How to Get to Europe and Travel France for about 2 Euros a Day!

If you’re wondering how to get to Europe, and travel France for about 2 euros a day, keep reading. I’m going to tell you how to get to Europe, particularly France, for cheap, and how to travel France and do what I’m doing, for about 2 euros a day.

Why should you trust me?
Why should you trust me when it comes to giving you information on how to get to Europe (France) for cheap, and how to travel Europe for about 2 euros a day? Because I’m doing it right now. As I write this, I’m in Picauville, France, staying at a chateau. Basically, it’s a castle, and my expenses are about 2 euros a day, probably less, more like 1 euro a day.

Currently, I’m writing this from Picauville, France, in a basement kitchen at Isle Marie, a chateau that’s been converted to a bed and breakfast, about a half hour from the beaches of Normandy. I’m writing this and drinking Russian Earl Gray, loose leaf tea. My girlfriend, Raegan, and I are WWOOFing (WWOOF – World Wide Organization of Organic Farms) (http://www.wwoof.fr) here. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to how we got over here.

How to Get to Europe for Cheap
If you want to get to Europe for cheap, take a cruise. That’s right, take a cruise ship to Europe. It’s way cheaper than flying. You’ll save around $2,000 dollars.

When I looked into traveling to Europe, I checked into flight deals and found round trip tickets to be around $3,500. A Royal Caribbean cruise ship, for two, to Europe, is around $1,200 dollars, and if you get the tickets early enough, the cost is reduced to about $950. This is a great deal.

We took a Royal Caribbean Cruise to France. The cost for both us, sharing an interior (no windows) state room, was about $1,200.

Before you think that $1,200 is too much, consider this:

1. It was a 12-day cruise, leaving the Port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, stopping in the Azores Delgado (Portugal island) after 7 days, for a one day stop, then continuing, arriving in Brest, France on the 10th day, Cherbourg, France, on the 11th day, and Harwich, England on the 12th day.

2. All food, except for alcoholic beverages, was included. Most of the restaurants featured all you can eat buffets and they were open most of the time.

3. The ship included a rock climbing wall, dance lessons, a movie theatre, a performance stage with live theatre and guest speakers, various speakers on different topics who gave lectures in the Safari Room (a section of the ship), singers and musicians, delicious food, friendly staff, and daily cleaning and room services.

4. There was a lot of activities on the ship, including lectures, movies, dance lessons, rock climbing wall, an indoor swimming pool, an outdoor swimming pool, a jacuzzi, a jogging and walking track, a gym, a theatre that featured musical theatre, dancing, a magician, a professional pickpocket who know lectures about how to protect yourself from being a victim of pickpockets, and more.

So, if you want to know how to get to Europe for cheap, take a cruise. Go with Royal Caribbean Cruise or some other cruise ship that has good ratings and an affordable price.

Travel France for about 2 euros a day

Once you’re in Europe, how do you travel in Europe for about 2 euros a day? I’m traveling in France, with Raegan, for about 2 euros a day. How? By using WWOOF and Couchsurfing.

Before I left, I set up an itinerary, a schedule, with places to stay at http://www.couchsurfing.org and places to do some work for, in exchange for room and board (food), at http://www.wwoof.fr. The main wwoof website is http://www.wwoof.org

By doing this, we’ve managed to stay at different towns throughout France for the last month and a half. So far, we’ve visited 3 towns in France and have plans to head to Paris at the end of the month.

On May 16th, we arrived in Brest, France, and stayed with Ludmilla, a friendly 19-year old college student, for about a week. Ludmilla actually gave up her room so we would have a place to sleep. Our cost? Nothing, except for food. We met her through http://www.couchsurfing.org.

What is couchsurfing?
Couchsurfing, basically, is a website that links people with available places (rooms or couches to stay) with those looking for a place to stay. It also allows couchsurfers and hosts (those who have couches) to leave a rating for each other and post pictures, so you can get an idea of what the other person is like. Using http://www.couchsurfing.org, you do not need to pay for hotels, only for some food and, perhaps, gas money.

So, we stayed in Brest, France, at Ludmilla’s, which saved us hundreds in hotel or hostel fees.

Since then, we’ve been WWOOFing, (http://www.wwoof.fr) (http://www.wwoof.org), which means we’ve been working 3 – 6 hours a day, in exchange for room (place to sleep) and board (food) at organic farms in 3 different towns in France.

To do what we’re doing–to get to Europe and travel France for about 2 euros a day, follow these steps below:

1. Book a one way cruise to France. Do this using Royal Caribbean Cruise or some other major cruise ship that goes from your destination to France.

2. Go to: http://www.wwoof.org and then http://www.wwoof.fr and sign up for a membership. I think it’s about $25 per person using the American site, and about $15 euros each using the France. You’ll save thousands, so the fee is minimal.

Once you’ve signed up the site, send out e-mails to various WWOOF (World Wide Organization of Organic Farm) hosts that look interesting to you. Schedule your itinerary so you go from one farm to another, with the distance from each being a few hours, so you can hitchhike from one place to another, like we’re doing.

3. Go to: http://www.couchsurfing.org. Sign up for a membership and pay the $25 donation fee. Fill out a profile description and post a current picture of yourself. Schedule places to couchsurf between the WWOOF places. This will keep things interesting for you.

summary
If you want to know how to get to Europe, and travel anywhere in Europe for about 2 euros a day, follow the suggestions that I mention above. The experience will broaden your perspective. I know it has for me.

In subsequent blog posts, I will be sharing more personal stories of my experience in France, including what it’s like to stay with WWOOF host families, couchsurf, and hitchhike in a country that is rich with history. I’ll be including more photographs and, hopefully, slideshows and videos. Be on the lookout!

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Thanks for reading. Au Revoir!