Traveling in Europe by car. Plan a route

We offer you ready budget travel itinerary for european cities. Visit 4 countries and 6 cities in Europe, spending 9900 rubles (or even less) on all transport costs!

Hurry up and pack your bags! We have put together an interesting itinerary for travel in Europe this summer. You can safely take it and use it as a program for your summer vacation. If desired, you can make any adjustments and additions to it.

Prices shown are current at the time of publication.

UPD (2019): If you look at the dates, then this route of travel through European cities can be considered irrelevant. However, specific dates are of secondary importance. The main thing is the idea! Look at this route as a sample. Firstly, it can be exactly repeated now - there will be differences in price (after all, the exchange rate has changed), but everyone has already come to terms with post-crisis prices. Secondly, you can only borrow its logic and principle of construction and, on its basis, build your own individual travel route around Europe. Improvise!

First stage of the route: Budapest, Hungary

(by Andreas Lehner 2014 / flickr.com)

We will start our journey from Moscow, and the first city on our trip will be. One of the key European low-cost airlines, Wizz Air, flies from the capital of Russia to the capital of Hungary, which often offers excellent prices for tickets on this route. For example, at the end of July you can fly to Budapest for only 30 euros! And if you are the owner of an airline club card, then you will need to pay even less for the flight - only 20 euros. pay attention to a very convenient departure time: usually a Moscow-Budapest flight at 11 am costs significantly more, but this time is a pleasant exception.

Second leg of the itinerary: Rome, Italy

(by josemanuelerre/flickr.com)

You can fly almost anywhere from Budapest, many people fly to this city, so the choice of destinations at good prices is very large. We will do the following: we will spend 4 days and 3 nights in beautiful Budapest (be sure to visit at the same time) and fly to the Eternal City! Departure on the evening of July 31 for only 25 euros. This time we will fly aboard Ryanair.

Third stage of the route: Milan and Bergamo, Italy

We will stay in Rome for 2 nights, after which we will take a night bus to Milan for only 1€! We save both time and money. The ticket can be bought on the website.

In Milan, we propose to spend 4 days - this time is just right to see the city. Another day is worth devoting to the small but very beautiful town of Bergamo, located just an hour's drive from Milan. You can get to Bergamo by suburban train for 5 €. Bergamo Airport is considered one of the, and from here, again, you can easily and cheaply fly to anywhere in Europe on low-cost airlines. Of all the possible options, this time we will choose, a ticket to which will cost 23 euros (departure on the evening of August 6 on Ryanair).

Fourth leg of the itinerary: Paris, France

(photo by safran83 / flickr.com)

Fifth stage of the route: Riga, Latvia

From Paris we will fly to the last point of our trip across Europe - to Riga. The ticket will cost 30€ (or 20€ for Wizz Air members).

You can spend 2-3 days in the capital of Latvia and take the Ecolines or LuxExpress bus at (2500 rubles) or at (1100 rubles), whichever is more convenient for you.

Results

In addition to the amounts listed above, the traveler will also need to spend money on a transfer from the city and back. Let's add the costs of these movements to the budget of our trip:

• 6€ (transfer from Budapest airport to the city and back),
• 4€ (transfer from to the city),
• 32€ (transfer from and back),
• 1€ (from Riga airport to the city center).

In total, the transfer costs will be 43 €, which is about 2000 rubles.

The trip budget was as follows: 9,900 rubles for all transportation costs with a return to Moscow, or 8,500 rubles for a return to St. Petersburg. For Wizz Discount Club members, the trip will be another 20€ (almost 1000 rubles) cheaper!

Here is such a budget itinerary, but very eventful travel around Europe!

Accommodation. Of course, we did not include accommodation, meals, etc. in the budget, it was only about tickets. You can save on accommodation by using couchsurfing. For those who prefer not to live away on vacation, but to book their own accommodation, we advise you to pay special attention to the Airbnb.ru service - for any European city you can find thousands of options for interesting and even unique housing for rent (from rooms and apartments to houses , residential boats and even castles). This approach to living can greatly enrich your trip with impressions!

Intro image source: © orion_Katerina / flickr.com.

The first month of summer is coming to an end and you still haven't decided how to spend your vacation? Want to go to Europe, but plane ticket prices are increasingly like the cost of traveling on a space shuttle? Does the thought of visiting several countries terrify you at all? Do not despair! There are ways now to organize a rich and interesting holiday in Europe, combining an excursion program and the beach, without spending a fortune on it.

Let's start with the most necessary - air tickets. Let's plan a vacation for the second half of July and see how much a combined independent tour for two weeks for two with a departure from Moscow will cost us. And also - how and on what we can save, while almost without denying ourselves anything.

HOW TO BOOK AND SEARCH FOR CHEAP TICKETS

Since we do not start booking air tickets at all in advance, all popular beach and tourist routes are already hitting the pocket. For example, only a flight on our dates on the route Moscow-Tivat-Moscow will cost at least 42,000 rubles for two, and you can fly to the Croatian Pula for almost 60,000 rubles.

GETTING READY FOR VACATION

What to do? Everything is simple! Get rid of the idea that the direct route is the easiest, and transfers are just a waste of time and effort. Of the majority of transplants, it is not only possible, but also necessary to make an interesting and pleasant vacation.

1. We are looking for tickets from Moscow in search engines that allow you to leave the “where” field blank or mark “everywhere”.
2. We choose direct flights to European destinations with the cheapest tickets.
3. Of these, we choose a direction with a large city or a large aviation hub, as a rule, there are many very inexpensive flights from such cities.
4. Now we set the city where we found convenient tickets from Moscow as the point of departure, and again select the point "everywhere" as the purpose of arrival.
5. Evaluate the results. If there are inexpensive and interesting flight directions for you, then the city for the first stop was chosen correctly.

BOOKING OF AIR TICKETS. EXAMPLE.

1. Moscow - "everywhere". There, Saturday, July 16th. Return Sunday, July 31st.
2. From European countries, the most profitable tickets for these dates are Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary and Estonia. Their cost is from 8 to 12 thousand rubles.
3. For our first stop, we chose Budapest (Hungary), the cost of one ticket Moscow-Budapest-Moscow is 11,000 rubles.

Why Budapest?

Of all the proposed destinations, Riga and Budapest are suitable for the role of a transshipment hub. We chose Budapest. It really doesn't take long to check routes and fares from several European cities, and the list of low-cost flights from the Russian capital is usually limited.

Budapest is an insanely beautiful and interesting city with a rich imperial history, luxurious cuisine and very reasonable prices for hotels and food.

WARNING: If you have no idea about the price level in the country or city that you want to choose as your "European departure point", be sure to spend a few minutes searching for a hotel before booking a plane ticket.

So, often Munich or Vienna turn out to be very profitable destinations for a flight, but you need to spend a lot of time searching for an inexpensive hotel here. Public transport and food will also cost a pretty penny. These are beautiful cities, but savings will not work with them.

Budapest. What's next?

We planned three days for Budapest: July 16, 17 and 18, and on July 19 we would like to go further.

We arrive in the capital of Hungary in the morning, so we can safely assume that we have three full days to explore the city. For a European capital, hotels in Budapest are inexpensive. In the city center for our dates you can book apartments from 80 euros for the entire stay. But still, most quality offers start from 120 euros. The lowest price we found for a separate apartment near the center is 55 euros. By ordering an apartment, we can save on food in restaurants and get a large living area, usually from 30 to 60 square meters. meters. We will calculate that we will give 120 euros for housing in Budapest.

If for some reason apartments scare you, then by paying 30 euros for the whole time, you can easily find a hotel in the central part of the city. We will lay another 150 euros for food, 50 for transport and excursions, 40 for the famous Hungarian baths. This should be enough for one dinner in a restaurant with wine, and the rest of the time we eat at home and in small cafes.

The cost of visiting the Gellert bathhouse for two is 38 euros, and the Rudas bathhouse (where the scenes of the film “Red Heat” were filmed) is about 20 euros.

Budapest. What to see.

Budapest is located on two sides of the Danube, on the east - Buda, on the west - Pest. Both banks are connected by many bridges, which offer views of the Danube and the city.

1. Royal Palace and Fortress Hill. The first official royal residence appeared here in the middle of the 13th century. The Hungarian National Gallery, the Budapest Historical Museum and the State Library. Széchenyi.
2. The building of the Hungarian Parliament. It was built after the unification of the cities of Buda and Pest at the end of the 19th century. It stands right on the banks of the Danube.
3. Fisherman's Bastion. Located on the Buda Hill. From here you have fantastic views of the city. Despite the fact that the fisherman's bastion was built at the beginning of the 20th century, it has something of the Cinderella's castle, but with a Hungarian flavor.
4. Walks along the Danube.
5. Mount Gellert is named after the Catholic saint Gerard of Hungary. At the foot of the mountain you can observe a waterfall, and at the top is the Citadel, built in the middle of the 19th century.
6. Baths of Budapest: Gellert, Rudash, Chasar, Kiraly, Rats and others. In total, there are 27 baths in Budapest, 13 of them are therapeutic. Most of the baths are quite old with marble finishes and tiles.

Price

So, we consider:

2. Transfers, accommodation, meals ≈ 22,000 rubles
3. Excursions and entertainment ≈ 5000 rubles

TOTAL: ≈ 49,000 rubles

Minimum cost:

1. Flight. 11000x2 = 22000 rubles
2. Transfers, accommodation, meals ≈ 9,000 rubles
3. Excursions and entertainment ≈ 2000 rubles

TOTAL: ≈ 34,000 rubles

Budapest - Milan: moving on

Milan turned out to be the most profitable destination for a flight from Budapest to the south of Europe. The city is not cheap, but interesting. In addition, there are many flights from there to southern, southeastern and southwestern Europe. Italy also has a well-developed rail network. And shopping in Milan has not been canceled.

Milan. What to see.

1. The Duomo Cathedral is beautiful both during the day and at night.
2. Observation platform on the roof of the Duomo.
3. The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the fresco "Last Vespers" by Leonardo da Vinci. It is better to buy a ticket here in advance. For the summer months for a few days or weeks online.
4. Pinacoteca Ambrosian, where you can see the masterpieces of Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian.

When booking the following flight legs, you should remember:

1. Time and dates of departures.

1. The departure time from Budapest to Moscow is morning, and therefore it is better not to risk it and fly to Budapest the day before, that is, on July 30th.

2. Airports of departure and arrival. Relevant for cities with multiple airports, such as Milan or Moscow.

A flight on the route Budapest-Milan-Budapest costs us 7600 rubles for two. Departure there - July 19 morning. Back - July 30 in the afternoon. Although the morning flight is a little cheaper, we will try to connect our transfers so that on the way back we can do without spending the night in Milan.

1. Transfer: Airport-Milan-Airport - 20-40 euros (depending on the airport), that is, an average of 2000 rubles for two.

Transfer from Bergamo is cheaper, so if you do not plan flights from Malpensa on the same day, choose Bergamo Airport.

1. Flight ≈ 100 euros (7600 rubles)
2. Accommodation in Milan, two nights ≈ 90 euros.
3. Transfer ≈ 30 euros.
4. Meals and transport in the city: ≈ 70 euros.
5. Excursions ≈ 70 euros.

Total: ≈ 26,000 rubles.

Minimum cost: ≈ 22,000 rubles.

You can save about 60 euros on accommodation and meals, that is, a little more than 4,000 rubles, and refuse excursions.

IMPORTANT: Taxis are very expensive in Milan, so it is better to book morning or afternoon flights to use public transport.

Routes from Milan

Milan is a large aviation and railway hub, so you can plan many routes from here, differing in price, duration and complexity of organization. We will consider a few, the most simple and inexpensive.

Milan is the sea. The easiest route.

The most inexpensive and easiest to organize is the Milan-Pescara-Milan flight. For two, a flight along this route will cost 4,500 rubles. We will not need additional transfers from / to the airport, since we will arrive from Pescara and fly to Budapest on the same day - Bergamo Airport.

Pescara airport is only three kilometers from the city, and a bus transfer does not take much time and money. In 15 minutes and 6 euros from the airport you can get to the city.

Apartments in Pescara, not far from the coast, but not on the first line, will cost us 650 - 800 euros for 9 days. Having a kitchen will help you save a lot on food. But anyway, let's put in our budget the possibility of a snack outside the house and plan our budget for food 550 euros. In total - a beach holiday costs us 1,300 euros - about 95,000 rubles.

Beach holidays - cost

1. Flight Milan - Pescara - Milan ≈ 4500 rubles.
2. Accommodation in apartments ≈ 50,000 rubles.
3. Food and transfers ≈ 41,000 rubles.

Total for a beach holiday ≈ 95,000 rubles.

The minimum cost of a self-catering accommodation on the coast for our dates, which we found, is 360 euros ≈ 26,000 rubles. If you almost completely refuse to eat out, then 300 euros or 22,000 rubles will be enough for food and transfers.

Thus, the minimum budget for our beach holiday is ≈ 52,000 rubles.

Pescara. What to do besides the sea

Pescara has not only beaches, there is the Cathedral of San Setteo, the house of the writer Gabriel D'Annunzio, the churches of the Holy Spirit and the Apostle Andrew, as well as the government palace. There are museums. Just in mid-July, the Pescara Jazz international music festival takes place in the city.

Pescara and Rome

Pescara is located just 155 kilometers from Rome. The fastest way (except for taxis) is by bus. Travel time one way is 2 hours 25 minutes. The cost of a round trip for two is ≈ 50 euros (3,700 rubles).

Rome is an eternal city, so we will calculate that one day here will cost us 150 euros. On excursions, trips around the city and food. One day is certainly not enough to explore Rome. You can stay overnight near the center for 50 euros, and we will lay an additional 50 euros for transport and food. Now you can make it to the Vatican. Going to the museum and admiring the murals of the Sistine Chapel made by hands: Botticelli, Pinturicchio and Michelangelo, as well as many other works of art, of course, is priceless, but it will cost 56 euros for two, that is, about 4,000 rubles.

It is impossible to thoughtfully walk around the Vatican Museums in half a day, but it is quite possible to get an idea and see the main masterpieces. Total: the second day in Rome will cost us 7,200 rubles (100 euros) without visiting the Vatican Museums and 11,200 rubles or 160 euros if you visit the Vatican Museums.

Trip to Rome. Price

1. Bus Pescara - Rome - Pescara ≈ 50 euros (3700 rubles)
2. Excursions, food, transport in Rome ≈ 150 euros (10,800 rubles)

Total trip to Rome for 1 day ≈ 200 euros (14,500 rubles)

Savings are possible on food and excursions if you visit most of the sights on your own, and for lunch and dinner, choose a restaurant in the center in advance, but not in the popular tourist area. Then a day in Rome will cost us about 75 euros or 5,400 rubles. The economy version of the trip will cost a little more than 9,000 rubles.

2 day trip to Rome

The second day in Rome will add between 50 and 150 euros to the existing options.

1. Rome - one night in a hotel near the center - 50 euros (3700 rubles)
2. A visit to the Vatican Museums ≈ 56 euros.
3. Transport, food, souvenirs, tickets for excursions for two days 150 euros (10,800 rubles)

In total, a trip to Rome for 2 days will cost ≈ 250 to 310 euros for the entire trip (18,200 - 22,200 rubles).

What to see in Rome in one or two days

1. Peter's Cathedral and Square (Vatican)
2. Optional Vatican Museums
3. Navona Square
4. Pantheon and Rotunda
5. Trevi Fountain
6. Coliseum
7. Arch of Constantine in Rome
8. Baths of Caracalla

Way home

Since we bought all the round-trip tickets, most of the expenses for the return trip have already been calculated for us. We fly from Pescara to Bergamo, from where we have a flight to Budapest in four hours. Therefore, we will lay down 40 euros for a snack at the airport and 20 euros for transfers from Budapest airport to the hotel and back. In order to make the trip easier, we chose a hotel on the way back two kilometers from Budapest Airport.

We take accommodation without breakfast, as we have an early flight. Double room ≈ 35 euros. Dinner at the restaurant will also be estimated at 40 euros and another 12 euros for breakfast at the airport. To calculate the minimum budget, you can replace dinner with a snack and spend 15 euros on it, but you should not refuse a sandwich and coffee at the airport. The airline we fly with offers meals on board only for an additional fee, that is, approximately the same 12 euros for two.

Road home cost

1. Light lunch at Bergamo airport (pizza and drinks) ≈ 20 euros.
2. Dinner in Budapest ≈ 40 euros.
3. Hotel accommodation ≈ 35 euros.
4. Breakfast at the airport or on board the plane ≈ 12 euros.
5. Transfer airport-hotel-airport ≈ 20 euros.

Total on the way back about 130 euros (9000 rubles).

As we have already written above, you can only save on food here. Tightening your belts, well, or switching to hot dogs, the road home will cost us 7000 rubles.

SUMMARY BY ROUTE

1. Two or three countries: Hungary, Italy (Vatican). Three cities: Budapest - three days, Milan - two days, Pescara - 9 days. Six flights. Optional trip to Rome for one or two days.
2. The minimum budget for all flights, accommodation, meals and transfers is ≈ 115,000 rubles for two or 57,500 rubles for one traveler.
3. An economical, but still not ascetic budget is ≈ 179,000 rubles for two or 89,500 rubles for one traveler. With a trip to Rome - from 188,000 rubles.

Prices in comparison

We called one of the major Russian travel agencies and asked us to calculate the minimum cost of a package tour for two on the coast of Italy from July 16 to 31.

Accommodation in a 3 * hotel with breakfast relatively close to the sea will cost from 97,000 rubles for two with a flight and transfer. Even if we eat only pizza and drink only water, in 14 days we will eat at least 500 euros. Thus, a package tour, without excursions and a diet hazardous to health, will cost us at least 130,000 rubles.

A package tour, without excursions and a diet hazardous to health, will cost us at least 130,000 rubles.

ROUTE TWO - SPANISH

We will not describe the second route in detail. Let's describe it schematically, minimalistically and by date.

1. From July 21st to 30th we travel from Milan to Barcelona.
2. Flight Milan-Barcelona - Milan will cost us 200 euros 14,400 rubles.
3. Accommodation on the coast of Barcelona for the entire period (9 nights) from 600 euros or 43,200 rubles.
4. Meals (we cook ourselves) - 300 euros or 22,000 rubles.
5. Transfers, excursions, souvenirs - 150 euros or 10,800 rubles.

Total beach holiday in Spain from 90,000 rubles.

POSSIBLE DESTINATIONS FROM MILAN

We will briefly describe a few more likely trips from Milan to the beaches of Europe. At the moment, their cost is comparable to those options that we have already described. In the case of traveling towards southeastern Europe, Croatia and Montenegro, slight savings on food and hotels are possible.

1. Atlantic coast of Spain Santander and Bilbao.
a. Flight from Milan and back 220 euros.
2. Croatia and Montenegro: flight to Dubrovnik and back - 180 euros. 7-9 days in Dubrovnik and surroundings from 700 euros. In the neighboring (distance about 50 km.) Herceg Novi (Montenegro) from 450 euros.
3. North of Italy and Croatia: we get to Trieste by train - the way there and back will cost us about 100 euros.

Buses in Croatia are comfortable, equipped with air conditioning and often toilets.

1. Hotels or apartments on the coast of Croatia are not cheap. For 9 days, the best offer is an apartment for 450 euros, but now the next most expensive accommodation option asks for 950 euros.
2. You can stay for one night in Rijeka (about 100 euros) and go to the Plitvice Lakes by bus. You can rent quite good apartments there for 400 euros for the entire stay.

Attention! Prices are current at the time of writing, and therefore may differ from the current ones. To determine prices, we used one airline ticket aggregator, two of the most popular hotel and apartment booking services, Italian bus and rail transport sites, and Croatian bus transport sites.

In this text, we are looking at inexpensive options for staying in private rooms or apartments with a private bathroom. Accordingly, the cost of living in a hostel or in a hotel room with a shared bathroom can be 10-50% lower. Also, the total cost can be reduced by completely abandoning restaurants. We also provide an example of a minimum route budget based on current market offerings. All prices in the text are for two adults

The story that it is absolutely not scary to leave everything, rent an apartment for the summer, go by car across Europe.

... When, in our incomplete 30s, we told our parents that we were going to quit our job and go to the sea for the whole summer, they, clutching their heads, told us that we were breaking our lives.

Without listening to anyone, we said goodbye to all obligations, rented an apartment for the summer to a nice couple of friends, packed our things and hit the road.

Today we will tell you all the useful information for travelers: what beauties you should admire on the way, why it is necessary to book apartments in advance (for example, on the TravelRent service) and in general, we assure you that car travel is incredibly fun.

A few points to get you started:

• Greencard- international OSAGO for your car, in which you need to enter all the countries through which you will go. Including Belarus, where the fine for lack of insurance is $300. Our insurance ceases to be valid when leaving the country. Issued in any insurance company. Also, do not forget to find out if it is possible to make the CASCO extension (you never know).
• Vignette- a small colored sticker on the windshield of the car, indicating that the relevant tax has been paid. It is used in some European countries (bought in each country, showed the police 1 time in Hungary). Sold at the border or at the first gas station after crossing it.

Traveling to Europe by car

We left Moscow at 11 am on Friday and our first destination was Minsk.

We did not book an overnight stay in advance, we decided to stop along the way, where we like it. In general, the plan is excellent, but a couple of times we regretted our decision. But since the road is complete freedom from everything, including the Internet, we could no longer deviate from the intended path.

At that time, I had not yet worked for TravelRent and generally understood little about independent travel. Many people prefer to stay at SpaLuxuryResortBeach, etc., but believe me - nothing compares to a night in a mini-hotel, when the owner makes coffee for you in the morning, and his wife prepares breakfast, and then they tell you about interesting places in their city, which not in the guidebook, and they even teach you how to cook national cuisine. This is a real journey, which is hard to imagine in a hotel!

The way to Minsk with all the stops was about 7 hours; the city met us with rain and wind, so it was not possible to walk around the city. We stopped by for dinner and went to bed for the night.

The next morning we went to Poland. There are rumors about the border in Brest that you can spend the whole day there, so we took a chance and went to the border in the city of Slonim and crossed it in an hour and a half, getting to Bialystok.

Poland is fabulous! Clouds, villages and forests, like on a postcard. I must say that we drove a very long road through the settlements, so we fully enjoyed the scenery.

170 km before Krakow, we stopped for the night at the Igus motel, where we were accommodated in a wonderful room with renovation, bathrobes, bath accessories and breakfast, but even then I realized that the apartment would be better: we were left without dinner, the hotel restaurant is no longer worked, bought some junk food at a gas station, and many hosts offer to cook dinner for a small additional fee, which will be waiting for you on the stove. Moreover, when staying where you like, it is quite difficult to plan a budget, since prices are very different everywhere and it is almost impossible to predict how much an overnight stay will cost (especially without focusing on local currency).

By the way, Poles in the non-tourist zone do not speak English well, but due to the similarity of languages, you can try to speak Russian. For example, when we wanted to pay for breakfast, the waitress answered us: “in the price of the rooms” - and we understood her perfectly.

The whole next day we walked around Krakow. O parked the car in a guarded parking lot near the center and headed to the very heart of the city. We got to the large market square Rynok, where nothing has changed since ancient times: active trade is going on here to this day. On our arrival, there was a flower festival, and carts with beautiful plants were placed throughout the territory.

We entered through the Florian Gate - all that was left of the walls that surrounded the city. Once upon a time, they wanted to run a tram through them, but, having laid the tracks, they realized that it would not pass along the height.

After the walk, we sat down to have lunch at one of the restaurants on the square. In Krakow, you should not be afraid of restaurants that are too expensive at first glance: it is still cheaper there than, for example, in a similar restaurant in Moscow. We trusted the waiter and chose national dishes. Of the most memorable, we recommend soup in bread and meat baked in pickles.

The whole lunch (of about five courses) cost 1200 rubles.

Budapest was the next city.

We drove through Slovakia in 3 hours, although I also want to mention its nature: our path lay through a mountain road, on both sides of which hares jump and martens run, and the water in the mountain river is absolutely transparent.

Again, we did not prepare for the trip to Budapest - we just got on the Poland-Hungary highway and arrived in the capital, naively believing that we would find an overnight stay there without any problems. But everything did not go according to plan: unlike Poland, where hotels, motels and mini-hotels are everywhere, here there is nothing but the most beautiful large hotels, with a price per night from 200 euros and completely incomprehensible signs throughout the city in Hungarian .

Hungary is a country in the heart of the European Union, where you will hardly find signs in English, and the language itself is unlike any other. It will be difficult for an unprepared tourist to understand written signs, paying for parking, ordering food in a restaurant, etc.

Having found a small hotel, we learned from the receptionist there that the end of May is the high season in Budapest, and we would hardly be able to find a room.

At one o'clock in the morning we went to the Hungary-Serbia highway and started looking for a motel. After two hours, we still found the only free room, very clean and large, with everything you need. The next morning, we tried to explain for half an hour what we want for breakfast, until the waitress finally brought us a menu with pictures. Now we often cook "Hungarian scrambled eggs" with smoked sausages and tomato at our house.

On the way out of the motel, we checked the vignette for the first (and last) time.

Our Hungarian adventures did not end there: at the customs, a man in uniform took all our documents from us and left for an hour. At this time, European cars were stopped next to us, told them: “Budapest” and issued A4 sheets. We concluded that these are speeding tickets that can only be paid in the capital (250 km from the border).

But everything ended well: they gave us the documents, smiled and, judging by the intonation, wished us a happy journey.

We entered Serbia.

After the Hungarian customs, the attitude of the Serbs conquered us: they opened a separate checkpoint for us, smiled, asked how things were in Russia, and wished us a great road. We immediately drove to the gas station and met our compatriot living in Serbia there.

He was very surprised to see Russians in a car with Moscow license plates, since that year was the first time that travelers took this route.

On the way there, we did not stop for the night in Serbia, we were in a hurry to get home to Bulgaria as soon as possible. Serbian cuisine deserves special attention: it is very satisfying, it has many meat and vegetable dishes. In general, Serbs are very fond of food: in one portion there is as much food as we could easily serve at a family dinner for four people.

Serbs are offended when something is not eaten, they sincerely do not understand why we consider such an amount of food to be too much for one person, but at the same time they are very welcoming, hospitable, sociable and try to feed everyone around.

After tasting baked beef with freshly cooked tortillas and Shopska salad, we set off for Bulgaria. (You can read about Catherine's stay in Bulgaria here.)

We drove into Sofia in the dead of night, staying for the night in a very second-rate motel.

On the way to Moscow, we knew for sure that we would fly through Hungary, but in Serbia we would definitely train and take a walk. We stopped at Lake Palic, which is 10 kilometers from the border with Hungary. It is fabulously beautiful there, lots of activities such as bicycles, boats, a park with many rare trees and birds, and fresh air, which makes it great to sleep there.

If you have time and desire to walk around Belgrade, then you can stay in these apartments.

After three days on the lake, we decided it was time to go home. Starting 10 kilometers from the Hungarian border, we drove through Hungary and Slovakia in the same breath.

Another important point: right after the border you will be offered to buy a vignette, while the Hungarians sell a set of two at once, including the Slovak one, and you will have to pay for them not 20 euros (10 each), but 30. And how did we not try to explain that we want one, that we will buy a Slovak one later, they gave us 2 and left no options. Already in Slovakia, we realized that it was still the right decision to buy it: we could not find points of sale after Hungary.

We stopped for the night in Poland and, waking up, immediately went to the border. Persistent navigator took us to the border of Domachevo. There were a lot of cars there, but we passed relatively quickly: in 3 hours.

Advice: Don't confuse the fast lane queue with the one where people get Tax Free on European purchases, cars, etc.We got it mixed up, and for an hour we listened to a fascinating dialogue between a customs officer and a Russian citizen who bought a car and intended to return VAT not only on cars, but also on wheels. The customs officer was concerned about the presence of those same second wheels. Our compatriot, blushing with anger, explained that the only wheels he had were installed on the car.After an hour of vain clarifications and arguments of the customs officer that the wheels are part of the car and are not subject to a separate tax, we were nevertheless let through and we entered Belarus.

This time we booked an apartment in Minsk, but late at night we did not dare to drive along a dark highway and decided to stay in Grodno. We were met by the hospitable hotel "Tourist", where the wedding was held that evening. I want to note that a three-star hotel (though with parking and breakfast) cost one and a half times more expensive than a hotel in Serbia, twice as expensive as a hotel in Poland and two and a half times more expensive than a motel in Hungary. However, breakfast in the best Soviet traditions made us very happy: we went right back to childhood.

There was only one drawback in Grodno: there are no convenience stores in the city, so in the form of dinner, I had to be content with crackers from a gas station.

Important and useful information for tourists

• In total, a one-way trip a year ago amounted to 30,000 rubles. This includes everything: gasoline, overnight stays, food, souvenirs.
• Do not forget to purchase a Green Card (international OSAGO) and expand CASCO for your car.
• In every country that requires the purchase of a vignette - don't skimp, you never know which bush the cops are behind.
• Of the mandatory things in the car, there should always be two vests with reflectors, a first aid kit and a sticker of your country. This is sometimes checked by customs.
• Be sure to study the rules for the import and export of food, alcohol, etc. For example, two packs of cigarettes can be brought into Poland by car, although 200 pieces per person can be taken out of Russia. With us, everything was taken away from people and a fine was issued.
• Book your accommodation in advance, be it a hotel or an apartment. Sometimes it is difficult to do it on the spot, especially at night and without knowing the local language.
• If you plan to travel through Hungary, buy a phrase book. I'm not kidding!
• Taste local cuisine along the way, while not in tourist places. In many countries, food changes along the way. When you arrive by plane in a particular city, and do not travel through the whole country, then you rest like a tourist. When you drive a car, you can explore the whole flavor of the country.

And the most important thing - about Going on a road trip, don't be afraid of anyone or anything. In Europe, everything is adapted for road lovers: frequent gas stations, free coffee at some places, hot lunch restaurants and motels at almost every turn.

I can say that after our adventure we did not lose anything, now both are doing what we love and we understand for sure that we should not be afraid to take risks

Interesting travels!

Quartblog Digest

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Compact retro or roomy modern? How to choose a good suitcase? Find out which suitcase is the best choice for you.

Amazing buildings and interiors where books are sold.

How to decorate an apartment so that it reminds you of pleasant summer adventures.

Text and photo: Ekaterina Ignatova

A trip to Europe is definitely on the must-visit list for anyone with a fondness for travel. And since Europe is a very multi-component concept, the prospect of buying a tour to several countries at once seems doubtful and, of course, expensive. Planning a trip on your own is a direct path to a sea of ​​vivid impressions and no less pleasant savings.

Do not be afraid to take organizational issues on yourself, a trip to Europe by car (or by plane 🙂) is not as scary as the imagination draws it. The main point is to choose the priority method for you to travel between countries from the above. We will help you decide, write down all the nuances and calculate the approximate cost of a 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 country of dreams, then with a car it’s more difficult, because. the planning process here requires more scrupulousness. Well, at least because you will manage the four-wheeled beast yourself.

To make a successful trip around 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 cool angles for a photo with the Eiffel Tower - how do you like it?

Planning a travel itinerary across Europe

It all depends on your fantasies and desires. Perhaps you are an avid explorer of Europe and this time you are striving to explore France far and wide, 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 the framework of a standard 14-day vacation, but you can try.

In any case, first decide on the main cities where the adventure spirit takes 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 the gadget is unexpectedly turned off. Remember, your plan should be as specific and detailed as possible.

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

Walking the streets of Barcelona somewhere in the Gothic Quarter

A favorite tourist route for traveling around Europe with a starting point from Moscow goes through Belarus and smoothly flows to the border with Poland, and there already - where the navigator tells. We advise you to familiarize yourself with the customs rules in advance, because. there are often restrictions on the transport of certain groups of goods.

Behind the border post, ideal roads begin that will accompany you throughout your journey by car. Riding them is a no-brainer. But here's what can really cause inconvenience: most of the highways here are toll. Therefore, in order to avoid collisions with formidable inspectors and paying fines, inquire in advance about the fare in the countries included in your European itinerary. The site tolls.eu 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 the trip. Mark at least a few gas stations between each of the long journeys, but in any case, do not fall short of the last one. If the tank is half empty, refuel at the nearest station, and do not rely on the "same one" after ten kilometers. But in general, you will hardly be surprised to learn that the cost of gasoline in Europe is much more expensive than at home, and gas stations along 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 have said, with an airplane, everything is much simpler. However, in the matter of how to save money and how to find the cheapest flights to Europe, there are some snags.

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

We buy cheap air tickets in Europe. What are lowcosters?

Applying for a Schengen visa

In fact, one of the highlights of our trip. Without this insert in the passport, alas, the lights of Europe do not shine for us. Where to apply for a Schengen? The most budgetary thing will be to collect the documents yourself and submit an application to the visa center. By the way, we already have a ready-made article (), which will assist in obtaining a Schengen visa. Read-study!

And in short: we form the necessary package of documents, fill out an application for a Schengen visa and pay a visit to the 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 additional payment.

You don't have to overpay. Prepare the following documents:

• bank card statement (balance - at the rate of €50 per day);
• accommodation booking confirmation;
• certificate of employment indicating the amount of income or sponsorship letter;
• medical insurance (ideally - travel insurance online);
• air tickets. If you are traveling in Europe by car, you must provide an exact itinerary with the number of days spent in each country.

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

And, after checking once again the availability of all documents for obtaining a Schengen visa, go straight to the accredited visa application center in your city/district.

In Montserrat, near Barcelona
(the second time we felt bored, it also started to rain)

Determine the cost of a trip to Europe

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

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

• Visa to Germany = 3500 rubles.
• Air tickets = 16,000 rubles.
• Accommodation = 7500 rubles.

Total \u003d 27,000 rubles. from a person. If you ask why not by car, we will answer that the cost of gasoline alone on the road from Moscow to Berlin will be about €190 (and 24 hours of travel). Of course, it is not entirely true to compare the distances covered by an aircraft and a car within the same route. But still it is cheaper to travel around Europe by air transport.

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

The best sights of Europe

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

1. Eiffel Tower, France. For some, it is a boring pile of iron, for others it is a dubious construction that disfigures the face of the city (an approximate interpretation of the words of Dumas and Maupassant), and for the rest 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. The guidebooks around Europe will tell you the same thing, annually granting the tower the title of the number one European attraction.

1. Colosseum, Italy. The grandiose structure of the times of the Ancient World today still gathers thousands of people every day. True, she strives not for bread and circuses, but for a piece of history and photographs.

1. Temple of the Sagrada Familia, Spain. Perhaps the only one of the sights of European countries that attracts crowds of tourists even in unfinished form. 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 Gaudí's chief architect?

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

1. Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany. This is the perfect collective image of all the castles and palaces that we contemplated in cartoons in childhood and 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 of fine arts and its surrounding areas are generally divided into two types. Those who can't wait to break into the crowded halls and face the original painting of the Mona Lisa, and those who first prefer to "grab" the pyramid - the main entrance to one of the most famous European attractions.

And here is the morning Louvre, there are practically no people!

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

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