Fresh from a trip to Turkey, I spent days wandering around this spectacular city trying out all of the delicious dishes. Luckily for me, Turkish street food is amazing, safe to eat and very easy on the wallet. From fresh baked breads to mussels sprinkled with lemon, you’ll find a huge variety of food that will please any Cheapo’s taste buds.

Here are some of the best options for street eats in Istanbul.

Kumpir

Kumpir is Turkey’s interpretation of a baked potato. The variety of toppings you can put on your kumpir are almost endless, from the usual cheese to corn, mayonnaise, pickles, peas, carrots, etc. Head to Ortakoy Market on a Sunday to try out one of these tasty Turkish treats, where you’ll find plenty of kumpir stalls.

Cost: €3-4

Fresh Squeezed Juice

Maybe this makes me really boring, but my favorite street treat in Istanbul is the juice. Walk around the windy streets of Istanbul, and you’ll be sure to find some tiny shops with a hand-operated juicer and a big pile of fruit. You can get pomegranate, orange, apple, carrot, grapefruit and often other fruit and vegetables juiced, or even a mix.

Cost: €0.50 – 1.50

Midye dolma

A Turkish favorite found all around the country, Midye dolma are mussels stuffed with rice and sprinkled with lemon juice. Use your best judgement about when to try these, i.e. don’t go to a stand with mussels that have been baking in the hot sun all day!

Cost: 2 for €0.35

Balik ekmek

Take a stroll along the Galata bridge near Karaköy and Eminönü, and you’ll smell this snack frying up everywhere. Balik ekmek translates to “fish bread,” and that’s exactly what it is—a piece of fish inside a roll. Vendors fry up fish on large grills, and stuff them into fluffy Turkish bread with a little bit of lettuce. Personally, I wasn’t a big fan. The fish were frozen and imported, and the fear of swallowing fish bones really inhibited my enjoyment of the sandwich. Nevertheless, Turkish people swear by these as the perfect dinner or snack.

Cost: €1.75 – 2.75

Kokoreç

Kokorec are sheep intestines that have been spiced, skewered and stuffed in a loaf of bread. My Turkish friends tell me this is a legendary post-drinking greasy, guilty pleasure snack, similar to Poutine in Quebec.

Cost: €2 – 3

Misir

Misir are grilled or boiled corn on the cob. You can find these being sold in droves on carts in the streets surrounding the bridges, but only in the summer time.

Cost: €0.50 – 0.75

Kestane

In lieu of misir in the colder moths, Istanbul offers up Kestane: roasted chestnuts that warm the streets with their nutty aroma. They’re pretty much the same as roasted chestnuts in every other country… delicious and comforting.

Cost: 100g for €0.69

Simit

Last but not least, simits are the Turkish equivalent of bagels: dense, circular breads dipped in molasses and then sesame seeds. Often, vendors will serve them with Nutella or cheese for an extra cost. I can verify that this is the perfect breakfast on the go.

Cost: €0.35 – 1 depending on your order

One last thing to learn: Afiyet Olsun! It means bon appétit in Turkish.

The post Street Food in Istanbul: 8 snacks to try for €4 or less appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Transiting around Turkey is a relatively stress-free and economical experience. For all the money I spent on travel, I could probably have bought myself only a one-way train ticket in France!

In order to get around, you have several options:

Turkey by air

Domestic flights in Turkey are generally very budget-friendly due to competition between various Turkish airlines. There are several airports that serve the country, and you can fly with:

Atlasjet: www.atlastjet.com
Onur Air: www.onurair.com.tr
Pegasus Airlines: www.pegasusairlines.com
Sun Express Airlines: www.sunexpress.com.tr
Turkish Airlines: www.thy.com

Prices can range from as low as €30 to around €100… not bad!

Turkey by rail

The Turkish railway system is generally considered to be outdated, but things are slowly improving. Take the train if you’re after a more calming, scenic travel experience, because the railway is certainly not the most direct way between Turkish destinations, but it sure can be beautiful. The high speed train between Istanbul and Ankara is becoming quite popular, taking only 3.5 hours and costing around €33.

For more information, I recommend visiting Seat 61’s page on Turkish trains.

Related: Turkey’s rail revolution

Turkey by bus

Traveling by bus is the most popular and developed form of travel in Turkey. A bus trip in Turkey will most likely be a highly enjoyable experience! I was extremely impressed with the efficiency of all parts of my bus trips, from the planning and purchasing of the tickets to journey itself. Here’s the low-down: almost every Turkish town and city will have a bus station, called an “otogar”. You can buy your bus ticket (“bilet“) there either in advance or just before your trip, depending on the popularity of the route. Here are some of the major bus companies you will find at the otogar:

Kamil Koç: www.kamilkoc.com.tr
Ulusoy: www.ulusoy.com.tr
Varan: www.varan.com.tr

For more information on bus routes, visit Turkey Travel Planner, an amazing source of information.

I purchased a one-way ticket from Fethiye, a small city on the southwestern coast, to Istanbul for €33 with Varan, which was comparatively expensive, due to the fact that I was traveling during a major Turkish holiday. I arrived for the journey 10 minutes early and had plenty of time to spare. By 7 PM, the bus was on its way, right on time.

The seats were big and comfy and relined back to an almost horizontal state. Other perks included the air conditioning, which was a huge comfort in the 100-degree weather, the service of tea, coffee, soda and snacks every few hours, and the mini-TV with Turkish-dubbed films. My bus did not have Wi-Fi, but many do.

As we drove north, the bus stopped twice at rest stops, where it seemed there were thousands of other buses and travelers mid-journey. At the stops you can get out, walk around, purchase some snacks (there are, of course, kebab restaurants) or stay in the bus snoozing. With no appetite at either 11 PM or 3 AM, I stayed in my comfy seat. When I opened my eyes again, it was 7 AM, and we were nearly at our destination. By 8:30 AM, I had arrived at Istanbul’s main bus terminal, Büyük Otogar.

Related: Istanbul budget tips from transit tickets to nightlife

From there, I wearily searched for a Varan mini-bus (“dolmus”) with the words “Taksim” on the window to bring me to my final destination. Sure enough, there was a bus waiting for me, and I enjoyed a free trip into central Istanbul.

Taking the overnight bus in Turkey was a great experience. I was comfortable, safe, well-fed and my wallet was happy. Sleeping on the bus meant not having to pay for another night in a hotel or hostel. If you’re considering visiting Turkey, don’t be thrown off by the idea of a long bus trip—you might just enjoy it!

The post Budget Travel in Turkey: A journey on the overnight bus appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

When we last chatted with Tim back in June at the Travel Blog Exchange conference in Keystone, CO, he was hard at work wrapping up the latest edition of his book, The World’s Cheapest Destinations. We had plenty of questions for him then – as we do now – and love his perceptive, er, perspective on travel. We think you will, too.

Question 1: We’ve been fans of yours for years and appreciate you participating in our Q&A series. Can you first let our readers know a little about you and what led you into such an expansive travel writing career?

Like a lot of your readers, I took off on a round-the-world “trip of a lifetime” and had trouble stopping. My first trip was 20 years ago though, with my now-wife, and we circled the globe two more times, teaching English along the way and in my case, getting some toes in the door with editors as a travel writer.

I kept at it as a part-time writer for many years before finally quitting my day job and becoming a full-time travel writer and publisher last decade. I added a site here, a blog there until one day I woke up and realized I was a real business owner.

Question 2: Congrats on the success of “The World’s Cheapest Destinations.” It must be fascinating to see how budget travel has evolved since its first edition. What have been the biggest changes since the book’s initial publication?

The first edition came out 10 years ago and I’m quite embarrassed now when I look at it. The book is a lot better and meatier now.

The main changes in the world of travel though all stem from one trend: far more travelers. Every place is more crowded with tourists than it used to be, except for a few holdouts like North Korea, and while you can still quite easily get off the beaten path if you want, the flood of images on the web means there are fewer unknowns out there. Everything is easier and more organized.

There’s also 100 times more information about 100 times more places than a decade ago, which overall is probably a good thing. The world is wealthier overall, which is also a good thing, even if it does mean prices have inched up in some of our favorite places.

On the negative side, it saddens me to see four travelers sitting silently around a table, all exchanging messages with friends back home and posting status updates. Sometimes that goes on for a half hour, nobody talking to the person right across from them. There’s less experiencing, more sharing. Less reflection, more blabbering. Get the photo, upload, move on.

People seem unable to let go and just be in the moment, in the place, without immediately connecting to the home they supposedly left behind.

Question 3: Let’s talk Europe. You cover a lot of ground in this book and we’re interested in the trends you see shaping up across the continent. What destinations do you think should be on a Cheapo’s radar these days? Why?

My big destination change this time was removing Turkey and adding Slovakia. Turkey’s still great and I’m heading there later this year, but it’s definitely gotten more expensive as the economy has taken off and more cruise ships dock there—especially Istanbul. A decent value still, but not a great one for backpackers.

In Slovakia you can still feel way ahead of the curve. It’s beautiful Olde Europe with castles and historic architecture, plus surprisingly good wine in addition to the good beer, but it gets a tiny fraction of the visitors of the Czech Republic or Hungary. The main drawback is, because there aren’t many backpackers, there aren’t a lot of hostels and cheap day trip tours.

Although I’ve had Bulgaria in the book from the start, I was relying on third-party info and interviews. I finally made it there this past year and was blown away. It’s as cheap as some places in Asia and Latin America, with incredible scenery and excellent food. I’m itching to go back again and do some longer hiking trips, staying in mountain huts that are priced like hostels.

Cheapness depends a lot on exchange rates too, of course. Hungary felt less expensive this time I visited than it did four years ago, almost entirely because the dollar was stronger.

Question 4: What’s the next big trip for you and how are you doing it on the cheap?

I took my family to southeast Asia last summer, moving around as backpackers for three weeks, and it wasn’t hard to do it on the cheap there. Our budget was $150 a day and for that we really lived it up in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Nice hotels, three daily restaurant meals, frequent massages, etc. In the near future though I’m doing a lot of writing trips for articles, things where it’s not all on my dime. I’m doing a biking trip in Portugal in May though and am curious to see how prices there are looking during the ongoing crisis.

In the summer I’m moving back to Guanajuato, Mexico with my family though for two years and will be doing most of my travel the second half of the year there and in other spots in Latin America. I find Mexico quite affordable if you are in the interior rather than at the vacation resort areas.

I’ll probably get to Ecuador, which is another place you don’t have to try very hard to travel on the cheap. And oddly enough, they even use the U.S. dollar.

Sounds fantastic. Thanks for stopping by, Tim, and good luck with all your upcoming travels!

The post 4 Cheapo Questions for Tim Leffel of Perceptive Travel appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Last week I flew from New York’s JFK to Istanbul and connected from there to Sofia. Aside from the duration of the layover in Istanbul (six hours!) the journey was very pleasant. The layover in Istanbul was also a blast, despite my personal jetlag-induced fog. Turkish Airlines has very wisely turned Istanbul into an intercontinental hub. Loads of passengers on my flight were continuing on to places like Tel Aviv and Tashkent, and massive numbers of Dutch and German tourists were heading home. The airport is a thoroughgoing cultural crossing point.

Onboard Turkish Airlines

But back to the Turkish Airlines experience.

Let’s start with the best bit of branding, the showcased food items. Our pre-dinner drinks on the JFK-Istanbul flight came with little bags of hazelnuts, replete with the propagandistic slogan “The Miracle Nut Hazelnut Comes from Turkey.” The question of origin aside, this particular miracle nut is a pretty delicious introduction to a meal service. The dinner that followed was unexpectedly tasty. It included a small tube of very flavorful olive oil and lemon juice packaged to call attention to its Turkish provenance.

Also of note: the yogurt cucumber salad served with dinner and the sandwiches passed out late at night, between dinner and breakfast. We’re talking about airplane food, granted, but everything was pretty acceptably tasty. I can only imagine what sorts of things passengers at the front of the plane were eating.

My second flight, from Istanbul to Sofia, was in the air for fifty minutes or so. According to the flight distances list posted in the back pages of the airline’s in-flight magazine, the Istanbul-Sofia flight is Turkish Airlines’ shortest international journey. Nonetheless, a decent meal and drinks were served in that short window. The meal contained another gorgeous tube of olive oil and lemon juice.

A little reading

The April edition of Skylife, the Turkish Airlines in-flight magazine, continues the work of interweaving airline and national brands. The issue’s best articles: lengthy spreads on Denizli and Ekaterinburg, both with multiple images, and a short piece on a trio of Turkish springtime destinations.

Most exciting of all is the route map in the back of the magazine, with its documentation of Turkish Airlines’ impressive list of routes. The links across Central Asia, the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and the Gulf States will no doubt appear especially suggestive to seasoned European travelers looking to push beyond Europe. The airline’s domestic routes across Turkey are also impressive.

Next week I’ll fly back to New York on Turkish Airlines from Chisinau via Istanbul. Here’s hoping for a similarly enjoyable return journey.

The post Airline Memo: A maiden journey on Turkish Airlines appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Over forty European cities or urban regions have done a stint as Capital of Culture, with the city of Luxembourg (perhaps a little improbably) being the only place to have twice enjoyed the accolade. The second time round, Luxembourg shared the award with partner towns in its international hinterland.

Reaching beyond the EU

Usually only cities in the European Union are accorded the cherished status, but there have been a few exceptions. Reykjavík, Bergen, and Stavanger have all been featured. But EU magnanimity does has its limits and there has until now been no serious talk of giving a Russian city the title, which is a pity as the European part of the Russian Federation surely has a dozen cities which could easily cut a dash in the European cultural arena: Saint Petersburg and Kazan are just two obvious examples.

2010: Istanbul, Pecs, and Essen

Yet 2010 does see a bold EU move, with the cultural hand of friendship extended across the EU’s eastern boundary to embrace Europe’s largest city as a capital of culture: Istanbul. There are a trio of designated cities for 2010 : The two others are Essen in the industrial Ruhrgebiet of western Germany and Pécs in southern Hungary.

Pécs happens to be quite a gem, a fabulously sunny city full of hillside gardens, vineyards, and terracotta roofs. Whether Essen can compete with beautiful Pécs and exotic Istanbul in the culture stakes is an interesting question.

The city that missed out: Görlitz

Essen pipped another German city into the final trio, and we rather think that its rival, a city on the Polish border called Görlitz, might have been the better choice. But the selection of Essen does mean of course that canny Cheapos who head to Görlitz this summer won’t need to fight the crowds that will surely flock to Essen. Perhaps the judges thought, like us, that Görlitz is just too fine a spot to worry about titles.

If you do make it to Görlitz in 2010, it would be a chance to try one of our favorite hostelries. The Hotel Börse has an enviable location on the main square. Rooms in the main building are from €70, including breakfast. For those on a budget, the amiable host Georg Rittmannsperger can also offer rooms in the baroque townhouses opposite the hotel. Rates there are from €50 a room, and that includes breakfast in the Börse.

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Author, reporter, and NPR correspondent Scott Huler recently returned from an epic journey tracing the tale of Homer’s “Odyssey.” After reading “No-Man’s Lands,” his insightful recounting of the trip, we asked him for advice on planning a similar journey—on a budget.

Scott had some great advice:

When Odysseus set off on an epic voyage, he had some non-cheapo advantages: his ships were filled with treasure from the Trojan War, and if supplies ran low it was perfectly reasonable to come ashore and make a brief pirate raid on a coastal town.

That wasn’t going to work for me. When I set out to retrace his journey from Troy to Ithaca, I had little more than a backpack, a tight budget, and a pregnant wife at home. Just the same, I found the cheaper-than-cheap backpack route from Troy to Ithaca perfect for me. I had more than a dozen stops to make. Add to that Athens and the tiny Turkish town of Kesan, and my journey covered around 20 cities in Turkey, Greece, Tunisia, Italy (where I visited the catacombs in Rome), France, and Malta. Finally, I arrived on the western tip of Sicily.

Here are five things you should know if you ever make an epic journey on a small-scale budget:

1. Get your doner on!

In Turkey, if it’s spinning on a vertical spit, it’s probably doner, which is like Greek gyro and delicious almost beyond imagination. But beware: If it’s spinning on a horizontal spit it’s probably kokorec, which is sheep guts, and tastes like sheep guts. If you suddenly find yourself buying kokorec, just get them to put a lot of pepper on it. You can get a few bites down before you turn the corner and find a trash can. Be sure to smile and wave at the vendor. You’ll be a good story for them.

2. Use your words.

Don’t be embarrassed to take a guided tour in the language of your choice: you left home to understand people and places different from you, right? You’ll learn a lot more, and if you stick with trustworthy sources (the museum’s free audio guide rather than the guy who starts plucking at your sleeve after you walk in), you’ll pay only a reasonable fee augmented by, of course, a reasonable tip. I had a guided tour of Troy that got my journey started just right, and I might have missed some very cool stuff had I been too savvy for it all.

3. Buy cheap(er) overnight accommodation.

Here’s how. Take an overnight ferry and pay the extra euros for a room. If you’re traveling alone, pay the addition for a single. Defending territory on couches in saloon bars or hunkering down in chilly winds on deck sounds romantic in a post-college kind of way, but unless you’re absolutely destitute, the extra € 20 will be well worth it, turning a sleepless night into a night of almost delightful, private peace.

4. Take the bus (especially in Turkey).

Not only is the bus one of the cheapest—and greenest—modes of transport, but it’s civilized beyond measure. In Turkey, for example, where I rode the bus everywhere, there’s air conditioning, oriental rugs down the center aisle, free cakes, water, and orange soda. Plus every couple hours or so an attendant brings around a little dash of bergamot cologne. Talk about luxury for less! (Visit the main bus terminal in Istanbul to learn more or to get moving.)

5. When in Rome, stay near the train station.

In Rome, I loved the Hotel Stromboli. Tourist guides will tell you to avoid the hotels near the Stazione Termini, but I think they’re crazy. Cheap rooms abound (if you’re clever, you can get them at the Stromboli for 50 euros or so), and there are tons of paninotecas with delicious and cheap hot sandwiches that keep travelers fueled for a couple euros a pop. Plus, you’ll find plenty of nearby nasoni fountains to keep water bottles full for free and you have constant, convenient access to the train station. No place in Rome is too far to walk from there and when it’s time to head to the airport, that’s exactly where the cheap buses depart from. There are dozens of cheap, clean, and safe hotels in this unfairly maligned neighborhood. It’s where you want to be.

See EuroCheapo’s recommendations for hotels South and North of Termini Station in Rome.

About the author: Scott Huler has written for such newspapers as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Los Angeles Times and such magazines as Backpacker, Fortune, and Child. His award-winning radio work has been heard on “All Things Considered” and “Day to Day” on National Public Radio and on “Marketplace” and “Splendid Table” on American Public Media. He has been a staff writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Raleigh News & Observer and a staff reporter and producer for Nashville Public Radio. He was the founding and managing editor of the Nashville City Paper. He sometimes serves as guest host on “The State of Things” on WUNC-FM. No-Man’s Lands is his fifth book. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, the writer June Spence; they have a son and another child on the way.

The post Q & A: Scott Huler’s epic journey on a budget appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.