European Travel for Under $999

Although it's expensive to fly to Europe from the US, that doesn't mean you'll have to mortgage the condo just to enjoy a week abroad. Think 'traveler' and not 'tourist' and you're already on your way to enjoying your time in France, Spain or as Anthony Bourdain suggests, "parts unknown."


Savings can be found on everything from dining to sports, entertainment to culture. In Paris, for example, forgo the usual expensive restaurants down by the Seine and eat Croque Monsieurs or baguettes, apples and some divine brie in the Jardin du Luxembourg instead.
For fun in London, most museums are free, from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) to the Tate Modern, the British Museum to the Natural History Museum. Donations are appreciated at all of these locations, and of course, the cafés are pricy.

So here are my five tips for how to travel throughout Europe for under $999:

1. Book early.  And by early I mean yesterday. If you want to go to Europe this summer you're probably out of luck, but try late summer/early autumn travel or flying into less popular destinations such as Croatia. If you are spending a week in London, fly out of Pula, Rujeka or Zadar very cheaply on Ryanair.

2. Set up fare alerts. If your dream RT flight from LA is $600 or $450 from New York, go for it. One never knows their luck. Right now, though, a RT flight from LA to Heathrow July 1 - 10 will run you about $1,470.00. But if you fly out Oct 1- 10, that cost drops dramatically, to about a grand.

3. Buy a Eurail pass. Global passes are $501; Select Passes are $318; a Regional Pass is $178; and the One Country Pass starts at a mere $50. Whether you want to have pastries in Paris or wieners in Frankfurt, see the world whirl by from your comfortable cabin. Toast to the castles of Luxembourg, for a fraction of what you'd pay traveling by car. Gas in Europe is demasiado caro! 

4. Sleep on the cheap. If you are under 30, choose a hostel; over 30s check out London-based Host and Guest, which allows one to stay not only in the London boroughs and 'burbs but in many European countries. You'll enjoy staying with a local family or individual, which can be equal parts comforting and annoying. For example, on the one hand you'll learn where not to go after dark, but on the other, a family may have a routine that includes their daughter's piano practice at 6:30 every morning.

5. Pack light. You know how expensive it is to check those bags, but also remember how heavy your load becomes once you add the new capris you picked up in Austria, the rare coin collection from Turkey and that one-of-a-kind Stradivarius from Germany.