Stokepedia

guides, blogs, tall tales, news, information, satire and stories from the stoke world of oktoberfest, barcelona, san sebastian surf, spanish festivals, sail croatia, backpacking europe, the world’s best festivals and beyond.

Contact Us

We’re here to help, so hit us on any of the channels below or scroll on down for the contact form.

Email
BARCELONA BOATS Email
san sebastian surf Email
Phone
WhatsApp
BARCELONA BOATS WhatsApp
SAN SEBASTIAN SURF HOUSE WhatsApp
Social





























    Stokepedia

    Travel knowledge, stories and insights from fellow wanderers and vagabonds. Here’s where you’ll find the collective travel knowledge of the Stoke family, advice on the goings on at our destinations and festivals, and general rants from our time spent travelling around Europe and beyond.

    Stokepedia is where you’ll find real life stories about travel and roaming and everything in between.

    Get ready for OKTOBERFEST

    Information before inebriation, Oktoberfest guides, stories, news and blogs

    View the Entire Guide

    Eight things that WILL happen to you at Oktoberfest.

    Yeah, you’ll drink beer at Oktoberfest 2023. But plenty of other things will happen to your sorry arse too… Europe boasts a frightening amount of festivals throughout the year. Some…

    Read More

    The stages of being Oktoberfest drunk.

    Our step-by-step walkthrough of what happens while getting absolutely sloshed (or sloshed-on) at Oktoberfest 2022. While you don’t have the be drunk at Oktoberfest, when you go to a beer…

    Read More

    Eight Tips For Surviving Oktoberfest

    Oktoberfest 2022 is so close you can pretty much smell the pretzels and almost hear the drinking chants somewhere way off in the distance. But you’re a little Oktoberfest virgin,…

    Read More

    Budget Accommodation Oktoberfest 2023

    You want to find the best place to stay at Munich’s Oktoberfest, because your accommodation will make all the difference to your German cultural experience. There are a lot of…

    Read More

    How Much Does Oktoberfest Cost? Is It Worth It?

    Oktoberfest is the world’s biggest beer festival, and the original beer fest and so it rightfully has a cemented position on almost everybody’s travel bucket list. We all want to…

    Read More

    Fun Oktoberfest Facts

    You already know the Oktoberfest basics – big beers at the world’s biggest beer festival; German culture, or better still Bavarian culture, on display; more than seven million people in…

    Read More

    Do Oktoberfest Beers Give You Less Of A Hangover?

    Oktoberfest 2023 is almost upon us, and with it the season that we again start hearing things about the “purity laws” relating to German beers. The purity laws are often…

    Read More

    Oktoberfest Beer: A Drinking Guide

    Perhaps you’ve heard of Munich’s Oktoberfest – it’s only the biggest and best beer festival in the world. Fourteen beer tents and six million people drinking more than seven million…

    Read More

    Oktoberfest FAQs

    This is the Oktoberfest information and the FAQs that you need to know  about Germany’s famous beer festival. Are you ready to join us for Oktoberfest in the Munich beer…

    Read More

    A Stoke Travel History Of Oktoberfest

    Take a historical meander through Oktoberfest Munich’s boozy and not-so-boozy origins We know that you probably wouldn’t come to Stoke Travel for a history lesson, but you know what! You’re…

    Read More

    Some Weird And Wonderful Oktoberfest Traditions

    Far from being a tourist-focused beer-a-thon, Oktoberfest Munich is deeply traditional event. An almost sacred occasion to the local Bavarians and Muncheners, they eagerly await September and October each year…

    Read More

    Oktoberfest is a big gay celebration and these are the reasons why

    Oktoberfest, not your obvious gay event.  Munich’s Oktoberfest might not be the first event that comes to mind when you think of a gay event or holiday but there are…

    Read More

    What to wear to Oktoberfest In Germany

    Here’s everything you need to know about what to wear for OKTOBERFEST 2023. Unlike other festivals around the world Munich’s Oktoberfest is an easy one to dress for, with the…

    Read More

    Travelling To Oktoberfest Alone

    Six reasons why travelling solo to Munich’s Oktoberfest is an awesome idea. It’s on your bucket list, but for some reason you can’t convince the homies to join you at…

    Read More

    How to travel to Oktoberfest from around Europe

    For a guide on how to get to Oktoberfest from within Munich, you’re going to want to read this. Getting to Oktoberfest is easy from anywhere in Europe. Munich has…

    Read More

    How To Do Oktoberfest On A Budget

    We know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking that we’re just going to say, Camping with Stoke Travel at Oktoberfest is the best budget option, and you’re right, we could say…

    Read More

    Can You Do Drugs At Oktoberfest? 

    While we don’t recommend doing drugs at Oktoberfest, we do recommend having as much fun as is physically possible, and to help with that we’re opening our bar to you…

    Read More

    Reasons to come to Munich for Stoketoberfest

    After two years of cancellations, Oktoberfest is BACK ON in Munich for 2022. Book your space now with a risk-free €1 deposit. This event WILL SELL OUT. There’s a lot…

    Read More

    How To Travel To Oktoberfest 2023

    Getting to Munich’s Oktoberfest can be quite the ordeal, with all of the world’s beer lovers pining for a mega-pint of that delicious Bavarian nectar. But never fear, not only…

    Read More

     

    It’s always a good time for BARCELONA

    Places to eat and drink, things to do, sights to see, the best parties – insider knowledge with stories from locals and travellers

    View the Entire Guide

    7 Ways to Get Ripped Off in Barcelona

    If you’ve had friends who’ve travelled to Barcelona, they’ve probably come home from an insane week-long bender with tales about chucking caution to the wind, devouring the best food of…

    Read More

    Best Bars In Central Barcelona (Born and Gothic Areas)

    Barcelona’s bar scene is renowned for its cheap drinks, funky music and sexy occupants. But between the gems there are lots of lemons – particularly in the more touristy centre…

    Read More

    Barcelona’s Best Curries (Indian and Thai)

    By KP, Stoke’s resident Barcelona food critic When you think of Barcelona you don’t think of curry… or do you? With thriving Indian, Pakistani and Thai communities, there are plenty…

    Read More

    Best Italian Food In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident food critic Italian food is a classic favourite amongst the masses. To be fair, I don’t think I have ever met a soul that didn’t enjoy…

    Read More

    Best Burgers In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident foodie Up there with kebabs and curries as the ultimate hangover food, there’s nothing quite like chewing away the previous night’s sins – or doubling down…

    Read More

    Best Coffee Spots In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident food critic Us Stokies know good coffee (comes with being so regularly hungover/busy), and while Spain has always had a coffee drinking culture of some sort,…

    Read More

    The Best Brunch In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident food critic Surely you know that StokeTravel do a bottomless brunch with unlimited mimosas at all of our destinations, because we know that nothing beats a…

    Read More

    Best Tapas In Barcelona

    By KP, our resident food critic Now we’re talking, good old authentic tapas, shared plates of deliciousness – Spanish specialities done in Barcelona with a particularly Catalan flair. These little…

    Read More

    The Best Places To Eat Paella In Barcelona

    By K.P. our resident food critic Paella is one of Spain’s national joys (as you probably know) and is hands down the one dish you HAVE to wrap your mouth…

    Read More

     

    Let’s go SURFING

    Surfing San Sebastian, Spain, France, Europe and the world, we’ve got you covered

    View the Entire Guide

    Learning To Surf In San Sebastian

    Learning to surf in San Sebastian is high on everybody’s bucket lists. We’ve got the run down of the best spots to learn to surf, and the people to do…

    Read More

    Why You Should Go To Zarautz Beach Camp

    We spend a lot of time singing the praises of the San Sebastian Surf House, and rightfully so because it is amazing, but let us tell you a thing or…

    Read More

    REPORT: San Sebastian Surf Camp Actually In Real House

    Reports have come out of San Sebastian, in Spain’s Basque Country, claiming that Stoke Travel’s Surf Camp there isn’t in tents, but in a real-life house with really real beds….

    Read More

    How To Choose The Perfect Surf Camp

    Of course the perfect surf camp for us is our San Sebastian Surf House, with the best waves in Europe easily accessed from our converted Basque farmhouse in the mountains….

    Read More

    How to Make the Most of San Sebastian’s “La Semana Grande”

    Who said culture had to be boring?  Get the dates right  San Sebastian’s La Semana Grande, or, The Big Week for us English speakers, is a week-long fiesta throughout the…

    Read More

    The Cider House Rules – the Stoke Travel Guide to Navigating a Basque Sidra House

    If you’re searching for information on the late 90s Tobey Maguire Oscar-winning film, then I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere. But if you’re wanting to find out what exactly…

    Read More

    Best Pintxo Bars in San Sebastián

    San Sebastián has often been hailed as the gastronomical capital of Europe – that is until our froggy friends over in Paris nicked the title off them a couple of…

    Read More

    Reasons Our San Sebastian Surf House Is A Safe Haven For Solo Female Travellers

    Calling All Adventurous Women During this pandemic it seems like we’ve all spent a lifetime in our comfort zones. We’ve watched every series on Netflix (twice), consumed dangerous amounts of…

    Read More

    Need to Know San Sebastián Information

    This is where you can find anything and everything about one of our absolute favourite cities San Sebastián and its surrounding regions. Come and get amongst it in 2021 for…

    Read More

     

    Thinking about STUDYING ABROAD in Europe?

    Study abroad hints, tips, stories and offers for current and future students

    View the Entire Guide

    THE BEST PLACES TO STUDY ABROAD IN EUROPE 

    Everyone knows Europe is the place to study abroad, but it can be hard to decide what country, let alone city, you should spend the next few months in. To…

    Read More

    Top Seven European Cities For A Weekend Getaway 

    Balling on a budget? Here are a few places that make a perfect weekend trip for study abroaders There’s nothing quite like studying abroad in Europe. Calling a new city…

    Read More

    Is Studying Abroad In Europe Expensive?

    One of the greatest deterrents when deciding to start studying abroad in Europe is that it can seem expensive. Costs can be a major factor in deciding which program to…

    Read More

    Dealing With Homesickness While Studying Abroad

    Your first week or two abroad in Europe is a whirlwind. Everything is new and exciting, and you find yourself wanting to do everything all at once. Jam-packed days of …

    Read More

    How to stay in touch with friends and family back home while abroad 

    As you begin your study abroad experience you may find it difficult to keep in touch with the people back home, and that’s understandable. Busy travel and school schedules mixed…

    Read More

    So you wanna Backpack Europe?

    We’ve got the ultimate guide to backpacking Europe.

    View the Entire Guide

    Ways To Save Money For Your Travels

    Saving your pennies isn’t easy – everything is so fun, and seemingly expensive, but it’s not impossible, and if you follow our tips you’ll come in hot with a pocket full of change.

    Read More

    Cheap flights to Europe

    So you saved your pennies, but you don’t want to blow them all on the first part of your trip. Well, lucky for you we’ve booked thousands, and we’re going to show you how to do it.

    Read More

    The Ultimate Travel Checklist

    Print it out and put it on your wall. Cross it off as you go. Don’t go until it’s all crossed off, or at least make sure you have a good go at it. This is your guide to packing your backpack before you go backpacking.

    Read More

    Travel Advice Learned From Our Past Mistakes

    We got in all kinds of troubles just so you don’t have to.

    Read More

    European Visas: Explained

    Everything you need to know about your European visa, as well as some tested ways to stay for longer.

    Read More

    How To Find Cheap Accommodation

    From hostels to hotels, using the sharing economy, relying on the kindness of strangers, and more.

    Read More

    How To Survive Backpacker Hostel Life

    It might not be what you’re used to. Maybe because of the noise, the grossness, the lack of privacy. Well, hostel life is an inevitability of backpacking life, but we’re…

    Read More

    How to get the best mobile plan

    How to get the best mobile plan. One with lots of data because Google Maps and Tinder are more important than mumsy’s twice-daily checkup calls. Also, Europe has no roaming charges as of 2018, so you can travel the continent and swipe right like a legend.

    Read More

    Advice For The Broke Traveler – How To Save Money On Your Trip

    You’ve done all the saving and you’re enjoying backpacker life, but with these tried and tested techniques you can make those euros go a little further. Spend the money on fun stuff, by saving on these essentials.

    Read More

    How to Rent a Car in Europe

    Oh the freedom! If you’re above a certain age and have a valid credit card and an international driver’s license and… but if you can tick the boxes this is the only way to roll.

    Read More

    Why you should get travel insurance

    Because you really should get travel insurance.

    Read More

    European Working Holiday Visas

    The absolute best way to turn that 90-day Schengen visa into a year and sometimes more of continental goodtimes.

    Read More

    European Campervan Life

    Live like a turtle! Moving slowly with your house on your back. Pooping in bushes. Going wherever you want. Making friends with grey nomads in a similar situation. Campervan life is the life for us, here’s how to get it done.

    Read More

    The Best Way To Travel Around Europe

    Planes, trains, automobiles… Europe has them all! But how are you going to move around the continent during your ultimate backpacking superduper trip-of-a-lifetime? The answer is: a little bit of everything.

    Read More

    Driving in Europe

    It’s totally easy, but maybe a little intimidating. You can do it, we have faith in you, just remember which side of the road we drive on, and get ready for some pretty big tolls.

    Read More

    Budget Flights In Europe

    The nature of the European Union means that flying between countries is as big a hassle, and a similar price, to flying interstate at home. Sometimes you’ve got to jump in that big bird and get somewhere in a matter of hours, not days, and you’re going to need to do that on the cheap.

    Read More

    Is It Worth Your While To Backpack On A Eurail Pass?

    Is it worth your while getting a Eurail Pass? There’s no more romantic way to travel across Europe than by train. They go everywhere, and they do so at a frighteningly rapid rate. They stop in the city centre. You can walk about and cavort with cute strangers. But sometimes the passes are expensive.

    Read More

    A Brief Guide To European Bus Travel

    It’s not ideal, but it is cheap, and that’s sometimes all that matters. The highways in Europe are spectacular and so the buses get to where they’re going with ease. Sometimes you’ve got to suck it up and save some cash.

    Read More

    How To Avoid Pickpockets In Europe

    While relatively free of violent crime, some cities are often seen as being a haven for pickpockets, thieves and other petty criminals. Don’t let them ruin your trip, know their tricks and how to avoid being robbed.

    Read More

    Average Dinner Time In Europe

    The evening meal might be the most important to backpackers, a time to chat, pre-drink and, obviously, fill the belly with fuel. Across the continent meal times can vary greatly, so here’s a guide to average dinner times in Europe, so you don’t get caught hungry.

    Read More

    Eating Cheap Meals While Travelling

    Eating and drinking is one of the most pleasurable things we can do while backpacking – and also one of the most expensive. Learn how to lessen the blow with our guide to eating cheap meals while travelling.

    Read More

    Vegetarian and Vegan Backpacking In Europe

    Don’t eat meat? Dairy? Eggs? Don’t let your diet hold you back with our hints and tips for vegan and vegetarian backpacking in Europe.

    Read More

    The Best European Food By Country

    One of the best things about travelling is discovering new places and then eating all their food. Make sure you eat the right things in each place, with our guide to best European food, a country by country guide to the continent’s weird, delicious and typical dishes.

    Read More

    Eating Healthy On A Budget

    Europe is home to some delicious food, delicious, fatty, salty food. Eating well while backpacking is difficult, but not impossible if you follow our simple guide to eating healthy on a budget.

    Read More

    Boozeletters

    June 2016: Stoketoberfest

    Stoketoberfest: a brief history It was almost a decade ago that the weary Stoke caravan limped into a Munich campsite with delusions of festive grandeur, Stoketoberfest. The caravan was loaded…

    Read More

    Stoke Travel Is Looking For Creative Interns

    To live, laugh, love, pray, eat, drink and sometimes pass out in Barcelona Have you got a passion for words? For the moving picture? For likes? Stoke Travel, Europe’s —…

    Read More

    Boozeletter: Five Oktoberfest Beer Facts

    This list was initially “it’s beer” five times, but a little digging gave us five real things about Munich’s Oktoberfest beer that’ll put saliva on your tongue and a sway…

    Read More

    The Most Extraordinary Ordinary Job In The World: A Competition

    The Most Extraordinary Ordinary Job In The World competition is back, and this year we’re looking for two chosen ones. Do you love writing, shooting videos and photos, bragging to your…

    Read More

    The New And Improved Stoke Travel Passport

    Introducing the Stoke Travel Passport   Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas! Zalig Kerstfeest! Joyeux Noël! Buon Natale! Nizhonigo Keshmish! Bon Nadal! Eguberri on!   Or Bah humbug, whatever floats your boat….

    Read More

    Five Items Every Traveller Carries But Never Uses

    At the bottom of everyone’s bag is a collection of items that haven’t been used once, but your inner hoarder refuses to get rid of as you’re convinced at some point they’ll be absolutely essential and you’ll be kicking yourself if you’ve thrown them out.

    Read More

    May 2016: Grannies

    People think Stoke is for young people, but there are so many reasons why not just young people travel with Stoke. We accept everyone of all ages, races, faces, and…

    Read More

    The Boozeletter: Tomato, is it a Fruit or Vegetable?

    The question is: tomato: fruit or vegetable? They say that the world is divided between those who say tomató and others who say tomáto, but that point of difference barely…

    Read More

    March 2016: Flexibility Poses

    Hello, and welcome the new edition of Stoke News of March 2016 It would be remiss of us not to mention the tragedy in Belgium and Pakistan this past week…

    Read More

    Boozeletter: Most Ordinary Extraordinary Job In The World Edition

    We see these “Best Job In The World” promotions popping up often, offering lucky punters a job that isn’t really a job, a glorified galavanting around the globe, sampling all…

    Read More

    Stoke’s Euro Summer 2017 Picks

    5 Places That Are Better In Summer Spring has well and truly sprung here in Europe. The bees are making love to the birds and they’re doing it on top…

    Read More

    Stoke Travel Boozeletter: The Resolutions Are All Broken

    The Resolutions Are All Broken It’s that time of the year when we come to terms with who we really are. Less than a week out from the revelry of…

    Read More

    Happy New Year Boozeletter

    New Year, new you! Are your resolutions in order? Have you deluded yourself into thinking you’ll miraculously become a new person once the clock ticks over into 2017? We haven’t!…

    Read More

    Letter to the President

    Dear Mr. President, The Stoke Travel Co. team would like to formally invite you and your family to join us here in Pamplona for San Fermin, Running of the Bullsand…

    Read More

    January 2016: Christmas

    Hey Stokies of 2015! Thanks and Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for coming and seeing us this year Thanks for once again letting us put on the kinds of…

    Read More

    April 2016

    We’re getting pumped here at Stoke Towers in April 2016 Because the weather is heating up, summer is on its way and nothing but good times await… Yes, it really…

    Read More

    February 2016

    The Stoke Boozeletter February 2016: the who’s who letter, the better check your news better, when you get unlimited booze your poos get wetter Are you hot or are you…

    Read More

    Trump Goes On Surfari With Stoke Travel

    Media Release Donald Trump hangs ten on Stoke Travel Surfari and demands an ongoing and unrelenting search for best surf The Stoke Travel Co. will be expanding their summer Van…

    Read More

    Chicken or beef?

    No vocation for location, just a good ol’ time It’s always good to have a few choices in life: salty or sweet, chicken or beef, margarine or butter, underwear or…

    Read More

    Boozeletter: Spring Has Sprung

    Don’t get us wrong, winter’s alright. But there’s just a je ne sais quoi about spring that makes us all warm in the bowels of our bellies (that is the scientific term for one’s loins)

    Read More

    Boozeletter: King’s Day in Amsterdam

    From 11 am we are taking a bunch of crazy cats out on the canals on 
an open deck party boat. 3-4 hours cruising the canals with unlimited beer and sangria for only 10€!!

    Read More

    Too many options

    Why in the Kaiser am I receiving this email? Because somewhere down the line we’ve crossed paths. You might have been surfing with us, or thrown up on one of our pub-crawls.

    Read More

    Blackmail & Bumming Around The World

    Stoke Travel’s After-Grog-Blog-Blackmail around the world   “You think of travelers as bold, but our guilty secret is that travel is one of the laziest ways on earth of passing…

    Read More

    Travel Deals, Insider Info, Gossip, and More

    Sign-up for The Morning After





















      Search Stoke Travel Search by Trip, Destination, Month...