With longer days and brighter skies, it’s clear that summer travel is just around the corner. If the hot weather has given you the holiday bug and you are trawling through the internet for cheap transport in Europe, then keep reading, as this article is for you!
Deciding to go on holiday is easy but choosing the destination can be tricky. So why choose just one? Europe has an excellent travel network that makes it easy to travel different countries and spread your holiday across the map.
After living in the Netherlands for a year I have picked up plenty of tips on the best modes of transport. Here’s how to get the best deals for cross border travel.
Flixbus
The holy grail for all students in Europe is the infamous Flixbus. Flixbus is a company that stops in over 2500 destinations in 36 European countries. The website is easy to navigate, and the trips are very affordable: the lowest price that you will get to travel from one country to another.
One thing to note is that with the low price often comes long travel times, some journeys can last over 10 hours with added breaks for the drivers in between. If you are making a long journey on Flixbus I would recommend bringing a portable charger with you as their charging ports are often broken and a blanket or jumper as the air conditioning can get very chilly!
Off-peak and group train tickets
Train journeys are considerably shorter than buses, but can often be pricier. This is why it is worth looking into buying off-peak train tickets. Many rail companies around Europe offer prices at a reduced rate if you travel off-peak or on their night-time sleeper trains. The sleeper trains can be a huge advantage as it means you don’t waste a day of your trip travelling and you arrive in a new country rested and ready to go!
If you are travelling with a group of friends or family make sure you check the rail website to see if you can avail of a group discount, as many companies offer a discount to 4 or more people travelling together. Be sure to read the terms and conditions, as sometimes these deals only allow you to travel between certain hours of the day, and you don’t want to be caught out by the ticket inspector on your summer of fun!
Small airports
If you would rather fly to your destination but the prices are very steep, look and see are there any smaller airports near the city you are travelling to. For example, Paris has Beauvais airport and Amsterdam has Eindhoven airport. These are within travelling distance to big cities but often at half of the price. Another thing to watch out for is how to travel from these smaller airports to the city: make sure that you don’t accidentally spend more money on the travel there than the flight itself.
Interrail
The classic student summer adventure- interrailing around Europe! Interrail is a well-oiled machine with a free journey planner feature on their website alongside a host of different routes and activities to do at each destination. It can be slightly more expensive than if you were savvy booking your own tickets, but they do offer a yearly raffle to give away Interrail passes to European students for free! Keep an eye on their socials to enter their giveaways or to bag the latest deal.
Hopefully using these tips will help you plan a multi-cultural trip taking in all the sights and saving some of that precious cash for your holiday adventures.
Check out Hannah’s article on Erasmus here.