Hospitality club - sleep for free everywhere

Hospitality club (HC) is an online community of people who love helping other travellers out in many different ways. This website is the impoverished, but more idealist brother of Couchsurfing (as mentioned earlier in this blog).

The core function of the website is to give other travellers a place to rest their weary heads after long travels through strange countries.

People register on the website and after they are approved can both go to stay at other people's houses and have people stay at their house.

This is very similar - and older - than the popular Couchsurfing.

The difference between Couchsurfing and HC is that HC is less commercialised and is very basic. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

Ideologically, HC is more pure than Couchsurfing because it stays true to its core function as a hospitality website, wheras Couchsurfing is more aimed towards events.

The downside is that the website was designed by an amateur webmaster many years ago and it has not been upgraded since. Sometimes this means the website is slow or does not work. It is also very unattractive and the search function is extremely limited.

What it does do better than Couchsurfing is the forum where people can talk to eachother about almost anything. Of course this does mean a meeting of the minds.

Although the membership base is getting smaller (due to website dilemmas) it is still and excellent community full of like-minded people who just want to help a brother out.

The way to use the website is simple - you register, contact members and stay at their house for free! There is no membership fee, there is no obligation for you to reciprocate if you don't have the time/facilities/will.

This will save you a lot of money.

Trains the way to go (save time and euros)

In Europe you get cheap flights from point A to point B, but in Western Europe, it is often worth taking the train instead. They run very frequently, there is no check in time and often it will take the same amount of time. Plus you won't need to get connections. If you were going from a location 100km west of Berlin to a city 100km south of Paris, an overnight train would probably end up being the best option for example, because of the hassle of getting to the airport, checking in, waiting, flying, landing, getting bags, then getting to your new location. Better just to sleep in the train.

So how do you save money with the train?

There are the obvious ones like Eurail and Interrail, but less often used by tourists are things like the BahnCard.

The BahnCard is Deutsche Bahn's way of giving return customers a discount and there are a few of them. The one that will interest tourists will only be the BahnCard 25, which gives you a 25% discount off all fares. It is useful for people who spend more than 200 Euros a year on train travel annually.

Note that this is not the only option and you should talk to the ticket salespeople for the best ways to get to places. However, it is worth knowing about!

Disounts EVERYWHERE (save euros each day)

This is only good if you are a student, a teacher or under 26. If you are none of these, stop reading.

But if you do come into those catagories, then you'd best read on. This is a very simple thing to have and it is cheap to get, but it will save you bulk when you go to get train and bus tickets, when you go to museums and even when you look for a place to sleep or eat.

Most places in Europe have prices listed for adults and for students and it is best to take advantage of that. By having the card, people all over the continent will let you in for cheap. The more you do, the more you save.

For example, if you climb a town hall tower in town X and then take a train to town Y you could end up spending 20 euros, but with the student card, it could be 15 euros.

Over a short trip, this doesn't mean that much, but over time, you can make some pretty significant savings.

Its easy and convenient - get it. You can get these in most travel agents or at your university. OR order one online from ISICcard.com

Your shoestring guide

This book is indispensible if you are like me - the sort of person who often goes off course into new territory on a wing and a prayer.

It has all the best things to do on a tight budget in Europe, from free museums to detailed reviews on cheap hostels and other things you need.


The book covers all countries in Europe including parts of Russia, Morocco and Turkey. This is both a good thing and a bad thing because first of all, the book is huge and weighs quite a lot. On the other hand it does cover all the major spots in Europe so that you can use it absolutely anywhere. Again though, by trying to cover everything, it is not an expert on anything and if you want to spend more than a few days in any location, you will need to find more detailed information. For example, there might be 10 pages on Berlin, but if you wanted to go to Kaiserslautern or Wroclaw or Porec or Bologna etc, it would be less useful.


For the smaller entries, it gives the basic information that you NEED but not much else. In a way, this is all you need if you are doing a whirlwind tour of Europe without much of a plan. If you know that you are going to need a book for many countries over different seasons/years - this is the book for you. It will give you the overview of a place. If you wanted to go to one specific country for a month or more though, it would be better to buy a guide book specific to that region. Enjoy.

Packing light (save money every day)

When travelling, the amount you carry will affect your budget in many ways. Some of these are more obvious and some aren't things that would immediately spring to mind.

Basically, the less you carry - in both weight and space - the more you will save.

Take for example, the most obvious situation - when you go to book a flight and your bag is too big or too heavy, you have to pay. These days, with borderline criminal fees from companies like RyanAir, which invents new charges every time you fly, you need to be extra smart to avoid being robbed in broad daylight.

One of the easiest ways to save space in your bag is to either forfeit the towel or take a small one. With modern technology being so amazingly awesome, you can now get towels that will dry at least two people that can fit in the palm of your hand. Yes this is true. Check out these towels and see which one suits you - keep in mind that there is usually a direct correlation between size and comfort - the smaller ones are less nice on your skin - but they all work.

Check these ones out for example ->





Another trick that airlines have come up with is to only allow you one hand luggage item. If you are having trouble getting on board, what you can do is wear your biggest clothes (ie bulkiest shoes, thickest jumper, sunglasses, hats etc) and then stuff your pockets with things so you can avoid paying the fee to check in an extra item.

You might think this is taking it too far - stuffing your pockets with socks and books - but there is nothing funny about paying 40 euros per leg extra.

Think hard about how you pack your bag - it will save you.

Couchsurfing - best money saver ever (save 10< euros daily)

Couchsurfing (CS) is one of the travel world's great inventions. It is a hospitality exchange site meaning that you join the community and people exchange their sleeping space for the pleasure of your company.

As the name suggests, guests using CS often end up sleeping on the couch, but for those of us with red blood, not blue, that isn't a problem.

Once you are registered, this is how the CS experience goes.
1) Search the city of choice
2) Select one of the names that pop up
3) Read their profile
4) Send a message asking for hosting
5) Get a positive reply and go to their house
6) Stay at their house, chat, eat together, do things together
7) Leave with hugs and well wishes have had a great time

For the skeptics out there - yes this is actually free. Yes people really do believe in doing things without needing the exchange of money.

If you are one of those people so afflicted that you need to give something back, you may give your host a gift, buy them some food, cook them a meal (my favourite) or something else nice. However, it is against the rules for the host to ask for anything material.

Hosts have different rules - you might have to sleep on the couch, you might sleep on the floor, you may have to wash dishes, you might be required to spend time with the host (people want to get to know your culture) and many more rules. Some hosts have no rules at all. This is the beauty of CS - there are no set rules about hosting and you do whatever you feel like.

The website is the best hospitality exchange website out there (there are many, all of which I have tried). CS has the best security measures in place and it is the easiest website to use. It can be integrated with Facebook and other sites.

People from any walk of life can participate. I have been hosted by students, by rich people, by young people and by old people in their 60s. All of it has been a blast.

If you are skeptical, then just try it - the only thing you have to lose is your skeptopride. Yes I just made that word up. What you will gain however is a brilliant insight.

I personally rate the discovery of CS and other hospitality sites as the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

Give it a try. If you don't, you are REALLY losing out.

www.couchsurfing.org

Scan the skies (saves lots of euros)

The tool Sky scanner is one of the most useful and easy to use flight searches in Europe. This search will help you find and compare flights with taxes included.

The site is extremely simple to use. Type in your origin and select from a list of destinations. Then you will see airports and prices - click on the best deal and continue.

Next you will see either a calendar or a graph - the graph mode is the easiest way to compare prices and will help you line up return dates too.

After selecting your days, you will come to a new page where you check the live price. The price of your flight sometimes changes here - that is because the data on the website might be old. Sometimes the price goes down, but usually it goes up. This is because seats on the plane were sold in the time it took to be checked.

Following this, you will be redirected to the company's web site.

Note that the price including tax will not include all the evil charges airlines make such as baggage, credit card fees and so on.

It's the little things... (save ~1.00 euro per day)

Working out accommodation and facebooking or checking emails etc. can take a lot of time if you aren't organized and this will cost you if you are sitting in an internet cafe.

On a recent trip to Greece, we were forced to use internet at a cafe that charged 6 euros per hour. Thats right folks, 6 euros an hour - the same price as internet 15 years ago.

So, its good to get organized - get your facebook, email, news and other links into one convenient spot so you can check them all at once.

iGoogle to the rescue
iGoogle is a tool that allows people on the move to operate as they normally would across multiple platforms and computers. This is going to help you save time in expensive internet cafes again and again.

What I like the most is that Google has always been simple - there is a box in the middle of the screen and it searches. So by adding these extra features, they kill multiple birds with one stone.

The rest of the screen is filled with boxes that you choose, which pull information from your favourite websites. Weather information, email summary, post-it style reminder notes, calendar and organizers are probably the most useful and basic features, but you can add news feeds and many many more gadgets.

The interface is very intuitive and easy to use as it is with all new products. Like on the original facebook, you can drag items around and put them where you want, so the most important ones are at the top and easy to access. Less interesting boxes can be places elsewhere.

The look of the website is awesome with skins, some of which are interactive and change every time you log in.

Google chat is of course incorporated with this window, making it an all purpose workstation. I like it because I do work from many different locations throughout the day and everything is exactly how I left it last time I used it.

It is of course free and you can access your other google tools from the top right "My account button"

The only complaint is that some of the skins mean you can't read the text beneath them AND that it makes some browsers run slow. A minor point to mention, not necessarily a complaint, is that you need to type in the extra "/ig" on the end of the address bar to get to the page - going to www.google.com will not take you there.

There is such a thing as a free lunch (save 5-10 euros per day)

Those travelling on a budget will know the pain of having to buy lunch and snacks - hunger always comes at the most inopportune times when you're on the road. You might be on a bus or waiting for the shops to open after siesta or stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

One way to get around this is to make yourself a free lunch. Its quite simple - most places like hostels and hotels that you stay at in Europe have free breakfast included in their price. Make the most of this service.

Of course, you want to stuff yourself for breakfast to get the energy you need for sightseeing and walking. Following stuffing your belly until your buttons pop (okay, maybe thats too far), you go and get some more.

My favourite recipe is the old salami and cheese sandwich. Grab two or three bread rolls or pieces of bread, some butter, salami and cheese. Keep in mind that the fattier the materials you make your sandwich out of, the better. If you eat some salad with no butter and no fat, you won't get any energy out of it and you'll be hungry soon. If you are worried that this technique is going to make you put on weight then you probably aren't using your time effectively anyway - get out there and enjoy yourself!

Following the making of the sandwiches, find a serviette and wrap up your bundles of joy (keeps the crumbs out of your bag). Then walk out. Don't bother asking the staff if you can do it - first of all you don't want to give them an opportunity to confiscate your lunch (like big bullies in school) and second, you have paid for it. Bread, a slice of cheese and some salami cost next to nothing for the hostel or hotel, but will save you a lot for lunch.

Make some for your friends too!

Calling for cheap (save 5.00 euros per month)

The situation is like this - you are in a new country and you need to make a call. You have no

SIM card, you have no calling cards and the phone

doesn't take coins. So it seems like anything you are going to do is going to end up costing you a lot

of money.

A good alternative is Skype with their

new subscription service. You pay a monthly fee for a selected country, or all of Europe and you can make as many ca

lls as you like.

Calling ahead to hotels,

calling to inquir

e about something, making reservations and so on.

So, what is Skype? Skype is the most established Voice Over Internet Protocol products out there.

Normally, if you are making a lot of calls, you will pay by the amount of calls you make, which often leads to weighing up the options - "Should I call Mum on the landline, or with Skype? Should I Skype her to her mobile or landline?"

The thing is you just want to be able to call your mum or someone more useful like a hotel or airline and you don't want to have to pay so much for it.

I use skype all the time for work and I'm glad I just pay a few euros for my month of calls. Depending on what country you get the subscription for, you can call landlines or mobiles.

How to use it.

After you download Skype and set up your account, go to their website to the store then click on the subscriptions section and follow the prompts.

A trick for saving money on skype is to change your address to a country that doesn't have Value Added Tax (VAT). It doesn't matter where you are registered or where your credit card is from. Just find a country that doesn't pay the extra VAT, such as Australia, and you save a few euros each month.

One euro museum

For those of us who visit Greece who aren't history buffs, the New Acropolis Museum is a great way to make sense of the Acropolis instead of just taking the mandatory photo in front of the Parthenon to show your friends on Facebook.

It has explanations of everything about the buildings on the top of the Acropolis and houses the original statues and reliefs discovered by archaeologists.

The museum, which was opened in June 2009 has hundreds of items including some which have never been exhibited before such as the 22 metre long pediment depicting two lions devouring a bull with Heracles depictions on either end.

The collection is the world's richest Archaic Period collection of works with some pieces dating back as far as the 6th century BC, still with legible writing.

The construction of this striking building, which was designed by Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi and Michalis Fotiadis, was delayed when work began because of a new discovery of a 4th century BC settlement on the land chosen. Instead, the building was built on pylons with a glass floor installed.

The view through the glass is simply inspiring, reminding you of the amazing amount of history and life that has occurred on that one spot.

Emeritus Professor of Archaeology Dimitrios Pandermalis, who oversaw the building of the museum, said the design of the museum is symbolic of the climb up to the actual Acropolis. Large ramps heading upwards begin immediately as you enter the turnstiles.

Because of the overwhelming amount of archaelogical artifacts in Athens, I recommend doing this museum separate to the other sights, lest you get museum fatigue.

If you do get tired however, there is an outdoor eatery with a view of the Parthenon and there is also a video explaining the meaning of the artifacts and the history of the ruins. Videos run in Greek and English.

Until the end of 2009, the museum costs 1 euro entrance. Tickets can be bought in advance at the museum and online.

Opening times: 08:00 - 20:00 except Mondays
Near Metro stop Acropolis, across the road from the Dionysus theatre.

View Larger Map

The mission

There are many different types of travellers, but we all have something in common: we want to get a good bang for our buck. No one wants to get ripped off and there are countless people out there on the road who want to swindle you out of more than you'd like to pay.

Taxi drivers, tour guides, hotels, souvenir shops, restaurants, buses, trains, planes, ferries, cars, bikes, camping, food.... the list goes on for places where you could end up paying more for something than you should.

Euro-saver blog will try to give you some insights into how to find your way around Europe for cheap, without losing the quality experience.

I hope you find something useful here. If you do, great - and if you can offer a tip for other readers that can be investigated, even better!

Happy travels.