From which country to start an independent trip. How to go on a trip without a tour operator

Have you ever thought about traveling without travel agencies? Let's open little secret: in fact, they do not such a difficult job, reselling the product of tour operators. And it makes sense to use their services only when choosing mass destinations. And then, as the experience of Turkey and Egypt in 2015 showed, not always ... So, what is independent travel, what are its pros and cons and, most importantly, how to create it? Read the answers in the article on Turister.ru.

First, we will talk a little about how tour operators work. These organizations create a tourism product by entering into contracts for the wholesale transportation of tourists with airlines, for wholesale accommodation in hotels and for large volumes of accompanying and transfer services on the spot with host companies. That is, all the “salt” is in wholesale volumes. Due to the guarantee for hotels in terms of settling all rooms, hoteliers provide significant discounts, the same is done by airlines - seats are prepaid in advance, respectively, and the price of each of them is much lower than on the market. This allows you to make conditional tour packages to Turkey much cheaper than any way to the resorts on your own, often cheaper than a regular flight, and this is with meals and transfers!

However, not all so simple. This pricing policy works only on mass destinations, such as Turkey, Egypt, Thailand, and to a slightly lesser extent - Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Greece. In other cases, the tour operator works with airlines and hotels on request. That is, in terms of price - plus or minus just like a tourist from the street will do. And if you use low-cost airlines for travel, with which operators do not work, or - for trips of a large company - houses and apartments where operators do not populate, then it turns out that there are a lot of options to save money. Add to this the closure of mass destinations (Turkey and Egypt), the falling exchange rate of the ruble, the bankruptcy of tour operators - it turns out that traveling on your own is in many ways the only way out of the situation today. Of course, for those who do not agree to spend their entire vacation in the garden.

Before you create the trip of your dreams on your own, we recommend that you decide on the direction - which countries and cities do you want to visit? Here, on Tourister.ru, you can find all the information you need about these countries.

flights

Although the traditional air ticket office still exists, in modern world The service of selling air tickets online is becoming more and more popular. Now, both travel agencies and the airlines themselves often make it possible to purchase an air ticket via the Internet, it remains only to choose the most convenient and reliable option. When buying online, you can talk about your preferences, such as choosing a seat on an airplane, choosing a meal, and so on.

A joint project with a meta-search engine has been launched on the Tourister.ru website. It searches hundreds of airlines around the world, from the largest to the smallest, and lists options starting with the most attractive price. Further, using various filters, you can tailor the search to your requirements - preferred departure time, number of transfers, and much more. You can pay for the purchase of an air ticket bank card(Visa, MasterCard, American Express and others), bank transfer, electronic money. You can also cash in payment terminals and ATMs. In any case, booking air tickets online is a wonderful service for those who truly value their time.

The purchase scheme is extremely simple - at checkout travel document you enter your passport details and receive by e-mail e-tickets. Check-in for the flight is carried out according to the passport, the data of which are verified with the data electronic ticket. In the vast majority of cases, you do not even need to print out the ticket that came to the post office - everything is in the airline's database. That is why the tickets you purchased will not be lost and will not be given to another client by mistake.

You can read more about buying air tickets online, experiment with departure / arrival points, find out prices and buy a ticket in the "" section. We have also prepared a special guide for those who want to find cheaper tickets: highlights, life hacks, technical tricks and much more.

Find out how to get a 4% discount when booking on Booking.comIn addition to all the obvious advantages of booking through this system, Turister.ru and Booking.com have a joint promotion, the meaning of which is to return you 4% of the booking cost. For example, when booking a room in Paris for two weeks with a total cost of 50,000 rubles, you will receive a refund of 2,000 rubles, and this is the cost of a transfer from the airport. Details of the action you can find.

Search Engine RoomGuru

Another good option for self-selection of hotels is the RoomGuru.ru search engine. He searches for several booking systems at once, because the price for the same hotel may differ from system to system. Or the type of room may be different in cost - in one system better price for a single, in the other - for a double.

Hotellook search engine

Visa

A visa is a very important point, without this document you simply will not be allowed into the country. But it all depends on the state, to simplify, there are two options - a visa is either needed or not needed. And then the nuances - visa on arrival, visa-free regime 15/30 days, e-visa and others. Similar options, when you do not need to apply for a visa in advance, we have collected in a special table of visa-free countries for Russians.

For many popular countries, a visa is unfortunately required. This is almost all of Europe, the USA, Great Britain and many other countries. In order to make it easier for you to navigate, we have prepared a list of articles about visa requirements for various countries.

Transfer

Ordering an individual transfer at the price of a taxi

That's just this aspect of the rest of the tour operators elevated to the absolute! Still - due to this moment, when you don’t have to decide anything, but just get on the bus with a sign and get off at the entrance to the hotel, and you get the feeling of the beginning of a holiday. And also the question arises - what to do without this care and guardianship? In fact, everything is simple, and ordering a transfer today is a matter of five minutes on the Internet - for example, using the service. Only instead of a bus, you will have a car with a personal driver who will know the route and cost in advance, meet you with a sign at the airport and help you load your luggage. And by the way, all this for the price of an ordinary taxi from the airport. The same service can also be used as an ordinary taxi, but with a prepaid trip, eliminating misunderstandings, a double counter and other delights of ordinary taxi drivers.

Public transport

And for budget travelers there is always public transport. It is well developed in Europe, and in general there is a rule here - the more developed the country or city, the more options it takes to get from the airport to the city on a budget. To help such travelers, we have information on each more or less major airport, for example here is the Barcelona airport page. Similar information can be found about other airports, for this you need to enter the name of the airport you are interested in in the search field. Here are a couple of slides on how to quickly find the right airport and information about public transport.

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Click on the search button

Book a transfer with a private guide

It is also worth paying attention to our project - there are many offers specifically for the transfer. That is, it is not necessary to order an excursion in order to be picked up from the airport or from the train station.

Movement around the country

In general, the process of moving around any country in the world can be divided into two types: by rental car (or your own, if you arrived on it) and by public transport. Airplanes stand apart as an expensive mode of transport (although not always) with their own characteristics, but this only makes sense in very large countries such as China, India, the USA, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Here the recipe is simple - you need to look for the websites of local low-cost airlines, subscribe to their promotions and buy air tickets (yes, this happens). It is also useful to check - there is always something interesting here, and tickets are displayed not only from Russia, but all over the world.

Not every country has rail transport, but if it is more or less large or located in Europe, then you can travel by train without any problems. Pros - you can save on accommodation due to night crossings in sleeping cars; train stations are almost always in the center of cities. Cons - the price is higher than for a bus, the routes run between fairly large cities. In European and some other countries, there are tickets for trains.

The bus is the most popular view transport between cities in almost any country. It is almost everywhere, runs to the most distant villages. Economically, this is most often the most profitable mode of transport, and travel cards on more or less popular routes are also not uncommon. By and large, there is only one minus - a low level of comfort, especially on long-distance routes. And also if you go far enough, you will most likely have to transfer to another bus on the same ticket.

Car rent

Car rental is a separate issue. It is beneficial primarily where public transport is very expensive. And also in those cases when you travel with a group. The larger the company, the more profitable it is to rent a car. Another important factor is the cost of gasoline. Well, and most importantly - the car allows you to be independent of schedules and directions - you can go wherever there is a road. So the most important thing that saves car rental is time, which is even more valuable when traveling than in everyday life.

When renting a car, there are many nuances, such as the age of the driver, the class of the car, the place of pickup and the place of return of the car. Should be paid Special attention on parking rules and in general the features of traffic rules, we have such articles in many countries, especially in popular ones. For example, "Car rental in Spain". As for the process of choosing a car, the easiest way here is to use a special search aggregator, such as rentalcars.com. Its advantage is that it searches for a huge number of rental companies and chooses the best options in terms of conditions.

Car rental search

Search for fellow travelers on BlaBlaCar

There is another option, it may be of interest to single travelers or couples. The service, which is gaining momentum, offers you to sit down with the driver on the route (you choose the driver yourself) and share the cost of gasoline with him. The point is that you can find a driver with similar interests (thanks to integration with social networks), and the cost will be comparable to a bus for a similar distance, or even cheaper.

Search for fellow travelers on BlaBlaCar

Travel Insurance

Anything can happen on a trip, and it is better that various kinds of problems do not spoil the impression of the trip. To do this, there is insurance traveling abroad, which we strongly recommend using. The cost of medical services is a very unpleasant thing, and not only in Western Europe, and everywhere - without an insurance policy and in Russia it is very expensive to get sick! Therefore, in order not to lose all the money you have with you due to a conditional broken arm or food poisoning, you need to take out insurance, especially since it is inexpensive.

Our partner is a search insurance aggregator, the leader in the electronic travel insurance market in Russia, which will help you choose the type of insurance that best suits you. For example, you can add travel cancellation insurance, if you are not sure about the trip, then your non-refundable tickets will be compensated. And going to ride skiing or snowboarding in the mountains, be sure to include the relevant clauses in the contract - this is done by clicking one checkmark. The status of an official representative of the largest Russian and world insurance companies, a user-friendly interface without unnecessary difficulties, tariffs from insurers without extra charges - this is an incomplete list of reasons for buying an insurance policy right here. Of course, you don’t need to go anywhere, the policy will come to your mail and will not be lost.

Communication and roaming

Communication is an important aspect of any trip. Keeping relatives and friends informed is quite natural and logical, and social media firmly entered our lives, so without communication today - almost nowhere. We are accustomed to the fact that roaming, besides overseas, is expensive, and even the Internet should be turned off when crossing the border, so that later we do not take a loan to pay off bills. However, if you prepare in advance and study the issue, then the word "roaming" ceases to be so scary. In this regard, you can purchase a special tourist SIM card, with which the cost of calls and Internet in roaming will be reduced by more than five times compared to operators.

Speaking of operators. They have a lot of offers specifically for vacationers, often it is sold in packages and costs significantly less than the usual use of roaming on your tariff. Here are examples of offers from leading Russian operators:

And we also have tips for communicating abroad, worth reading.

Excursions and information preparation

Going to another country and not knowing anything about it is pretty stupid, and some even consider it a crime. There are several ways to get fed up with information. By tradition - free and thorny or for money and simply.

Russian guides around the world

We have collected the most complete . You just have to indicate the desired direction, choose the guide you like and contact him or place an order for an excursion directly from the site.

Self-preparation

There are many on our website useful information. We have tried to make it easy to find. Moreover, there is information both from the editorial staff and from users.

: There is also a direction selection in the right column.

In addition to stories, site users, as well as private guides, leave practical advice, which also does not hurt to read before the trip. All tips are divided into categories.

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Go to tips section

How to decide on the first independent trip abroad. Which country to choose in order not to experience problems, have fun and save money. Which countries are the easiest to travel to on your own if this is your first time.

You are still studying travel agency announcements and listen on the phone to the revelations of the manager about paradise holiday in egypt and luxurious beaches of Pattaya. Perhaps you are ready to change hotel reservations Sharm El Sheikh and Antalya to the expanses of the central Turkey; and also, not the most best coast Pattaya with a walk along the evening Beach Road in the company of drunken compatriots on the desert white sandy beaches small islands and the atmosphere of the northern provinces of Thailand. I don't know the language! I do not know how to drive! I'm afraid of the unknown in a foreign country! I'm afraid to be left without money! Where to start, in the end, which country is worth going to for the first time in the absence of independent travel experience. Approximately such questions are asked by novice travelers, who increasingly have thoughts of betraying a tour operator and organizing a trip abroad on their own. It is no secret that often, together with a tour package, they have to look at the local garbage dump under the window and fall asleep not to the sound of the evening surf of the waves, but to the sound of a bulldozer under their window, accompanied by juicy expressions of local builders.

I analyzed about 50 countries that I could recommend to those who want to go arrange your own trip - from the moment of buying a ticket and booking accommodation to compiling an itinerary. I took 7 main criteria to make it clearer why these countries in fact. A 5-point scale is closer to me, so I will evaluate the criteria according to it. Then, by mathematical addition of scores, I chose countries. Below is the result of my research.

One more moment. Why exactly 5 countries? And not, say, 7 or 10. Because after visiting these five countries, it will practically not matter where you go next. Before you will be only a matter of choosing a direction.

So, the criteria by which I studied the possibility independent travel novice traveler. The order in which these criteria are laid out is random without any hidden meaning.

• Visa regime
• The language and friendliness of the inhabitants.
• Transport accessibility and ease of movement within the country.
• The interest of the country for tourism in general.
• Price level.
• Security.
• Infrastructure and service

Many seemingly easy countries to visit were not included by the same criteria.

Turkey

• Turkey is a visa-free country for Ukrainians and Russians, so Welcome. ( 5 points)
• English and Russian are known here, though only in tourist places, but for the first time this is enough; ignorance of foreign languages ​​in the Turkish outback is compensated by the friendliness of the locals and sign language - it helps. ( 5 points)
• high-quality roads and a developed bus network, airports at key tourist points, proximity to Ukraine, Russia, Belarus. (5 points)
• Tourism is Turkey's strong point and hardly anyone needs to be convinced of this. (5 points)
• Turkish prices do not amaze with their low level, but they do not make you think about the insignificance of your income; (4 points)
• in Turkey it is dangerous, probably only for long-legged blondes, who, moreover, diligently show their other virtues to local hot guys; everyone else has nothing to worry about; ( 4 points)
• tourist infrastructure and service are almost European and much higher than in South-East Asia; (5 points)

Total points - 33

How to find budget accommodation in Istanbul

Thailand

• visa on arrival 5 points)
• in Thailand everywhere they understand basic school English and are fluent in sign language - ( 4 points), since many at school learned French or German ...
• the organization of internal movements in Thailand is the dream of any traveler. Any place in the country can be reached by plane, bus, train, car or water. In addition, all this is fabulously cheap, and there is a lot of information about the traffic pattern on specialized forums or on the net. The only "but" is far from our region. So - ( 4 points)
• I personally don’t know a country more interesting for tourism than Thailand, who knows - please share. Beaches, history, exotic, local kitchen… (5 points)
• ailand still remains a very low prices for everything: transport, housing, food and services; a little problem for car enthusiasts - left-hand traffic, which you get used to in half an hour, the way to Thailand is also not close, so - ( 4 points)
• in Thailand there is a specially created tourist police, so if you behave decently - there will be no problems, even in case of indecent behavior - the probability of problems is equal to the probability of snowfall in the Sahara ( 5 points)
• everything here is the best - for tourists, the service as a whole will probably have a lot of problems for snobs and those who are used to Arab luxury, but in general for a solid four - 4 points.

Total points - 31

How to find budget accommodation in Thailand

• a visa is not needed for 96 hours, this is enough to see the country and imagine what Kyiv Troyeshchyna might look like in 150 years ( 5 points)
• 98 percent of the residents speak English, so I don't see any particular problems... nonetheless ( 4 points)
• a car in Hong Kong is superfluous, expensive and more of a luxury item than a means of transportation; anywhere in the country and at any time of the day can be reached by bus, metro or taxi. From our latitudes, the path is not close and not cheap, so ( 4 points)
• local attractions are located compactly, and any more or less touristy attractive country will envy their number; ( 5 points)
• prices are perhaps the only serious drawback of the country, so if you are registered with the employment fund, it is better to postpone your trip to a white streak in your life; ( 2 points)
• even if you wanted to, the chances of running into the Hong Kong mafia, unless you're a drug dealer or a human trafficker, are practically negative. Hong Kong - Absolutely safe country (5 points)
• excellent infrastructure, good service is directly proportional to the price ( 5 points)

Hong Kong travel review

How to find budget accommodation in Hong Kong

Budget accommodation or hotels in Hong Kong can be found through the booking system Hotels Combined, a service I use myself. The advantage of the service is that it compares the prices of dozens of booking systems - you just have to choose the best offer. In each article or report, I provide links to hotels where I have stayed and which I liked.

How to buy a budget flight to Hong Kong

Air travel from Kyiv can be bought directly from airlines, but it is most advantageous to take advantage of flight offers on directionKyiv-Hong Kong from www.aviasales.ru

Croatia

• until recently, a visa-free country now lets our citizens in only if they have a stamp in their passport; the procedure is simple, but this also stops some - ( 4 points)
• English is no better known here than most Russians or Ukrainians, the situation is saved by the commonality of languages ​​- even a traffic cop is able to learn a dozen necessary phrases. ( 4 points)
• the country is located along the sea, which is considered one of the cleanest in the world, mountains, lakes and a number of ancient monuments. ( 5 points)
• Croatian autobahns are among the best in Europe and there is nothing to do here without a car, although the bus network is decent ( 4 points)
• prices are lower than the European average, although the dynamics are not encouraging ( 4 points)
• in Croatia safe, but it is better to leave the Soviet mentality at home, after all, Europe will not be understood ( 4 points)
• it’s probably not worth going here for Hiltons and other hotel joys (the exception is Dubrovnik), everything else is a solid four ( 4 points)

How to find budget accommodation in Croatia

Budget accommodation or hotels in Split , budget hotels in Dubrovnik or on the popularisland of Hvar aviasales.ru , the aggregator that I myself use. The service chooses the most profitable offer- you just have to choose the best for the price, time of departure or airline.

How to travel cheap on your own? Where to start, where to rent a house, how to buy cheap tickets? I will try to answer these and other questions below, based on my own experience.

Remember that in order to organize a good independent trip it takes a lot of time, but such a trip gives you complete freedom of action and can make your dreams come true.

Is it cheaper to travel alone?

Independent travel won't always be cheaper(but in 60% -70% of cases it will be much cheaper) than to go on a package tour, where you don’t have to think and everything has long been thought of. But impression from "package vacation" will never compare with impressions and emotions received from a trip planned by you personally. And this is the first and main plus of independent travel.

If you're planning your first solo trip, be sure to read on!

How to travel cheap on your own and how to organize an unforgettable trip?

Airplane tickets

For me, organizing an independent trip usually starts with ticket search to the desired destination. Moreover, it is not necessary that the plane tickets were to this particular country/city.

For example, if we talk about Europe, then there distances between cities and even countries are relatively small. And the difference in ticket prices between them can be a substantial amount.

It often happens that for the "won" difference in the cost of a plane ticket, you can not only get from one city to another, but also live there for several days. And by the way, flights in Europe are very cheap(often cheaper than other transport), flying for 2.5 hours for 1000 rubles is the norm there.

Thus, open the map, look, what cities are nearby and build a route. Of course, there are people who do not need all these troubles.

If the final price of the intermediary and the airline is the same or differs slightly, then it is better to buy tickets on the airline's website to avoid trouble. By the way, when buying tickets S7 has a promo code S7APP through the app(2-3% of the tariff), a trifle, but nice.

• are looking for the best prices for a flight;
• check prices for tickets from / to neighboring cities;
• compare the cost of tickets on the search engine website and on the official website of the selected airline;
• do not forget to look for a promotional code for the purchase;
• let's use imagination in the development of the route!

Check ticket prices for neighboring cities and countries. Check prices on airline websites and multi-search. Try to circle the route.

Planning an independent travel itinerary

Once the start and end points are known, it's time to take action. travel itinerary planning. You should not gallop and change cities every day, but I personally do not like to stay too long in one place. Learn Internet information, forums, blogs— a sea of ​​information and ideas.

I always use the forums on Otzyv.ru and Vinsky forum. Various blogs are found by search.

Forums and blogs are a great source for planning routes.

Tickets for transport between cities and/or countries You need to look on the websites of local carriers. If you really want to save money, you will have to sweat in the search best offers. Or maybe just take advantage of the growing popularity of the project, which itself will look for affordable tickets for buses, trains and planes, compare prices and duration of the trip (works in Europe)!

• we are looking for information on the Internet, I advise Otzyv.ru, Vinsky's forum, tripavisor;
• you can buy or download a guide with ready-made routes;
• find best options moving between cities.

Selection of sights and interesting places for independent travel

To at least a little navigate the city, it is enough make a list of the main attractions and other places of interest to you (you can also pre-mark them in Google maps or print / buy a map). In this list for yourself you need in advance Mark places you want must see, and plan their visit in the first days stay in the city. It's worth knowing beforehand opening hours, weekends, days when admission is free(it happens).

Again, use your imagination. You no longer have to blindly follow the tour program and run out sightseeing with your tongue hanging out because you're already meeting at the bus in an hour. Independence and time management- this is the fourth plus of independent travel.

Again, I get information about sights mainly from the Internet. In addition, for major cities can download/buy guide(I usually download and browse for "missing" places on the Internet).

Also I use travel app tripadvisor - you can see top places, reviews, as well as find good cafes / restaurants. The only possible negative is that there are not enough reviews in Russian, it is advisable to know English (or use a translator application). Also information about major cities can be downloaded to phone memory and use the app offline.

If you still don't trust yourself a bit and/or don't have time to work through your sightseeing program, you can always hire a guide! Online tripster and even in Russian. Often found there really interesting routes!

• make a list of attractions;
• find out the opening hours, prices, free days;
• Otzyv.ru, Vinsky's forum, tripavisor or a guide will also come in handy;
• select interesting excursion.

Internet, travel guides, TripAdvisor - a storehouse of information about attractions and places of interest.

Where to live while traveling

In the process of compiling the route, I at least briefly looking at house prices where I plan to stay. It may happen that a plane ticket from Russia will cost as much as one night's stay in the city.

For example, in Europe hellishly expensive in Switzerland and Scandinavia. In this case, for a budget tourist it is important competently plan your stay in the most expensive places... well, or use couchsurfing.

Booking etc.

Sometimes the choice of hotels can be quite difficult (for small towns). Then you can search the official website of the city, where you can usually find a list of hotels- and search directly.

And by the way, you can return 1000 rubles by booking accommodation on Booking using my link https://www.booking.com/s/57_6/1f708229

Airbnb

In addition to the hotel / hostel, you can rent a separate room or even an entire apartment. Airbnb, which is rapidly gaining popularity, will help you with this.

The meaning is this - people rent out their housing, you rent it, the money for accommodation is withdrawn immediately and kept by the site. If a day after arrival from the tenant, i.e. you, no complaints were received - the money is transferred to the landlord.

My experience with this site is only positive. It was possible to live in a separate apartment at a price cheaper than a bed in a 6-bed hostel.

And there are discounts for longer stays. So, for example, we lived in an apartment in Genoa for 9 nights for only 15,000 rubles, i.e. for 800 rubles per day per person!

Better choose options with reviews so as not to run into trouble.

By the way, this way of living allows you to go deeper immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the city. You can see how real people live and feel like a little local - open the door with your own key, say hello to your neighbors, go down in the morning for fresh bread to the local bakery ... 🙂

I would point out that opportunity to choose accommodation for your own needs and requests, this is the fifth indisputable plus of independent travel.

Do not forget that when registering on airbnb using this link https://www.airbnb.ru/c/tgorokhova2?currency=RUB discount of 2100 rubles!

Couchsurfing

And the last way is find a local(kaucha), who will kindly let you live in his apartment free of charge, i.e.! Yes, for some it sounds like wildness. Debit with absolutely a stranger from the other side of the world and you go to visit him. 🙂

Couch can often act as guide, move along interesting places Or at least talk about them. This is great opportunity deeper immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the place and interact with people from other cultures. The site will help you with all this. couchsurfing that has been in existence for many years.

The site is available in Russian, but for the whole idea it is desirable to know some foreign language (for communication), well, or look for only Russian-speaking couch. There's a similar tip here. read reviews.

If you're too lazy to look for yourself, create a public trip— describe your itinerary, interests, what you want from your stay. And potential coaches will write to you and invite you to visit. 🙂

• learn approximate prices for housing at the stage of route planning;
• looking for hotels; or on one of the most popular resources;
• check the price on the official website of the hotel;
• and you can also rent an apartment or a room, with a coupon for 2100 rubles it will be cheaper;
• or try your hand at couchsurfing.

If you are going to rent a car, check out the parking information. In some European cities, entry into the city center by car is prohibited, in many there are problems with parking (not to mention the fact that they are paid). For example, in the center of Amsterdam, just a day parking pass will cost 30 euros!

Possibility go anywhere and at any time, using public transport, and even better a rented car - this is the sixth plus of independent travel!

• we study fare prices, possible travel options;
• Thinking about whether to buy a tourist card?
• for those who have a car - be sure to find out the situation with parking!

Study in advance the types of transport and tickets, discount cards. This will allow you not to waste time on the proceedings on the spot.

Visa for travel in Europe

Many are afraid of the word visa and pay two or three times more money to visa processing firms. In fact, obtaining a visa to Europe is quite not scary. In large cities, there have long been multivisa centers, where you can consult and submit documents yourself (first of all, we are talking about Schengen).

The main rule when choosing a country for obtaining a visa is documents are submitted to the country in which you will stay the longest. If the number of days in several countries is the same, the country is preferred first entry.

When the country of submission was decided, study the list of documents(for a tourist visa, these are usually plane tickets and other transport; hotel / apartment reservations; proof of solvency - a bank statement, a letter from a sponsor, a certificate of currency purchase; medical insurance; employment certificate; Photo).

Insurance no extra running can make a comparison and selection of insurances on the website . All options are available laid out, you can compare several insurance. In my experience buying even cheaper through this site(I made it out in the office for 10 days - it turned out 1010 rubles, another time I bought it through the site for 15 days for 740 rubles and with more options)!

Well, then you collect it all and serve it, better in advance. In my experience, from submitting documents to obtaining a passport, it takes an average of 2 weeks. If you receive not the first Schengen, it is better to request a multivisa, and there the consul will sort it out.

The seventh plus of independent travel is visa processing at a "fair" price, choice of insurance with the options you need from any insurance company, and even with discount.

• find out if there is a visa / consular center in your city;
• choose a country for obtaining a visa;
• find out the list of required documents;
• download the questionnaire on the website of the consulate, print it out according to the specified rules (both sides) and fill it out;
• we print out plane tickets, if any - for a train, bus or car reservation confirmation;
• print out hotel or apartment booking confirmations;
• we take a certificate of employment at work;
• in the bank we get a certificate of account status (sometimes an extract from an ATM + a photocopy of the front side of the card is enough) or we leave a certificate of currency purchase;
• select and draw up insurance, print;
• we take pictures for a visa (sometimes you can do it right at the visa center);
• we take it all, the necessary amount of money to pay the fee and go to submit documents!

If there is a visa center in your or the nearest city, do not overpay intermediaries, submit documents yourself! It's not difficult at all. And it’s better to immediately ask for a multivisa.

What to take on an independent trip, more precisely, what should not be taken on a trip

No need to take 3 suitcases with you of things. Think about how many clothes you will need for 2-3 weeks? Given that everything and everywhere you can buy if necessary.

For many years I traveled with a small backpack - and there were always extra things! Remember that now the trend is that extra pounds and extra bags often have to pay. Usually the size of a suitcase (backpack) that can be carried as hand luggage — 55x40x20 cm, up to 10 kg.

It is also worth considering that in hand luggage can't carry liquids(including creams) in containers, over 100 ml with a total volume of more than 1 liter. And it’s better to put all the liquids in one bag / cosmetic bag and not take it far away - they may ask you to show it. I just pour everything into small bottles left over from hotels. :) Similar bottles can also be purchased at the store.

• think of a reasonable list of things;
• we buy medicines on the road (just in case, of course);
• necessarily!!! we study the rules of the airline (at least we read what is written on the ticket);
• we remove all liquids more than 100 ml from hand luggage(including creams) or pour into small bottles;
• we collect the suitcase, it is advisable to check the weight before leaving for the airport.

Take a reasonable minimum of things. So you will be more mobile and save on flights.

That's all the main points when planning an independent trip. Believe me, following these simple tips, you can travel independently and cheaply!

Just think about how much money you overpay travel agencies just for the fact that some uncle / aunt will “lead you by the hand” from the bus to the next attraction. And often you won’t even be able to really consider the attraction, because it’s time to go to another one!

By planning a trip yourself, you can do everything the way you want!

And with the money saved, you can order a transfer or hire a guide, and even stay for trips to restaurants and other entertainment!

I hope this article helped you learn how to travel cheap on your own. Happy independent and cheap travel!

When for the first time the thought comes of how to relax without a tour operator, it may seem that it is very difficult and it is better to trust in the hands of professionals. In fact, the organization self rest, this is an exciting pastime and is an integral part of the trip.

As you know, all people are divided into leaders and followers. Leaders organize their own rest, and followers prefer to use the services of a tour operator. Naturally, if it is alien to you to make any decision on your own, then you do not need to force yourself and contact one of the nearest travel agencies.

Today we will learn how to travel on our own and find out how to relax without a tour operator. If you have previously bought package tours, then you know what they give you: copies of air tickets, hotel reservations (voucher) and a copy of the insurance policy. For visa countries, they still issue a visa, although in some countries it is done upon arrival at the airport.

Flight booking

In order to buy a ticket, you do not need to go to the airport or the ticket office and spend a lot of time. Now is the age of information technology, so you can book a ticket without leaving your home via the Internet. We go to, enter the estimated dates of your trip and look at ticket prices and the number of transfers. If you are satisfied with all the conditions and the price, then fill in the details of your passport and pay for the ticket using a payment card. Copies of tickets will be sent to your e-mail and can be printed on paper. At the airport, upon departure, it will be enough to show your passport and you will receive boarding pass at the check-in counter for the flight.

Booking a hotel

With the help, we select housing for ourselves at the resort that you have chosen, taking into account the price and quality of the services provided. As in the case of air tickets, we book a room by indicating your passport details and paying with a payment card. If you are not going to spend your entire vacation in one hotel or one resort, then it will be enough to book a room for a couple of days. If it turns out to be good and you want to stay longer, you can extend it on the spot, but keep in mind that during peak season all rooms can be booked in advance. It is not necessary to check into a hotel, as locals quite often they rent their apartments or villas to tourists at quite affordable prices. The advantage of apartments or apartments is the presence of a washing machine and the absence of annoying staff who are always begging for tips. The latter is quite typical for, and other Muslim countries.

Insurance policy

Travel insurance is not required in most parts of the world, but the miser pays twice, so it's best to have one just in case. You can buy an insurance policy via the Internet on one of the sites providing these services. Also, if you do not trust online shopping, you can go to the nearest insurance company. Depending on the country and the amount of coverage, insurance can cost from $15 to $30 for 14 days.

Visa

Main tourist destinations, except for EU countries, are visa-free or conditionally visa-free for Russians, which means that they can apply for a visa upon arrival in the country. For example, such conditionally visa-free countries are Egypt and Turkey. For a vacation without a tour operator in one of the EU countries, you can apply for a visa at the consulate of the country where you are going to relax, at your place of residence. To do this, you will need copies of round-trip air tickets, an insurance policy and a hotel reservation. Plus, you will need to pay a consular fee for a visa.

Transport

Upon arrival at the airport of your resort, it is natural that no one will meet you, since you are resting without a tour operator. However, some hotels have free service like a transfer from the airport to the hotel. Ask in advance at your hotel if they provide such a service. If not, then leaving the airport, take a taxi and go to your hotel, where your room will already be waiting for you.

Tours

Some sights can be explored on your own, especially if they are located in the city itself. However, in the matter of excursions, it will be possible to buy in one of the street tourist offices organized tour. benefit organized excursion there will be a Russian-speaking guide who will be able to tell interesting things that are not in printed guidebooks, and this also removes possible problems with the language barrier. Also, in many countries there are tourist buses, which have an audio guide in the main foreign languages, and which drive around the main attractions of the city and make stops near them. This is The best way explore the city and its monuments.

That's all science! Now you know how to relax without a tour operator and you can safely prepare for your vacation.