Iceland ruins Europe. - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**MeTurk** · 04-20-2010, 08:41 AM

I'm sure your all aware of the volcano in Iceland that grounded most air traffic in Europe. There are Europeans stranded all over the continent with no sign of things going back to normal.

If your flying into Europe anytime soon you should be keeping an eye on this. Apparently they've had volcanoes rumble on for 2 years at a time and the last time this current active volcano blew it was just a precursor for the main volcano to erupt.

All train, ferry, bus and train services are supposed to be overflowing with passengers trying to get home.

**Elizabeth** · 04-20-2010, 09:46 AM

Oh yes we're watching. Julia already had a hell of a time getting from Oxford to Belfast. Me and Joe are supposed to depart for our Eurotrips in early May, though Joe won't have a huge problem as he's flying into Spain. I've got a flight to London. I've been following this obsessively since Wednesday.

We wanted cash not ash!

**travelpunk** · 04-20-2010, 01:32 PM

Travelers must being going through imaginable hell right now. I read this article about how many travelers are going broke, have little or no money for food, and hotels are no longer an option as rates have gone through the roof...because they could.

Good luck to all TPunks having to hit the skies in this mess. Take a credit card with a limit on it, just in case!

**joe7f** · 04-20-2010, 05:43 PM

^Agreed. And some hotels that are upping their rates aren't necessarily price gouging, they are simply adjusting their prices to match the demand. Airlines do it all the time.

I heard one guy lamenting that he had to go to a hostel because he couldn't afford a hotel. My sympathy started to wane with that particular fellow.

My flight to Barcelona will likely be unnecessarily cautious (I originally planned to fly in and out of Stockholm) but it is better to be safe than sorry. Worst case, I am out 60 bucks difference on the flight in and out of Barcelona. Best case, I preserve the trip!

--Joe

**MeTurk** · 04-21-2010, 02:57 AM

I've heard even the restaurants in places like Malaga (tourist trap) are charging double for food.

It was funny listening to the radio though, Irish people are slowly finding their way back home using the Europe wide Irish pub network. They're on the radio organizing buses that are stopping off at pubs across Europe picking up Irish trying to get home. It's like the world largest pub crawl.

**juliagulia** · 04-22-2010, 03:25 PM

Oh god. It took me 18 hours to get to Belfast from Oxford. Though, it ended up cheaper than a ticket from London with a 20 kg bag. The ticket was 47 GBP and 13 GBP for the bus, but the ferry/rail combination with Stena line was only 46 GBP straight from Oxford. So, is anyone is stuck in the UK trying to get to Ireland, definitely look into that.

I'm just hoping this all blows over by May. I have a flight home on the 13th that I can't afford to miss... My sister's graduation from GW is on the 15th and I start summer school two weeks later...

**MeTurk** · 04-23-2010, 05:17 AM

Apparently this volcano is slowing down some transatlantic flights have resumed.

The big danger now is it's sister volcano which is much bigger and in the past has erupted right after the current one.

Traveling by land is horrible compared to air travel. I've had to take the ferry to the UK manys a time. It was taking us a whole day (leaving at 4am) to get from the west of Ireland to Birmingham. If we could have flied I'd say the entire journey (including getting to the airport) would have taken 3 hours.