Let me set the scene. It was February, and four of us — broke, ambitious, and desperately in need of a holiday — decided we were going to Germany. Not someday. This summer.
The problem? None of us had ever applied for a Schengen visa. None of us knew what Munich cost versus Berlin. And every travel agent quote we got back was either confusing, expensive, or both. We nearly gave up and booked Goa instead.
Then I found Affiliated Traveller.
The Search That Started Everything
I typed "India to Germany" into affiliatedtraveller.com almost by accident — I'd seen it shared in a travel Facebook group and was skeptical. Another aggregator site, I thought. Another list of hotels I can't afford.
What came back stopped me scrolling.
Real trips. From real people. Indians who had actually done the India → Germany route, documented every step, and shared it publicly. Actual itineraries from people who'd stood in the same visa queue I was about to stand in.
One guy from Bangalore had done Munich → Neuschwanstein → Berlin in 10 days on a shoestring. Another couple from Delhi had detailed their entire Schengen application, what documents they submitted, which visa agent they used, and how long it took.
I spent an hour reading. Then another hour. I hadn't booked anything yet but I already felt like I knew what I was doing.
Sorting the Visa — The Part Everyone Dreads
The Schengen visa is where most India-to-Europe trips die. The paperwork alone feels designed to intimidate you.
On Affiliated Traveller, I used the built-in Visa Checker tool — entered India as my passport country, Germany as destination, and within seconds I had a clear breakdown: visa required, document checklist, estimated processing time (15 working days), and approximate cost (around ₹9,000 / ~$110 for the visa fee itself).
But the part that actually saved us was the visa agents listed through the platform. A traveller who'd done the same route six months earlier had connected with a visa consultant through Affiliated Traveller. I reached out through the platform, explained our group of four, our travel dates, and our budget.
Total paid for visa consultancy: $50 across all four of us. She walked us through every document, reviewed our bank statements, helped us write the cover letter, and told us exactly what the German consulate in Mumbai looks for. All four visas approved first attempt. No rejections. No resubmissions.
I've heard horror stories from friends who paid ₹15,000 per person to travel agents and still got rejected. We paid $12 each and sailed through.
Building the Itinerary — Stolen Shamelessly From People Smarter Than Us
Here's the thing about Affiliated Traveller that I didn't expect: people don't just share where they went, they share what it actually cost.
I found a trip from a traveller based in Chennai who'd done a 9-day Germany route the previous September. His itinerary was public, broken down day by day:
Day 1–3: Munich — Marienplatz, English Garden, day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle
Day 4–5: Nuremberg — Old Town, cheap accommodation, local food.
Day 6–8: Berlin — Free walking tours, East Side Gallery, Museum Island (free on certain days)
Day 9: Frankfurt — Römerberg, airport proximity for the flight home
He'd noted actual hostel prices, which supermarkets to use (Aldi and Lidl became our best friends), and which tourist attractions were genuinely worth it versus overpriced. He'd even flagged that the Bayern Palace Day Pass gives you access to multiple royal castles for €30 — something no travel blog I'd Googled had mentioned clearly.
We used his itinerary as our base and adjusted for our group. Saved us probably 15 hours of research.
The Budget Breakdown — How We Did It for Under $100 (Excluding Flights)
This is the part people always ask about. Here's the honest breakdown of what we used Affiliated Traveller to sort, and what it cost us:
| What |
How We Found It |
Cost Per Person |
| Visa consultancy |
Via traveller connection on platform |
$10 |
| Currency check |
Built-in currency converter (EUR/INR live rate) |
Free tool |
| Accommodation leads |
Real trip itineraries with hostel names |
~$50 |
| Day trip planning |
Community itineraries |
Free |
| Travel insurance referral |
Linked through a traveller's post |
$25 |
| Local SIM tip |
Mentioned in a community trip post |
$10 on arrival |
The platform itself cost us nothing. The tools — visa checker, currency converter, weather forecast for our travel dates — all free, no sign-up needed for the basic tools.
What Nobody Tells You About Germany on a Budget
A few gems I only found because real travellers had documented them:
Food: German supermarkets are shockingly good. We ate breakfast and lunch from Aldi most days — bread, cheese, cold cuts — for under €5. Dinner we'd splurge €12–15 at a proper sit-down place. Total food spend: around €25/day.
Transport: The DB (Deutsche Bahn) app is essential. Buy regional day tickets — the Bayern Ticket covers unlimited regional trains across Bavaria for a group for around €40 total. A traveller on the platform had detailed exactly which trains to take and which to avoid. We saved probably €60 in transport costs just from that tip.
Free Berlin: The East Side Gallery is free. The Tiergarten is free. The Soviet War Memorial is free. Tempelhof Field — a decommissioned airport turned public park — is one of the most surreal, brilliant free experiences I've ever had. None of our friends who'd googled "what to do in Berlin" had heard of Tempelhof. I found it in a trip post on Affiliated Traveller from a solo traveller who'd spent four days in Berlin on €150 total.
Neuschwanstein: Book the castle tickets online in advance. The traveller whose itinerary we followed flagged this — walk-in tickets sell out by 9am in summer. Online booking saves you a wasted half-day. Obvious in hindsight. Nobody told us.
The Connection That Made the Difference
Halfway through planning, I reached out directly to the traveller whose Chennai → Germany itinerary we'd been using as a template. Through the platform's messaging, I asked him a few specific questions about the Munich hostel he'd recommended and whether it was still good value.
He replied within a day. Told me the hostel had gone up in price but recommended an alternative. Also told me which nights in Berlin to avoid (a major conference had hotel prices tripling one week in July). We adjusted our dates by four days and saved roughly €40 per person on accommodation.
That kind of real-world, current, human knowledge is impossible to get from a travel blog written six months ago or a generic TripAdvisor review. It came from a conversation with someone who'd actually been there.
What I'd Tell Anyone Planning India → Europe Right Now
Stop using generic travel sites that show you the same five hotels and the same visa agency ads. The best travel knowledge is sitting with people who've already done your exact route — you just need a way to find them and access what they know.
Affiliated Traveller gave us that. The visa tool, the currency converter, the weather forecast for our specific dates, the real itineraries — all of it in one place. And the community behind it, the actual travellers who've shared their journeys and are genuinely happy to help the next person.
We left India four people who'd never been to Europe. We came back with 9 days of Germany in our memories, a group WhatsApp full of photos, and a total spend that made our parents genuinely suspicious we'd lied about going abroad.
We hadn't. We'd just planned properly.
Ready to plan your own trip? Search your route at affiliatedtraveller.com — enter where you're flying from, where you're going, and see real trips from people who've already done it.
Have you used Affiliated Traveller for your trip planning? Share your route in the comments — I'd love to see where everyone's heading next.
