On a budget through europe
 

Hi everyone.
We are 2 guys planning for a eurotrip in 2018.
But we dont want to make it the traditional way.
With that i i mean on a BMW GS with the latest electronics and sleeping on hotels and so on.

We want to do it on as low budget i can.
And with as little highway rinding as possible.

I started all with buying a cheap Yamaha XT600.
Now i need some tips for the planning of my trip.

Living:
Im planning to sleep in tent the whole trip.
I got a 3person tent for both of us, light sleepingbag, and a inflatable pillow.
Some countrys is forbidden to freecamp and some allows it, I know.
But many of the countrys im planning to visit has much woods so it will be possible to find a hidden spot to place a tent on.
But some countrys is a little harder to find theres places.
So any tips for my living?

Eating:
Im not planning to eat on resturants.
Im thinking of bringing my own stove.
Its a Trianga with gas burner.
Is it possible to but small gas containers on the way and where to find them?
Is it legal to have the gas in the panniers when crossing boarders?

The trip plan
Im starting in northen part of sweden and my plan is following

Sweden-Estonia-Latvia-Lithuanina-Poland-Slovakia-Hungary-Serbia-Montenegro-Bosnia-Croatia-Slovenia-Italy-Austria-Czech-Poland-Sweden.

I have been thinking about skip Slovenia and take the ferry direct to italy.
Is slovenia worth visiting?
And tips for bordercrossings?
How long does the crossings take?
Will any of these countrys force me to have a stamp when enter/exit or can I take small passages in and out without any stamps?

Any more suggestions to keep it as budget as possible?
Maybe some tips for where to go?

Is there anything more then my living material, bike, typical tools for my bike, tire repairkit, first aidkid, thah i WILL NEED?

Thanks in forward.

Hi mbay. Dont skip Slovenia. The Julian Alps are butiful. I was there in September. Started in Jönköping. Send a PM if you want sugestion on a route.

Thats how to do it. Have fun: http://adventure-travel-experience.de/?report=germany

Is it really? Why not go with a decent budget and be able to enjoy all that is on offer without permanently worrying about money.

Even if actual money isn't that tight there is a fun element to doing a trip on a budget. You look at things differently, choose different alternatives, go to different places and probably meet substantially different people.

Last year I did two "substantial" bike trips, one on a budget that consisted of whatever small change I could find behind the sofa and a second where money (within reason) was no object.

The "cheap" one was just as enjoyable as the "expensive" one and it was interesting to reflect on how, even when money wasn't an issue, that we sometimes took the cheap option out of choice - for example we'd often camp and cook our own food rather than stay in a hotel + eat in a restaurant. One night we still chose to camp even when offered hotel rooms at the same price because of the location.

Often it's not about money but about what you want at the core of the trip, and that may well turn out to be the cheap choice.



http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...pssosn1ytr.jpg

My cheapskate transport :rofl:


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€4 a night at a great little town in the middle of France.


On the other hand:


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Near Santa Fe, New Mexico


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Camping in Arizona (not the best picture I've ever taken!)


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Hotel with some history near Yellowstone park

Everyone has their preferences when travelling.
I like camping sometimes but not always. It isn't the cost that draws me to it but the whole idea of setting up a tent, putting the stove on, lighting a small fire and chilling somewhere fairly quiet. At other times I need a bed and a nice room but the combination of the two options makes it more of an adventure.

Imagine.
The dream of europe around starts in your head.
You google it.
The pics you see is a brand new R1200GSA with all the latest accecsories.
You see fancy dinners on pricey resturants.
You see nice hotels.

I dont want that.
I want to see the real europe.
Not just the tourist attractions, i want to see the poor countryside.

And i want to prove that you can do all this with a normal daytime job, a family at home in your house. Prove that you dont need to have that well paid job or save money for 10 years just to be able to do this.

Thats also why i pic the xt600 and not my Tiger 800 XC.
Just to prove you dont need all that luxury to have a lifetime experience.

OK, seeing the real Europe:
If you do all your own cooking how do you experience the cuisine of each area? It doesn't have to be fancy but it might be authentic.
If you stay on campsites you are, I would have thought, in a tourist area and in the company of tourists (you might be in denial but you yourself are a tourist). If you stay in small B&B's etc. you may have some exposure to the locals and their culture.
I'm not anti-camping (I've done a lot of it myself) but I do find the "Adventure/Overlander" mantra of doing it "on a budget" a bit tedious. As for proving anything, for Christ sake you're only going on holiday not discovering a cure for cancer!

Er...probably because some people cant afford it ??

Many people would only be able to do a week away if doing hotels & restaurants every night, or 4 weeks on a budget. Is that difficult to understand ??

I think your response is a bit short sighted mate, with all due respect.

You can buy gas containers in "specialized" shops (sport, camping, climbing... ) or supermarkets, but they varied from country to country (sistem, size...) . You can pass borders without problems (you can't take it to an airplane) .
Slovenija is small country (It has everything) you can pass it in 2-3 hours or stay for a week or two, depend on what you are looking for.
Budget travel is not my way of travel (I don't spend much, but I want some "luxury" : toilet, shower... ) .

I agree with backofbeyond. It is a good idea to travel with a budget mindset, looking for cheap down-to-earth options, not overpaying for tourist traps and using your freedom of movement to go for unusual experiences. But setting your budget as your absolute priority will only lead you to spend your entire free time, and still quite a lot of money, on a camping trip where you see desolate forests and eat canned food from home.

There are ways to travel by bike on the cheap. Couchsurfing for example - I've stayed with CS hosts in Norway and Denmark, saving significant amounts of money. Another way is to go visit friends and stay on their couches. AirBnB and hostels are also often good options, especially if you are traveling outside of major cities and outside of peak tourist times - for example, all the accommodation in the Alps that caters to skiers in the winter will be very cheap in the summer, when you want to be there on your bike! (I paid twelve euros for a decent warm hostel bed - including free courtyard parking - at the Austria-Liechtenstein border.) And local hosts and other travelers you meet in hostel common rooms are usually the ones who give you the best experiences - because they are already in the mindset of sharing adventures.

By all means, keep your travel cheap and cheerful. But don't deny yourself the fullness of the experience just because you have a number in your head and you need to stick to it.

That's a good thought, but consider population density and road density in Europe.

In Scandinavia, yes, sticking to back roads means you get nice scenery and a calm ride, even if it takes longer to get somewhere.

In Germany and France (though I have only ridden small parts of France), sticking to back roads means being stuck in commuter traffic on single-lane roads with no opportunity to pass, for hours, swearing at trucks and hating yourself.

Unless you're in a relationship, I would suggest separate tents. Also, you need a thermarest/mattress for inside the tent. I highly recommend doing a long weekend trip somewhere with your full gear, camping etc., to check how it works in the real world.

Couchsurfing, booking.com (your phone will have free roaming from next year!), a Hosteling International card, and a good attitude.

You don't have to eat in fancy restaurants, but a lot of the time local streetfood is excellent and cheap. Within the same range as buying supplies from a supermarket.

If you are camping, I would suggest learning to cook over an open fire - much tastier that way, and you are not dependent on finding gas. But yes, most countries in the world will have standardized campingaz-type cylinders in supermarkets and outdoor supply stores. Borders should be no problem.

Absolutely it is. It's cheap and gorgeous. The Vrsic Pass is one of Europe's great biking roads. I also loved Maribor, and Lake Bled is something you have to see once in your life.

Until you get to Serbia there will be no borders at all. South of that, you will probably get a stamp.

Earplugs. Cheap foam earplugs are the best cost-to-value thing a biker can have.

There you said something i hadnt thought about.
Couchsurfing.
I have been thinking about some airbnb places to stay. But i dont know. I love my tent :P

But you gave me and nice input that i will keep in mind :D

Most of the stuff is covered but be aware insurance costs in some of the countries you are visiting are compulsory and getting expensive. Serbia you might be covered on your Swedish insurance. Bosnia is getting expensive at 40 euros, Montenegro is still cheap at 10 euros, Macedonia although you don,t mention it is a whopping 55 euros. the southern Balkans can be expensive if you are only spending a week passing through 3 or 4 countries.

2018 is a long way off. How long are you going for. What time of the year?


I've tried doing what you have in mind. The problem comes when trying to pack all you need. Some cheap hotels are not much more than a camp site for two. So mixing hotels and camping could be worth looking at. Go south as soon as you can. Warmer weather, and the money goes a lot further.
John933

Couchsurfing and bush camping indeed.
Some countries/areas have dedicated wild camping spots

E.g. Bivakzone - Overzichtskaart
and https://sites.google.com/site/paalkampeerders/kaart

For camping I have two strategies:
1) camp somewhere out of sight where nobody knows you're there
2) camp with permission in a location with social control (e.g. on the village square)

Never had any problems (except from the once in while friendly forester urging us to break up camp at 6 a.m.)

Eating: I often prepare lunch in a thermos can. bring some rice (oats, patatoes, whatever...), vegies and oil to a boil, poor in the thermos, and it will cook while you're on the way. Get's you a nice hot lunch for pennies.

As said above, cooking your own food doesn't expose you to local quisine as much, but neither does McDo or many road side restaurants. I'm sort of forced because of allergies. And yes, I hate having to miss out on that.

I would concur with some others here. If you do 100% of your own cooking, you will miss out on a huge part of what makes seeing all these wonderful places unique and terrific. I'd suggest modifying the trip to include more local foods if possible. I don't know if that entails increasing the budget for food, shortening the trip to put more money towards eating at some restaurants, shops, and vendors, getting couch surfing hosts to cook for you, or what. One of my favorite parts of being other places is eating all the different foods areas specialize in.

Yeah, its long time until 2018.
The reason to plan so far ahead is to get the chance to save some days of from work.

Im planning to do this in may or june.

Since reading all comments above i have done some research for hostels and airbnb places.
Also looked up the couchsurfing site.
The CS sounds quite interesting for my idea of seeing the real europe on budget.
That kind of living gives me also the chance for meeting new people/friends on my way through europe.

Get a simple petrol stove, you'll always have fuel with you in bikes tank.

The budget
 

bierHi ya
I am looking at doing this sort of trip myself.
I can see it's all about the budget, but can you inform me on what sort of budget to be looking at.
IE
From the cheapest side of life.
Form living it up bier

Thank you for any advice you can give me

30-200€/day

At the lower end it does depend on how much you are willing to seek alternatives for. You could (for example) ride a 125 that does 100+mpg and err ... get your fuel at midnight, sleep in the open and cook your own food from stuff you brought with you (or starve). That would be pretty cheap (if somewhat restricted).

With €30 /day you'd be able to go legit - €10 for fuel, €6-8 for basic municipal campsites in France and the rest for supermarket purchases.

At the high(er) end €100 - 120 /day would get you a passable hotel, a tank of fuel and a choice of restaurants. Beyond that it just means more or better. Once you've gone past the €2-300 /day mark maybe you should be leaving the bike behind and taking the Ferrari :rofl:

Exactly bier

yup, camping is exciting

Wild camping may be cheap but it tends to make you feel like you're just 'passing through'. You don't meet anyone except gas station cashiers, you cook food you've brought with you, and you spend your evenings out of town away from people trying to avoid being spotted.

Travel costs EUR .05-.10 per km for fuel (depends on your engine, riding style and fuel price) not counting maintenance and wear and tear, so for example if you were doing 200kms in a day you would need to budget EUR 10-20.

Compared to that cheap hotels and cafe meals aren't big bucks. Maybe consider alternate nights camping and hoteling? I know what you mean about the GS and credit card brigade and I understand the desire not to break the bank but I think you'll miss a lot if all you see is the road and a few woods.

I agree that constant stealth camping can be isolating, but for me I think even with 5x the budget I would still travel in that same fashion. There's a bit of a trick to it, but it is possible even in the densest parts of Europe. However, though I had many magical stealth campsites in Europe the majority were purely places to sleep. When I am travelling alone in Europe I will pay to sleep only one or two nights per months, the rest is couches or stealth camping.

The cheapest way would be wild camping I think. You will save a ton of money on it.
Also you should buy a good GPS and always try to avoid traffic to save your fuel.

Not really, if you got caught, you could camp 10-20 days for the price of fine.

Well, I'm not so sure I would agree with you on everything you said.

For sure, I would not want to have a brand new R1200GSA with all the latest accessories, because everyone would then mistake me for a German dentist.

But as for the fancy dinners and nice hotels, what's wrong with that?

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On a somewhat more serious note, to attempt to answer the question that the original poster raised:

Hostels are available in many communities, they offer you a warm and dry place to sleep & have a shower and meet other like-minded people for a very low cost. Camping out is fine, but after a few days, you might want to take a break and stay in a hostel for a change.

You can spend as much or as little as you want on food. For budget planning purposes, consider that whatever you spend on food when you are at home will be the absolute minimum you can get away with when you are on the road. You might want to increase your 'at home' food budget by perhaps 100% to allow for the fact that you won't be able to cook (at a campsite or hostel) every meal that you eat.

Michael