My first solo trip overseas was a massive six-week tour of Europe where I attempted to visit as many countries as absolutely possible. It was a life-changing trip for me, setting me up to fall in love with travel, move to London and start Little Grey Box. It also made me want to see more of Europe! If you’ve been dreaming of your very own European escape but aren’t sure of the best way to do it, here are five of the best ways to travel Europe. 

1. Cruise 

Doing a cruise through Europe is definitely on my travel to-do list! I have big dreams of sailing through the Mediterranean, past the coastlines of France and Italy then onto the stunning, mountainous regions of Norway, Iceland and Northern Europe. Cruising in Europe is a great idea because it’s a lovely pace, you get to see so much stunning landscape as you sail on by and everything is taken care of for you so there’s no guesswork. You just get to sit back, relax and enjoy your vacation. 

2. Bus Tour 

My first ever solo Europe trip was with Topdeck on a guided bus tour. What I loved about it was everything was taken care of for me, so all I had to do was show up and have a great time. There are loads of different bus tour companies out there from Contiki and Topdeck through to super-budget options like Megabus, which offers tickets for as little as 1 GBP sometimes if you book well in advance. Other cheap options include FlixBus and Busabout, a hop-on-hop-off bus service that gives you more freedom to spend extra time in the places you love and ditch those you don’t. 

3. Train

We did quite a few rail journeys during our time living in London and started to really fall back in love with trains. It’s a really lovely way to travel as you see so much as you’re going along, there’s a lot of room to spread out and it just has this adventurous feel to it. In Europe, a Eurail pass is a great way to go! It’s cost-effective and making the most of overnight journeys is going to save you money on accommodation as well. Not just that, but it really is a heck of a way to travel and you’ll most likely find yourself in places you never expected to visit. 

4. Budget Airlines

When we lived in London I was amazed at how many ridiculously cheap flights you could get around Europe. If you don’t mind queuing up early to get a good seat on the plane (seats aren’t assigned!) and dealing with some pretty low-quality service and no perks, budget airlines like RyanAir are actually awesome! When you’re on a really tight budget like we were, all those things I just mentioned don’t even matter because you’re just so happy to be out exploring. Travelling with really budget airlines like RyanAir and EasyJet are also good if you’re flexible with where you go, so you can snap up bargains on the cheapest flights and just see where the journey takes you. 

5. Road Trip 

There are a few different ways you can road trip around Europe and I have to say, Matt and I have really been falling back in love with a good old-fashioned roadie! The freedom and ability to sniff out adventure, stop where you like and explore more is just fantastic. If hiring a car isn’t an option for you though, there are services like BlaBlaCar, a popular ride hopping service. Basically, you rideshare with people who have spare seats in their car and pay them a few euros. A lot of backpackers also check out Gumtree but I’d probably be a bit wary of doing this myself. 


Best travel resources for your trip!

If you found this post useful, please use the affiliate links below. I’ll make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Rest assured, these are the products and services I love and use. Read the disclaimer for more information. Thanks for your support! – Matt.

Agoda – hotels
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