STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

ILoveChoo · Hermes

travel agent?

Kelly · Hermes

I think it would definitely be helpful.

If you're a member of AAA, I think they do that kind of stuff, too

Escrime · Kate Spade

I think it can definitely be very helpful, especially if it is an out of the ordinary destination. A lot of travel agencies have started concentrating on a specialty.

Where are you headed?

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

I second the triple-A suggestion. My friend and I used them for a trip to Hawaii in 2003. Very helpful! I like AAA because I trust them.

Travel agents still do exist, but not like they used to. They seem to exist mostly for those who don't want to mess with planning trips themselves and for those who want the inside track and goodies that only experienced travel agents know about.

ILoveChoo · Hermes

Escrime wrote:

I think it can definitely be very helpful, especially if it is an out of the ordinary destination. A lot of travel agencies have started concentrating on a specialty.

Where are you headed?

Belgrade. Which for some reason seems $100-200 more expensive to fly to than any other place in Europe. I looked into flying somewhere else and doing the train, but I can't figure out what cities connect easily.

Escrime · Kate Spade

I use this website for a lot of the places that are a little different. There seems to be a lot of information on Serbia and Belgrade, including ways to get in there via the Eurorail, etc.

I went there a little over 10 years ago with a college classmate. I really liked it.

http://www.bootsnall.com/europetravelguides/serbia/index.shtml

littlebean · Kate Spade

They definitely still exist, but I don't usually find them to cheaper (just very helpful). Are you familiar with easyJet and RyanAir? They're low-cost European airlines that service short flights to places like Budapest and Sofia, which could be good options to fly into and then connect to a train/bus/plane/car. The website Kayak is also good for international flights.