Transportation

I am in charge of transportation and most of it is booked already, but it hasn't been easy. With the trip there are two main prongs of transportation; getting to and from Europe and traveling within Europe.

Getting to and from Europe:
Months of watching airline prices it looked like were going to pay around $600 to get Spain and $800 to get home from Turkey. Until my friend Selma alerted me to a deal, through bookingbuddy.com, for $800 round trip flight from Philadelphia to Madrid on Lufthansa. I then booked $5 Megabus tickets from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and back and a $300 flight from Istanbul to Madrid. I saved us each $300 and we're going to Europe!

Getting around Europe:
I have done a lot of frustrating and tedious research on this topic.
The issue: Do you go for a package deal or try to find individual modes of transportation.
The answer: Research a little for yourself, but typically the package will be better. If you are already buying a package, like the Eurail bundles, it is cheaper to upgrade to more days/ countries than trying to arrange your own transportation for side trips.

Cautionary Tale: I planned our trip and before ordering the tickets I sent an email to Eurail with a few questions and our basic outline. Turns out the ferry we were going to take from Barcelona, Spain to Civitavechhia, Greece was not covered in the Eurail package. So I went back to the drawing board, researched some more and found that it would be cheaper to go from a 3 country pass to a 4 country pass and travel through France, than buy a ferry ticket. The take home note is do your research before you go.

Tips:
1. Generally map out destinations and dates.
2. Determine what Eurail package works best for you.
3. Download the Eurail timetable and railway map.
4. On the Eurail website, check each individual country to find out which trains on the timetable are covered by your pass
5. Check times and days the trains travel. Print a copy of the page and highlight the trains you plan on taking.
6.  Reserve seats if you are able to.

I am not finished yet, the Eurail does not travel to Turkey, therefore I have had to make my own plans, but given the hostility between Turkey and Greece, it has proved to be rigorous test of my will. We still have not booked transportation but I am slowly working on it. I will keep you updated.

I wonder how Kait is doing booking accommodations?