When I had moneeeeyyyy! Moneeeyyy ohhh!
Hola amigos!
Back in Berlin and missing the Tapas and Fois Gras Saint Sebastian and South France offered me in abundance.
Allow me to discuss in more detail the financial aspects of my trip.
While money isn't always the funniest topic, it's important to understand how much things cost, particularly for those of you interested in perhaps traveling through Europe. N'est pas? Verdad? Nicht wahr?
SO! From Berlin to Paris, a round trip ticket with EasyJet, one of the many European low cost airlines, ran me about € 110. Had I booked in advance, the tickets would have cost less. From Paris to the southern most tip of France, a ticket on the well known TGV (High speed train), cost roughly € 100 - that's after the student discount. If you're a student, remember to bring your Student ID with you, or have an International student ID made at your local STA office before your departure. While I obviously was housed for free in the countryside, I do know that the pricing for a hostel, or cheap B&B in southern France would have cost around € 10-15 a night. Factor in € 10- 15 for food a day and that's what your daily expenditures should roughly look like. I'm being relatively conservative with these numbers. For an optimistic take on travel costs, see below.*** Now, for those of you interested in getting out and about at night, I would suggest going to smaller pubs and bars as they are just as lively, much more intimate and far less expensive than those massive clubs a la cancun. Besides, "shakin it" with the locals is far more enjoyable than dancing and talking to someone who knows your friend's friend's hometown in Omaha... know what I mean? So, travel costs put us at about € 210 (round trip), room and board at roughly € 100 for four days, and nights on the town at about € 15-30 a night. I know some of you are thinking that 390€ sounds like a lot of money off hand and it is, but it's not expensive when you consider that a one way ticket to San Francisco from LA is $100. Besides, once those initial travel fees are incurred, expect to pay close to nothing for trains in and around the region. My train ride to Saint Sebastian from South France was about € 15 and my hostel was 40€ quid for two nights.
That's more or less it... Travel: Germany-France: €210 round trip - France-Spain: €30 round trip;
Room, Board & Night life: 4 nights S. France: €180 - 2 nights Spain: €90
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
that's €510/ $645 for a full six days of adventure... not too shabby.
***Obviously there are even cheaper ways of doing things. Europe offers broke students a large array of bridges to choose from and sleep under for free. Cans of tuna run around .60cents and go nicely with some of the local drinking fountain water. Daily expenses in this case run around .60cents on the low end and 1.50€ for you big spenders.
Hope that's in some way helpful. I'll keep you posted on travel expenses as I experience them. If any of you know of cheaper modes of transport than RyanAir, Air Berlin, easyjet and the train systems - let me know!
|
