Tips for Weekend Trips Abroad
The common perception when studying abroad is that you'll be traveling to new countries every single weekend, taking advantage of cheap flights and easy train access. In reality, this isn't how it works. I thought it would be, and I planned three back-to-back weekend trips within the first few weeks of my time abroad. In this post, I'll walk you through the do's and don'ts of traveling while studying abroad.
The first thing to consider is the physical toll travel takes on your body. Everyone is different and travels in different ways, but traveling is physically demanding no matter what. From unrestful sleep to changes in time zones, food, culture, and routine, short trips can really wear you down. In my experience with those first three weekends, I barely slept, felt sick during the week, had to recover, and then did it all over again the next weekend. This struggle is often considered part of the study abroad experience, but I ended up with food poisoning and sickness during the weeks I was back in Prague. My advice is to mix in a few weekends in your study abroad city to give your body time to rest. This makes weekend trips feel more special, and you can enjoy them much more with a healthy mind and body.
Next is the expectation of weekend trips. I enjoy this type of travel experience, but it can be difficult to maintain, especially for multiple weekends in a row. Typically, weekend trips last two to three days with friends, and you have to cram an entire city's worth of sightseeing and nightlife into a short period. This often means waking up at eight or nine in the morning and going to bed at three or four in the morning. Part of the fun is struggling through this with friends and learning how to manage on little sleep, but it's tough to sustain for several weeks. To balance things out, I recommend mixing up your trips. For example, destinations like Barcelona, Madrid, and Amsterdam tend to focus more on nightlife, meaning later nights and less sleep. Meanwhile, trips to places like Istanbul, Granada, and Norway focus more on sightseeing and experiences, meaning earlier nights and more rest. Mixing these types of trips can help balance the exhaustion that comes from nightlife-heavy weekends.
When I first came abroad, I assumed flights would be around thirty dollars to anywhere in Europe. In reality, roundtrip weekend flights are usually closer to one hundred to two hundred dollars, even with budget airlines like Ryanair. Depending on your class schedule, which is typically Monday to Wednesday or Monday to Thursday, you'll probably be flying Thursday to Sunday, which is when flights are more expensive. I recommend not booking flights before coming abroad unless you have friends who can commit early. Instead, use Skyscanner's "Everywhere" feature to find cheap destinations. This is where you might find a roundtrip flight for fifty dollars, but you'll need to be flexible about the destination.
If you're planning to do the big excursions that most study abroad students do, definitely plan those in advance. Here are some of the classic trips:
Fall Semester
Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany
Morocco (Marrakech, Sahara Desert, Chefchaouen)
Athens and Santorini, Greece
Barcelona, Spain
Amalfi Coast, Italy (Positano, Capri, Naples)
Spring Semester
Dublin, Ireland (St. Patrick's Day on March seventeenth)
Interlaken, Switzerland (Alps and ski trip)
Barcelona or Madrid (Spring Break)
Ibiza (Opening Week in late April to early May)
Morocco (Marrakech and Sahara Desert Tour)
Springfest (Frühlingsfest) in Munich, Germany (Mid-April to Early May)
These are typically the big trips that most students do while abroad. They are fun, but expect to encounter lots of American students from various colleges. If you're looking for cultural immersion or local experiences, these trips won't offer much of that. They're more like big college parties spread across entire cities. Personally, I wanted more cultural immersion while abroad, so I will only be doing Madrid for spring break, the Morocco desert tour, and possibly Springfest.
Overall, I chose Prague for its central location, giving me easy access to travel throughout Europe. What I've learned, though, is that my body needs rest from constant weekend trips. Mixing in weekends in Prague and opting for more laid-back, experiential trips has helped balance my schedule. I'll be sharing more details about each trip in separate blog posts, so stay tuned for those.
