entire visit and that my friend is my second tip.
My third tip is to not make the mistake of thinking you can stroll up the gates of the Colosseum, one of the seven wonders of the world, and expect to walk right on in without waiting in a line that can quite literally stretch around the entire building. My advice is to go online before you visit and purchase a Roma Pass at www.romapass.it. A three day pass costs 36 euro and grants you admission to the Colosseum without waiting in line as well as entrance to the Roman Forum and metro transportation.
The only mistake more gregarious than not buying a Roma Pass in advance would be to try and visit the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel without a reservation. The lines at the Vatican are so long that it will leave you wanting to go all Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible III where he climbs up the Vatican walls to get in. While you could go that route I would recommend just going online at least a month before you arrive and purchase an advance reservation ticket at www.biglietteriamusei.vatican.va where you can reserve a time and buy a ticket for 20 euro. This is a considerable savings as tour vendors will charge nearly 45 euro for the same privilege of not having to wait in line.
By planning in advance you can save a ton of money and time which is why I can continue to dispel the inaccurate notion that a student can’t afford to travel in Europe. Which brings me to another salacious myth that is passed along in travel circles which is that buying a rail pass will save you money. Sure and while you’re at it why not buy a used textbook at the university bookstore because that will save you money over say…buying it for much cheaper on Amazon or EBay. It pays to do some research and my friend for my next tip I have already done it for you. The absolute best way to save money on rail travel in Europe is to book online just like the locals do, for example when traveling in Italy go to www.italiarail.com which gives you the ability to buy tickets on commuter trains which are far cheaper than the tickets that online operators will try and sell you for Eurostar train with an added convenience fee of course.
For example I wanted to visit the ancient ruins of Pompeii as part of a day trip from Rome and was quoted a price of nearly 122 euro which included the 12 euro admission fee to the ruins. I simply went online to the aforementioned website and booked a roundtrip train ticket to Naples for 46 euro and then once in Naples caught the commuter train directly to Pompeii for 5 euro roundtrip and that combined with the admission ticket brought my cost to visiting Pompeii to a grand total of 63 euro.
Its cutting corners like that and planning in advance that has allowed me to stick to my budget as I travel through Europe like a local instead of like the average clueless but rich American tourist who is just begging to be price gouged. I can’t afford to be that guy until I graduate and get a real job that actually doesn’t exist as per the first lie told to university students. But I promise you this, tune in next week and I will share with you my budget saving tips as I travel through the heart of Tuscany the only place in the world with less parking space than the U.
