Dresden - The New Center

In my third day in Dresden I crossed the bridge to the new part of the city. Guided by my host I went in the center of the Old Town, near the train station and visited a nice mall they have there, like three streets big. After a nice smoothie we headed towards the New part of the city, but with a little detour. We stopped in a nice park which was crossed by a very tiny train specially used to transport tourists. At one end of the park there was this amazing building, like the Grand Hotel Budapest, used, as I could judge by the technological equipment placed around, for night shows. 

After the park we went to the new part of the city and I discovered that it is just so different from what I have seen of Dresden. Nice, hip people, old building, lots of colors and pubs, and small, cozy places to have a nice lunch. There were no many places to visit there, but for a park with green grass to sit on and a photo exposition documenting how Venice was reinforced to get through the war. Actually, those were some impressive photos which really taught me something about WWII.

In the New Center there were also a lot of nice small boutiques with genuine products, handmade or home made by locals. The locals being hip young people who opened their own businesses. So I did not spend much money on that day either, because the food I had with me and the walk was free. Also, window shopping is the cheapest way to shop by not spending money and of just dreaming of things and how good they would suit you.

On my last day in Dresden, until I left with my Blablacar ride, I stopped in the Old Center and had a nice cup of coffee, cheap, actually, listened to music being plaid on a piano placed in front of the cathedral and enjoyed just sitting in the wind. Also, the tram tickets are not that cheap, something like 2 euros for one ticket, but, as I said before, while in the center, you just do not need transportation. I used my tickets to get by tram to the place where I had to get into the Blablacar ride. So, these being said, just enjoy cheap, folks!

Visiting Dresden on a budget! - The Old Center

Just like I did with my trip to Prague, I also planned one to Dresden. It all started when I looked on the map to see what are cities are close to Wroclaw and so I picked Dresden. I love Germany, mostly the German language so travelling there was also an opportunity to speak the language. I looked on Airbnb for a nice, private host. I found one that suited my budget for 3 days in the city completely destroyed during the WWII. For transportation I went to Blablacar and found there a nice ride to, and later also from Dresden.

Once in Dresden I started visiting the city by night, right before going to my host and into bed. The lights, amazing, all the way home, amazing.

The best part of visiting Dresden is that there are two parts of the city, the Old and the New one, separated by a river, connected by bridges, and in both places the main attractions are in a very small area. So the time you need to see all you want to does not get wasted on wandering for ages.

The Old Center

Early in the morning of my second day in Dresden I started visiting by firstly going to the main attraction, St. John`s Cathedral which was completely destroyed during the war and impressively rebuilt. I benefitted from a student discount, and for 5 euros I went to the top and saw the whole city in the morning light. After that I went to the Fehrkehrsmuseum to see a long history of vehicles in Germany. Once out of there I headed towards the Ethnological Museum. It was the most impressive museum I have lately been in. Not only the expositions, but the architecture of the building was impressive. The collection of artefacts was so rich that one day is just not enough if anyone plans on seeing every little thing in very little detail. I saw from jewelry belonging to princes and princesses of the Kingdom of Prussia to belongings which were taken from the Turks whenever they lost a war against the formerly mentioned nation. It was really impressive to just switch rooms in a building and immerse myself in a completely new world. Not to mention that on the last floor of the museum there was an exhibition of photos taken in Italy during WWII. I can say, the main theme of most expositions in Dresden at the time of my visit was WWII. That was good, because I managed to find out more about what happened during those times.  

The ticket which allowed me to get into this museum was actually a pack ticket valid for all the museums in Dresden. The good thing about buying something like this is that it saves you money, but one disadvantage is that it is valid for only 24 hours, so you have to be hasty, however, the silver lining of this drawback is that all the museum are in the Old Center and within very little walking distance. So, all in all, you can do it if you want it. Where I stopped for lunch, you might ask. Well, no where. On the night of my arrival I went to Lidl, Germany is the mother of cheap supermarkets, and from there I bought vegetarian cheese and salami so I did some nice sandwiches to have not only in the morning, but also during the day. The only things I spent money on were the tickets for the museums and coffee.

2ns Day - Still in Prague

Early in the morning I was headed towards the city center to start again visiting. On my way I climbed a hill close to the place I stayed at, and I enjoyed a really beautiful and clear morning view of Prague. Next stop, after passing many other statues, I went to The Beatles` wall. After that I headed myself towards the top of the well known castle in Prague where everyone was gathered to witness the changing of the guards. Leaving the castle behind I took the Golden Lane and visited small rooms built in the protective walls of the castle. Enchanted by the Golden Lane more that of the castle rooms 

I went down the hill to go and visit Kafka`s house. I got to Kafka`s place just to realize I am tired of visiting museums, and I ended up going by the river to look for a post office and send some card home. I discovered a very narrow street between building which was guarded by some street lamp which allowed access to persons one by one. I saw some yellow penguins, bought a nice, very thin and proportionately tasty disk waffle and crossed the river to get to the center once again. And here the most precious attraction awaited – a drawing exposition of Dali`s and Warhol`s sketches and drawings. It was not that cheap, but very, very amazing.

All in all Prague was entertaining, filled with surprising statues, places and myths. I let you discover them by either joining free walking tours or private ones. Just do not focus on the beaten traks and take the narrow streets. You`ll encounter a lot of cheap entertainment for all tastes.

Enjoy cheap, folks!

Visiting amazing Prague - 2 days on the run and with a small budget

Living in Wroclaw has its perks. Wroclaw is the meeting point, they say. Weel, what I realised is that Wroclaw is a really good spot from where to start your travels. Whether you want to go to Berlin, Prague, Dresden, or anywhere in Europe for that matter, you can easily reach your destination.

I planned to go to Prague. But how and for how long? Well, just for 2 days and on a very low budget. So it was 2 days, one night at my airbnb accommodation, but lots and lots and lots of nice places, good art, surprizes from behind buildings, and a lot of walking.

Day 1

So, I booked my ride with Luxexpress for 4 A.M, so I would arrive in Prague in the morning and so I would start visiting as soon as possible. Luxexpress was the most amazing transportation mean ever. It was really Luxurious: comfy seats, personal monitors, lots of leg space, tea and coffee, nice toilet and quality driving. Too bad I was tired and I culd not enjoy all these for the full 4 hours of my ride.

I arrived in Prague sometime between 8.30 A.M and 9.00 A.M. I opened my heremaps app and I set the route for my first destination, the town center. I got a nice cup of coffee in the station and went on to the central point of the city. I had looked up a Free walking tour there, just to have the chance and get acquainted with the surroundings. I found the meeting place for the tour and joined it. The weather was nice, chilly, but sunny. People were noisy from early in the morning, and that gave me a really nice feeling of being in the center of action. During the tour I had the chance to see most of the places I had booked on my heremaps app. So, after the tour, knowing where everything was positioned, I went to visit each of the attractions in more detail. I went to the Jewish quarter where I visited the Jewish cemetery, the one which has grown in height and not in width or length, the Synagogue there, the streets filled with expensive stores, and a museum of Jewish history in Prague. 

After visiting the Jewish quarter I went on to look for the Dancing House, and Kafka`s ever changing mechanical statue. On my way I entered a nice pop art exposition in a gallery, where contemporary artist, Pasta Oner. Since I paid little to see the Jewish Quarter and the Dancing house and Kafka`s statue were for free, I could spend a little more money to see this exhibition.

After this I was headed towards the center to go visit the Beer Museum and the Sex Machine Museum. On my way I saw other interesting and fun sculptures hanging from strings above the streets. Piece of advice: always take the not so main ways. Do not go behind building or into dark places, but just keep walking in the narrow streets, they offer most free surprises. Beer Museum was quite cheap, and, besides visiting the actual museum which looks more like a tiny warehouse, I got the chance to taste 4 types of beer, this was included in the price. After having drunk the honey super tasty beer glass I went to the Sex Machine Museum, which was, well, just go and see for yourselves.

After a long walking day I went to my Airbnb accommodation where I slept very soundly until the next morning. Even though this flat was on top of some disco club, I heard nothing. So this is the benefit of a full day, the disadvantages of cheap accommodation do not bother you. And this is how low budget works.

How I travel cheap

Let me tell you something about cheap, cheap travelling that is. It is possible. When I plan on going somewhere all the people I tell the news to respond by being amazed of how much money I have. How do I do this, I am just a student, whom am I robbing? Well, I tell them, I am Romanian, I have my secrets. Discriminatory jokes left aside, cheap travel is possible. You just have to plan it well, not even well in advance.

For me it works like this:

1. I get the idea of where I want to go;

2. I get cheap tickets, plane or bus, going to the ryanair app, to polskibus website or to blablacar;

3. I look up for accommodation on airbnb

4. once the transportation and accommodation are sorted aut, I check tripadvisor app for things I want to see;

5. I use the heremaps app on Iphone to mark all the atractions I want to visit;

6. I always mark the address I have my accommodation at and save battery to always fiind my way through the new town;

7. I buy rice waffles, sliced cheese, cashew nuts, almods, apples and bananas to take with me;

8. I avoid entering stores (clothing, souvenirs, food) not to be deceived into spending money;

9. I always ask if the service provider offers student discount or under 26 discount;

10. I pack light so I do not need to go to my accommodation in order to live my luggage, so I am able to start visiting as soon as I get to my destination;

11. I plan my arrival and my departure to be early in the morning, or late at night respectively.

These are just the basic steps I take in order to have a nive trip, energetic, cheap, but full of entertaining activities.

When you don’t even try to get the cheapest

I have told you a few posts ago how to get to Lviv, but I did not tell you much about it. Actually, it is pretty famous for its prices, especially for cigarettes. In the moment you get to Lviv you don’t have to worry about the food, because there will be no more sandwiches in this trip, you don’t have to check well the prices before going to a restaurant or for public transportation. Everything is cheap in Lviv, so it is really hard to spend a lot of money, especially when you come from a more western country.

Lviv is a city that takes you back in time. A part of it brings me to the communist times, to those dark times, when police was strict and the buildings were in a bad shape because of lack of money. You feel poorness everywhere around you.  The soldiers are walking on the streets, are having lunch at the table behind you or are shopping in the same store as you. In the moment you stop seeing them as something special you lose the fear or the feeling of discomfort.

Still, once you get to the old town everything looks renovated, well done, many restaurants, a main church, a sign with Lviv where you can take pictures and many interesting buildings, most of them churches. I fell in love with the city from day 1, because it has that diversity and that honesty which cannot be seen in other cities.

I like this place because they try to be better, but still they try to keep their authenticity. That is why you will see places where trees are dressed in wool recreating a decor as it would have been a playground for a cat, some restaurants with soviet influence or churches with many people celebrating.

I cannot believe that I say that, but until Lviv I have never eaten so many times in a restaurant in such a short amount of time. I have been to restaurants for having breakfast, lunch or dinner. I found a really cute place where the food was ridiculous cheap and I had the best milkshake that tasted like whipped cream, a borsch and pancakes for about 2 Euro. Every time I was eating there I was challenging me to eat for 5 Euro, but my stomach couldn’t handle so much food.

Despite the good food and the insanely low prices, restaurants in Lviv are famous for their themes.

We went to the bunker place where at the entrance you had to say a password ‘Slava Ukrainii’. A big guy was opening the door dressed as in the soviet times and was giving for free a shot to everyone. Inside, the restaurant had a really authentic air. The guns were everywhere and you could take pictures dressed as a military person with a gun, small or big. The fun part is that you can shoot Putin or other main political figures and you have to pay only 50 cents for 20 shots. They come for free if you spend a lot of money in there, but for us it was not the case. The prices are a bit higher than in the other places, but it is worth it. Many musical moments, simulations of attacks and good times are waiting for you there.

There is another place where we could not enter, but it is very famous among tourists. The masochist word is related to Lviv, therefore there is a place dedicated to masochism. It’s a place for the fans of 50 Shades of Grey. Especially because after you have a good dinner, if you want, the waitress can spank you a bit, or a bit more with a whip. If you are sensitive to rough touches you should not ask for a spank, because it will hurt you.

My favourite place was a medieval restaurant dedicated to ways of torture. You could actually try some of them and the personal was dressed according to the theme. The food was delicious and you could see how the meat is done on the huge grills inside. When the bill came, they delivered in a really unique way, but that’s a secret and you’ll have to go there in order to see for yourself.

After you finish with the restaurants, you can go up to the hill from where you can see the whole city. We enjoyed a really nice sunset and the view was worth going up on the hill.

In conclusion: We love Lviv and we cannot wait to go there to see more.

Enjoy your trip!

A place with a view

Let’s say you plan on going to Berlin for the weekend. Today I’ll tell you what you can do in order to enjoy the view from above for free, close to the main attraction points and have a really good time. Let’s call it visit to Bundestag.

Nearby Brandenburg Gate is the parliament of Germany, called Bundestag. It is a really nice building, in a neo-renaissance style, surrounded by large parks with old trees and many spaces for relaxing. The address is Platz der Republik 1.  

Above the main building it was created a dome of glass which can be visited by tourists for free, but only if a reservation is made in advance. To be safe, I recommend trying to book the place with two weeks in advance because there are a lot of tourists who are visiting this place.

Once you get in front of the main building you will see some white buildings with some fences in front of it. There you have to go in order to show your booking, your id’s and get checked by someone from security in order to not enter with something that can threat the safety of the others.

After you passed those parts, someone will guide you to the entrance and then you will have to take the elevator.  Upstairs you will be asked what languages do you speak and you will receive an audio guide who will tell you what you can see from the panoramic view and some historic facts.

According to the tour that you chose you can have a walk also inside the parliament where you can find out more about the activities they have and some quick lesson. Still, for tourists the visit of the dome with audio guide is the best option. Once you get up you can enjoy the view sitting and breathing the fresh air.

Enjoy your trip!

Who helps you discover a city?

A lot of times I travelled wondering around without any guess about what’s in that place. I was seeing a nice building, taking a picture or 200 and then I was moving on. Maybe when I was searching for location to write it on Facebook I was discovering the name of that place, but nothing more. The city was nothing more than a nice place. It’s like you see a girl, you dance with her and then you maybe kiss her, but that’s it. You don’t feel that fulfilled as you would if you would discover things about her. Same goes with the cities, you will feel better once you know more about it.

I must admit. I am really lazy when it comes to reading things about a city I’ll visit because there are a lot of options and most of the places are the most crowded and touristic so instead of enjoying the views I have to take care of my things and wait in line for a picture that other 100 people will make in the same day.

What can you do to make it different? Take the free walking tour.

‘Wow! A free walking tour? Is that for free?’- not really, because you are supposed to pay according to your own preferences, but in case you don’t like it you don’t have to give anything. The principle is that you can donate as much money as you want for their services and that’s it.

I like the free walking tour from Krakow because they have a small bag where you put the money, whereas in other places you just give the money in their hand and that puts some pressure on you, but still, the quality of the tour is really good.

I am not a Spanish speaker, but I am heavily exposed to Spanish language because of all the songs we hear and the large groups of Spanish people everywhere. Because my friends are speaking the language, often I take those tours and I must admit, they are funnier, so if you know a bit of Spanish I definitely recommend it.  Now it comes to my mind the last walking tour I attended, it was in Copenhagen, and the guy from SANDEMANs NewEurope (i think his name was Pedro or Pablo or something like that, I’ll add a picture with him) was speaking really fast Sapnish, but he was making a lot of jokes and he was so devoted to what he was doing that he made me fall in love a bit with the city.  

Usually I take the free walking tours dedicated to the classical parts, alternative, crimes or some special ones. The alternative tour was really good in Berlin where I got to know more about the street art and artists. Since then I have been obsessed with Alice Pasquini who has a really nice piece of art close to the East Side Gallery. A nice tour about crimes and mystery I had in Warsaw when the guy did the tour while snowing only with the three of us. It was like a cheap private tour.

I really like the tours which are not focused only on the touristic parts of the city because it makes you feel the real vibe of the city. You get to know more about the place and if you want to know more, the guides are really nice and give you many tips.

How can you find the free walking tours? You just google it. Free walking tour + the name of the city. I tried it in Bratislava and it was really nice with United Europe, in Prague with SANDEMAN, in Berlin Original Europe Tours and in Poland the Free walking TOUR foundation. There are plenty of other organisations and for sure, all of them are good and will help you get in touch with the real culture of the city.

Enjoy your trip!

Poland by bus

Most of our trips begin from Poland, Spain or Romania because the writers are coming from those parts of Europe or just travelling from there more often. Today we will talk about Poland and the trips you can find if you look carefully. This article is based only on the trips by bus.

Poland is a really good country regarding prices and position, because it is close to Czech Republic, Germany is a few hours away, Ukraine is reachable with a bus or two and the trips to the Baltic countries are very cheap. Nearby you have also Hungary and Austria or Slovakia and it is amazing when you can find trips for more or less 5 Euros. 

First time when we discovered PolskiBus was when we were going to Berlin for the weekend. Buying tickets in advance, at least 1 month in advance, is better because the prices are more affordable and you can be sure that you have a seat in the bus. We found tickets from Wroclaw/ Breslau for 15 zl (which is translated in 4 Euros) or even for 1 zl (less than 50 cents), but the second ones are rare birds in the sky and you have to be one of the first buyers in order to get them. Buying a ticket in the same month, as we did, can increase the price from 15 to 60 zl.

Still, I consider that LuxExpess is the best bus company because it gives to its clients drinks for free, a bottle of water and coffee, tea or other warm drinks for free. The place between the seats is larger and the seats are more comfortable. The price of the tickets can go from 19 zl (5 Euro) to 160 zl (40 Euro). They go to the Baltic countries or to Budapest, Prague or Vienna. They have many discounts and you you have newsletter from them you will get to know all their offers in time and enjoy their trips.

The thing I love the most from this company, except their hot chocolate, is the fact that they have tactile screens with internet connection and a wide selection of TV shows, movies and songs. Internet is provided almost everywhere and that is a big plus comparing with PolskiBus which offers internet connection only on Polish territory. This is annoying when you have a trip from Budapest to Wroclaw.

Eurolines can be expensive for Poland, but nonetheless an option. They have good seats, but their internet can be a really nerve eater. I have waited 4 minutes to open one page on my phone, afterwards I just gave up and embraced the idea of not having internet connection. The personal is usually nice, but I still prefer LuxExpress or PolskiBus more.

Whatever you pick...Enjoy your trip!

Crossing the sea by taking a bus

The company in the spotlight for today will be Eurolines because they offer the bus between Berlin and Copenhagen for a good price.  The only thing is that you have to be patient because the trip is about 8 hours more or less and you should buy the tickets one month in advance, at least.

The price for a trip between Berlin and Copenhagen can be found on the eurolines.de for 17 Euro, but the price can get up to 45 Euro, depending on the hour when you chose to travel or how close is the day of departure.

What I really like about this trip is that they make the trip rather comfortable. You get a bottle of water for free and the chairs are quite comfortable, suitable for a quick nap. Why would you have a quick nap if the trip lasts about 8 hours? Because you will have a surprise in the middle of the trip.

So, you go from ZOB, the main bus station from Berlin and you show your ID, you get your water, then you stay in your seat for about 3 or 4 hours and then you will hear the driver saying that you have a break for 45 minutes and that you have to leave the bus. Around, everything looks like a big tunnel or like a container.

I will not lie, the first time I have been there I was a bit scared because it looked like a really crowded parking lot for big cars, but then, once I took the elevator and got up I changed my mind. You soon realize why you have to go out from the bus. You are on a ferry and you can enjoy the duty free, the sea and the fresh air.

No matter what, if you travel during the day or during the night, the view is nice, because you can see the lights from one side or another and you can hear how the waves are crushing into the boat while you barely feel any move.

Once you cross the sea, you can go back to the bus and enjoy another short nap until you will reach Copenhagen. The bus station is close to the center, being behind the train station and the famous park Trivoli.

Enjoy your trip!

How do I get to Malmö?

Let’s say you are in Copenhagen and you feel like staying for awhile, but also to see the nice places nearby. You have more or less two famous options, Malmo or a little castle. Let’s say that you want to cross a bridge that is famous because it crosses the sea by a tunel under and then a bridge above and as we already know, we cannot spend a lot of money.

There are two or more options to get to Malmö.

1. Take the train
2. Take the bus

If you check busradar it appears that the best trips are with Flixbus, about 7 Euro for one way, but it can get a bit cheaper if you pick another way. For 13 Euro (100dkk) you can go two ways and if you are a group of 5 for 53 Euro (400dkk) two ways. The one for 53 Euro is called Rabatkort. It means that you save almost 17 Euros if you buy that one.

What I like about this bus, called 999, is that you have to take it from the main train station from Copenhagen, which is rather central, and it takes you to the bus station in Malmö which is also close to the center so your trip is more comfortable and it is also quite short, about one hour.

I liked this trip because you can see the sea and in the same time both cities, Malmö and Copenhagen. Still, it is rather bad that the last bus goes at 16 more or less, but if you go there in the morning you will have enough time to see everything.

Down you will see the picture with the schedule for the bus.

Enjoy your trip!

Stupid way of spending money

 I was just thinking the other days how lucky I am to live in a city in which going to the public toilets does not require a payment, at least in most of the places. Still, since I am travelling that much, I started adding to my budget for a trip also the money for the toilets. Here you have some tricks about how to avoid spending at least 10 euros on something like toilets.

1.         Go to fast-food places because even if they have a fee, usually you can get an offer afterwards (for example, in the centre of Vienna if you pay 50 cents for using the toilet you will get a discount on the next product with the same value so you just buy in advance half a burger)
2.           Avoid going in the places which are located right in the centre because you will be just another tourist who wants to trick the system. People from restaurants are so used to this that they will not allow you to go in. Restaurants or places which are on smaller streets are more permissive.
3.           If you still have to go to such a place in the centre and it is a restaurant, you can leave the coat to your friends and the backpack so it seems that you actually consume something. It might not work, but it is worth trying.
4.         There always “meeting the nature” way. Try finding a place where people cannot see you and enjoy the nature.
5.          Thanks God for the shopping malls! Always there is a free toilet in a shopping mall (not all the time if it is in the centre).
6.        Better prevent. Always, before going out from the place you are living in try to go to the toilet. Try not to drink so much water or juice and most probably you will be just fine for at least half a day. 

It is not only a trip, it’s a treap

I thought we should imagine a new word, treaps, which would mean a trip that is cheap because that is the main purpose of this blog, to promote places and means of communication which would help you have good times with less money than others. Here we will post as often as we can ways of getting to beautiful cities or cheap places where you can have a romantic dinner or a feast with your friends.

There are a few things you should be aware before reading the next articles. Before going on a cheap trip you must take into consideration more aspects and think if you can do it too.

We will not lie, most of these trips will not be the most comfortable or the shortest ways to get to a destination, so you must be aware that cheap does not necessarily means that you will benefit of the same advantages as you would if your trip would be planned by a travelling agency, but you will definitely pay less money at the end of the day.

Our treaps will be focused on discovering many places on a low budget, involving accommodation as couchsurfing, hostels or websites where you can get a room along with other 4-10 stranger who at the end of the holidays will be your buddies.

There are never enough sandwiches in the world for a trip and you should be well aware of that because it is a very effective regarding saving money and also time.

The treaps will be tiring if you make combinations of cities for 8-10 days and you have to manage your own activities in order to make the best of the time you have. You might fight with your friends, sleep on your feet, but be happy at the end because you had the time of your life.

Travelling is about meeting people and cultures, getting in touch with other habits and to make friends with whom you will collect many great memories which will last for a lot time. I cannot promise forever, because when you will get old you might forget most of these days.

Enjoy your treap!

Have you ever crossed a border with a non-EU country by foot?

Most of the cities we are talking about as a destination are easy to reach by bus, train, plane or even boat, but this is not the case for Lviv which is a very interesting place when it comes to means of communication in order to arrive to destination choosing the cheapest way.  

First of all, I do not know how many people know where is Lviv so I will try to draw a picture in your mind. Close to the border of Poland, about 80 km away, is a city that once belonged to Poland, but nowadays is part of Ukraine. This city, called Lviv, is small, but it produces a lot of mixed emotions and I totally recommend visiting it.

Now that we know where we go, we will imagine that we go there from Wroclaw or Krakow (it is the same train, but it just costs less).  If we would buy the tickets from Wroclaw the train would cost 30 zl which is about 7 Euro, but only if you are a student in Poland, the price is double if not. The destination of our trip is Przemysl and the trip will last for about 7 hours. 

In the train you have sockets so the time will pass faster with a laptop or a mobile close to you. Once you get to Przemysl  Glowny, which is also the last stop usually, you will cross a passage in the opposite way from the building of railway station towards a bus station. After you go up you will see many small busses with destination Medyka. The price of the ticket is 2 zl which is about 0,5 Euro, but I suggest you to speak in Polish to them. The sentence in a very basic way should be `prosze bilet na medyka` (which you would read it proshe bilet na medyka). This trip is very short comparing to the one before, about 15-20 minutes, but necessary in order to cross the border with Ukraine.

The bus will leave you really close to the checking point of the Polish border. On the left side you will see the border while on the right side will be people trying to sell you cigarettes and alcohol, soon you will understand why...

There is an alley right on the left side, where is also a pizza place. In that direction you will have to walk in order to reach the first checking point, the one on Poland side. The personal is nice and speaks English. If you want, they can put a stamp on your passport. Further away is the Ukrainian border. You just have to follow the alley and you will find it, no chance to miss it. It will be the same routine and it will be quite fast.

Now that you are officially in Ukraine you have to find the last bus for getting to Lviv. You have to walk straight forward and after 2 minutes of walking you should turn left and see a bus station. You have to pass on your way supermarket and turn after you see a place that looks like a bakery.

Here you are, you just have to take the last bus and now the alphabet does not look anything like the one you are used to. You should see a bus on which is written Львів. Once you get inside you repeat the sentence you practiced in Poland `prosze bilet na Lviv` and show how many tickets using your fingers. The price of one ticket is about 35 UAH which can be transformed into 1,5 Euro.

I will not lie to you, the bus is not the most comfortable place on Earth and you will be shaken and the trip will take 2 hours because of many stops that it has to do. The last stop, in the main train station is the closest to the center.

You should know that you have to exchange money in Przemysl or after you cross the border, because for the bus you will need the money in cash since they do not accept credit card. Same with Poland, in the bus for Medyka you will need 2 zl so it is good to keep in mind that those money in cash will be necessary.

We choose this route because it takes also less time in the border comparing with crossing the border by bus. You save about 6 hours if you go by foot both ways. Also, the price of the tickets is really good if you are a student, being half of the price of a normal bus that can have a lot of delays.

Enjoy your trip!