Beirut - Ankara Travel

Hey rtp. I don't recommend using a travel agency since they rip you off. Travelling to Turkey requires no visa. You can book for a ticket online via the airline website (MEA, Turkish Airlines, etc...). You can book for a hotel via booking.com. I always book for tickets and hotel online and never had an issue.

Pegasus usually has the cheapest international flights from Lebanon.

*Off-topic but sort of related*

What places do you guys recommend for recreation purposes within a $2500 - $3500 budget? What activities can be done there?

I was thinking of Machu Picchu but I'm open to other suggestions.

It really depends on when you are going and what you usually look forward to when travelling. If you are willing to live on the cheap while abroad (sleep in hostels and avoid fancy restaurants), with that budget, you can go as far as:

• Rio de Janeiro
• Iceland
• Antarctica (season dependent)

I second Samer on Pegasus, Modern planes. Not too much space for a PHAT man like me on board. Perfect for short hops. Expect to transit to another plane in Sabiha airport in Istanbul as i doubt there are any direct routes to Ankara from Beirut by Pegasus.

Did you try kayak.com ?

Kassem wrote
What places do you guys recommend for recreation purposes within a $2500 - $3500 budget? What activities can be done there?

3 weeks backpacking through europe. But be careful about your expenses, or they wont last a week! $400 for the ticket, and then sleep cheap (shared room in hostels - can be booked online for cheaper). Travel cheap (bus, carpooling, or train/airplane tickets but only if bought like 1 month before time, be smart...) and of course don't eat too expensive, and don't by too much stupid overpriced stuff - coz you will find lots of these there :) . You can go wherever you like, you can visit Amsterdam and Paris and Brugges, maybe Vienna, Berlin... or maybe London, Madrid... (probably not all of them in the same trip coz then transportation might cost too much). You will have to walk a lot. Get a backpack. The tricky part might be the visa and also finding a travel partner - coz you can do it alone but it feels more natural and it will feel much better afterwards if you are not alone, as opposed to meeting many people there but never speaking to them again...

Good luck if you decide to do this :) (there is quite some luck invovled)

samer wroteIt really depends on when you are going and what you usually look forward to when travelling. If you are willing to live on the cheap while abroad (sleep in hostels and avoid fancy restaurants), with that budget, you can go as far as:

• Rio de Janeiro
• Iceland
• Antarctica (season dependent)

I'm very much into hiking and similar activities. And I would appreciate it if you guys would mention specific interesting places to visit rather than cities or countries.

@rolf: That seems like a good idea, but I cannot go away for 3 weeks. My manager will never approve a vacation this long. Do you think I can see much of Europe in like 10 days?

rtp wroteWhat is the cheapest way to travel to Ankara ( Turkey ).
I looked at some packages in the newspaper but nobody seem to have packages to Ankara.
I searched https://www.cheapoair.com and found some tickets, but i need to apply for a VISA right? how much pain and time consuming will that be?

Should i book everything online? if so it is safe?
Anybody that have experience with traveling without an agency please give all the info

thanks

I went with Middle East in 2010 to Turkey. You don't need a Visa at all, just a Lebanese Passport.

Yes you can book everything online it's safe. Have a look at tripadvisor.com and booking.com

Good luck!

@Kassem: I've been actually thinking of doing this city-hop trip when I can take a 10-day vacation:

Dusseldorf - Munich - Vienna - Prague - Dresden - Berlin - Leipzig - Dusseldorf:



(Map courtesy of A&O Hostels website)

The reason I chose these cities is that you can simply walk about and look at all the historic buildings and landmarks (and stumble upon a few of street performers, musicians and artists alike) and visit museums (which I like to visit since I'm a bit fond of European history especially regarding World War II). Also, Berlin and Dresden have botanical gardens (don't know about the rest of the cities since I didn't complete my search yet), and Dresden offers a boat ride across the river (includes lunch).

A flight from Beirut to Dusseldorf with Pegasus (on an off season) would cost around 600$ for a round-trip ticket. Using the ICE train, you can move between the major cities at low costs (between 25$ and 50$, less from Leipzig to Dusseldorf and from Dresden to Leipzig), so that would mount to around 300$. For residence, you can book at the A&O hostel. I've already stayed at this hostel and it is perfect since it has branches right next to the train stations (ideal for refreshing supplies, having a quick bite for low prices like at NordSee, and of course cut down on expenses by simply walking to and from the hostel when finishing your city tour or to take the train to the next city) and offers free breakfast tokens (which I might add has a wide variety of choices and is tasty, and I highly recommend their bread). The prices average at 40$ per person if you stay alone and of course price goes down when you book per group. So that's 360$ for 9 nights.

This brings us to a total of 1260$ for major travel expenses and breakfast. If you don't spend more than 20$ per day on lunch and quick bites (15 euros), that would sum up to 200$ leaving us at a major total of 1460$. So for a budget of 2500$ to 3000$, you're left with 1040$ to 1540$ to spend on entrance fess if any (museums, gardens, exhibition centers...), shopping and unpredicted expenses.

I also recommend that you travel with a group of best friends since it would be much more fun to share the experience as well as cut down on expenses.

mesa wroteI feel like I should open a separate thread for this whole take on Amsterdam.

Done!

Check with Expedia.com they find the cheapest tickets, I use them all the time when i travel