How to plan your budget tour to any European destination

    I got an opportunity to be in Antwerp, Belgium for 90 days (Aug-Oct, 2010) in an official assignment.  I visited some European cities during that time.  The tourism in these cities have many commonalities, and this post will list these features and how a budget traveller can use it to the maximum.

1. Mode of travel :  [Bus, Train, low cost flights]
       Bus : 'Eurolines' is the famous international bus company in Belgium. http://www.eurolines.be/
                Cheaper than any other modes of travel. 
                For example, train journey [Antwerp <==> Paris] in Thalys train costs you atleast 3 times more than your Eurolines fare [~50 Euros].  Average speed : 80 to 100 Kms / hour

       Train : SNCB is the Belgium's popular train network, http://www.b-rail.be/main/index.html .
                  You can precisely plan the time, cost of your travel, intermediate stations, even the platform number !.  You can find trains to many stations in around Belgium, Netherlands in SNCB.  If you buy a 'weekend ticket', it will be valid from Friday night to Sunday midnight. You can hop off in any intermediate station, spend some time there and catch the next train in that weekend time.
                  If you want to experience a very high speed train journey, you can try Thalys [France]. http://www.thalys.com/be/en/?time=1289651320

      Flight : Brussels (Belgium) has two major airports.
                 i. Zaventem : Big International Airport serving many flight careers.
                       http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/
                 ii. Charleroi  : International Airport serving low cost airlines.
                       http://www.charleroi-airport.com/en/
                     'ryanair' is one of the good budget flights.
                     I like their excellent website to plan the flight journey in few clicks.  http://www.ryanair.com/ie
                 Most of the airports are usually located outside the city.  So, if there is no direct train to airport, you have to find a nearby train station, and bus timings operating from the Railway station to Airport.

    For example, to catch a flight to Rome 'Ciampino' airport from Brussels 'Charleroi' airport, first I check the  flight timing, fare, availability in 'ryanair' website.  Then, I check the train from 'Antwerpen-Central' to 'Brussels Zuid, Charleroi' in 'SNCB' site.  Then, I check the mode of connection to Airport in the 'charleroi airport' website, especially the first and last bus time, journey time.

2. Accomodation 

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