Europe a la Carte Blog

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Welcome to the October 2008 edition of the Europe Travel Blog Carnival which features posts to inform, inspire and entertain readers who love travel in Europe.

Accommodation

In London Update: Where I stayed in Girl Scientist the Picadilly Backpackers Hostel in London is reviewed. Overall it’s rated quite highly for affordability (beds from £12 a night), cleanliness and safety. The main grumble is the price and unreliability of wifi access.

Picadilly Circus, London

Activities

Matthew Paulson recommends Viagogo, an online ticket exchange service, in Traveling to London? Get Show & Concert Tickets with Viagogo posted at The Travel Advocate.

Forest of Heads, Mama Mia at London West End

Budget Travel

It was really interesting to read Family Downsizes Life to a Camper, the Open Road and Adventures Rich in Simple Pleasures from The Life Less Traveled about a British family, the Smudges, who became so cheesed off with their lives in the UK that they decided to sell up and take to the road travelling around Europe. I know that we all complain about the daily grind but it takes a lot of guts to actually sell up and hit the road. So far the family seems to be enjoying the experience you can read more about their adventures at the Travelling Tales of Family Smudge.

The Family Smudge

Destination

Jarrod highlights Transmistri: Moldova with a twist on the Pyrodes blog. I’d never heard of Transmistri, it’s a breakaway republic within Moldova which borders the Ukraine to the east. The video below explains the strange state of affairs where the Moldovan president who was born in Transmistri claims that unpoliced border with the Ukraine allows a free for all in drug, arms and human trafficking. That’s why the area is deemed unsafe for tourists.

Piotr Stepien, a Pole living and working in Dublin, shares his pictorial record of his motor bike trip to Donegal - June 2008 posted at we overstep. His photos capture the rugged beauty of that region of Ireland.

Donegal

The Hairy Swede presents Ytterjärna Kyrka and Helpful Swedes on A Swedish American in Sweden, where he explores countryside churches south of Stockholm but ends up asking himself if a building can ever be as beautiful as the great outdoors. Well I suppose that depends, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Bomsund - sun just set over Gesunder, Jamtland, Sweden

Tamara writes about The coast with the most posted at Travel Blog - Mr & Mrs Smith Boutique & Luxury Hotels, saying, “How to make the most of the UK’s coastal destinations.” I was a bit disappointed that there was no mention of any Scottish coastal resorts.

North Berwick beach, East Lothian, Scotland

Bas tells us about The Black Sea Coast: Nesbar on Basbasbas.com, he reckons that visiting this area in Bulgaria can’t really be classified as visiting the real Bulgaria as it’s so overrun with tourists.

Black Sea view, Nesebar, Bulgaria

In A Report from Brussels on The Bookstore Guide the best shops selling books in English are described.

The Grand Place, Brussels

In the post Character cannot be developed in ease and comfort from Wide Awake in Wonderland we read about a day in Warsaw during in the 21 country, thirteen week tour by Vanessa Wolf a solo female traveller. It was so funny to read about her escapades trying to find the correct bus stop for the airport bus. You are left feeling very impotent when you can’t speak the language and can’t work out what you’re supposed to be doing.

Central Station, Warsaw

In Buddists at joanna españa, Joanna describes her stay in Budapest. I was impressed by the gourmet menu for only 18 euros which included champagne, duck and waffles.

Budapest

Well thanks for all the great contributions and please submit your post which must relate directly to travel in Europe to the next Europe Travel Blog Carnival scheduled for Monday 3 November 2008 with a submission deadline of Monday 27 October (I need some time to collate the carnival).

A couple of weeks ago Jumbo Hostel rolled into its place at Arlanda Airport (Stockholm, Sweden), but it will be a few more months before it can start receiving its first guests. And the rumors are that allegedly there are alleged problems with utility hookups and proper permits. Let’s just hope they will manage to sort it all out in time. And let’s also hope that their prices will be really as affordable as they claim they will be.

image: Jumbo Hostel

But if you find yourself at Arlanda at night and don’t want to sleep in the terminal (which is not that bad really, that’s my preferred budget option of spending the night there) you have the following choices:

Radisson SAS SkyCity Hotel, fully integrated with the terminal and with rates that will make your groin hurt. Apart from business people with fat expense accounts and foreign travel journalists on fully-paid press trips who later rave about the experience, I don’t know anyone who can afford to stay there. Single rooms (or coffins, or cupboards) start at 200 euro (additional taxes and charges may apply).

A short shuttle ride from the airport there is another one of the Radisson SAS hotels – Radisson SAS Arlandia. I like this particular hotel, because it allows pets (albeit only in their smoking rooms – I guess they figured that pet owners don’t mind the cigarette stench and that smokers aren’t allergic to cat hair). A coffin at Arlandia will set you back about a 100 euro (additional taxes also may apply). It’s a typical business hotel with all the typical business amenities. Boring, drab, but comfortable. That is, if and when you manage to get a room there – the place seems always fully booked.
Link to the Radisson SAS website here.

Ibis Arlanda is located about 1,5 km from the airport, has a shuttle bus and their prices vary from a 100 to 80 euro. Or even lower, if you happen to read Swedish and can tell them you are going on a charter vacation the next morning. The only problem with Ibis Arlanda? It tends to be always fully booked. Their breakfasts are horrid and will set you back 7 euro (not included in the room rate). Pets not allowed.

Park Inn Arlanda – 4 km from the airport and you have to call them to send a shuttle for you. The only good thing about this place is that they have special rates if you have a flight the following morning but you must show your valid airline/charter ticket upon check-in. And they will verify it, too! So, no lying! But the special rates are really great: 65 euro for a single, and 70 for a double (taxes may apply), breakfast included.

Nova Park Hotel only has a booking page in Swedish, and even then it’s difficult to find the most important stuff – namely, their rates (start at 150 euro). So let’s skip this hotel.

Arlanda Hotellby has rooms starting at 70 euro AND they offer free internet (you have to pay for it at all the others). It’s a hotel designed to look like a village with the main reception building in the center. “Hotellby” literally means “hotel village“. They also have a free airport shuttle, but you have to call for it. No, there aren’t any courtesy phones at the airport, you need to use your own mobile.

Quality Hotel Arlanda has just about the most complicated pricing structure I’ve seen in Sweden. That alone is a good enough reason for me not to stay there. Let’s just say that a single coffin can very in prices from 80 to 120 euro. Breakfast may or may not be included. And you need to call for their shuttle, too.

And then there’s Rest & Fly right inside the airport, between terminals 4 and 5. Modeled on a Japanese capsule hotel, it’s just that – a Swedish take on a hotel by the hour. It ain’t cheap either , 60 euro for 10 hours (after that, it’s about 3 euro per hour), but the single rooms are always fully booked. Showers in the hallway, breakfast (a total rip off, you’d be better off getting something inside the terminal, even at 7-11) is extra. This place is always full and always crowded. The rooms are the smallest coffins ever, but at that price right inside the airport you really can’t complain.

Which brings me to my original thought – how much will Jumbo Hostel charge? I’m guessing – about 70 euro. It seems to be the going “budget” rate.

The Hungarian National Tourist Office is running a Winter promotion where some Budapest hotels offer the third night free you if you pay for 2 nights or the fourth night free if you pay for three nights. More than 60 hotels are taking part in the promotion. Unfortunately I couldn’t ascertain which hotels had which offer until I searched at each hotel individually. The offer is available for stays from 1 November 2008 to 31 March 2008.

Romantic Budapest

Although the three nights for the price of two offer sounds good it’s always worth checking hotel prices with a hotel price comparison site such as HotelsCombined.com. I had quick look and there appear to be quite a few hotels for around £25 a night for a double room.

The Budapest Christmas Market runs from 29 November until 24 December 2008, so you could justify the trip as a Christmas shopping foray.

Budapest is another destination which is on my “would like to visit” list.

Ryanair are offering £1 flights from the UK to destinations all over Europe. I’ve checked and there is some availability of the £1 flights. I found flights from Edinburgh to Pisa and Newcastle to Girona during the second half of November for £1 total charge if:

1 You pay by Visa Electron there is no card handling fee, there’s a £4 charge for other debit and credit cards

2 You only take hand luggage and check in online

3 You travel Monday - Thursday

4 You book 14 days in advance

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The £1 flights are on sale until Sunday 5 October 2008 for flights from 15 October - 16 December 2008 with blackout during the October school holidays.

In my ongoing quest to conquer and make sense of the web’s online content, I landed my browser (currently Google Chrome, for those of you interested) on Eurocheapo. Their tagline, ‘we’ve been there’, inspires confidence, and for good reason. The site has city guides on various European destinations, large and small, and these guides are – to put it succinctly – excellent.

Lisbon - A EuroCheapo Destination - Copyright by Andrew Hayes

City guide features include:

- General City Information: A standard guide includes Getting Into, Getting Around, Expect To Spend, Budget Tips, Car Rentals, Day Trips, Links, and Reading List. That’s a lot of great information. You might be lucky in some locations to get some extra-secret info in the ‘EuroCheapo Insider’ feature.

- Hotel Reviews: In addition to the ‘standard’ information on offer (hotel address, class, location, rates), editors have included reviews of numerous hotels in the target destination.

- Blog News: On the right side of the city homepage is a listing of all the blog post related to the destination. This is quite useful as you don’t have to search through the blog. Posts are timely and useful, such as tips on free attractions, news, and interesting tips.

- Neighbourhood Guides: Cities have a listing of neighbourhoods along with hotels that can be found in each neighbourhood. This can help you get your bearings before travel, especially in large towns like Paris or London.

While EuroCheapo is very hotel-orientated, there are countless amounts of additional tidbits and information. There is a useful cheap flights page but this is not linked in with the city guides so be sure to have a look. There is also a railpass information page, but readers should note that these rail passes are not valid for residents of the European Union, the Russian Federation or Turkey.

I really like this site, although I can’t help but sometimes get lost in all the information available. The site requires a lot of scrolling – but do scroll down as the ‘in the spotlight’ section contains some must-read details.

EuroCheapo currently has 26 city guides (although one of them – New York – is decidedly not a EuroZone country, although I am not complaining) and I would highly recommend it for travel advice. Rumour has it more city guides are on the way.

You can read the Europe a la Carte guest interview with Tom Meyers, founder and editor-in-chief of Eurocheapo. Of course, don’t forget us here at Europe A La Carte for our own unique budget options and travel tips.

Trogir Waterfront

Trogir is located in the center of Dalmatia and is right on the Adriatic coast. The center of Trogir is a small islet that is in between the mainland hills and the island of Ciavo. The town of Trogir is pretty small, only 12,000 citizens, but it is a beautiful town rich in history and in 1997 the town was declared a UNESCO world heritage site. There are many attractions in the coastal town and there is no shortage of fantastic food and cheap accommodations.

Trogir is easy to get to, as it is only 3 kilometers away from the Split airport. There are many flights to Split from all around Europe, especially Frankfurt and Heathrow London. Split is the 2nd biggest city in Croatia and if you are visiting Split, Trogir is a fantastic day trip. To read more about Split check out this article.

Trogir has a mild Mediterranean climate and it is one of the main tourist destinations in Croatia, as it sees over 2700 sunny hours per year. There are 20,000 beds in the town in hotels and private apartments. For the budget traveler private apartments can be had for relatively cheap, especially outside of the main town center. I stayed there with a party of 6 and found an apartment for 2 days for only 50 Euros per night, not each but total! The people in Trogir are very friendly and there are many exchange offices and ATM’s located in the town.

The Land Gate (Kopnena Vrata)

There have been several restoration projects in the past few years, which have helped to revitalize the town’s buildings. Most of the projects have taken place within the town’s 15th century walls and inside there are meandering medieval streets and just outside the city walls is a nice waterfront promenade with many restaurants and cafes. The food in the city is amazing and there are many restaurants around the waterfront and inside the town center. The fish and meat are the highlights, as there are many authentic Dalmatian dishes.

Attractions

One of the main attractions in Trogir is the Cathedral of St Lawrence (SV Lovro), which many consider to be one of the best architectural achievements in Croatia. Constriction on the cathedral began in 1193 and finished around 1500. One of the most notable features of the church is an amazing Romanesque door carved in or around 1240 by Master Radovan. Surrounding the door are two stone lions. There is a bell tower and there are paintings within the chapel from the 1400’s.

The Cipiko Palace is situated right across from the main entrance of the St Lawrence Cathedral. The palace features a carved Venetian Gothic window and a carved wooden statue of a cockerel, which was taken from a Turkish native ship after Turkey was defeated in a battle at sea.

The Kamerlengo Castle (Kastel Kamerlengo) was built by the Venetians was connected to St Marks Tower at one time and dates to the early part of the 15th Century. Once the castle was the governor’s palace and now the courtyard in the castle has outdoor performances in the summer.

Trogir

Other cool attractions in Trogir are The Renaissance St Mark’s Tower (Kula svetog Marka), John Paul II Square (Trg Ivana Pavla II), Trogir Loggia and Clock Tower, and The Land Gate (Kopnena Vrata). John Paul II Square is a great place to sit and have a coffee or drink and check out all the surrounding beautiful attractions.

There is a reason that UNESCO deemed Trogir a world heritage site. It is like walking back in time and checking out what life was like 500 years ago. If you visit Split, make sure to check out the nearby town of Trogir.

If you’re looking for a hostel priced but hotel standard room in Valencia - look no further. Rooms Deluxe is just the spot, centrally located, clean and efficient there’s even a kitchen, residents lounge and free internet access.

City of Arts and Science, Valencia

Rooms Deluxe is a new breed of hotel, where each of the 28 rooms has been designed by a different local artist. You can take your pick and choose which room you’d like to book. Would it be the Buddhist temple, the flamenco suite, the retro future or the Mediterranean room?

Located just metres from the City of Arts and Sciences and close to the beach you couldn’t ask for a better location for 45 Euros a double room, all are en-suite and some triple rooms are available.

Frankfurt Book Fair

When I realised I’d be living just a couple of hours south of Frankfurt, it didn’t take me more than a day or two to realise that I would be able to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair. As a lifelong bookworm and aspiring writer, the Frankfurt Book Fair seemed like a fairytale event for me and now that I’ve been twice, I can assure you that if you’re at all like me, you’ll love it!

This year the Frankfurt Book Fair takes place from 15-19 October but the important days for “book tourists” are the Saturday and Sunday (18 and 19 October) when the fair is open to the general public. Entrance is €12 and I promise you it’s worth every cent. As well as book launches and presentations by various authors, you can also see all the new books from pretty much every significant publisher from across the globe, and I’ve always had fun with some of the free giveaways too (I recommend checking out any cookbook publishers - they like to give samples of the results of their recipes!).

It’s easy to find the Book Fair in the huge Exhibition Hall in Frankfurt - you can walk there from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main station), just look for signs to the “Messeturm”. One tip: after you arrive and have a map showing all the exhibition halls, try to plan your day out a bit - I’m always left with not enough time to check all the sections I want to.

It’s a cute little town on the Normandy coast, but there are really only two reasons for visiting Bayeux - its proximity to the D-Day beaches and the Bayeux Tapestry.

The WWII sites are fodder for a much bigger and encompassing post, so I wanted to focus this one on that other war: the 1066 Battle of Hastings, picked out in vibrant threads on a millenium old cloth.

The tapestry is on display in the Musee de la Tapisserie de Bayeux which is in an old seminary in the town centre. Entry for adults is 7.70€ and includes an audio guide.

A full 70 metres long, the tapestry tells the story of Harold II and William the Conqueror. The earliest record of it is 1476, although it is commonly believed to have been commissioned by William’s brother which would put it at almost one thousand years old. It was a visual record of the Norman conquest and could be rolled out for the illiterate public of the time to see.

In the museum it is hanging vertically in a dim room. The audio guide will take you along it, telling the story the embroidery depicts, but at a rapid pace, completing the entire length in twenty minutes. It pays to go back along it again, taking your time and really looking at the details. Halley’s comet, exposed genitalia, decapitated Saxons. The colours of the thousand year old thread are brighter than most in my wardrobe after six months and the detail, especially of the final battle, is impressive. Pictures really do not do it justice.

Now I’m aware most people would respond with “embroideryschmoidery boooring” and, even as someone who embroiders, I felt that way before seeing it. But it is more imposing than the usual museum wall hanging, with a solemn majesty that I last felt when I saw the Book of Kells. You may not want to base an entire trip on just visiting this but if you’re visiting the Normandy coast it is well worth an hour or so of your time.

Stockholm City Bikes is a scheme similar to those already existing in other European cities. And even though there is only one more month left in the bike rental season in 2008 (ends October 31), it’s a handy tip for next year when the bike stands open again in April.

image from Stockholm City Bikes

How does it work?

In order to rent a bike, you need to purchase a bike card, and in order to purchase a bike card, you need to be over 18 years of age and present a valid ID. You can buy the card on the Stockholm City Bikes website, or at the Stockholm Tourist Information Office (Hamngatan 27) or at the SL (Stockholm City public transportation authority) Centers at the following locations: Fridhemsplan, Gullmarsplan, Tekniska Högskolan, Sergels Torg, Slussen, Täby C and T-Centralen.

There are two choices for the cards: a 3-day card and a season’s pass. The 3-day card costs 125 SEK.
With the card in hand you can go any of the 60 self-service bike stands and pick up a bike. There are a couple of things you need to remember.

1. You can only rent a bike between 6AM and 6PM. The website cheerfully announces that you can return the bike anytime. But that is not exactly true, because:
2. The maximum time you can rent a bike for is 3 hours. And that means the last return time should be around 9PM. After that, you’re out of luck.
3. During the day, if you’re 3 hours are up, you can return the bike and immediately hire another.

Even with those limitations, the program seems very popular with tourists. The bikes on offer are sturdy types suitable for even an inexperienced bike rider.
Riding a bike in Stockholm is an easy and safe, not to mention eco-friendly, option. Most streets have designated bike lanes and regular drivers, by and large, seem to follow the rules of the road.

Minuses: When we tried to use the scheme earlier this summer, several of the bikes at each stand we visited were damaged and it took quite some time to find one that was useable.
When you rent a bike and ride around, parking it temporarily can be a problem, if you don’t carry your own bike lock. Your only option will be to return the bike to another rental station and then pick up a new one.
Limited rental hours are a huge minus, at least to me, and especially in the summer, when it’s still bright outside after 9PM and you want to continue exploring the city.