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The Worst European Airports
2008-01-02 19:14:00
Which European airport guarantees the worst experience? Which has the longest security lines, the craziest gate transfers, or the most disorganized baggage claim?  We chuckled our way through Elisabeth Rosenthal’s piece in last Friday’s International Herald Tribune in which she gives results of her own unscientific poll. The results: 1) London Heathrow “Hands down the worst” cited by “100 percent of respondents.” An airport so massive that passengers are forced to sprint between gates, and hampered by an inconvenient one-bag carry-on limit through security. 2) Charles de Gaulle The Paris airport features “Gaulle-ing conditions,” look-alike terminals, and a confusing layout that makes you feel like you’re “in an Escher print.” 3) Rome Fiumicino and Frankfurt  Tied for “dishonorable mention,” one featuring “dirty conditions” and the other offering a miles-long “rainbow” subterr...
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France and Germany: Ashtrays removed from cafes and restaurants today
2008-01-02 14:51:00
Throughout France today, 2008 was ushered in with a countrywide smoking ban in restaurants, cafes, and discos that smokers have been anticipating for months. In early 2007, a similar law banned smoking in public spaces and work places, but this is the biggie — no more smoking at the table, over an espresso, or on the dance floor. Although the law was to go into effect at midnight December 31, officials decided not to enforce the law until Wednesday, as the removal of ashtrays at midnight on New Years Eve could disrupt the party. We can respect that. Reports in the Associated Press and AFP indicate that smokers in Paris today have mostly been following the law,  stepping outside cafes to have a quick smoke. Meanwhile, in Germany , eight states, including Berlin, also have non-smoking laws going into effect, banning smoking in public places. The measure, however, seems more flexible – as fines won’t be imposed for the time being (until the public “gets use...
More About: Restaurants , Today , Cafes

Thanks, Alex!
2007-12-30 06:36:00
A note from Tom Meyers, Editor of EuroCheapo: Thanks so much to Alex for the great job he did throughout 2007 on the EuroCheapo blog. From finding cool correspondents Europe-wide to editing over a dozen posts a day (not to mention introducing the office to the peppy melodies of Flemish singing sensation K3), Alex has been splendid. The EuroCheapo blog will continue, although we will miss a certain tone (and expertise) that is all ART. Happily, we look forward to Cheapo collaborations with Alex in the upcoming months. In the meantime, Alex, best of luck, many thanks, and happy (budget-savvy) travels!

Adieu, Cheapos
2007-12-28 18:38:00
Forgive the temporary release of the standard editorial “we” in the following post. My final day as editor of the EuroCheapo Blog is today. I have loved editing (and writing for) this blog, scouring sources obscure and mainstream alike for budget-friendly travel tidbits. For those who have started reading the blog only recently, we have run an in-house endeavor with occasional guest posts since the summer; prior to that, the blog collected the musings and tips of a stable of amazing correspondents across Europe. I can say without a shred of hyperbole that editing their writing was one of the best professional experiences of my life. I will miss editing the blog, though knowing that it will continue to thrive and excite travel budgeteers of all persuasions makes leavetaking easier. I’ll continue to be a part of the wider EuroCheapo sphere, and hope to be posting occasionally. Please check out my unaffiliated, newish travel blog, Spendthrift Shoestring.
More About: Adie

hidden europe: From Cold Turkey to Father Frost
2007-12-28 17:59:00
Brits are of course now labouring under a diet of cold turkey. Christmas generates its own extraordinary traditions across Europe , which differ greatly from country to country. There is no such thing as a standard-issue European Christmas. The English certainly like their turkey on the Christmas table, but elsewhere across the continent firm Christmas favourites include baked carp, goose, spicy hams, and roast lamb. Christmas may have come and gone in western Europe, but we shouldn’t forget that as we move east across the continent, things change. The Orthodox Churches still organise their affairs according to the old Julian calendar, and Christmas is not celebrated in most of eastern Europe until early January. By the time Russians sit down to have their Christmas meal (on the evening of 6 January), most western and central European households have already taken down their Christmas decorations. The festive season brings its own cast of secular characters. So in Russia and ot...
More About: Turkey , Cold , Father , Hidden

Siena: Citizens fight plans to expand airport
2007-12-24 20:36:00
One of the great things about visiting Siena , Italy, that quiet, sun-kissed Tuscan town, is that you have to work for it. You may arrive by car or by train, but you’ll still have a walk ahead of you, as the main train station is located outside the walled city, as are the parking spaces for tourists. By the time you reach the old city, you’re rewarded with the sense that you’ve entered an out-of-the-way locale. It’s narrow medieval streets, churches, and squares await.   We don’t mean to suggest that Siena is some undiscovered jewel. After all, more than one million tourists visit each year. But there are plans afoot to expand a nearby airport, once used for military purposes and recently converted for civilian use. We enjoyed yesterday’s piece in the New York Times about the locals who are fighting the proposed expansion of the airport, which could open it (and thus the entire area) to low-cost carriers, as well as major airlines. S...
More About: Airport , Fight , Plans

Borders a-fallin’: Europe’s East meets West
2007-12-21 19:40:00
Just as we’re putting up this post, a number of barriers are coming down across Europe. Today, the European Union removed multiple internal borders—like those previously dividing Germany and Poland, and Slovakia from Austria. In an effort to further promote border-free travel, most intra-European borders previously guarded by patrols and border stations have been abolished, effective this morning. With this new initiative, the free-travel area expands to 24 countries with the addition of Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. 400 million Europeans, with or without Smart Cars, can now drive all the way from Portugal in the west to Latvia in the east without showing a passport, visa, or other form of identification. Berlin’s Tagesspiegel newspaper responded to the amendment by announcing, “The Iron Curtain has finally fallen.” We think this is all fantastic news—especially during this season of tidings and j...
More About: East , West , Borders , Rope

Amsterdam: Red light district to get cleaned up
2007-12-20 18:04:00
Amsterdam’s notorious Red Light District , that central section of seedy sex shops and cinemas, is set to clean up its act. Job Cohen, the city’s Mayor, announced on Monday that Amsterdam will soon begin requiring all red-light merchants and services to go “legit.” Since the trade’s legalization in 2000, the area has continued to be plagued with pimps and petty crime, along with unregulated prostitution. The mayor’s new plan will enforce permits and inspections, and will require businesses to have official business telephone numbers and registered addresses. The Associated Press reports that the city hopes to lure in luxury hotels, fashionable boutiques, squeaky-clean restaurants and other crowd-pleasers to  the area. And what about the tourists who come to Amsterdam primarily to take in the city’s seedy side? According to councilman Lodewijk Asscher, “We know that the tourists that come here now, the rowdy Britons, aren’t alwa...
More About: Amsterdam , Red Light District , Strict

Wed Digest: Surcharges, A’dam Shopping Hours, UK Xmas Top Tune
2007-12-19 17:09:00
Nothing like a midweek digest of recently noteworthy posts and stories. Right? 1. Christopher Elliott’s list of strange travel surcharges is both hilarious and on target. Though it refers more to a business traveler demographic than a Cheapo one, Elliott does touch on the European budget airline habit of imposing extreme and varied surcharges. 2. Trippist spreads the word about extended shopping hours in Amsterdam. Shops in central Amsterdam districts will be open until 10 p.m. on December 20, 21, and 23. 3. Which song will be the UK’s top-selling single the week of Christmas? The Brits take the Xmas Number One v. seriously. Caroline Briggs checks out the top contenders for the BBC.
More About: Shopping , Digest , Tune , Hours

Angouleme, Arad, Constanta, Welcome!
2007-12-18 17:01:00
Today Ryanair announced 50 new routes around Europe for 2008; among these, there will be three entirely new destinations in the bunch: Angoulême in France and Arad and Constanţa in Romania. The expansion to Romania is welcome; frankly, we expected it to happen months ago. Arad is currently served by Romanian low-cost airline BlueAir, which flies to Stuttgart, Valencia, and Verona from the far western Romanian city. Constanţa, at the opposite end of Romania, in the country’s southeast on the Black Sea, is a big regional beach resort. Ryanair will be the first budget airline to serve it. The airline will also be the first budget airline to serve Angoulême, a department capital in southwestern France, thereby increasing Ryanair’s already notable presence in the southwestern quarter of the country. Ryanair will fly one route apiece to each of these new destinations: Arad-Orio al Serio (Milan), Angoulême-London Stansted, and Constanţa-Pisa.

Friday List: Franco-Irish Links, Mystery Photo, Bournemouth, Volareweb
2007-12-14 18:03:00
On our radar screens today: 1. Yesterday, Ryanair announced four new routes connecting Ireland and France. Connections between Dublin and Brest, Rodez, and Tours will kick off in April, and a seasonal Cork-Carcassonne link will fly from late May through early September. 2. Vardzia, Georgia is Gadling’s “Where on Earth?” spot. 3. Andy Martin blogs entertainingly on very English Bournemouth. 4. Over the last few months, Volareweb has added a bunch of destinations. Volareweb now flies to Helsinki, Lodz, and Rotterdam, among other destinations. We’d be more excited if Volareweb weren’t one of the least reliable low-cost carriers we’ve come across.
More About: Photo , Links , List , Irish , Friday

Suggestion Box: Cheap Winter Duo
2007-12-13 18:16:00
We’re watching snow fall right now. That we’re thinking about winter should come as no surprise. So where might we escape to for an atmospheric yet affordable snowy getaway? Here are two ideas. 1. Košice, Slovakia. Connected to Dublin, London Luton, Prague, and Vienna by SkyEurope, Slovakia’s second biggest city sits in the east of the country. Like Bratislava, Košice boasts an atmospheric old town that becomes a breathlessly gorgeous winter fantasy under dust of snow. Hotel Recommendation: Hotel K2 at Štúrová 32 (tel. +421 55 625 59 48) is cheap and central. 2. Berlin, Germany. The best value western European capital (sorry, Lisbon) sports oodles of good air and train connections, more sights than you can shake a stick at, and a slate of decent hotels. Check out Die Fabrik, at Schlesische Strasse 18 in Kreuzberg, for a cheap bed in hip surroundings.
More About: Winter , Suggestion , Cheap

Second VIVA World Cup
2007-12-13 00:03:00
Next year’s European Football Championships are scheduled for June 7-29. Switzerland and Austria are sharing hosting duties, with matches scheduled in Vienna, Klagenfurt, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Zurich, Basel, Bern, and Geneva. Overseen by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Championship will have Austria and Switzerland mobbed with soccer-mad Europeans from every corner of the continent. A few weeks later, from July 7 through 13, the second VIVA World Cup , a competition run with far less fanfare, will take place in the Swedish city of Gällivare. Hosted by the Sápmi Football Association, the football club of the indigenous Arctic Sámi people, the VIVA World Cup allows teams representing nations and subnational groupings without membership in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to compete against other subnational groupings. An umbrella organization called the Nouvelle Fédération-Board (or NF-Board) offers a form of legitimization. ...
More About: Viva

Tues Trio: Ryanair in Charleroi, NYT Surprises, Aer Lingus Fare Sale
2007-12-11 17:26:00
We slept in a good hour beyond our typical wake-up time. So it’s a sleepy Tuesday. This is just background information. Ignore at will, but know that our morning coffee is especially appreciated today. The following things have caught our attention over the last few days: 1. Ryanair has announced five new routes in and out of Brussels Charleroi (to Bergerac, Limoges, Perpignan, Porto, and Zaragoza.) No Ryanair expansion these days comes without a cancellation, though there’s only one casuality here: the London Stansted-Charleroi route. Has Eurostar felled Ryanair on the London-Brussels route? It would appear so. 2. On Sunday, the New York Times published travel articles on Kazakhstan and Greenland. If Kazakhstan represents the eastern edge of Europe (with just a piece of its territory west of the Urals) and Greenland represents its western edge (technically a part of the Americas, but tied culturally and politically to Europe), then the NYT pleased us to no end on Sunday...
More About: Sale , Aer Lingus , Trio , Fare

Easy(Jet) Gets Busy
2007-12-07 17:37:00
Today, Easy Jet announced six new routes, all of which will launch in March and April: Bristol-Biarritz, Bristol-Olbia, Bristol-Split, Edinburgh-Nice, Glasgow-Faro, and London Luton-Pisa. These six routes complement the dozen the airline will be kicking off over the next several months. Half of these (East Midlands-Barcelona, Bournemouth-Grenoble, Birmingham-Geneva, Bristol-Innsbruck, and London Gatwick-Innsbruck, and Birmingham-Grenoble) are kicking things off in December; other exciting new routes include London Gatwick-Thessaloniki (launching on January 30) and flights to Jersey from Liverpool and London Luton (launching at the close of March.) These route announcement, taken with the purchase of GB Airways in October, underscore a heightened sense of hubbub over at easyJet. A few weeks ago, easyJet Chief Executive Andy Harrison exhibited O’Leary-esque bravado in his assertion that easyJet will be outperforming Ryanair on profit within the next year. We’re still anxio...
More About: Busy , Easy Jet

hidden europe: Changing Trains
2007-12-06 16:44:00
It is always worth pondering quite where is the best place to change trains. Many journeys across Europe offer multiple options. No sane Brit ever chooses to change trains at Birmingham New Street—a sort of subterranean Hades somewhere in the English Midlands—and few are ever really forced to do so. For many rail itineraries across England give a plethora of possible points for an hour’s leisure time, to enjoy a coffee and a bit of fresh air while waiting for the next train connection. This is the case in many other European countries as well. Surely no rational human being ever decided that Warsaw’s eastern station (Warszawa Wschodnia) was the ideal place to mull over the affairs of the world for an hour or two between trains. Generous-hearted souls we may be, but it is difficult to find a good word for Wschodnia – unless you want to catch the pulse of what life was like in much of eastern and central Europe two decades ago. Take a look at this architectural gem a...
More About: Trains , Changing , Hidden , Rope

Wed Duo: UK to Sardinia Package; Nov Ryanair Stats
2007-12-05 18:09:00
Jet2holidays is currently marketing a £274 package (per person, based on four people sharing an apartment) departing from Leeds Bradford on May 31. The package includes a round-trip flight on Jet2 (from Leeds Bradford to Olbia), seven nights at the Residence Le Conchiglie in Budoni, transfers to and from the hotel, and taxes. The package gets more expensive later in the spring and summer—£274 for May 31 departure is the cheapest it gets. Meanwhile, and in a completely unrelated development, Ryanair released its November passenger stats today. Passenger numbers in November were up 23 percent over last November’s numbers, at 3.89 million over last November’s 3.16 million. Load factor lagged slightly, falling to 78 percent from 79 percent. Load factor designates the percentage of seats filled relative to the number of seats offered for sale.
More About: Stats , Package , Dini , Sard

Austria: Cheap Castle Accommodations
2007-12-04 17:14:00
We recently came across a guide to Castle Hotels and Mansions in Austria and bordering countries published by Historic Hotels of Europe. Castle accommodations aren’t usually Cheap o territory, which is why we were overjoyed to find multiple listings for rooms under €100/night, as well as several castles with rooms for far, far less. The lakeside Seeschlössl Velden in Velden (Carinthia) has rooms that begin at €65, including breakfast. Herberge an der Nikolauszeche in Purbach (Burgenland) sports single rooms that begin at €66, including breakfast. We found another great value at Strasserwirt Herrenansitz zu Tirol in Strassen (East Tyrol), where room rates begin at €48 per night for three-night stays. The conventional wisdom is that this sort of lavish accommodation is well beyond Cheapo budgets. We’re happy to discover plenty of evidence to the contrary.
More About: Dati

Latest free bike program: Turin, Italy
2007-12-03 16:21:00
Turin, Italy is the latest city to hop on the free/cheap bike-sharing phenomenon sweeping Europe, according to Budget Travel’s “This Just In” blog. Turin is reportedly ready to place 1,300 free bikes on city streets, docking them in 390 stations, in early 2008. Now that’s a great way for Turin’ the town! As our blog readers know, we’re big fans of the programs and have been monitoring their popularity, especially in Paris, where the Vélib program has been a hit with residents and tourists alike.
More About: Bike , Free , Program , Turin

Hurry, Hurry: One-Day Ryanair Sale
2007-11-29 18:34:00
Today only, Ryanair is offering a serious fare sale. 150,000 fares on flights during the last three weeks of January are going for €1/£1 apiece. There are restrictions, of course. This fare is only available between mid-day Monday and mid-day Thursday, and not on all routes. The promotion ends at midnight, so there isn’t time to check fares and availability to see how many cheap fares actually turn up. We’re going to trust that the fares are there and encourage readers to try to find them. A partial list of covered routes can be found here (in PDF format.)
More About: Sale

Wednesday Yum-Yum Digest
2007-11-28 23:30:00
A few food-related articles and posts that have caught our eye over the last few days… 1. Kevin Gould’s “Eat like a local…” Budapest feature in last Saturday’s Guardian. Mmmm, coffee and cake, and lots of it. 2. In the Telegraph, Gill Charlton’s guide to Naples, with its mention of ultracheap, ultradelicious pizzeria Vesi. 3. David Lebovitz’s France archive. 4. Nordljus’s riveting images of Istanbul, many of which are of things to eat.
More About: Digest , Wednesday

High Culture/Low Budget: Olivia Giovetti Rocks It
2007-11-27 17:04:00
Olivia Giovetti, who, among other things, once wrote a fab set of Wandering Cheapo posts on Prague for this very blog, recently launched a brilliant blog of her own. High Culture on a Low Budget is a breathlessly plugged-in guide to finding high cultural treats on the cheap. The first slate of posts covers Riga, London, Paris, Prague, Vienna, Geneva, Budapest, and Bolzano—a lovely mix of tried-and-true and less well known destinations. There’s opera. There are museums. There’s a Christkindlmarkt. There are tips for getting into world-class performances for far less than you’ll spend on your budget hotel. In short, High Culture on a Low Budget is ideal for culture vultures who don’t have deep pockets. And in addition to being outstandingly useable, it’s erudite and fresh. We can’t wait to see what she’ll come up with next…
More About: Olivia , Rocks

London: “Mind the Gap” voice silenced over spoofs
2007-11-26 18:05:00
Emma Clarke, the ubiquitous voice behind “Mind the Gap” and “Stand clear of the closing doors” in London ’s Underground, has been fired by the Tube, according to news reports published in London today. The sacking of Emma took place because the voice-over professional published a number of quite funny faux-announcements on her personal website (which is now so popular that it has become almost impossible to access). These spoof recordings poke fun at perverts, Americans, and the Tube itself. Some examples: “We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly.” “Would the passenger in the red shirt pretending to read the paper but who is actually staring at that woman’s chest please stop. You are not fooling anyone, you filthy pervert.” The 36-year old Clarke also admits to never riding the Tube anymore, because it’s “dreadful.” In the words of the Times of London, it looks...
More About: Voice , Spoofs , The G

Thanksgiving in France: Rail strike ends
2007-11-26 17:38:00
Alas, we’ve returned from our patriotic turkey festivity to find, with great relief and thanks, that France ’s rail strike has ended. The strike that derailed commutes and clogged highways ended on Friday, after nine days of severely limited national, regional, and local public transportation services. The Herald Tribune reported Friday that only 2 percent of workers were still out, and that trains were running close to or on schedule. High level (read: presidential) negotiations helped get the workers back on board, but negotiations between the unions and rail official continue today (Monday). Thus, dear reader, ends our daily rail strike update. Indeed, another reason for giving thanks.
More About: Thanksgiving , Rail , Ends , Strike

European microstates: Sealand for sale!
2007-11-21 14:20:00
Europe has its fair share of those little tiddler states – you know the ones, territories like San Marino, Monaco and Liechtenstein which, if you cut a decent pace, you can walk across in a day. Vatican City is the tiniest of the bunch. You can stride from one end of this theocratic state to the other in the time it takes to mumble two Hail Marys. In addition to those well known microstates, there are places like the Faroes, the Åland Islands and the Bailiwick of Guernsey which function to all intents and purposes as independent states while retaining a nominal political link to another entity. Then there are the places that aspire towards independence, but whose secessionist aspirations have not yet been internationally recognised: Abkhazia, Transdniestr and – certainly one to watch in the weeks ahead – Kosovo. Oddest of the bunch is surely Sealand , an upstart self-styled principality on an abandoned sea fort in the North Sea. No-one really takes Sealand seriously, except fo...
More About: For Sale , European , Sale , Rope

France: Rail strike hits seventh day
2007-11-20 21:35:00
The transportation workers’ strike that has halted much of Franc e ’s local, regional, and national rail transportation entered its seventh day on Tuesday, as protesters and their supporters took to the streets. Today’s developments: On Tuesday, about half of the countries TGV trains were running. Eurostar service to London was normal. The International Herald Tribune reports that Paris Metro and bus service gradually improved during the day, with two Metro lines shut down entirely and less than half of buses running. For Wednesday, Paris transportation officials expect one-fourth of the Paris Metro lines to be in operation. One-half of buses are expected to run, and they expect wide disruptions on regional and suburban lines. According to France24, one-third of France’s civil servants were on strike on Tuesday. The growing list of strikers includes rail workers, teachers (elementary and high school), opera employees, newspaper printers, and postal worker...
More About: Rail , Hits , Strike

Kindle Krazy: Groovy e-book reader for travelers or just a pricey gadget?
2007-11-20 16:54:00
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, was in town yesterday and it wasn’t just to swing by EuroCheapo’s HQ for a cup of joe (where’s the love Jeff? Next time.) Rather, he officially launched an e-book reader called “Kindle” that lets users download bestselling books for $9.99 and is apparently easier to use and better designed than other electronic readers currently on the market. It took Amazon three years to develop the reader, which is either a sign of intense dedication or a little too much YouTubin’ distraction, but we’ll give them three cheers for bringing this product to market. After all, this little reader could be a blessing to travelers, allowing us to travel with all of our favorite books with minimal effort. Kindle Pros: It doesn’t need to hook up to your computer; downloading a book takes about a minute and occurs wirelessly via Sprint without an additional charge (the fee is part of the $9.99); the screen has schnazzy techol...
More About: Reader , Gadget , Book , E-book , Groovy

Priceline, Continental, Delta shake it up
2007-11-19 22:40:00
Just when you think you know how to book the cheapest flight to Europe from the States, the airlines and agency websites shake things up. Again. Budget-savvy author Tim Leffel notes on his budget travel blog a number of recent changes in booking policies and fees. These include: Effective December 1, Conti nental is dropping its 500 bonus mile award for booking flights through Continental.com for passengers booking within the United States. Similarly, Delta announced it, too was dropping mileage bonuses.  So why book directly through the airlines’ websites? Cheaper fares than the agency sites, who tack on an extra booking fee, right? Well… Priceline  announced this month that they were dropping their booking fees when you book a flight through their direct-purchase service (not through their “name your own price” service). Might this force other agencies, such as Orbitz and Expedia, to drop their five-spot charges? Stay tuned!

Monday: Paris strike continues; a run on public bikes
2007-11-19 16:37:00
It’s Monday , and the transit strike that has crippled Paris ’ public transportation continues, affecting residents and tourists alike. Today’s strike update: On Monday, all Metro lines but one are running. Bloomberg news reports that riders are typically waiting between five minutes and forty-five minutes between trains. There is no train service between Paris and either Orly or Charles de Gaulle airports. Bus service is running to Orly, but not to CDG. The much-publicized public bike program launched this summer, Velib, offers commuters an alternative to hitchhiking or walking. However, according to our cycling source in Paris, the bikes are so popular that many would-be riders are showing up to docking stations only to find them empty. One-third of the high-speed TGV trains running into and out of Paris are running today, while rail service in the rest of the country has been drastically reduced. Traffic jams were the worst today since the strike started, apparen...
More About: Public , Bikes , Strike

Friday Strike Update: France, Germany still striking
2007-11-16 17:59:00
It’s a sunny Friday here in NYC, but in France  and Germany , commuter moods are clouded with continued rail strikes. Here’s the latest: France The rail strike entered its third day on Friday. The BBC reports a slight increase in the number of trains and metros running across the country, and a significant decrease in the number of workers participating in the strike. Only 200 of 700 TGV trains across the country are running. In Paris, the Metro is running with delays, although two lines are not running at all. One third of the city’s buses are not running. Rail workers voted to continue the strike over the weekend, although support seems to be thinning. Germany On Friday, the second day of passenger rail strikes has affected millions of commuters’ journeys. 3,000 workers have walked out since the strike began. The BBC reports that suburban and inter-city transportation is hit the hardest, with most intra-city transportation systems running smoothly. The ...
More About: Update , Strike