More than 110,000 people carpool in Europe each day, making it one of the most economical ways to travel, writes Anna Richard When did you last get off the train, or plane, with a great story to tell? Or chat to locals en route to your destination? While carpooling around Europe, I’ve had private city tours from people I’d met just hours before, been sandwiched in the backseat of a Peugeot; I’ve spent the journey speaking to circus performers, artists and medics, and I’ve encountered people I’d never meet in my day-to-day life - most recently, and particularly memorable, a nudist and her pet chihuahua . While for me, these interactions are all part of the experience, for many they might be the reason sharing a car fills you with dread. But there’s another, incredibly good reason why carpooling around Europe is a great idea.
It’s dirt cheap. READ MORE: Europe road trip guide: 9 incredibly scenic drives The lowdown The carsharing website BlaBlaCar counts 21 million active users across 21 countries, most in Europe ( Turkey, Mexico and Brazil are the only non-European countries with active BlaBlaCar communities). Some 110,000 people travel using BlaBlaCar each day.
That’s a lot of routes covered, and some of them are incredibly niche. Rail fares are on the rise in Europe and they also see an annual inflation rate of 11.1 per cent on average in the European Union .
For example, a return train fare from Oslo to Kongsvinger, in Norway , costs over €50 ($87.87) for .
