London is hardly renowned for its cheap shopping opportunities. Most people who visit the city for some retail therapy will do so with a healthy bank balance – or at least a sizeable overdraft – to support their extravagance purchases.

But venture beyond the high street boutiques and up-scale shopping malls, and it’s more than possible to snap up affordable goods in London. Often it’s just a matter of knowing where to look.

Hot Spots

It is even possible to head for notoriously expensive shopping areas and still pick up some bargains. Kensington High Street, for example, is best known for the ultra exclusive Harrods department store, yet just a stone’s throw from the famous old shopping mecca are numerous inexpensive shops such as Warehouse, Topshop and Oasis.

The same is true of several other districts including Regent Street and Oxford Street – both home to designer stores but also cheaper high street names.

London Markets

Another happy hunting ground for cheap goods are London’s markets. (more…)

I’ve been all over the ‘travel to europe because it’s cheap’ thesis a little lately if you’re an american, and this post will be further evidence of this train of thought. Fall off-season travel is approaching as travel companies across the board begin offering different deals and incentives to fill rooms, flights, or seats. Europe, still, again?

Why Cheap off-season Travel to Europe NOW:

1. Cheap Euro. The flight to the US dollar and away from the Euro is still prevalent. The medium term outlook on this does not seem to benefit the dollar given the rough shape the US economy is still in even after all of the spending and US dollar devaluing.

2. Off-Season Deals - the summer travel season is over, (more…)

The topic of Europe getting expensive for budget travelers is getting beat to death with the Euros gains versus the US monopoly dollar. With political biases aside Ron Paul not in office and a weak dollar trend seemingly endless, finding rational reasons to visit Europe for fun is nearly impossible to do when more budget friendly options exist in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

But for those who just need to go to Europe and need to rationalize their decision, here are some excuses you can use to travel to Europe:

“I’m advancing my career” or “I’m furthering my education”- Take a very part time language course in Europe - German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch?? Slap your 1 week course name and description on your resume and there ya go.

“I’m considering a European business acquisition” - Buffet recently went on a tour of Europe searching for businesses to acquire under Berkshire Hathaway, so that’s a legit excuse, right?

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If you’re going to Italy, or elsewhere throughout Europe and you’re traveling on a tight budget, staying at convents is a great option for cheap accommodations.

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Is the European railroad system on a comeback? It’s definitely a question you must ask yourself, especially after reading a New York Times article on new European railroad expansions taking place. The article cites the several substantial decreases in travel time that will result from rail upgrades all around Europe.

Paris

First, the travel time between Paris, France and Strasbourg will be cut in half in June, to nearly two and a half hours by a new service from TGV Est. Paris will also see faster connections with Germany, Switzerland, eastern France, and Luxemborg from TGV Est’s improvements.

Great Britain

EuroStar is opening up in St. Pancras International station in London to offer the country’s first high speed rail line. This will open up northern England and Scotland to the rest of Europe. Travel to Paris from London will also be improved to about 2 hours 15 minutes.

All Over the Place…

Really, everywhere else is also getting in on the action. Brussels, Amsterdam, Italy, Spain, and Germany are all opening new high speed railroads in the next couple years.

European Travel in the Future

This is the first news piece that I have seen in awhile to suggest that European rail travel is on a comeback. In the last couple years, many budget travelers and backpackers migrated toward the European budget airlines because of their amazingly low air fares.

Well, with potential fare hikes and the future of jet fuel prices in the next decade, I see another shift back to the European rail ways. It’ll be nice to see the romantic rail traveling backpacker have better travel opportunities in the future.

I’m kind of late to the party, but I just ran across an awesome travel blog idea. Its Europe on an Alphabet, and is about a woman who decided to travel all across Europe to cities starting with each letter in the alphabet. It’s a really unique idea that I find appealing

It’s too bad I did not find this earlier, but here is the post that started her blog it all back in February. Enjoy.

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[tags] travel, backpacking[/tags]