KLM $578 Atlanta to Romania or Serbia, $666 Athens August-March 2017, even Christmas holidays

KLM has some low fares from Atlanta to Athens, Greece at $666 round trip for departures as soon as next week. Even lower are ticket prices at $578  to Bucharest, Romania or Serbia, Belgrade. Sofia, Bulgaria is in mid-$600s. These ticket prices are available most dates all the way from August to mid-March 2017, even $690 round trip fares at Christmas time for Atlanta to Athens.

KLM Atlanta ATL – Amsterdam AMS – Athens ATH

$689.91 round trip Monday Dec 19 – Friday Dec 30 (Christmas Fare)

KLM Atlanta ATL – New York JFK – Athens ATH – Amsterdam – Atlanta

$665.94 round trip Wed August 24 – Sat September 3 (Summer Fare)

This ticket has an 8.5 hour daytime layover in Amsterdam on return flights. You can be in central Amsterdam by 10am and leave by 2pm for about $12 train fare and four hours to walk around the city. I’d love this itinerary for a quick trip and canal walks in one of the prettiest urban centers on the planet.

KLM Atlanta ATL – Amsterdam AMS – Bucharest OTP – Amsterdam AMS – Atlanta ATL

$578.41 round trip  Sat Sep 10 – Mon Sep 19

This itinerary has 7:50 minutes daytime layover in Amsterdam on the outbound for a potential few hours in the city center.

KLM  Atlanta ATL – Amsterdam AMS – Belgrade, Serbia BEG – Amsterdam AMS – Atlanta ATL

$578.30 Wed Sep 7 – Wed Sep 14

Eastern Europe is Happening and Offers Good Budget Vacation Opportunities

I find low fare deals to eastern European countries like Poland, Romania and Serbia receive far less reads than airfare deals to western European countries like France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and UK from a blog business viewpoint. Still, I want to share good deals to Eastern Europe when I find them.

I am sold on taking more of my tourist dollars to Eastern Europe after taking trips to Lithuania and Poland in April and July this year. Those places are affordable to most budgets and leave the opportunity to splurge on restaurants and hotels and stuff to take home at prices far lower than what you likely find for similar things in the USA. Much of Europe is not like that and everyday you travel will require spending more than you would have for comparable items and services in the USA.

My wife was talking about going back to Poland and loading up on good quality crafts and clothes we saw priced really low. The choice to eat and drink in restaurants is not a budget buster when a dinner meal is less than $20 for a couple with alcohol compared to prices of $100+ in many cities around western Europe.

I met a couple of women last week heading to Belgrade and their descriptions of the city as a party place in summer on the Danube mirrored good reports I have read that Belgrade is an exciting place to hang out in summer.

Krakow, Poland amazed me with its low prices and extensive facilities for tourists. Bucharest ranks even lower than Krakow for tourist travel prices in several surveys I have seen. Bucharest does not get great reviews as a major city for spending a lot of time, however, the countryside of Romania is still one of the most remote and exotic places in Europe.

My recent trips to former Soviet block countries introduced me to people who are more interested in the west and the USA than Russia.  We found locals are more willing to take time and share stories with a tourist about their homeland than you’ll find in tourist-centric cities like London and Paris. Kelley was on a hug fest in Krakow, Poland after making friendships with several locals she met and spent time talking with while we were there. It seems to me American tourists are more appreciated in these places where economic conditions are tougher for locals compared to tourism in major cities of western Europe where tourists are liked as long as there is an exchange of money happening and far less tolerated when simply hanging around and not spending.

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