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Strong Euro? No Problem! (cont'd)

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6. Consolidate Your Car Rental
Get price quotes from Avis, Hertz, and the other major agencies, of course, but then check out the rates at Auto Europe (888-223-5555, www.autoeurope.com), which does for car rentals what consolidators do for airfares--and can often save you money. And when you get a car from them, you're picking it up from an Avis office of some other major company in Europe.

If you're lucky enough to be over there for longer than 17 days, don't rent: lease a car instead. It costs less in the long run, plus you get a brand new car and full insurance coverage for free. Auto Europe can set it up, but first comparison shop at its competitors Europe by Car (800-223-1516, www.europebycar.com) and Renault Eurodrive (800-221-1052, www.renaultusa.com).

7. Look Beyond Hotels
Hotels are not the only accommodations available in Europe. In fact, they are usually among the more expensive options--on average, a double room in a two-star hotel costs €90, or $120--and rarely are hotels the most memorable places to lay your head for the night.

On the other hand, you can stay in a private room or B&B for as little as $30 to $40 a night, an Alpine hut for $15, or spend a week in your own London flat for about $70 per night. Beds in hostels, where you share the room with a half-dozen other travelers, cost around $20 to $30 in the big cities (less in smaller towns), or you can shack up in a convent in Rome or Paris for $15. Even castles in France's Loire Valley or overlooking the Rhine in Germany start around $100 for a double room--you can stay in a castle for less than it costs in a regular hotel--and a family of four can spend a month in a Tuscan villa for as little as $15 per person per night--It's not an expensive option!

To read up on two dozen other lodging options and the resources to book them, visit www.beyondhotels.net.

8. Set up Housekeeping
One way to save is to contain lodging expenditures and avoid shelling out big bucks for railpasses, rental cars, and plane tickets by staying in a single spot for the whole vacation. Hotel rates tend to go down the longer you stay. Many places will offer a discount if you stay more than three nights, still more of a discount if you stay for a full week.

Homebaseing doesn't mean you are stuck in the city you pick, however--a prospect that turns many people off to the idea of those six-night vacation packages I mentioned earlier. Europe's intricate system of light rail, trains, and buses make daytripping by public transportation a snap.

For example, you can find excellent--and far less touristed--substitutes for Pompeii, the Tuscan hilltowns, and Veneto villas within an hour of Rome. The city's Metro line B will whisk you to the evocative remains of Rome's ancient port, Ostia Antica, just one stop before arriving at the beach of Ostia Lido. The hilltowns of the Castelli Romani and Frascati south of the city are peppered with villas and surrounded by vineyards producing excellent white wines. And to Rome's east, the town of Tivoli preserves the ancient ruins of Hadrian's villa and the gardens of Villa d'Este.

Same thing applies in the UK, where Windsor Castle, Oxford, Cambridge, Shakepeare's Stradford-upon-Avon, Salisbury's cathedral, and Stonehenge are all within a two-hour train or bus ride from London. From Paris, you can take daytrips to visit the royal palace of Versailles, cathedral at Chartres, Monet's garden at Giverny, forest of Fountainebleu, and chateaux of the Loire valley. Each of Europe's great cities is surrounded by wonderful side trips easily reachable for the price of a bus ticket.

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