TRAVEL BLOG
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Low Cost Bus Services in Europe
The abundant supply of low cost airlines in Europe has created the situation whereby flying can work out cheaper than getting the bus to some places.
To counter the competition from the airlines, low cost bus services have started up across Europe. Traditional bus companies have also answered the call, offering cheap bus fares in the same manner that low cost airlines sell tickets.
Here are some low cost bus deals for travel in Europe.
U.K
It's no surprise that the leading country of low cost airlines in Europe should also lead the charge for low cost buses.
Megabus offer bus tickets across Britain starting at £1, plus a 50p booking fee. The booking facility works like an airline booking service, so the earlier you book, the cheaper the ticket. Megabus is operated by Stagecoach, who also operate a train franchise in the UK, so as a bonus you can also book £1 tickets on their train services as well.
Competition from Megabus stimulated the national bus service National Expressg(156400)a(392360))
into action. They offer the £1 Funfare to many destinations in Britain. Like Megabus, the earlier you book the better chance of a £1 fare.
Citylink in Scotland have fares starting from £1 for the Glasgow - Edinburgh route.
In London getting to airport can sometimes cost more than the flight. It only made sense then that the easy group (of easyJet) introduced easyBus. They have service from central London to Luton, Stansted and Gatwick Airports.
g(160043)a(392360))
Ireland
Eurolines go from London to Cork or Dublin from £15.
Continental Europe
Eurolines can take you from London to Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris from £15. That is especially a good deal when you consider that you travel from central locations, saving you the cost of airport transfers.
Getting the bus from London to the Continent also means you get a ferry ride in the ticket. Sail across the English Channel instead of flying over it and you get to see the White Cliffs of Dover, as well as adding another experience to your European trip.
For Eurolines deals for the rest of Europe check the promo fares from the Eurolines operators in each European country.
Touring in Germany have a special fare for the service running from Hamburg to Mannheim. The route is for Hamburg - Frankfurt - Heidelberg - Mannheim. Tickets from 9 euros for early bookings.
Orangeways is a low cost bus company from Budapest with a network covering Eastern Europe. Destinations include Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Krakow, Cluj Napoca, Bécs, Vienna, Zagreb and Ljubljana.
Sample prices include Budapest - Prague from €15 and Budapest - Ljubljana from €8.
To counter the competition from the airlines, low cost bus services have started up across Europe. Traditional bus companies have also answered the call, offering cheap bus fares in the same manner that low cost airlines sell tickets.
Here are some low cost bus deals for travel in Europe.
U.K
It's no surprise that the leading country of low cost airlines in Europe should also lead the charge for low cost buses.
Megabus offer bus tickets across Britain starting at £1, plus a 50p booking fee. The booking facility works like an airline booking service, so the earlier you book, the cheaper the ticket. Megabus is operated by Stagecoach, who also operate a train franchise in the UK, so as a bonus you can also book £1 tickets on their train services as well.
Competition from Megabus stimulated the national bus service National Express
Citylink in Scotland have fares starting from £1 for the Glasgow - Edinburgh route.
In London getting to airport can sometimes cost more than the flight. It only made sense then that the easy group (of easyJet) introduced easyBus. They have service from central London to Luton, Stansted and Gatwick Airports.
Ireland
Eurolines go from London to Cork or Dublin from £15.
Continental Europe
Eurolines can take you from London to Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris from £15. That is especially a good deal when you consider that you travel from central locations, saving you the cost of airport transfers.
Getting the bus from London to the Continent also means you get a ferry ride in the ticket. Sail across the English Channel instead of flying over it and you get to see the White Cliffs of Dover, as well as adding another experience to your European trip.
For Eurolines deals for the rest of Europe check the promo fares from the Eurolines operators in each European country.
Touring in Germany have a special fare for the service running from Hamburg to Mannheim. The route is for Hamburg - Frankfurt - Heidelberg - Mannheim. Tickets from 9 euros for early bookings.
Orangeways is a low cost bus company from Budapest with a network covering Eastern Europe. Destinations include Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Krakow, Cluj Napoca, Bécs, Vienna, Zagreb and Ljubljana.
Sample prices include Budapest - Prague from €15 and Budapest - Ljubljana from €8.
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Open Skies for Australia
Australia and US
When booking international flights from Australia it is not uncommon to see the ridiculous situation of flights to London being cheaper than flights to Los Angeles.
This currently stands because only two airlines, Qantas and United, are allowed to operate direct flights between the US and Australia.
This is set to change with the Open Skies Accord that was agreed between Australia and the US. V Australia will commence flights between the two nations in December, which has already prompted fare reductions from Qantas.
Australia and Europe
The next frontier is for an open skies agreement between Australia and the EU. Talks have already begun for an Open-sky pact with the EU.
There are currently no European airlines operating flights to Australia. No Continental European I should say. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic still fly to Sydney. The obvious cultural ties keeping British long haul services active. Austrian Airlines was the last Continental European airline to fly to Australia, ceasing operations in 2007.
Further reading on the Flight of the European airlines.
I recently saw a reminder of European airline presence in Australia with a JAT Yugoslav model aeroplane, like you used to see in travel agents, at a second hand shop.
JAT Yugoslav. Seen at tarlo & graham, 60 Chapel St Windsor, Vic
An open skies agreement may not bring back the European airlines to Australian skies anyway. The big Asian and Middle Eastern airlines are better suited to operating between the two lands, and the European airlines only need to fly to an Asian hub and partner with an alliance airline from there.
An open skies agreement between Australia and the EU would benefit Qantas, who plan to operate Jetstar services to Athens and Rome.
Airfares to London and L.A
When booking international flights from Australia it is not uncommon to see the ridiculous situation of flights to London being cheaper than flights to Los Angeles.
This currently stands because only two airlines, Qantas and United, are allowed to operate direct flights between the US and Australia.
This is set to change with the Open Skies Accord that was agreed between Australia and the US. V Australia will commence flights between the two nations in December, which has already prompted fare reductions from Qantas.
Australia and Europe
The next frontier is for an open skies agreement between Australia and the EU. Talks have already begun for an Open-sky pact with the EU.
There are currently no European airlines operating flights to Australia. No Continental European I should say. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic still fly to Sydney. The obvious cultural ties keeping British long haul services active. Austrian Airlines was the last Continental European airline to fly to Australia, ceasing operations in 2007.
Further reading on the Flight of the European airlines.
I recently saw a reminder of European airline presence in Australia with a JAT Yugoslav model aeroplane, like you used to see in travel agents, at a second hand shop.
JAT Yugoslav. Seen at tarlo & graham, 60 Chapel St Windsor, Vic
An open skies agreement may not bring back the European airlines to Australian skies anyway. The big Asian and Middle Eastern airlines are better suited to operating between the two lands, and the European airlines only need to fly to an Asian hub and partner with an alliance airline from there.
An open skies agreement between Australia and the EU would benefit Qantas, who plan to operate Jetstar services to Athens and Rome.
Labels: airlines, australia, europe, usa
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
Monday, May 05, 2008
European City Names
Many cities in Europe are spelt differently in English to how they are actually spelt. For example Firenze in Italian is Florence in English.
First time visitors to Europe may not be aware of different spellings for city names. Some name changes are obvious enough as only a small change is made. Roma becomes Rome for example, or an umlaut or accent is dropped, so Zürich becomes Zurich.
Some aren't so obvious though. You might be Eurailing through Germany on your way to Cologne, not realising that you should have got off at Köln.
It is not just English that changes names to suit. Most languages will spell a city in their own way to make it sound phonetically correct to them. For example London can be spelt around Europe as:
Londen (Dutch)
Londra (Albanian, Italian, Maltese, Romanian, Romansh, Turkish)
Londres (Catalan, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Ladino)
Londona (Latvian)
Londonas (Lithuanian)
Londyn (Polish)
Londýn (Czech, Slovak)
Lontoo (Finnish)
Lundúnir (Icelandic)
Here is a list of some European cities in the original and English spelling.
First time visitors to Europe may not be aware of different spellings for city names. Some name changes are obvious enough as only a small change is made. Roma becomes Rome for example, or an umlaut or accent is dropped, so Zürich becomes Zurich.
Some aren't so obvious though. You might be Eurailing through Germany on your way to Cologne, not realising that you should have got off at Köln.
It is not just English that changes names to suit. Most languages will spell a city in their own way to make it sound phonetically correct to them. For example London can be spelt around Europe as:
Londen (Dutch)
Londra (Albanian, Italian, Maltese, Romanian, Romansh, Turkish)
Londres (Catalan, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Ladino)
Londona (Latvian)
Londonas (Lithuanian)
Londyn (Polish)
Londýn (Czech, Slovak)
Lontoo (Finnish)
Lundúnir (Icelandic)
Here is a list of some European cities in the original and English spelling.
Antwerpen Baile Ath Cliath Bâle Béal Feirste Beograd Bruxelles Bucuresti Caerdydd Casnewydd Den Haag Dunkerque Firenze Genève Genova Göteborg Ieper København Köln Lisboa Luzern Milano München Napoli Nürnberg Oporto Oświeçim Plzen Praha Roma Sevilla Torino Venezia Warszawa Wien Zürich | Antwerp Dublin Basel Belfast Belgrade Brussels Bucharest Cardiff Newport The Hague Dunkirk Florence Geneva Genoa Gothenburg Ypres Copenhagen Cologne Lisbon Lucerne Milan Munich Naples Nuremberg Porto Auschwitz Pilsen Prague Rome Seville Turin Venice Warsaw Vienna Zurich |
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
The grandest place in Europe
The Grand Place (French: Grand Place, Dutch: Grote Markt) is the main square of Brussels, Belgium. Most of the European Union's institutions have headquarters in Brussels, giving Brussels its title of European Union capital. It is fitting then that the "Capital of Europe" has the grandest town square in Europe as well.
Grand Place / Grote Markt
Grand Place / Grote Markt
Labels: belgium, brussels, europe, grand place, grote markt, town square
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
Friday, November 02, 2007
Luxembourg City
The City of Luxembourg is the capital of The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a pocket sized little country in Western Europe of just 82km long and 57km wide.
Luxembourger's are a linguistic lot, having three official languages: French, German and Luxembourgish. English is also taught at schools as well.
Luxembourg is famous for its private banking services and many international companies have offices here attracted by its tax haven status.
Luxembourg is a seat of several institutions of the European Union, including the European Court of Auditors, the European Court of Justice and the European Investment Bank.
There is more to Luxembourg though than business, banking and bureaucrats.
Luxembourg's eponymously titled capital sits on either side of a valley that splits the city in two. The river Petrusse flows here, where it joins the river Alzette. Down in the valley is the quarter called Grund.
Grund - Luxembourg
Above the valley is the old town, where the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) can be found. Also here is the Notre Dame Cathedral. While it's not the grandest cathedral in Europe it is close to the Place de la Constitution lookout, which gives you a spectacular view of the city looking over the valley.
Pont Adolphe
Cross the valley over Pont Adolphe and you travel down Avenue de la Liberte, which looks like Paris in miniature. This leads all the way to Place de la Gare where the train station is.
Luxembourger's are a linguistic lot, having three official languages: French, German and Luxembourgish. English is also taught at schools as well.
Luxembourg is famous for its private banking services and many international companies have offices here attracted by its tax haven status.
Luxembourg is a seat of several institutions of the European Union, including the European Court of Auditors, the European Court of Justice and the European Investment Bank.
There is more to Luxembourg though than business, banking and bureaucrats.
Luxembourg's eponymously titled capital sits on either side of a valley that splits the city in two. The river Petrusse flows here, where it joins the river Alzette. Down in the valley is the quarter called Grund.
Grund - Luxembourg
Above the valley is the old town, where the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) can be found. Also here is the Notre Dame Cathedral. While it's not the grandest cathedral in Europe it is close to the Place de la Constitution lookout, which gives you a spectacular view of the city looking over the valley.
Pont Adolphe
Cross the valley over Pont Adolphe and you travel down Avenue de la Liberte, which looks like Paris in miniature. This leads all the way to Place de la Gare where the train station is.
Labels: europe, luxembourg
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The lure of European Trains
Whenever I pass a grand European train station I can't help but have a look inside and see what possibilities are on offer. Even though I am in one of the great cities of Europe and not in any hurry to leave, the lure of European train travel is always strong.
Budapest has three main train stations, of which Keleti palyaudvar receives most of the international arrivals and departures.
Keleti Palyaudvar
One afternoon when I wandered past there were trains waiting on the platform for Moscow, Zurich and Venice, with a train for Bucharest listed on the departure board.
Budapest Keleti Departure Board
Moszkva Train
Venezia Train
Zurich Train
Budapest has three main train stations, of which Keleti palyaudvar receives most of the international arrivals and departures.
Keleti Palyaudvar
One afternoon when I wandered past there were trains waiting on the platform for Moscow, Zurich and Venice, with a train for Bucharest listed on the departure board.
Budapest Keleti Departure Board
Moszkva Train
Venezia Train
Zurich Train
Labels: budapest, europe, hungary, train, train station
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
Friday, June 15, 2007
Cobblestone Beaches of Europe
When I think of a trip to Europe, I think of the culture, old buildings and having coffee in a cafe on a cobblestone street. I don't think of going to the beach. Coming from Australia, we've got beaches in spades, but not much in the way of culture and old buildings.
That goes for Rhodes as well. Rhodes Old Town has so much history packed into it and it is a fascinating place. The beaches though are pretty rocky for my taste. In fact the beaches near the old town supply the cobbles that still make up much of the old town pavement.
If you are looking for sandy beaches in Rhodes, head to the east coast.
Cobblestone Beach - Rhodes
That goes for Rhodes as well. Rhodes Old Town has so much history packed into it and it is a fascinating place. The beaches though are pretty rocky for my taste. In fact the beaches near the old town supply the cobbles that still make up much of the old town pavement.
If you are looking for sandy beaches in Rhodes, head to the east coast.
Cobblestone Beach - Rhodes
Labels: beach, europe, rhodes, rhodes old town
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A touch of Europe in Melbourne
In train stations across Europe you will find Relay newsagencies. Whenever I'm on the rails in Europe I usually find myself scanning over the papers in the international section to see what is going on in the world.
Relay have now come to Melbourne at the magnificent Southern Cross Station. Whenever I walk past this shop I am reminded of train stations of Europe.
Southern Cross Station
Relay have now come to Melbourne at the magnificent Southern Cross Station. Whenever I walk past this shop I am reminded of train stations of Europe.
Southern Cross Station
Labels: europe, melbourne, train station
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
Saturday, September 09, 2006
European train station cafes
One of the many things that makes train travel in Europe such a civilised and viable option is the train station cafeteria. Jerez de la Frontera, for example, isn't a primary rail station but its cafe is nice enough to not mind having to wait half an hour until your train arrives.
Labels: cafe, europe, jerez de la frontera, spain, train station
Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
Subscribe in a Reader
or Subscribe by Email
