Cheap travels with a folding bike.
(Countries visited are accessed by clicking on individual countries below).
VARIOUS TIPS TO HELP YOU WITH ECONOMY TRAVEL.
I am based in Liverpool, England., but many people will find the following facts of use.
MAIN TRANSPORT.
NATIONAL EXPRESS Do student and over 50 offers for one third off full prices. and do special offers out of season.
KERRYGOLD Occasionally give tokens on their products, five tokens give a FREE return trip to IRELAND for up to five foot passengers for three full days.
FREE AUTO PAPERS I have found that the free auto papers carry a £5 offer which also gives three full days visit by up to five foot passengers to Ireland via Irish Ferries.
SEA FRANCE Are cheapest and sometimes give FREE trips via INTERNET just for accepting their literature.
LOCAL NEWS PAPERS occasionally give flights to AMSTERDAM,PARIS,NICE,Geneva.Spain starting £40 return during Oct.- Mar. So far it has been The Times, Liverpool Echo and the Daily Mirror.
Easyjet are doing a cheap ticket from Liverpool to Nice and other`s to Barcelona, Malaga, Amsterdam or Geneva They are also going from the South of England at the same prices. Tel No.0870 6,000,000. A cheap return and you have a window of opportunity well worth taking and you read it HERE. The sooner you book the better the price.
HOSTELS
I use the Y.H.A and associated groups in each country, it costs approx. £8 to join and you can book prior to trips using I.B.N. (international booking system). Each night (with breakfast abroad) costs between £7-8 and is good value, sleeping bags can be used abroad but sleeping sheets must be used in Britain. I am also using Independant Youth Hostels, especially in Ireland.
FOOD Most Hostels have a free food box where leavers put any food they dont want to carry, it`s a good idea to use it and leave some when you go, especially the heavy items. I use my favorite Mc Donalds, as its menu travels worldwide and also its food and hygene is very good, although in Amsterdam you have to drop a few coins onto the saucer to use the toilets, still Victoria Coach Station,London., charges as well, 20p for one pee, NOT a very good rate of exchange,but when you got to go!! Still you can go to a McDonalds and go for free. By all means try the local food, but for convenience and cost I am happy with my choice, although I live on filled baguettes at 10 francs (£1),jambon and soucesson,(A good idea is to take a foreign language during the Winter, I have done for two years and am taking French and Italian.).
LOCAL TRANSPORT. I take a folding bike with me on some of my travels, it costs nothing on the NATIONAL EXPRESS and allows me to really involve myself in the country that I am in, you can`t beat a bike for seeing the sights and meeting people It is also the cheapest form of travel apart from walking and you can`t cover as much ground whilst walking, in my situation it also carries my rucksack which is a necessity, carrying a sack all the time is really tiring and constricting especially when the weather is hot. On a bike you just hang all your spare clothes on it and strip off and enjoy the sun.
MAINTENANCE OF BIKE. Since returning I have found that my rear wheel took a lot of punishment carrying me and a rucksack and the spokes have collapsed by 50%, so I would suggest that you check your rear wheel for loose spokes and carry a few spares taped to the frame as the touring clubs do.
TIPS. I found a mileometer great for estimating how long it would take to get somewhere and what was an easy days cycling as it is a holiday and not a marathon. I have taken French in College during the Winter and may also do Italian, beginners level is quite enough for my kind of travel. People are very appreciative if you try to use thier language. A good addition would be a small electric element of the type to heat a cup of water so tea or coffee could be made when the kitchen is closed or no kitchen at all, coffee costs about eleven francs a pop so you can save a lot of cash this way.
I have now compiled a CD of 350 pictures, some of which can be seen on these pages saved in jpeg for anyone who holidays by armchair or anyone who would like a taster of some parts of Western Europe, this travel has been achieved on a low budget as shown above. You can contact me on http://hutbooker@hotmail.com to find out how to pay, the cost will be the eqivalent of five pounds English postage and packing paid by me.
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