My Travel Notes from Spain, France, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.
I dreamed of organizing a little Europe trip and ended up breaking my own record with 6 countries :) I was thrilled when I got my 3-month, 30-day stay multi-entry visa from France. I set off completely unplanned, and that's how I prefer it…
I dreamed of organizing a little Europe trip and ended up breaking my own record with 6 countries :) I was thrilled when I got my 3-month, 30-day stay multi-entry visa from France. I set off completely unplanned, and that's how I prefer it…
My Travel Notes from Spain, France, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands — post content
I dreamed of arranging a little Europe, and I think I broke my own record with 6 countries :) I was very happy when I got my 3-month, 30-day-stay multiple-entry visa from France. I set out completely without a plan, and that worked out really well for me. I tried to be a bit fast on the tour I made, because when you consider that as of 2019, 1 Euro is worth 6.5 Turkish Liras, and you see how hard my purchasing power was on the list below, you'll see that this timing is reasonable. My main goal is to travel superficially through all the countries and continue my next trip in detail to the countries I liked. So with this idea in mind, unlike my other articles where I write about places I've toured, I want to show you realistically what happened — which may perhaps be useful to you. I wish you a pleasant read.
04.12.2019 - Wednesday - Marseille
13 Euros - Pegasus food
10 Euros - (LA METRAPOLE MOBILITE) (Airport - Center bus - you buy from the ticket office.) Last stop is the train station. There are Black guys around the station, you need to be very careful. The distance between the station and the Port is about 30 minutes.
20 Euros: Lyca mobile 20 GB (valid in EU region) valid for 1 month.
17 Euros: Sylvia Hostel - Close to the Port, cheap but below-average quality.
2 Euros basilica - veinix port bus
7.40 Euros: Burger King menu
4.75 Euros: Starbucks venti latte
1.20 Euros: 6 x 0.5 L water
3 Euros: Oral B toothpaste
2.60 Euros: Signal toothbrush
1.65 Euros: shower gel
3 Euros: dinner chicken vegetable salad
2.65 Euros: 1 croissant + 1 cake
TOTAL SPENDING: 86 Euros: 550 TL
SHORT NOTES:
Enpara card doesn't work, doesn't operate abroad.
Since it's a below-average city, there are too many Black guys; I didn't really feel safe.
Vieux carousel amusement park: 8 Euros for those who want to ride
Everywhere there's either McDonald's or McCafé
You can take bus number 60 from the basilica parking to the port. You can buy the card on the bus. The driver said the card can also be used on the train. There's a fountain at the basilica entrance, you can drink water there. Basilica entry is free. The basilica is at the highest altitude in Marseille and you can take very nice photos.
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05.12.2019 - Thursday - Marseille - Barcelona
29 Euros: FlixBus: Marseille > Barcelona
1.80 Euros: Train: Estrangin > Saint Charles
5.50 Euros: cold sandwich + drink
7 Euros: Big Whopper menu
9 Euros: 8 Euros Safestay Passeig de Gràcia hostel + 1 Euro city tax (they refunded 1 Euro at check-out)
3.5 Euros: locker key
7 Euros: coffee + muffin Starbucks
39 Euros: Barcelona > Paris BlaBlaBus (took 16 hours - 3-4 breaks were taken at intervals)
10 Euros: 16 magnets from a street vendor
2.20 Euros: single-use metro card
20 Euros food + 2 Euros tip
TOTAL SPENDING: 134 Euros: 860 TL
SHORT NOTES:
By choosing transfers from popular tourist locations, you can travel to more affordable places. For example: From Skyscanner, Gothenburg/Sweden has a price like 65 TL.
You can find cheap tickets at variable prices on Blablabus (via Ouibus) and FlixBus journeys.
At pedestrian crossings, traffic lights flash quickly. You don't wait too long.
Roads are 3-4-5 lanes wide. Also, pedestrian paths are very wide, and there's a side road between pedestrian paths where vehicles and bicycles pass.
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06.12.2019 - Friday: Barcelona-Paris
7.50 Euros: chicken sandwich + small latte (Pan & Company)
3.20 Euros: 2 apples + 4 bananas + a different fruit
5 Euros: 2 Croissants + 1 chocolate croissant + 1.5 Euros fruit juice
4.5 Euros: 3 Euros phone holder + 1 Euro lock for bag
2 Euros: bitter kas (a red drink - somewhat soda-like but I think alcoholic) bus station drink cafe
5.50 Euros: McDonald's menu
3 Euros: chicken-salad menuat half price
2 Euros: train ticket to go to the hostel
24 Euros: St. Christopher hostel Gare du Nord - I got 2 Euros back at check-out.
TOTAL SPENDING: 52 EUROS: 300 TL
SHORT NOTES:
When you buy an online ticket on Blablabus or FlixBus or any bus, you can see which platform it'll come to from the monitors at the platform.
On buses, you can pass through with passport and ticket inspection at country changes. I didn't run into any border control.
There was no control entering Spain, but there was passport control entering France.
There may be unhinged people on the bus; don't take it too seriously.
Paris bus station is in very bad condition and can be dangerous in the evening - early morning. You need to be careful.
Generally tap-and-pay credit cards are used everywhere.
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07.12.2019 - Saturday: Paris
2 Euros: bus ticket
4.80 Euros: 2 croissants 2 Euros + 2.80 latte
4 Euros hostel bag locker 1-day storage
4.55 Euros: Starbucks tall latte
15 Euros: Louvre museum entry fee
6 Euros: pizza slice
17 Euros: Lime app scooter use(1 Euro start + 0.20 Euros per minute)
You need to buy a ticket in advance to enter the Louvre museum. Otherwise, you have to wait about 2 hours in the ticket line. Generally, all museums work this way.
For a quick tour, you can use transportation apps such as Lime, Circ, Bolt, Uber, Bird, Jump and go directly to where you want using your card.
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8.12.2019 - Sunday: Paris
2 Euros: train ticket / couldn't board because there was a strike.
22 Euros: St. Christopher's Inn Gare du Nord 1 night (got 2 Euros back)
1 Euro: 1.5 L water
9 Euros: airport (with BlaBlaCar)
TOTAL SPENDING: 96.5 Euros: 620 TL
IMPORTANT NOTES:
In the cafe section of Carrefour markets, there's a microwave service; when you put your cold sandwich in there, you can heat it for free, get coffee, and eat. It takes 1 minute.
Generally all carriers have weak internet. I'm using a Lyca mobile line tourist 20 GB. But I always face internet problems. When I asked the dealer, he said these problems usually keep happening. If you wish, you can open your own contract for international use, but they're all the same.
The graves of Ahmet Kaya and Yılmaz Güney are in the same cemetery. There's transportation by metro or bus.
Uber also has a bicycle rental system in France.
After this, there are about 5-8 bicycle or scooter rental apps; all let you rent and ride by approving a credit card on mobile. There are even apps with Turkish language support. But you need to be careful on the road while using them; if you fall into gaps, you could be flustered and end up in front of a vehicle, you need to be careful.
Generally lights flash quickly; they don't keep either pedestrians or vehicles waiting too much.
Here the taste of coffee is a bit different, maybe due to the milk, I don't know, but the taste of the coffee seemed a bit interesting to me.
7.5 Euros: 3.5 Euros: Pringles + 2 Euros Kinder Bueno + 2 Euros Milka cookies
30 Euros: Prague > Eindhoven baggage allowance
TOTAL SPENDING: 67 EUROS: 430 TL
IMPORTANT NOTES:
The taste of water in France is awful. Not much different from tap water.
Airports are small and there are only 3-4 cafes.
You can go to airports more affordably with BlaBlaCar. Or you can make it more affordable in shared car use by looking at apps such as Uber or Bolt.
At the airport, they put chemical or cleaning products into a bag and place them separately. I think to prevent the possibility of spilling.
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BUDAPEST PART:
900 HUF: 100E Bus to City Center
1880 HUF: shopping (shampoo + nail clippers + wet wipes + 1.5 L water + face soap)
2820 HUF: Best Choice hostel: 1 night
1600 HUF: Lime scooter app 4.5 km 30 min
1700 HUF: 1100 wrap + Coke + 600 dessert
900 HUF: hot wine
2786 HUF: Budapest > Bratislava bus (Regiojet)
TOTAL SPENDING: 240 TL
IMPORTANT NOTES:
The 100E bus takes you directly to the center for 20 TL; there are ATM-like kiosks at the airport exit, you can select English language, buy an Airport ticket, and board the bus; before boarding the bus, the inspection officer will either stamp your ticket and give it back or take it. Just in case, when buying a ticket at the kiosk, get 2 copies including the payment receipt; security takes the ticket, don't get unjustly fined for not having a ticket.
There's a company that takes you to the city center for 6 Euros; their staff are calling everyone everywhere — you can use them if you wish.
One of the baggage handling firms at the airport is the Turkish company Çelebi. The baggage pickup area opened 4 times for me to claim my bag, and I waited 1 hour for my luggage. There's a Çelebi desk next to the baggage pickup area, you can find Turkish staff. If you don't want to experience this kind of problem, get priority boarding for cabin baggage on Wizz or Ryanair. Average 100-130 TL.
In Budapest, there are Thai massage parlors in many places. You can usually see Thai massage signs everywhere.
The Danube River runs right through the middle of the city. One side of the river is Buda, the other is Pest, so the city's name comes from these two parts.
The avenue of the hotel I stayed at is very similar to Bağdat Avenue or Nişantaşı streets.
You can find kebab in many places along the avenue.
The price average is similar to Turkey.
Be careful when buying water — make sure it's still (non-carbonated).
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10.12.2019 - Budapest > Bratislava > Vienna
300 HUF: pizza slice + peach-flavored cold tea
1675 HUF: black tea (had a different aroma, didn't like it at all) + large latte + small pastries 4-5 pieces + 2 melted cheese in stick form
4.5 Euros: chicken burger
4 Euros: 1 Nutella wrap + 1 sweet roll
10 Euros: 10 Bratislava magnets
7 Euros: Bratislava > Vienna (Regiojet)
TOTAL SPENDING: 2000 HUF + 25.5 Euros: 200 TL
IMPORTANT NOTES:
The Regiojet doesn't depart from a train station, bus terminal, or metro station, but from the stop opposite the last stop of the train station I came from on the central number 49 line.
FlixBus also runs services from the terminal.From what I've seen, they have services to many cities including Berlin, Vienna.
Regiojet bus has English support; on FlixBus normally English support is hard.
Regiojet provides free refreshments.
The buses are usually Iriza brand, large-volume, with a toilet, wide seats, outlets (under the seat, between two seats), foldable, expandable seat tables, airplane-cabin-style closed overhead compartments, small screens - USB-supported - working live map - multilingual - order screen - internet - smart monitor with Funtoro brand including old and new movies.
Inside the Regiojet buses, you can find an English-speaking host or hostess to help.
From what I understand; there are common locations such as Milan, Berlin, Istanbul, where I don't know the others, where you can find affordable flights — departures and arrivals from these locations are more affordable.
For returns to Turkey or departures from Turkey, if you look at Aegean region holiday areas such as Antalya, İzmir, Muğla, you can find more affordable flight tickets. I think it's an ideal method for flights costing over 500 TL.
Normally Regiojet has 3 types of ticketing similar to airline companies: economy, super eco, standard, but I think this isn't applied on this bus or this line.
You can save your locations as memories using Swarm. This way, you can see all the places you've been.
The Bratislava terminal is really model, clean, and comfortable.
Bratislava's streets are so clean, you can't find a single piece of trash.
Bratislava is quite safe. Encountering a problematic situation is very unlikely.
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VIENNA PART:
3 Euros: McCafé train station latte grande
50 Euros: Couchsurfing approval
18 Euros: A&T HOSTEL Vienna: 1 night
5 Euros: hostel card deposit
7 Euros: towel
2.70 Euros: 1.5 Euros water + 1.20 Euros snack (from the food kiosk inside the hostel)
TOTAL PAID: 86 Euros - 560 TL
IMPORTANT NOTES:
The hostel only sells towels. For 7 Euros
The hostel has you fill out a special form, like an accommodation form. I think this is a procedure.
There's a lounge to work in at the hostel.
Generally all markets are closed after 8:00.
Check-out times vary between 10:00-11:00 in the morning.
The shower has a different and modern open-close style; you can adjust the temperature by setting the dial. Maybe this is specific to this hostel.
Generally in Europe, pedestrian culture is very good and pedestrian paths are very wide. All the European countries I've visited have bicycle paths, and some even go beyond the city to between countries.
In German style, silence is the rule after 10 PM.
Austrian language is very close to German.
Has modern buildings and structures, no old-fashioned air.
Vienna is at a 1-hour distance from Bratislava and buses pass through the terminal frequently.
The apps you should look at for transportation: Omio > Rome2Rio > FlixBus > Ouibus > Skyscanner; for inside the city, the Moovit app is very ideal besides Google Maps.
If you have safety concerns about the hostel, you can use 4-bed room options instead of 32-16-8 bed rooms within the hostel. The price difference won't be much.
Hostelworld and Booking are the best apps for hostel searches
When choosing a hostel, your head can spin; try to set your criteria close to the city, and if there are pod-bed-room style beds, choose those.
In multi-bed rooms, there will surely be some unhinged people. You'll come across many types: those who burp, eat noisily or snack, prepare for tomorrow, come in drunk at night, laugh loudly out of tune, talk loudly, snore, make sounds while constantly turning to one side. So you can sleep more comfortably in the 4-bed option. If your budget is very limited, well, you'll be very tired on your trip and after taking a shower you'll just sleep without paying attention. I don't think anyone could wake you up on top of that exhaustion.
Things you shouldn't forget and should ask/learn at hostels: check-out time, towel fee, breakfast fee and what time it's served and its content, discounts and brochures where you can get city maps, drinking water, the nearest market, and hostel facilities
At traffic crossing lights, instead of plain red and green, they've used symbolized icons. In the form of girl-with-girl, boy-with-boy, boy, girl, and two girls. A very interesting and nice approach.
Due to New Year's Eve, in the empty areas of all popular places, New Year's events are organized.
Most traffic lights are placed centered on the avenue, held by wires.
Vienna's tap water is better :) generally I found still drinks a bit hard to find.
Apps you can use for leaving your luggage: BagBnB, Nannybag, Storeme, Stasher, LuggageHero, Bounce
Tap-and-pay credit cards are used a lot in Europe; you absolutely must get one.
The Regiojet train arrives right on time and drops you off right on time. Their brochure made this claim and was right.
In Czech intercity trains, the automatic doors don't open; you have to press the button if you want to get off or board.
In Czechia, instead of Euro, their own currency the Czech Koruna seems more widespread.
It's called Praha instead of Prague.
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PRAGUE PART:
170 CZK: burrito grande
175 CZK: hostel Staysafe Prague 1 night
100 CSK: nail clippers
285 CSK: 1 Coke + 2 snacks + 3-pack knives + 1 L water
TOTAL SPENDING: 730 CSK - 185 TL
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12.12.2019 - Thursday: Prague
270 CSK: 1 night Safestay
134 CSK: 1 egg muffin + 1 tea + 1 omelet
80 CSK: 2 croissants
70 CSK: discounted tower entry Lesser Town Bridge
80 CSK: 100 g mixed sweets
120 CSK: latte venti Starbucks
330 CSK: 5 magnets
140 CSK: McDonald's Big Mac L
20 CSK: McDonald's restroom two entries
45 CSK: McDonald's 1 English breakfast tea
TOTAL SPENDING: 1300 CSK - 330 TL
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Prague is really an expensive city.
The hostel I stayed in is one with a few branches, but daily prices can suddenly increase or decrease.
When it comes to cleanliness, I don't think these Europeans are very clean; their cleaning their noses noisily in open areas is very bad. I encountered this in many people.
In the afternoon around 4-5, everywhere gets dark, so it's better to plan early — I'm saying this for the winter months.
One of the common features of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna is that you can see massage parlors in popular places.
One of Prague's most famous desserts is the Chimney.
Most of the napkins in the toilets generally used are recycled material
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13.12.2019 - Friday: Prague > Eindhoven
25 CSK: bus 100 - airport
160 CSK: Burger King: 2 croissants + 1 large tea
35 CSK: airport water
40 CSK: airport coffee
IMPORTANT NOTES:
If you don't have beef or pork put on the breakfast menus at Burger King or McDonald's, you can have a normal breakfast sandwich-with-egg style and at an affordable price.
TOTAL SPENDING: 260 CSK - 66 TL
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NETHERLANDS PART:
8.65 Euros: McDonald's menu airport
4.84 Euros: 401 bus airport-train transfer
21 Euros: Eindhoven > Amsterdam Centraal train
8 Euros: Waffle
6.5 Euros: large fries
4.85 Euros: latte venti damn Starbucks
5 Euros: Sex Museum
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Ticket inspections are done on the train :)
The train is double-decker.
When getting off the train, you also scan your ticket and exit.
Everything smells terrible; people seem to drink morning and night. You can find plenty of types yelling and laughing on the streets.
There wasn't anything particularly interesting at the Sex Museum, just so you know :)
