The Students Essential Guide to Travelling – Part 1

Posted by David | Filed under Student Travel

Once you have made a good set of friends at university, you might have the idea of travelling somewhere exotic with them on your mind! As you should! It can be one of the best experiences of going to university. This series of posts will hopefully give you all the information you need before you go travelling, acting as a check list for the seasoned adventure and as a good guide to the beginner apprehensive about going away and organising a holiday independently for the first time.

Walking Along Old Railway Track

Walking Along Old Railway Track
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Walking Along Old Railway Track

Deciding where to go

Staying at home

There is a significant amount of choice available in where to go on holiday, the cheapest option being to stay in the United Kingdom. There are still great places to visit in the UK including the Lake District, Peak District, The Pennines, Brecon Beacons, the South West and Scotland to name a few. If one of your friends lives in one of these areas you might also be able to save a bit of money on accommodation!

Remember even if you holiday at home you should still take out travel insurance if you are renting accommodation or book days in advance, its usually not that expensive and could save you significant amounts of money if your holiday is cancelled for some reason.

If you are driving your own car make sure it is in good condition, check the oil, tyre pressure etc before leaving and ensure you check it again before you start your journey back home. It may also be worth considering insuring one of your friends on your car insurance so you don’t have to do all the driving by yourself! If you can afford it a GPS unit is a very useful asset to have, but a standard British road atlas will do! Ensure your car is fully kitted out, and that you have your spare tyre and jack safely in its boot compartment.

It may also be a good idea to get breakdown cover if you haven’t got any already! It’s not free to be towed off the motorway if your car breaks down!

Going to Europe

With the advent of budget airlines it is fairly cheap to travel into Europe. If travelling by air be careful to ensure the plane isn’t landing miles away from your destination, many budget airliners have a tendency to land much further out from the destination city than many people anticipate.

If you are travelling by car, ensure your car meets the requirements for travelling in all the European countries you intend to pass through. This may include warning triangles, first aid kits, fluorescent jackets etc.

When travelling in Europe ensure that your car insurance covers you to do so. Most insurers will cover you to drive third party in Europe under a scheme known as the “green card“. It is advisable in my opinion to upgrade your cover to comprehensive cover, especially if you have comprehensive cover in the UK. It will also be a good idea to extend to purchase European breakdown cover. As with driving in the UK, it may also be worth considering insuring a second driver so that one person isn’t always in charge of the wheel!

If you are going to Europe, its a good idea to take out travel insurance, or activity travel insurance (e.g. Snowcard) to cover any medical or rescue costs you may incur, as well as damage or loss to your personal possessions. Remember to take your EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) with you as well, if you haven’t got one yet, then you can apply for one freely online

Going beyond Europe

This will be discussed in Part 2, along with more essential information for student travellers!

Checklist (Part 1)

  • Passport (Required for travel outside the UK)
  • European Health Insurance Card (Should be taken for travel in EU) (E111 is now not valid, so don’t take one of them!)
  • Travel Insurance (Definitely a good idea outside the UK, maybe not so much of an issue inside but still recommended). Activity Travel insurance can also be purchase for those planning on having a more active holiday such as climbing, caving, canyoning etc. (See Snowcard website)
  • Foreign Currency
  • Green Card (for travel in Europen, or confirmation from your insurer that you are covered)
  • (European) Breakdown Cover.
  • Required Driving Equipement (See AA Driving requirements by country)
  • A photocard drivers licence.

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Permalink | Comments (0) | Thursday, 20th Aug 2009

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