Crossing the pond on a budget

Well, the first youth hostel was opened in Germany in 1912 - hostelling international will show you the places.

(No need for looking at Germany, though )

There are a couple of cheap/Budget airlines in Europe - from Air Berlin over easyjet, Ryan to Wizz Air: Low cost airlines in Europe

Sometimes, it's better to look at the airlines for cheapest offers (pay attention for hidden costs!!!), generally, expedia, oppodo and such offer good deals as well ... and you get all tickets from one hand. (Booking via a European site is cheaper anyway than via an US site).
Generally, the longer you wait the more expensive the tickets will be. (But then, you'll have those special offers like "Book between 24:00 and 24:30 and get a ticket fre" or similar).

(No need in Germany either )

'Normal' airlines are sometimes better than budget lines ... and cost just a few Euros more.

Euros .... the currency exchange rates will give you shock ...

I used to have a long list of cheapo air fare places, but had this computer crash a while ago. Still, here are two that people seem to like -

http://www.kayak.com/
http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/

I will never use v..r..b..o - they spammed a2k insistently for a long time, a year or two ago.

aaahhhh...

that explains why i was able to find that site easily with many links to it.
spammers.
blaggg.

Anyway.
I am still working on dates, but I am thinking May, or June. I want to go just before the summer rush and summer hike in prices, but spring can bring that result too.
Tax return is going to fund the major part of the flight so I will be able to purchase the flight tickets WELL in advance so those should not be too costly.
I looked a few weeks ago and with one stop in Germany, my flight from america to Budapest ( round trip) was just shy of 800.00 with all fees.
if it stays in that ball park, not going over 950 I will keep that route.
If it goes up, I will have to break it up. A cheap flight from here to NY with as cheap as possible to Europe landing where ever, to hop to Budapest. May be a real pain in the rear.. but it might work.

You need to have realistic expectations. Cheap in Europe is going to be at least 25% more than cheap in America because of the poor value of the dollar and because of the European habit of taxing more than you are used to.

realistic is anything basic.
I know the cost difference is huge.

But, when I travel I am not looking for a room with full service and other bells and whistles. Im not flying overseas to see a nice room for example, so I dont have to fork out a lot of money for things I have no interest in.
I know it is going to be more expensive, so I have to find the cheapest of everything possible.

conversion?
I would seriously consider going to Mexico and converting my dollars to Pesos and shopping with them because I believe their currency may be above ours.

or canada..

its sad. The dollar used to be powerful, now it does not even compete.

my daughter just got back from three months in Europe, paid for by yours truly, and living like a poor collage student on bread and pasta turned out to be more pricey than planned.

The biggest glitch was that her computer died, and we did not have time to get one sent from USA. The cheapest Apples were $250 more than they are here after converting money and paying Swiss tax.

May is probably your best time to travel, and airline prices are good then.
Flights to major city hubs are cheaper than going to Budapest direct.
If you fly from Dallas to Frankfurt you get a cheap flight. From there you
can either rent a car and drive through Germany, Austria to Hungary which
is such a nice ride, as in between you can stop in Munich, Salzburg or Vienna (all beautiful cities) before heading to Budapest.

I'll check a few sites for you.....

Return ticket to Germany (in May): $660 (including warm meals, soft drinks, coffee, taxes); $200 (with EasyJet) return to Budapest.

By law, however, all taxes are included in the price shown - anywhere = if you see something for 16,99€ in a shop window, it costs exactly that.

that does not change the end result of an American walking into Aldi to get a bag of brochen and the cheapest packages of cheese and sausage that they can find, converting the Euro tab to dollars, and being shocked. Never mind trying to get a Big Mac, we don't even want to go there.

Well, the USA is really a very cheap country for us Europeans

just to give you an idea ...
link to youth-hostel in frankfurt :

http://www.jugendherberge-frankfurt.de/index.php?id=55&L=1

a dormitory bed - 8-10 people per room - starts at euro 17 .
you might want to join youth-hostels international in the states for best rates etc - such as admission discounts .

and here a link to a hostel in budapest :

http://www.youthhostel.ch/457.html?&L=1

bon voyage !

so assuming that the fair shewolf is over 27 years old, and using the 2010 price list, she will pay $32 a night for a bunk in the dorm....excluding any currency conversion or ATM fees.

YEP !
$ 32 would probably be it - NOT CHEAP ( but usually still a bargain - these are not "fleabag" places - they are often even used for conferences - one might find a room somewhere for less than $ 32 - perhaps out in the country ) .
usually you get what you pay for ... ...

i recall one of frommer's early travel guides : N.Y. on $ 5 a day
our first trip to NYC was about 1970 - a little more than $ 5 , but still inexpensive .
theatre tickets were "2 for 1 " - twofers .

Dorm.
hmm

ok. No. Dont want.

the hostel in NY had smaller private rooms. i was able to get one for 2 people at 44 a night. Just one big bed. bathroom down the hall and kitchen on the same floor.
In the room, one bed, one dresser, window unit for heat or air. Thats it.
Dingy .. but safe, super quiet and perfect location. Not even 2 blocks from a really big nice park
I freaking loved it.
They rent them by the month too. I would be lying if I said I didnt think of renting it and living there I tell ya ........

i'm sure that NYC would be cheaper than much of europe !
you can find some cheaper places in europe but you'll have to look for it .
some package tours are probably less expensive than booking yourself .

you'll have to decide what is important for you .

perhaps go to ONE location only and do day-tours using public transportation .
that will cut the costs considerably - taxi fares will eat you alive ...

Here' a quote from the Practical Traveler column of last year -
"Some travel sites offer online tools to help travelers figure out whether to book now or wait. Farecompare.com offers star ratings to show how good the fare is compared with past prices. Farecast.com evaluates price movements over time to offer travelers predictions on whether fares will go up, down or hold steady on a given route, each likelihood indicated by an arrow."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/travel/26prac.html


There's a wealth of useful information in this Frugal Traveler column - especially toward the end of the article -
http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/research-the-travelers-best-friend/?scp=63&sq=frugal%20traveler&st=cse

People commenting on the article also have useful websites to suggest..

They don't do this anymore, but in the late '60s my dad was the accountant for a Saab dealership in Berkeley. Saab was having a special marketing campaign where if you purchased a Saab, you got a free round trip to Sweden to go pick up the car, drive it all over Sweden and Denmark for a few weeks and then have it shipped home to the US.

My parents purchased one and paid extra for my brother and I and my mom to go on the trip. It was a group trip consisting of about 120 people who had purchased Saabs. Our tour guides were the couple who owned the Saab dealership and we got to see the Saab factory, the testing grounds, glass blowing factories, museums, Parliament and many other points of interest. My best memories of it were of the Tivoli gardens in Denmark. When the trip was over, we sold the Saab and recouped most of the expenses for the trip.


In the '80's I took my mom on a 3-week garden and museum tour of 5 countries in Europe: Netherlands, England, France, Germany, and Switzerland. It was fast-paced and we did most of the travel by tour bus when we weren't walking around sightseeing, stopping off at famous gardens, castles, churches, museums and other historical points in all of those countries. We even had lunch at a family's home in the countryside of France. Breakfast and dinner were included with the tour. We were on our own for lunch. They did all the arrangements and reservation work for hotels, transportation, meals, and sightseeing. You could also take extra special side trips for an additional fee.

If I remember correctly, it was about $3500 - $5000 for each of us.


If you haven't already, go to the library or bookstore to get the Rick Steves' (he's the guy on PBS) tour books. Or, just browse through his website:

http://www.ricksteves.com/

Here's his DVD set on Scandinavia. It will help you decide what you want to see in person and give you good tips on where and when to plan the trip.

http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=147&id=395

This is his tour guide for Scandinavia:

http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&id=62

This is his website's section on Europe's hostels:

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/1198hostels.htm

Here's his stuff on Budapest:

http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=142&id=387

and lots of other pages to help you plan your trip:

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/tips_menu.htm


I wish I was going with you. The countries you want to see are the ones at the top of my list that I want to return to some day and spend a lot more time there.