Summer 2009

Hi, I am going to Paris for the summers for an internship program. Hence, I would be based in Paris for approximately 3 months. I believe I shall be able to spend around 1000 USD going around the continent on weekends. So mine is like a weekend euro trip only, coz I will be working in Paris on weekdays. Please help me plan my budget, itinerary and transport.

If i understand you correctly, Rather than it being one trip as has been displayed in the map and calender above each city will be for a weekend travelling from and back to Paris at the begining and end of every weekend?

If that’s the case you wont want to do much traveling so make use of budget ailine’s such as easyjet, Ryanair etc. for longer trip’s i.e Paris to Rome. Use Skyscanner to find the best price’s. Also make use of DB Bahn to find how long the train will take to get from a to b. The train will be useful for shorter trip’s like Paris to Amsterdam.

Ya you are right. Most of the time we ( around 2-3 of us)will be leaving Paris on friday nights and would like to reach our destination on saturday morning, take a day’s accommodation dere, look around and den leave for paris on sunday evening.
So what would be cheaper? Taking a eurail pass and den going on overnight trains to save one night’s hostel fare or to travel by flights and leave on saturday mornings rather than friday evenings?
Moreover is it possible to pull this off in a budget of around 1000USD?

I think you’re going to find a combination cheaper. Look at a couple of Select passes to cover all the countries you’ll want to visit and the 3 month time frame. Perhaps one that covers France, Benelux, Switzerland and Austria and another that covers France, Italy and Spain. Plan your trips so you validate 1 pass (it’s good for 2 months) soon after you arrive and the other at least a month later. You might be able to get by with a 5 country select pass if you plan the trips where you’ll be flying for one or both ends of your 3 month stay. When you can’t find a cheap flight, use a day of the railpass (most overnight trains will only take 1 day of the railpass). You may even find trips where you take an overnight train to get there but can find a cheap flight back. Remember, you’ll have to pay 20 or 30 euros, in addition to your railpass, for your couchette reservations on an overnight train.

Book any flights that are a good deal NOW.

thanks for the info.
any suggestions for the itinerary and accomodation . We are really looking to minimise our costs as much as possible!!!