And sure, you’re always welcome to shell out a few euros to climb the stairs or hop an elevator for a bird’s eye perspective. But why would you when in most cases there’s a free option that’s just as good or even better?

More tips for traveling in Europe
• How to plan a European itinerary that won’t leave you exhausted
• Guide to buying a SIM Card in Europe

10 Best free views in Europe

Are you ready to soak in the spectacular views of Europe at no cost? Read on for our top tips on places to get a higher perspective in cities across Europe.

1. Paris: Parc de Belleville

For sweeping panoramas and some peace and quiet for a picnic, head to this 20th arrondissement park. Once you get there, climb to the summit of Paris’s highest park where there’s a 30-meter tall terrace. If you’re short on time, another great place for free vistas of the City of Lights are the steps of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.

Related: 9 Budget hotels in Paris packed with old-world charm

2. Rome: Capitoline Hill

In the city of the seven hills, there are views all around when you visit Rome. For one of the best vistas at zero cost, we recommend Piazzale Caffarelli on Capitoline Hill. If you’re up for some refreshment, head to Terraza Caffarelli.

3. Berlin: The Reichstag

Not enthused about climbing up somewhere to get a bird’s eye view? Berlin’s got just the ticket. Visitors to the city can hop an elevator to the top of the German Parliament building, free of charge. There’s one catch though — you absolutely — must reserve in advance online (no phone calls).

4. Athens: Mount Lycabettus

Want to see the Acropolis from a distance in Athens? Climb up the highest hill in town, Mount Lycabettus. Standing at 277 meters above sea level, this is the best spot in town for watching the sunset or even spotting the Aegean Sea on a clear day. There’s a café in the vicinity, but prices are as high as the altitude, so you may want to bring your own food and drink.

5. Edinburgh: Arthur’s Seat

Believe it or not, this large hill in Edinburgh, thought to be one of the possible locations for King Arthur’s Camelot, is actually an ancient volcano. While you can hike up it from pretty much any direction you desire, locals advise taking the easy route from the east side straight on up to the top. Note that rock-climbing of any kind requires a permit.

6. Barcelona: MontjuÏc Cemetery

Barcelona’s most famous city of the dead has more to offer than the wildly creative funerary art — it also has sweeping vistas of the city and beyond. To get there you can either take the hour-long walk to the top from Plaça Espanya or hop the buses 107 or 125.

Related: 7 Tips for saving on your hotel in Barcelona

7. London: Parliament Hill

This 98-meter high hill was once attached to a manor given to Henry II’s butler. Today it is part of Hampstead Heath, one the most popular parks in London. From up on Parliament Hill, snap a few shots of the London skyline, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the famous Gherkin building.

Related: The 5 Best cheap hotels in London

Stroll through these beautiful gardens for a stunning view of Lisbon. Photo: Jorge

8. Lisbon: Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara

Walk uphill from Chiado and find your way to this garden overlooking Baixa for panoramas of all of Lisbon, including views of its iconic castle, St. George’s. While you’re there, explore the garden itself with its classical statues of heroes and gods from Greek and Roman mythology.

Related: 10 Ways to save on a trip to Portugal

9. Copenhagen: The Tower at Christiansborg Palace

See Copenhagen from an entirely different vantage point for free. Stroll through The King’s Gate near Palace Square and take the elevator to the top of the city’s tallest tower. You may have to wait in line, especially during high season, but it’s worth the wait to look down on the rooftops of the entire city free of charge. Just be advised that Tårnet, the restaurant at the top, is pretty spendy and probably best avoided by folks on a budget.

Grab a seat and enjoy the view from the Amsterdam library. Photo: Ellen F.

10. Amsterdam: Openbare Bibliotheek

East of Amsterdam Central Station, the largest library in the Netherlands is home to more than a massive collection of books. The top floor at Openbare Bibliotheek is the best spot in town to see the Dutch capital from a higher perspective. There’s even a restaurant with a terrace if you prefer to take in the views from outside.

Related: The 10 Best cheap hotels in Amsterdam

Do you have a favorite spot to enjoy a view of Europe for free? Tell us in the comments below.

The post 10 Breathtaking views in Europe — for free! appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Though costume parties for October 31st are growing increasingly popular across the continent, most countries in Europe still do not celebrate Halloween in quite the same way as the United States does. Trick or treating has just not caught on yet.

To get your spooky fix on that next European vacation — whether on All Hallows Eve or any other time of year — check out one of these spine-tingling tours and attractions.

More spooky posts on EuroCheapo:

• EuroCheapo’s Spookiest Hotel Ghosts (7 photos!)
• Five haunted (and free!) spots in New York City
• Free haunted walking tours in NYC

Paris: The Catacombs

From the late 1700s to the mid-1800s, the remains of about six million Parisians were dug up from cemeteries around the city and reinterred in a central ossuary, known as the Catacombs of Paris, a site that should be on every traveler’s shortlist of must-see Paris attractions.

Visitors descend 130 steps beneath the Paris streets for a 1.2-mile trek through poorly lit passageways. Whoever designed the Catacombs definitely had a taste for the macabre: An engraving above the entranceway to the ossuary reads, “Stop! For this is the kingdom of Death,” and the bones are artfully arranged in mounds with scores of skulls on top that seem to stretch on indefinitely. Perhaps the creepiest thing about the Catacombs is the pile of bones at the street exit — the artifacts that visitors have tried to take home as souvenirs.

Details: 1, Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy. Admission is €13.

London: Jack the Ripper Tours

We may never know the identity of the UK’s most famous serial killer, but the legend surrounding Jack the Ripper still scares the bejeezus out of us. Tramping through the back streets of East London on a dark October night seems a fitting tribute to this grisly murderer.

Though many groups offer similar excursions, London Discovery Tours claim to have the “original” Jack the Ripper tour. With a published historian at its head, the company certainly promises a thorough background in the murders, the suspects, and neighborhood history. The two-hour circuit winds through cobblestone streets to point out sites where the victims lived and died.

Details: Tours start at the Aldgate East Underground station at 7 pm nightly. Reservations must be made in advance; the cost is £10 per person.

Exploring the spooky Underground Vaults in Edinburgh. Photo fw42

Edinburgh: The Underground Vaults

Many cities boast myths of people living underneath the streets, but in Edinburgh the legends are true. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, a veritable underground city of chambers, vaulted rooms, tunnels, and passageways existed below South Bridge. In these darkened, confined spaces thousands of people lived — and some say their spirits never left. Abandoned in the 1830s, the Underground Vaults reopened to the public in 1996.

Your guide into this underground world is Mercat Tours, who will lead you on a 1-hour and 15-minute tour of the haunted vaults.

Details: From October to March, Mercat offers tours daily at 3 and 5 pm. Reservations are £13 for adults.

Budapest: Nighttime Visits at the Labyrinth of Buda Castle (currently closed)

Located underneath Buda Castle, the Labyrinth is eerie enough in the daytime when it’s illuminated by electric lights. After dark, however, with only a lantern as a guide, the stone passageways are downright spooky. Personally, we’d steer clear of the Labyrinth of Love (where couples start at opposite ends of the maze and meet in the middle for a “romantic” rendezvous undisturbed in one of the chambers), but a Dante-themed program makes our skin crawl in a good way. Forty minutes alone in the darkened halls with visions of the Divine Comedy in our heads? Let’s not think about what demons may be lurking just around the corner!

Find your own way out of purgatory by booking your night tour in advance via the Labyrinth of Buda Castle website (hours and days vary by tour; the Dante tour is available Mondays at midnight, Wednesdays at 11 pm, and Saturdays at 5 am). Adult tickets cost 2,000 forints (about $9) and include one regular admission during daytime hours.

Note: the Labyrinth is temporarily closed and is undergoing government inspection — we hope it will be back open sometime soon!

About the author: Liz Webber is an associate editor at ShermansTravel.com, a leading site for hand-picked travel deals and expert destination advice.

The post Boo! Spooky places to celebrate Halloween in Europe appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Buying pastries at Elephant house. Photo: Axon Manage

The Elephant House
21 George IV Bridge

The Elephant House is famous for three things. First of all, the elephants that gave the place its name: there’s loads of them dotted around this charming café. Then there’s Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling apparently wrote some of the first Harry Potter sitting in this café’s back room that has what you might call inspirational views over to Edinburgh castle. And, finally, there’s the food. Although it does open in the evening, this is mainly a sandwich and soup, or a coffee and cake kind of place. Attracting academics from the National Library of Scotland opposite as well as Potter tourists and aspiring novelists, the Elephant House is a great place to sit and people watch for an hour or so.

The Mosque Kitchen 
22 Nicolson Street

Another firm student favorite, this eatery—as the name suggests—is related to Edinburgh’s mosque. It originally served the congregation but opened its kitchen to all, much to the delight of curry lovers around the city. You’ll need to queue, and it’s more of a canteen than a restaurant (meals are served on paper plates), but when you can pick up a tasty chicken curry with two sides for less than a fiver, it’s more than worthwhile.

North African favorite Nile Valley Cafe. Photo: Gary Denham

Nile Valley Cafe
6 Chapel Street

Situated right by University of Edinburgh, its influence can be felt in the flyers and posters for student events decorating the walls, as well as the cheap prices of this North African eatery. Think flavorful falafel, kebabs and flat breads with great dips and sauces, perfect for adding some color on a cold Edinburgh day. Charmingly scruffy around the edges, you can enjoy a set lunch at £5.99 or evening meal for £15.50, and make the most of their bring your own booze policy.

A Room in the West End & Teuchters Bar
26 William Street

This place is perfect if you want a Scottish experience—it’s basically a highland bar transplanted to the center of Edinburgh. That means football and rugby on the TVs and an extensive range of whiskys behind the bar. There’s a bar menu—a tempting variety of things served in mugs—or head downstairs to the cozy ‘room’ to enjoy a more formal dining experience. Food is suitably Scottish, with an emphasis on seafood, but many a fond word has also been said about their Banoffee pie. Mains are around £13 each, but you can get a good deal on a set lunch. There’s another branch in the Leith area of the city.

Cottage pie with braised red cabbage at The Dogs restaurant. Photo: Edinburgh Blog

The Dogs
110 Hanover Street

The Dogs was set up to provide a good value dining experience. It’s a fun, young and informal atmosphere with mismatched plates and crockery, dark wood tables and hearty mains, using locally sourced food where possible. In the day, you can get mains for under £7, while in the evening around £13 will get you delights such as a generous portion of stuffed pork belly. At busier times in the city, such as Hogmanay or the Edinburgh Festival, you’ll probably need to book ahead.

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Scottish lions

The truth of course is that, like many tourists to Scotland, the couple on the train had barely scratched the surface of the country. Victorian travellers described the “must-see” sights in any region as the “lions” and the standard list of Scottish lions has barely changed in 150 years. The railway viaduct at Glenfinnan, opened only in 1898, is the newcomer to the list.

The “Western Isles” arrives at the Knoydart’s remote pier. Photo © hidden europe

Over recent decades, great tracts of the Scottish Highlands, which were once so difficult to reach, have become very much more accessible. Distance has been diminished by better roads, improved ferry connections and faster trains. The most frequently visited Scottish island — Skye — is now hardly an island at all. Since 1995, it has been connected by a road bridge to the mainland.

Routes less taken

Move away from Scotland’s principal cities and for many decades the defining characteristic of Scottish rural landscapes was their remoteness. In many cases, there is still a genuine sense of isolation and distance from civilisation. The Shetland capital at Lerwick is still more than twelve hours on the fastest boat from the mainland port of Aberdeen. If, having sailed from Aberdeen to Lerwick, you want to continue on the direct boat from Lerwick to tiny Fair Isle (which runs only on alternate Thursdays), then you are in for another longish voyage — five hours.

Even on the mainland, distances are challenging. The sole daily rail connection from Wick (in the north-east) to Stranraer (in the south-west) takes over twelve hours. Few visitors to Scotland have the appetite for such long hauls. Impatience with travel, lust to be at a destination, means that most visitors focus on easy trips to places that are quick pickings.

Five hidden gems

So you think you know Scotland? Here’s our checklist of five remote spots that well repay the effort of a strenuous journey. None of them are in the canon of accepted tourist “sights.” But each offers a taste of really rural Scotland:

1. The island of North Ronaldsay in the Orkneys, reached by twice weekly ferry from Kirkwall. Travel time 2hrs 40mins to 3hrs 35mins from Kirkwall.

2. The island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, reached by ferry from Oban. Sailings most day, with a passage time of 5 to 7 hours.

3. The Knoydart Peninsula on the mainland. A half-hour hop on the ferry from Mallaig.

4. Kinloch Hourn — one of the remotest spots on the mainland that can be reached by car. But take time, for access is by a fragile ribbon of tarmac: a single-track road that seems to go on for ever.

5. The summit of Merrick in the Galloway Forest Park. No lofty mountain, but a chance to engage with the hills and forests of Scotland’s oft-overlooked south-west corner.

The post Exploring Europe: Really Rural Scotland appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Flying the flag with Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is by far the oldest of the airlines that fly the Irish flag. Dating back to 1936, it has struggled to shake off its image as an old-style legacy flag carrier. And struggled even more to shake off predatory take-over bids from upstart Ryanair. Thrice has Ryanair sought to gobble up Aer Lingus, and thrice has Aer Lingus repelled the advances of the suitor.

Aer Lingus is more than merely an airline of the Republic. It’s a big player in Northern Ireland too. In recent weeks, for example, the company has opened new routes from Belfast City Airport to Mallorca, Málaga and Faro. And you’ll find Aer Lingus popping up most unexpectedly in other markets too. Virgin Atlantic’s new UK domestic flights, branded “Little Red,” are more green than red: The routes from London Heathrow to Aberdeen, Manchester and Edinburgh are in fact operated by Aer Lingus under a wet-lease arrangement with Virgin Atlantic.

The tang of the isles with Aer Arann

Book a flight with Aer Lingus Regional and the chances are that your flight will not be operated by Aer Lingus at all, but by another Irish airline: Aer Arann. For more than a quarter of a century after its founding in 1970, Aer Arann’s corporate horizons were limited to the Aran Islands. They provided short-hop services from the mainland to the islands in Galway Bay. But in 1998, Aer Arann spread its wings to establish a dominance in the regional market, using its smaller aircraft to pioneer thinner secondary routes that were of no interest to Aer Lingus.

It has not always been clear skies for Aer Arann though. The carried has relied on government subsidies to maintain routes to remote rural airstrips. And when those subsidies were axed, the carrier had perforce to drop its services. Nowadays, almost all the carrier’s operations are under the wing of Aer Lingus, although you can still catch the flavor of the early days of Aer Arann on the carrier’s flights from Connemara Airport to the Aran Islands.

Ireland with a dash of France: CityJet

In our book, the most interesting of the trinity of Irish airlines is CityJet. The company took to the skies of Europe in 1994, with a route from Dublin to London City. Oddly, the carrier’s greatest visibility has never been in the Irish market at all, but at London City Airport where CityJet competes with British Airways to be the dominant carrier.

This summer CityJet is serving a score of destinations from London City. The company has greatly enhanced its services from the airport to Germany, with new routes to Paderborn and Dresden both starting in recent weeks. Despite having its headquarters just outside Dublin, CityJet relies fair and square on the London City market for the bulk of its revenue. The company’s principal shareholder is Air France, so no surprise perhaps that this Irish airline has a French CEO: Christine Ourmières.

The Air France link has been both an asset and a liability for CityJet. Just now, there is talk of the French carrier wanting to sell its Irish fledgling. But CityJet remains a carrier to watch. Those who feel that Ryanair has done nothing to promote the status of Ireland might like to try CityJet style and service. When it comes to aviation, Ireland comes in many flavors.

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Sure, accommodations can still be a bit of a budget-buster, especially in those year-round tourist hot spots like Scotland’s capital city, but with a few local Cheapo tips, you’ll be enjoying old world charms with money to spare.

First things first – What not to do

There are two times of year when you cannot get cheap accommodations in Edinburgh:

– Hogmanay (that is New Year’s Eve to you non-Scots)
– August. Yes, the entire month. Have you heard of the Edinburgh Festival?

If you absolutely must join us for one of these two events (and why wouldn’t you?), book in advance to get a reasonable price. Say, six to nine months in advance. Really.

So, what are the great budget hotels?

One of my personal favourites is the Edinburgh Central, a member of the Scottish Youth Hostels program. It is one of the few hostels in the world that’s rated higher than some 3 or 4 star hotels – with ensuite rooms, a bistro with fresh and tasty breakfast fare that even attracts some locals, and all of the typical amenities you would expect in a good hostel. With rock-bottom rates, the Edinburgh Central is centrally located on the top of Leith Walk, just a ten minute walk to the busy Prices Street, but also surrounded with local pubs and kitsch restaurants.

I had guests in September (2008) who stayed near me here in the Old Town at the brand, spankin’ new Holiday Inn Express – Royal Mile. It’s not on the Royal Mile but only one block away; it actually sits on the Cowgate, which is full of late-night pubs and clubs, but thankfully the noise never drifts down this direction. The rates are reasonable, especially considering the top-notch facilities and very friendly staff.

Lastly, I would suggest checking out the Premier Inn Edinburgh. It is near Haymarket Station in the West End, a ten to 15 minute walk into the center of town. This part of Edinburgh is great for food and drink; there is also plenty of that timeless Georgian architecture for enjoyment.

How about some great, unexplored neighbourhoods?

The great thing about Edinburgh is that it is so easy to get around, either by walking or taking one of the efficient and inexpensive buses. There are a couple of great areas to check out that have budget accommodation options. Unfortunately, these neighborhoods are often overlooked by tourists:

Newington. This is just south of the Old Town and sits in between Holyrood Park and the Meadows. The main street here, Clerk Street, is full of fun costume shops, boutique restaurants, and nearby you can find a really great wine and whisky shop, The Great Grog. The further away from the city centre you are, the better the deal you’ll get. So, this is a great budget-friendly option with flair.

Stockbridge. Most people think of the trendy, posh side of Stockbridge, but a closer look reveals that this neighbourhood extends up into Inverleith Park, as well as west along the Water of Leith. Get away from the main street and you’ll find a deal.

If you go…

My absolutely favourite part of Edinburgh is the Water of Leith. Catch Bus #26 or 31 and have the driver let you off at Roseburn Terrace. Join the trail here and walk the scenic, peaceful two to three miles back into Stockbridge, where you can finish off the stroll with a coffee or a nice glass of wine in a nearby café.

Tell me, Cheapos: What’s your top tip for Edinburgh?

Andy Hayes is a freelance travel writer and one of Edinburgh’s top local Cheapos. For more travelogues and inspiring travel ideas, visit his website called Sharing Experiences.

The post Edinburgh Tip: How to find a budget hotel, and more! appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.