SHOESTRING: (Europe, Jan '24, 7-10 days, 3 adults

[medianewbie]

Where & how cheaply can I do this ?
Happy to stay in basic hostels, eat vv cheaply, but would like some trains & museums in multi cities? Perhaps go down Italy ending in Malta for 3 days?

(Will everything be shut there?)

I know 'shoestring' isn't very helpful but I was hoping for £1k-1.5k all in, inc any planes/trains, hostels & cheap eats.

Not sure about Italy and malta but I'm sure Germany and maybe France have multi day train passes really cheap, they are valid on the slower trains rather than the fast services. Could be worth looking at

Going to Malta will require flying from Italy which burns your budget.

I would first check skyscanner set to anywhere from your local airport, then take a look at Flixbus routes and pick somewhere along them. If you stick to largish towns there should be shops and restaurants open all year. How about Romania? It's got castles, forests and mountains in the snow at this time of year.

Thank you @OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea
Slower trains are fine by us

@StamppotAndGravy was hoping for Italy/ Malta as too hot in summer.
I think you can get a ferry from Italy to Sicily then onto Malta. Ideally, I'd fly to Venice, train to Rome, ferry onwards, fly back from Malta ?

I bet Romania would be lovely too & ? Our budget would go further there too?

DS flew to Montenegro and home from Budapest. Train and bus in-between.

You've got two islands in there, actually 3 if you count Venice. That's always going to add expense onto a trip. If you want to do Italy then fly in the cheapest way possible and then train around - you might still manage a day trip to Venice as that's quite doable but adding ferries etc to the mix is going to add cost.

That all said if budget is your aim I'd look out of the Euro zone.

@LaviniasBigBloomers where would you suggest please ?

Ferries aren't normally cheap and you're aiming to cover one hell of a lot of ground. If you book now, the fast train from Venice to Rome is about €100, but still takes 4h. I'd pick a much smaller region of Italy and try to find the Ryanair discount airport. I think you could reasonably do Rome-Naples-Sicilly on a budget, or Pisa-Florence-Verona-Venice. Going south will be cheaper because Venice and Florence are extortionate however you do it.

Undoubtedly your budget would go a lot further in Romania. Winter can be brutal there. But a train from Bucharest into Transylvania could be good, sighisoara and Sibiu are beautiful. I lived in Romania for a while ( admittedly in the 90s) and again in 2002. It could have changed a lot. It’s always been the kind of place that rewards a visit as long as you’re willing to take the rough with the smooth. Skiing also an option there.

Man in seat 61 is where to look.

For Italy - https://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#london-to-milan-venice-florence-rome-naples

To Budapest - https://www.seat61.com/Hungary.htm

You can get sleeper trains to save night's accommodation, and for a bit of adventure.

You can pick-up a 17euro per person Ryanair flight from Naples to Malta on several dates in January, so I wouldn't completely discount your original plan. Obviously costs more if you have luggage. If you are thinking 7 days for Italy and 3 days in Malta, then that's not a lot of time to see Italy. You'll have to focus on a couple of places. Must see sights like Pompeii cost 20 euros, colosseum is 16 euro, so you would have to eat very frugally, but to me there is no point in going to Italy and not visiting the big hitting sites. January is low season so should be easy to find budget accomodation. As others have said Eastern Europe much more budget friendly than Western Europe.

@HannibalHeyes Thanks for train info - very helpful!
Last time I went abroad was a long weekend in Jan in Florence & it was great - almost empty of tourists.

My Plan is now: fly to Venice (or close) for day / overnight if poss? but if (prob!) too ££££ then overnight bus / train to Florence, ditto Rome, then ferry to Sicily, ditto, then, ideally 3 days in Malta in a hostel.

So: Skyscanner for flights out & home, man in seat 61 for trains, where should I start looking for hostels please ?

(Sorry to be a bit helpless but I've not been out of the UK since 2001 ...)

@TeamGeriatric Thank you ! That's all really helpful (& really encouraging too!)

Booking.com includes most hostels, or hostelworld website. Airbnb is also an option. Italian hostels tend to be basic.

For trains you need TrenItalia, then Flixbus is best for long distance buses, but other options exist.

@StamppotAndGravy - thank you !
(I must say I'm nervous but excited too)

Please tell me you mean 1 - 1.5k each not for 3 adults