Advice for inexperienced traveller

[Ereerenownow]

I haven't been abroad for years and desperate for a foreign holiday next year. Any advice for an easy trip for an inexperienced traveller? Even dealing with an airport is daunting. Im looking for about 4 to 5 nights and I have a tight budget. Are there any particular holiday firms for example that make holidaying a bit easier?

Calm down, it’s not really that big a deal. The OP has asked for suggestions and given this a debating forum people are allowed to give advice.

There’s an excellent FB group called A Few Days Away where people post details of their diy holidays (normally cheap flight plus low budget accom). Lots of advice about solo travel too

Just replying to you and the bizarre “advice” 😅 which of course, I’m allowed to do although never had the holidays board down as a “debating forum”!

Odd how such a simple suggestion has triggered such a hostile and odd reaction. Please try and have a nice day.

Lol, how childish 😂 I’m having a glorious day thank you. Beautiful sitting here, soaking up the sun, browsing mumsnet and playing word games. Drinks in the fridge for later.

I completely agree with this.

Venice doesn't have to be expensive - hotel in Mestre, eat at bakeries or at the supermarket cafe style counters (which are excellent), wander the fabulously beautiful streets.

No-one has to go on a gondola!

Well Jet2, which is one possible airline that the OP could use from Newcastle, operate in the same way as @NConthe talks about Easyjet, 'Easyjet packages, for example, tend to run on their scheduled flights alongside flight only passengers as opposed to a public charter. And certainly not a chartered flight since they already own the aircraft' only they're better because the basic ticket includes a big cabin bag as well as a small one, so while their flights may sometimes look expensive, although you can get a return for well under £100, they often work out cheapest because you don't need to buy any more luggage for the sort of trip the OP is talking about.

Eursotar to Bruges or Amsterdam. Get you bck in eth swing of passport / customs / travel foreign languages around you but basically able to communiat ein English. Eurostar do City Breaks.

Sometimes, but not often. And they only include the extra cabin bag as you say, not checked luggage. The example I gave comes in at over £70 cheaper than jet2 even if the OP only added a cabin bag. If she added checked luggage it’s over £120 more

I am from Newcastle, and there are 3 really good places you can go, for cheap, and easy to navigate from Newcastle airport (easily reached by metro from Central station). Budapest, Krakow and Malaga. All 3 hours or less flying time. All great cities, loads to do, safe. Skyscanner is the best place to check out all of the flights to these places, then once you have found ones you like the sound of, go onto the proper airline website (generally Ryanair) to book the actual flight. Just use booking.com (or similar) to get a hotel that you think suits you - I tend to search for ones that are 8+ or more rated. Often you can get fully cancellable (for a slightly higher price) it is sometimes worth this if you think your plans could change. When you get there, you need to get to the hotel, and all of these cities do UBER or BOLT apps (they actually also have really good public transfer by train from the airport for very cheap, but if you are trying to get door to door quickly and easily, the ride hailing apps are your friend - they tell you exactly what you will pay and no money or awkwardness). You can then also use them to get about to see the various sights if public transport is not your thing. In order, it is cheapest in Krakow, then Buda, then Malaga. It is probably that order for accom and restaurants etc. too to be fair. If you are going with Ryanair you need to download the app, and you can check in on there up to 2 hours before - they no longer accept paper boarding cards (or if they do, it will be at a price). But it really is easy. You can, of course, go through a travel agent who might sort more of it, but they are usually still tied into Ryanair flights, and will still expect you to be able to use the app, What you will actually need is

• the ryanair app (or if not them, the airline app)
• uber and bolt app
• Valid passport with 6 months or more left on it, no visa required.
• no currency particularly - all airports have cashpoint machine, and all of these cities take cards almost all of the time, but if you want currency, HUF for Buda, Zloty for Poland, and Euro for Malaga
• Independent travel insurance. It's cheap, less than a tenner for a short trip (you don't need it to get into the countries mentioned, but if you need it, you suddenly need it !)

Just for reference, I have been to all 3 places at least 4 times, and happy to help if you need a bit of confidence (pm me). Hope you have a lovely trip xx

@TheM55 that's really good advice, but not quite right on passport rules.

Also travel insurance is a must, otherwise you'll be in a huge mess if you have an accident where you can't fly home as normal.

For money, I would pay by card just about all the time (look on Moneysavingexpert.com for advice about which cards are best and which to avoid, the latter ones that charge a fee per use, so massively expensive if used to pay for every coffee, bus ticket etc).

But get a small amount of cash from a bank cash machine when in the city, £20 or so as small independent businesses often prefer cash for small purchases. I've never been to Hungary but found that in Spain, unless you withdraw from a Santander bank, using a Santander card, which is what I do if I can, its virtually impossible to avoid paying to withdraw cash.

I didn't pay to withdraw cash in a Polish city, but did find that public toilets were changed for, mostly cash, but there was one in a hotel that was open to the public and could pay by card.

But also ask around friends and family in case they have some going spare, I've always got spare euros lying around and currently have about £14 of Zloty with no immediate plans to return to Poland although it is likely I'll go at leader a couple of times for short trips in the next few years.

Airline going bust, the ATOL scheme will refund you are get you home.

Flight being cancelled, if it is part of a package the organiser has to rearrange travel and accommodation at no extra charge.

I'm old enough to remember several airlines that have gone bust.

For someone on their first trip it makes sense to have that protection.

OP don't forget insurance and a GHIC.

Ryanair are not “going bust” 😂

Goodness me, do you all actually live like this? The OP is wanting to travel, she’s nervous and on a budget and you’re all here putting the fear of god in her over a £58 flight, trying to make her pay 6x that. All because Monarch couldn’t keep up with the new budget travel model?!

I’m “old enough” to remember it too (hate that patronising shite) but it’s not relevant now to the OP is it?

@Bjorkdiditwhy don’t you get a Monzo or similar? Rarely take cash anywhere now and can’t remember the last time I’ve needed it in Europe but there’s absolutely no reason to be paying to withdraw cash anymore!

Also, if Ryanair cancel the flight with less than 14 days notice then you can simply be rerouted on to the next flight. Just in the same way any other airline would. The OP is going for 4 nights so there’s no possible way she could be stranded abroad.

Package with jet 2 easiest for a first time and choose city break with ideally easy flight times (not 3 a.m.)
And as a package you wont be stuck if flights change vs hotel booking .

BA also has v good flight and hotel packages

I’m 69 and a solo traveller - I do recommend taking a door stop for your hotel room door.

I find an Airbnb, then a flight. Venice was amazing, pack light, lots of bridges! Good luck😊

NE England - I recommend Teesside Airport. It's tiny, staff are really helpful and parking is cheap. I'm anxious about travelling but I've travelled alone several times from Teesside and it has made me feel much more confident. NL is a 55 minute flight, excellent railway service from Schiphol and reliable, affordable public transport across the country.

I have Kroo , Starling and Santander all of which are better than Monzo.

I do need cash in Europe, recent examples where cards not accepted:

Restaurant in Germany
Toilets in Poland
Some buses and small shops in Spain

I said Monzo or similar. They all have their own benefits.

Yes I understand that sometimes you need or want cash. If you have starling though, why are you paying fees to withdraw that cash?!

@Ereerenownow Newcastle airport us fine. We travelled from there in January as my dad lives 15 minutes from it. It's smaller than our usual airport (Edinburgh)and quite easy to get through.
I spent my Saturday and Sunday mornings at Newcastle airport in the late 70s with my plane mad brother when you could get on the roof to watch the planes.

A cruise from Newcastle to Norway is lovely. I went from rosyth to Norway with Fred Olsen. They were great.

Because nearly all Spanish cash machines charge for all withdrawals, even those at banks, for everyone including Spaniards.

The only exception as far as I know is if you use a Santander card at their own ATMs.

Santander and a couple of others do, but there are many that don’t. Unicaja, ING, Deutschmark, Kutxabank off the top of my head are all fee free withdrawals.

If a traveller were to use any of those banks with their Santander card they would incur a fee of around 3% from the bank itself. I don’t like them for this and other reasons so won’t bank with them anymore. The benefits for travel in general are much better with many other banks these days and pp should be careful following advice that Santander is “much better” as that is only good if you only use their cash points.

The charges if you accidentally used a Monzo or similar in the wrong cash machine would usually be around minimal, around 65 cents. For a withdrawal of 200 euros Santander would charge you 6 times that in any machine except their own. Hardly flexible is it? That’s why you could be better to use the Starling.

Unicaja, ING, Deutschmark, Kutxabank off the top of my head are all fee free withdrawals

Not true. In Soain, you will be charged, by Unicaja at least, can't remember seeing the others, for all withdrawals by the bank.

While we’re on the subject, for anyone wanting to get a card for travel, I would not say Kroo is better than Monzo simply because it’s app has less features.

If you are using them as a family for bill splitting or sending money for an ice cream or whatever, Kroo will not allow you to send money abroad. It also doesn’t have the feature to set spending budgets which are great for kids or youngsters on their first holiday abroad without parents. There are less categories to monitor spending too and if you were to use the overdraft facility, then Monzo is better by a country mile.

All that said, these benefits can alter so it’s better to check at the time. At the moment I rate Revolut but Monzo is a close second.

It is bloody true 😂😂

If it asks you to accept a conversion rate then just decline but they do not charge.