Europe in October - trying to find something affordable for about 8 days
Posted by loafydood@reddit | Shoestring | View on Reddit | 20 comments
We're starting in London with family for a few days before setting out for a couple weeks on our own. We'll have to head back to a city with a major airport in Western Europe, Spain, or Italy to take advantage of some free flights back to our home country, so that'll eat up the last few days of the trip. So I'm guessing I'll have around 8-9 days somewhere between our London visit and wherever we decide to fly home from.
I'm looking at Romania currently since it's quite affordable and Transylvania looks beautiful.
We'd consider a couple days in Bucharest, then a few in Brasov before heading onto the last leg of our journey.
But I'm considering visiting Austria too. Can Austria be done affordably? I was looking at hotel prices and they weren't too outrageous when compared to Seville for instance, but food seems a bit steep. I think we'd do Vienna and perhaps Frankfurt, Salzburg, or Innsbruck.
I don't necessarily need somewhere dirt cheap but affordability is one of our metrics. Any other suggestions? Is Austria perhaps not a good candidate city?
ALGERIANOS@reddit
Europe ≠ Affordable
nevergonnasaythat@reddit
I would avoid Romania in October. Better go to the Mediterranean, Portugal, Spain or (my personal favorite) Greece.
Ger_Oktoberfest@reddit
Spain or Greece would be good for weather and not expensive
nevergonnasaythat@reddit
Agree, and Portugal too,
BowdenPrinters@reddit
Baltics.
Proper-Painter-6840@reddit
Romania is great, Poland has good infrastructure and historic city centers. Albania is supposed to be nice, as is Montenegro, but harder to get to from London.
In Spain, my main learning for affordable and interesting travel is to avoid the big overrun cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, …) and stay in the old, medium-small ones that are still well connected with high speed trains.
I went to Girona (instead of Barcelona) last March (off season) for a couple days. Accommodation nice and affordable. Beautiful walkable historic center, as in many cities in Spain. I had a solid amount of tapas on main square for maybe 10€, and a beer for 2-3€… after having passed through France previously, I thought I had travelled back in time (price-wise)…
LoquatsTasteGood@reddit
Look at what deals there are on flights for those dates
Yorks_Rider@reddit
You might also want to consider Greece.
badsp0rk@reddit
I was in Romania last year at the end of October, beginning of November.
Weather was beautiful in Bucharest, needed a jacket but I ended up buying one at an awesomely cheap leather store there. Food was all really good and really affordable, especially at the meat places in the big market there. Had some incredible and cheap goulashes as well. And awesome pizza.
We went to brasov for a few nights. It was much colder there but still very pleasant overall. There was a delicious and cheap foccacia place right in downtown area.
We stayed at Airbnbs, Bucharest was cheap but it was kinda far outside of the actual city, on the last subway stop. That being said, the subway is super fast and efficient there, and very affordable.
In brasov we stayed right in the thick of things near the downtown area and the Airbnb was slightly more than we'd normally spend, but it was under 40 eu a night I believe.
I highly recommend Romania.I've traveled a lot over the past few years and Romania stood out as one of my favorite stops, even if it was also one of the shortest. Romania moreso than any other place I've been in Europe retains old world sentiments with creature comforts of modernity. The prices are great, people were nice, good awesome, and it's naturally very beautiful. Bucharest ranks as one of my favorite cities, too. It's affordable but it contains lots of culture.
nadaam2008@reddit
Romania is still relatively affordable and if I had to guess, it is more affordable than Austria. You might consider a day in Bucharest and then spend time in Brasov, Sibu, and Sighişoara. Easy to do with a car but doable with a combination of trains and buses. It is a beautiful country.
Individual_Land_2200@reddit
I would recommend exactly these cities in Romania. If you like hiking, there’s lots to do in between Bucharest and Brasov.
loafydood@reddit (OP)
Thanks! I'd heard of Brasov and Sibiu but not Sighisoara, so I may have to look into that as well
Couchy333@reddit
I can only suggest Spain as it will still be relatively warm still in October & very easy to travel around by coach & train. I did the Baltics in October & it was great fun too but the weather was turning. Both cheap.
loafydood@reddit (OP)
Yeah I've been looking at Spain, like Seville -> Madrid -> Barcelona or Menorca then Barcelona. It seemed a bit more than Romania but maybe that was just the hotels
Couchy333@reddit
I’ve not been to Romania but Barcelona > Madrid > Valencia > Seville is what I would do. Possible in 8-9 days but I’d miss out Madrid to make the most of it so I’d get a cheap flight to Valencia from Barcelona. Bilbao is also really nice. I did a similar trip during school half term (teacher). I did 3 nights in Valencia & met a beautiful girl living in Barcelona & went on to Seville via plane for another 3 nights. Ended up going back to Barcelona quite a lot 😉 until she moved back to the UK & we moved in together. 4 years now 😩
groucho74@reddit
What does affordable mean?
theTexasUncle@reddit
Just so you know – the destination airport suggestion depends totally on your departure airport.
Use Going or Google Flights to explore what is currently the best solution from where you are flying out from
nadaam2008@reddit
There are a lot of wonderful small towns in that area.
Status-Aerie5658@reddit
Romania is really great! Especially accommodation is very affordable. IMO much more interesting than Austria, but to each his own. I’m sure you can manage Austria cheaply if that’s what you’d really like; I think I paid €27 for a hostel bed with terrible breakfast included in Wien.
Another suggestion: Napoli - amazing city, food is good and very affordable (as long as you enjoy pizza). €60-70 a night for decent double room. And you can do most attractions in the region with a €26 Artecard Light and very cheap local train tickets. Easy access to Rome for a flight home.
loafydood@reddit (OP)
Yeah Romania does look really good lol. I'd also considered Naples and it's still on my mind, but I was considering leaving it for a larger Italy trip in the future. Thanks for the suggestion!