One Summer in Europe – the backpacking Europe podcast

Introducing EUROTOOT, the Europe multi-city travel game & planner for the iPhone

Posted on 17. Dec, 2011 by Ryan.

From the makers of the One Summer in Europe podcast now comes EUROTOOT,  a simple yet one-of-a-kind application designed to mimic the basic experience of multi-city European travel.

During such a trip, you normally face time, money, and energy constraints that challenge your trip planning skills and force you to make many choices from alternative options and then to manage the later consequences of those choices.

Game mode is free and challenges you to build and complete a fun European journey against real-world time, money, and energy limitations. Planner mode can be unlocked for $1.99 and allows you more freedom to design and save a customized Eurotrip without many of the limitations present in Game mode.

Version 1.0 of EUROTOOT features London, Paris, and Amsterdam. Additional cities will be released at no additional cost over time so that both Game and Planner modes enable you to build trips with more European city combinations.

Request your free promo code here (while supplies last):

 

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Slowdown in Europe rail travel…

Posted on 05. Apr, 2009 by Ryan.

Recent news:
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The Eurail Group G.I.E. has reported a modest drop in Eurail Pass passengers triggered by the global economic downturn, but expects a full recovery in the coming years.

The Eurail Group’s passes offer flexible travel throughout Europe to overseas visitors. With a total of just over 433,000 customers, passenger numbers in 2008 were down by 7.5% in comparison to 2007.

“We are not experiencing an unwillingness to travel, rather a decline in travel due to people having to prioritize their budgets. For many, holidays abroad need to be put on hold. Once the market picks up, we expect sales to grow again,” explained Ana Dias e Seixas, the Eurail Group’s Marketing Director.

Whilst most customers (around 57%) still wish to discover as much of Europe as possible, opting for a pass covering 3 to 5 connecting countries, or the classic Eurail Global Pass, which covers 21 countries, it’s clear that times are changing. Launched in 2006, the relatively new Eurail One Country Pass range has become an important product line for Eurail with market trends favoring shorter trips to fewer destinations. Sales of this product are up by 14%.

Traditional western European destinations such as France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Benelux region remain favorites for visitors – however, there is also an increased interest in discovering
Eastern Europe. Consequently, the Czech Republic was introduced in the Global and Select Pass schemes this year, and Bulgaria became a One Country Pass member.

The Eurail Group considers climate change a serious issue and believes that passes can be used as a tool to stimulate environmentally friendly travel. Rail travel also has many other benefits: not only are trains safe, convenient and efficient, a well-planned trip can be very cost effective with one pass being used to visit multiple destinations across the whole of Europe. With today’s modern high-speed connections, journey times are surprisingly quick. A direct train ride from Berlin to Munich covering 410 miles takes under six hours; from Copenhagen to Stockholm, you can travel 400 miles in just over five hours; and Paris to Bordeaux (a 350-mile journey) takes a mere three hours.

SOURCE Eurail Group G.I.E.
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Are you personally affected by the economic downturn and delaying or cancelling your backpacking Europe trip? Or are you insisting on going on 2009 but with maybe less time and less money?

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Ryanair: good or evil?

Posted on 04. Apr, 2009 by Ryan.

Listeners to the podcast know we sometimes recommend discount airlines such as Ryanair to connect backpacking destinations in Europe quickly and cheaply. For example, we recommended Ryanair as an excellent way to connect Dublin to Paris for a reasonable price.

Ryanair is the biggest discount airline in Europe and has hundreds of routes criss-crossing Europe so it is wise to check them out as a transportation option in some cases. And there are dozens of similar airlines with even more routes.

But the drawbacks to Ryanair et al can be substantial and can be summarized in one phrase: surprise costs.

While Ryanair tickets are dirt cheap, almost any service on top of the ticket, including basics such as checking in at a desk, checking a bag, and calling a helpdesk are going to cost extra money. And for backpackers, these extra costs can make a big difference.

This recent article provides a nice summary of what to expect when flying Ryanair.

The article is quite negative but I don’t think a person should never fly Ryanair. If you know what to expect, know how to avoid the hidden charges, and are patient and flexible, then Ryanair can be a great way to travel long distances in Europe super-fast and super-cheap.

We welcome readers to chime in with their loyal defense of Ryanair or with their “I will never fly Ryanair again…” horror stories.

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