How to go on vacation. Northern Cyprus

31.08.2015 11:18:08

With the catastrophic devaluation of the national currency, holidays abroad have become a pipe dream for many. If previously almost everyone could afford a third-rate Turkish or Egyptian hotel, today they would have to spend a whole year collecting money for a week of vacation. However, there are always interesting opportunities for those who search. In this article we will look at the most common methods of how to holiday abroad for free.

At the same time, let’s immediately make a reservation: by “free” we mean reducing costs to the minimum achievable level. In some ways, you still have to have some money.

Hospitable hosts and couchsurfing

The most common way to live abroad for free is (you will laugh) to find people who will accommodate you for free in their home. It sounds funny, but in practice it is quite possible. Couch-finding sites allow you to find hospitable hosts all over the world. You simply select suitable housing on the website and call the author of the ad. Of course, there are a number of subjective factors: one young girl will be taken in to live much more willingly than a group of five people or a family with children. However, you can find literally fabulous options: you will live for free in conditions that would cost hundreds of dollars per night. You can also sometimes ask for free food.

Housing exchange: you come to me, I come to you

Another interesting way is a home exchange vacation. You go to the apartment of a foreign friend, while he comes to you. It is clear that for this method you need to live in places that are at least somewhat attractive to tourists. However, there is a demand for the most unusual places, so you should never give up on an idea without trying it. Perhaps somewhere in Italy or Spain there is a traveler who would not mind exchanging apartments with you...

Sponsor for the trip

For girls, traveling abroad with a sponsor is very interesting. An obvious advantage is that all the methods listed in this article require you to get abroad at your own expense. But the ticket price is almost half the cost of the entire vacation. In the case of a sponsor, you go on vacation as if your boyfriend was taking you on vacation. And you don’t pay for travel, accommodation, or food. In addition, sponsors often do not skimp on travel and offer to go to good places, trips to which are quite inexpensive. Therefore, for students, as well as girls with modest earnings, this is an excellent chance to see the world and experience the luxury that she could never afford.

At the same time, a trip with a sponsor is always an opportunity to meet an interesting person and get to know him better. Of course, there is no guarantee that travel will lead to the development of any relationship. However, the atmosphere of an overseas resort and the accompanying environment do their job. That’s why many beautiful love stories began with such trips abroad.

Regarding safety, an important advantage is the opportunity to meet the sponsor of the trip before the start. After talking and getting to know the person, you can determine whether you are ready to trust him and go on vacation with him.

There is another option - a trip to visit the sponsor. If the sponsor is not a compatriot, but a foreigner, you can meet him on the Internet and arrange a visit. He can buy a plane ticket, meet you at the airport and provide all the necessary conditions. This option is more risky, but many brave tourists travel this way.

Labor leave

Finally, there is the option of a “combined holiday”. You can go abroad by agreeing to work in exchange for housing. You can find many options for such trips on the Internet: people who need help with housework or some seasonal work invite tourists. You don't do too much hard work and you have plenty of time to explore the area. Not only do you not spend money on housing, but you can also earn something if the volume of work turns out to be greater. Many hosts also take care of their guests and provide not only accommodation, but also food.

Tourists, like almost everything in this world, can be classified. And even break it down by type and subspecies. Then it will become clear that among them there are many people who are terrified of flying. But they love to travel. And such an aerophobic tourist is faced with the question of where, exactly, to go. And on what?

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Tourists, like almost everything in this world, can be classified. And even break it down by type and subspecies. Then it will become clear that among them there are many people who are terrified of flying. But they love to travel. And such an aerophobic tourist is faced with a difficult question - where, exactly, to go. And on what?

Of course, there are options. But we will not talk here about automobile tourism, just as we will not talk about bus tours. And even more so, we will not talk about hiking tourism. We will tell you where you can go abroad by train. And, in fact, you can go to almost any corner of Europe and Asia (Kim Jong Il came to us in his armored train). There would be time.

The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, Crimea. It seems that we are already abroad and there is a sea. But only the lazy don’t know about Crimea. Meanwhile, there are other places.

Bulgaria

How to get there
Two trains depart daily from Sofia - No. 382 at 19.20 and No. 3 at 21.34. Travel time is a little more than two days - about 58 hours.

What to do
Sofia, in itself, is a quite interesting city. There is a lot here that will remind you of the times when Bulgaria was considered the 16th republic of the USSR - both architecture and people. Many people speak Russian, and they treat Russians well.

And then everything depends on your imagination - you can book excursions to the ancient Bulgarian monasteries, which for the most part are in amazing beautiful places, among mountains and forests, and you need to get where you need to either by car or by bus. You can choose your own ski resort.

Or you can go to the sea. Bulgaria is not Siberia, and it takes less than a day to travel from one end of the country to the other. There are three main resorts on the coast - Albena, Golden Sands and sunny Beach.

Golden Sands is perhaps the most respectable resort. There are the most good five-star hotels there and the most high prices. Albena is a little more democratic, but even there almost all three-star hotels are decent. For those who like to remember the past, there are two-star hotels - they are not much different from typical Soviet boarding houses of the 70s and 80s. But they are also extremely cheap. The beaches there are sandy, the entrance to the sea is convenient, and the sea itself is clean.

By the way, if you go from Sofia to Albena or to Sands, it’s worth spending a day and stopping on the way to ancient capital Bulgaria called Veliko Tarnovo. The city is very beautiful, located in the mountains, and below, visible from almost everywhere, a river flows. Here, by the way, was previously the dacha of Zhivkov, the last Secretary General of Bulgaria. And the party elite, as you know, bad places I didn’t choose it for relaxation. There are many hotels in Tarnovo, most of them are inexpensive, but very cozy. How inexpensive the restaurants are here - dinner for two with all the delights local cuisine(a separate chapter needs to be written about it) and alcohol will cost about 20 dollars.

And finally, Sunny Beach. It is located closest to Sofia and is today almost the most developing resort in the country. Prices here are the lowest, there are many hotels to choose from for every budget and taste, and the beaches are sandy. For those who like to live outside of hotels, we can recommend going to a nearby hotel. ancient city Nessebar - you can easily rent a house there cheaper than in Crimea, with all the amenities. And the sea there is the same - only on the other side.

In general, Bulgaria is almost an ideal option for an inexpensive holiday without flights.

Germany

How to get there
Two trains depart daily to Cologne - No. 11 at 22-15 and No. 249 at 18.19. Travel time is 37 hours. From there, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, train No. 13 leaves for Berlin at 8.38. Another Berlin train, number 247, leaves the station on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 13.30. Travel time is a little more than a day - about 28 hours.

What to do
In Cologne itself, by and large, there are two attractions. This is the cathedral of the same name, which is located next to the station, and the Cologne Carnival, which takes place here annually in the second half of February. Then a lot of tourists from all over the world come to the city and hotels need to be booked in advance.

But in general, few people go to Cologne. The local train station is a huge connecting terminal, and from here you can travel to any city in Germany, as well as almost any city in Europe. One of the most popular routes is Moscow - Cologne - Paris. Just a few hours after the Moscow train arrives in Cologne (you will have time for both the cathedral and beer), the train departs in the evening for Paris, where you will arrive early in the morning. In other words, Cologne should be considered as a transit route on the way to Europe by train. Well, where you want to go is up to you.

Of course, there are also trains from Berlin to Europe. But it’s stupid to go there in transit (especially since it’s more convenient to get to Paris through Cologne). You need to go there just to see the city. Moreover, Berlin is now called almost the most fashionable and modern city in Europe. Architecture of new styles and trends, many progressive clubs, etc. In short, this is a metropolis for a new generation. Or, as they write in fashion magazines, this is the mainstream of the youth movement. But it’s clear that other generations have something to do here too. Especially if you remember our history. By the way, here is almost the best zoo in all of Europe.

Finland

How to get there
Every day two trains depart from Helsinki - No. 31 at 17.42 and No. 32 at 22.50. Travel time is just under 14 hours.

What to do
The city itself is small but nice. As someone said about Finland, everything there is as it should be in our country, but it’s unlikely to be. Helsinki in particular and Finland in general should be treated with this thought. There are no special attractions here, but it’s nice to just wander around, go to a restaurant and taste old Russian cuisine. But once you get to Helsinki, you can take, for example, a ferry and go to Stockholm. As a matter of fact, there are many places you can go on cruise ships or ferry ships from Helsinki. But it is advisable to plan all this in Moscow.

Also in Moscow you can pre-order a small house on the lakes. Such pleasure costs from $500 for a house for 4 people for a week. And then you find yourself in a pristine forest, with lots of mushrooms and berries (in the summer, of course), surrounded by a network of lakes with crystal clear clean water and lots of fish. Plus, the package usually includes a sauna and a motor boat. The only problem is that apart from berries, mushrooms and fish - that is, pasture food - food is not provided in such houses. And you need to take everything with you. For example, in a rented car.

Croatia

How to get there
Train No. 15 departs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 20.30. Another train No. 205 leaves for Zagreb at 7.10 on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Travel time is two days.

What to do
Zagreb itself is often called little Vienna for its resemblance to the capital of Austria. And that's true. It's worth spending at least a day there to see all the sights. Well, then - just a few hours away are all famous resorts Croatia, and here the only question is the choice - where to go. By the way, you can relax for a week in Croatia, then go to Montenegro for the second week, fortunately it is nearby and fortunately there are also trains from Belgrade to Moscow.

Montenegro

How to get there
From to Belgrade two trains depart daily - No. 15 at 20.30 and No. 344 at 8.20. Travel time is two days.

What to do
If our tourists have already actively explored Croatia for a long time, then Montenegro is still an unknown place for them. But in vain - because this, without any exaggeration, is one of best places in general in the world. Here is the most pure water in the Mediterranean - it is so transparent that the bottom is visible even at a depth of 50 meters. There are magnificent beaches and mountains here, the second largest canyon in the world on the Tara River, which is a national park, is located here, there is the beautiful Skadar Lake, surrounded by ancient monasteries. In short, there is everything you need for relaxation. And, most importantly, it is still relatively cheap here.

Austria

How to get there
From to Vienna train No. 202 departs daily at 21.40. And on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays there is another train No. 21 - departure at 23.40. Travel time is a little over 30 hours.

What to do
You can write a separate book about Vienna, and more than one. One has only to say, no matter how banal it sounds, that this is one of the most beautiful capitals in Europe. With a lot of attractions, a lot of cultural events, and simply this is the city that you need to see at least once in your life if you want to feel involved in world history and culture. Well, after that you can go to ski resorts- there are more of them there than in Moscow casinos.

Slovakia

How to get there
Two trains leave for Bratislava every day - No. 21 at 23.40 and No. 705 at 19.50. Travel time is 33 hours.

What to do
Bratislava is a small city, but very picturesque, spread out on both sides of the Danube. In general, you should go to Slovakia either to ski resorts - here, if there are good slopes, it is more or less cheap, or you should go for treatment - almost all Slovak resorts are one way or another oriented towards medicine. But the country itself is beautiful - most of is located in a mountainous area and the views are breathtaking. And since the tourism industry began to actively develop here several years ago, there have been no problems with service.

Hungary

How to get there
Two trains depart daily for Budapest - No. 15 at 20.30 and No. 16 at 18.25. Travel time is just under 40 hours.

What to do
Budapest is one of those few cities in the world that you immediately fall in love with. And forever, you just have to be there. Moreover, there are views here for every taste - on the right bank of the Danube, the city soars up, drowning in forests, and the left part of the city, flat, lies in front of you in full view. Like in the palm of your hand lies the Danube with its openwork bridges. In a word, Budapest is such a self-sufficient city that there is no need to go anywhere else besides it. You can easily spend a week there and not get bored. But even for this case there are places in Hungary. Like, for example, the largest lake in central Europe, the name of which almost everyone has heard. Balaton is his name. And it completely replaces a vacation by the sea. In addition, Hungary ranks one of the first places in the world in terms of the number of explored and used sources of thermal medicinal waters - more than a hundred operate here balneological resorts. In short, there are a lot of options for relaxation here.

Romania

How to get there
Every day two trains leave for Bucharest - No. 3 at 23.34 and No. 382 at 7.39. It's almost two days to travel.

What to do
In fact, it is difficult to ask such a question in Romania. If only because there is also Mountain peaks The Carpathians, and the majestic Danube with its untouched nature, and the Black Sea beaches. Here you can ride alpine skiing and lie on the beaches, here you can wander around Bucharest for days with its unique Franco-Romanian style of architecture, or you can travel through the ancient Transylvanian cities. Where you will certainly be reminded of Dracula. Instead of blood, it is better to drink very good local wine. Here in Romania, the Byzantine style and the Orthodox monasteries of northern Moldavia and Bukovina are mixed. Western Romania looks like a surviving fragment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and, for example, in Constanta, the hand of both the Romans and the Ottoman Empire is visible. In short, Romania is like a kaleidoscope.

Czech

How to get there
Two trains depart daily to Prague - No. 21 at 23.40 and No. 209 at 22.18. Travel time is a little over 30 hours.

What to do
Thousands of guidebooks have been written about Prague, and they all have one thing in common - you should visit it at least once in your life. Nowhere else in the world can you sit in a beer hall located in a 13th century building, nowhere else can you find such a combination of undestroyed antiquity and rhythm modern city. But besides Prague in the Czech Republic there are also ancient castles, and health resorts(Karlovy Vary became a Russian health resort a long time ago), and the unique cuisine and... In a word, read Hasek again - it says everything about the Czechs.

China

How to get there
There are four trains to Beijing from. On Tuesdays No. 4 leaves at 21.57, on Wednesdays No. 3 leaves at 7.40, on Fridays No. 20 at 23.53 and on Saturdays No. 19 leaves at 22.50. Travel time is from 131 to 144 hours.

What to do
At first, you will be looking out the window for almost a week - China, as you know, is not close to us. And after such a journey you will rest for several more days. But further - if you have endured such a journey, then you can take another train and head, for example, to the coast - this will be the only opportunity for you to see sea ​​world South-East Asia without using an airplane. Believe me, there is a lot to see there - the beaches of China are not much different from Thailand or Bali. And the rest is China, a country with such an ancient and powerful culture that even a few years are not enough for a complete inspection. Although a trip to China by train in itself is already exotic.

Tours for 10 euros, work abroad, free accommodation and several life hacks for those who read to the end.

Tour-dur-dom

It's true because I see it with my own eyes. People go on vacation for a few euros, everything is quiet and orderly))

Earn 700 euros per month by renting out an apartment in Kyiv

There is a site called AirBNB, where foreigners rent housing in Ukraine for daily rent, and prices in Kyiv are quite high.

Set the price lower first, get good feedback and raise to 25-30 euros. Even if the site itself recommends that you bet 17 or 19, do not listen, it is interested in downloading all 30 days in a month at any price, and you are interested in making the most money.

If you have a two-room apartment, rent out each room separately, this will almost double your income.

On the plus side: you learn English (you can start from scratch) and earn in dollars.

At the border they may ask for insurance...

Apply for travel insurance online; here the minimum cost is 6 euros.

Ukrainians - free

The editors open the website hotline traveler

We select low-cost tickets and budget accommodation for Ukrainians for free. Need help - write here

How to travel for free: for this you will need a pillow - in a dream you can travel around the world for free and even fly to the moon.
For other cases - when traveling you will need money.

I continue the series of articles addressed to the progressive class independent travelers started in this:

First, a couple of charts that you can create yourself by going to one of the “currency converter” sites
By playing with the ratios of different national currencies to the ruble, you can notice the peg of a certain region or country to the dollar or euro.

As you can see, the dollar has more influence in the world. The approximation of the national currency to the euro is noticeable only in Europe. Yes, there are still national currencies in Europe: the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Albania….

What money to take with you on a trip

If you are going abroad, forget about rubles. Well, will it be useful to you on a trip around the Republic of Belarus?
If you are going to spend Christmas or New Year in the Czech Republic or Hungary - take euros with you
And if your path lies in countries other than Europe, there is only a dollar
I don’t argue that the ruble is accepted in exchange offices in Thailand, but if you didn’t skip math at school and know how to solve fractions, you will see the advantages of preparing a dollar at home and then exchanging it for baht in comparison with direct exchange of rubles in the land of smiles - there will be no time for smiles

Card payments and ATMs

Only cash + cards linked to foreign currency accounts (in euros or dollars)!
No ruble cards
Firstly, you cannot guess whether your bank will be able to celebrate its next birthday; simply put, no one will tell you anything about its health
Secondly, having rubles on your card, you lose their dollar equivalent every day the national currency falls. In addition, you will lose abroad on conversion at the bank rate - nowadays banks include in their exchange rate differences between Sale/Buy dollar (euro) / ruble more points with a margin - all this if you have a ruble card account
Thirdly, you will lose by withdrawing money from an ATM. In the case of Thailand, both the Thais - the owners of the ATM, and the Russian bank - where your money is, will take a bite

Important addition and correction to this paragraph:

Cards linked to an account in dollars or euros allow you to save on the dollar (euro) / national currency exchange rate

A fresh example from today's Alfa Bank statement, account in Euro:
Payment of expenses at the MADINAT JUMEIRAH DUBAI hotel: 1040 Dirham => 226.81 € debited from the account => Rate 4.5853
We look at the currency converter: http://www.oanda.com/lang/ru/currency/converter/

The cash exchange rate in Dubai is 4.46264 (in the parameters I set the interbank rate to 5%)
By setting a typical interbank +3% on the converter I get a rate of 4.55659 and for an ATM (+2%) 4.60356

Currency exchange - just not at the airport or hotel

The worst exchange rate for your dollars or euros will be at the airport or hotel.
Wow - the best exchange rate in Sri Lanka will be in jewelry stores, and in the capital of Burundi - Bujumbura on the construction market.
Based on this, before your proposed trip, find out about the places best exchange your money
Also check in exchange offices— is there a commission for the exchange operation?

Overhead, minimization

It's time to count the money. If earlier it was possible to make mistakes, now these mistakes are expensive.
When preparing for your trip, carefully study the booking conditions. Refuse additional fees - all kinds of insurance, fees for paying for air tickets credit card, additional expenses for breakfast in hotels (there are also free breakfasts, as well as free transfer from the airport), additional belongings in the form of an additional driver or GPS when

Bargain anytime, anywhere

Bargain from the moment you step off the plane. Trade even if there is a price tag attached to the item being traded. Use the acting skills that any enlightened person has: gesticulate, walk away and return, appeal to the audience... but don’t overact, otherwise you might get into trouble. That is, feel the enemy, and the seller - he is your opponent, the enemy, with whom you need to play a draw - neither you nor me. Otherwise, you can get screwed again. If the enemy defeats you, then you are a loser in his eyes and will remain one forever

Are there cheap countries in the world?

Of course there is. When going to Thailand, look away. When going to Brazil, know that