Economical travel. How to save money on a trip and travel cheaper around Europe

Only those who have never done it before don’t like to travel. New places, interesting sights, overcoming oneself, and then wonderful memories. This is all great until it comes down to it. And I met many people who said: “ You travel so much, it's expensive!“Actually, no, you can travel on a very budget, and even combine it with work. Now I will tell you how to do this.

1) Travel around the area.
If you have never left your city, you will be impressed by any new place, even if it is a neighboring small town, and often such towns hide wonderful architectural monuments or stunning natural attractions. Open a map of your area, Google each city and be surprised at how much interesting stuff there is.

Traveling around the region is quite inexpensive, even if you travel by bus or train, round trip travel usually does not exceed 1000 rubles. In addition, such trips are one-day (left in the morning, returned in the evening), you don’t have to look for accommodation for the night, and you can take food with you from home.

Have time to see what is nearby. Perhaps in the future you will leave home, and what was close at hand will be completely inaccessible.

2) Leisure for yourself
I won’t say that group excursions or tour operator services are always more expensive than an independent trip. Sometimes I had to use them because it was cheaper. But it was a well thought out choice after comparing all the prices and options.

But whatever you say, independent trips are often cheaper and more interesting, because you don’t have to “feed” the guide and organizer. All information about a place or city can be read on the Internet. The main and not so important attractions have long been marked on maps. And in general, how good it is to be left to your own devices.

Use electronic maps on your gadget and a navigator, so you won’t get lost. I use 2gis and maps.me, all the sights and hiking trails are marked there (sometimes even in the mountains). Sometimes I use Google maps to search for public transport abroad, but the disadvantage of Google maps is that they only fully work with the Internet.

3) Don't choose a seat, choose tickets.
If you are limited on money, there is no point in looking for beautiful places that you cannot get to; instead, look for cheap tickets.

Russian Railways and airlines constantly carry out various promotions and accumulate points for trips and flights. So, you can get long-distance tickets almost free of charge or for just 500 rubles

And even if instead of city “X” you go to city “Y”, it will also be no less cool, because it will be a new place for you.

4) Seize every day off
Most people have a stereotype from somewhere that you can only travel on vacation, which is once a year, and that the trip must be long and you need to save up for it.

Throw this nonsense out of your head, travel at least every free weekend. Two days is enough to move up to 1000 km away from home, explore a new place/city and return back. Use night time for movement, and day time for exploring and walking. Do not forget also that you can use Friday evening, and the night train can replace the hotel.

Be spontaneous and easy-going.

Where is the benefit here? You are not at the mercy of the holiday season when all ticket prices skyrocket. You will only have one night away from home, which is much cheaper than if you leave for a week at once.

5) Forget about household chores
Remember how many times you yourself refused a cheap trip somewhere because: “I have so many household chores,” “it’s such a mess at home,” etc.

If you want to travel cheaply, go at the first opportunity, and you can rearrange your household chores later when travel becomes expensive. In any case, your asshole will not run away from you anywhere, and cheap tickets and wonderful memories will do the same.

6) Forget about comfort
When traveling on a budget, you often have to sacrifice comfort and you need to be prepared for this. Cheap tickets are usually sold at night, for inconvenient seats, for old carriages, etc.

All this brings a lot of inconvenience, but the devil is not as terrible as he is painted, because all the bad things are forgotten, and only pleasant memories remain. No matter how much my neighbors annoy me, no matter how much I have to go to work on Monday like a zombie, the delight of visiting a new place is much stronger.

7) Don't wait for weather by the sea
How many times have I heard: “Nah, it’s cold,” “Nah, it’s snowing,” “Nah, it’s raining.” Stop waiting for weather by the sea and go as soon as possible. If it's cold, dress warmly; if it's raining, take an umbrella. And in general, the weather can change in a day.

And when the weather is good, you will simply go somewhere else, because we have a very large country and the choice is huge.

8) Use a blah blah car
Browse sites like blah blah car or beep car, or some local forums where drivers recruit travel companions. More often than not, this actually works out cheaper and faster.

9) Say yes to the hitchhiker
No matter how trivial it may sound, if your wallet is completely empty, you can always hitchhike. In Russia, this matter has long been commonplace and even more of a subculture. Hitchhikers compete in speed, share stories online and organize meetings. This is actually very interesting and hitchhiking helped me out in places where it was impossible to leave by regular transport.

In addition, look for hitchhiking groups on VK, for example, Hitchhiking Community, where you can find out in advance about someone’s trip and agree to get into the car at a certain place. Or team up with some traveler.

10) Stay overnight for free
If the trip is multi-day, the issue of accommodation may be more pressing than the issue of tickets.

There have long been a lot of sites and groups on social networks on the Internet where residents are ready to host travelers for free. I use Couchsurfing.com

Of course, it will be great if you give the owner something for his hospitality, for example, share your travel experience, bring a souvenir from home, buy a cake for tea, etc. Read the hosts' profiles and reviews carefully, take their preferences into account, warn them if you're going to be late, be sociable and friendly.

Very often, hosts not only provide accommodation for the night, but also invite you to dinner.

And throw all this nonsense out of your head about maniacs, because for them you are exactly the same stranger whom they will let into their house.

It will be great if you also start hosting travelers. There is nothing dangerous or complicated about this; most often, people just need a place on the floor; they will spend the night in their own sleeping bags.

11) Book hotels at a discount
If you couldn’t find a free overnight stay, you can book a hotel at any time through booking.com, which often offers promotions and discounts. And by registering using our referral link you will receive a refund to your card in the amount of 1000 rubles after check-in.

12) Eat in supermarkets
Breakfast, lunch and dinner in cafeterias can cost a pretty penny. You can try to find an inexpensive decent canteen, but it is even cheaper to buy ready-made food in supermarkets. In addition, supermarkets open early and stay open until late, unlike canteens. This method is especially effective abroad, where everything is very expensive.

In addition, if you are staying with someone for a long time, you can ask to use the kitchen and cook something, because regular food is even cheaper than ready-made food.

13) Don't wait for girlfriends
This is about the same as “don’t wait for weather by the sea.” How many times have you wanted to go somewhere, but there was no one who could accompany you? All my friends have more important things to do, but one of them is somehow scared to go.

Go to the Internet and look for a company there. How many people around the world want to go somewhere, but, damn it, there is no one with them. Unite and go.

Look for groups on VK, look for groups about hitchhiking. Create meetings on Couchsurfing.com, people will definitely write and come. From bike rides to mountain hikes, I always had online companions, even when everyone close to me was busy.

14) Visit our neighbors
If you really want to go abroad, consider visiting Belarus or Ukraine. Sounds unfashionable? Believe me, both there and there there is something to see and be surprised by, and no visa is required. This option is especially suitable for those who have never been to another country.

Another great option is to get Schengen and cities with wonderful architecture and nature will open up before you, and getting to them may be cheaper than traveling around Russia. For example, you can leave Moscow for Estonia for just a thousand rubles. And moving around Estonia between cities costs just 1 euro. Low-cost airlines fly from Warsaw and the Baltic countries to Norway for 500 rubles. From Tallinn there is a ferry to Stockholm for 65€ per cabin of 4 people, or to Helsinki for 15€ per person. And there are many, many more such examples.

Abroad, the same rules for cheap travel apply as in Russia.

15) Pay according to the Central Bank rate
Abroad, the issue of currency is also very acute: where to withdraw, where to exchange, how to pay? If you are used to using Sberbank, Alfabank and other banks that pop up on every corner, be prepared that for every purchase or withdrawal of cash abroad, your bank will charge you a conversion fee.

Use the correct bank cards. For example, the Kukuruza card allows you to pay for any purchases at the Central Bank rate without additional fees. In addition, if a special option is activated, you can withdraw currency (euro, dollars) from any ATM, also without commission (from 5,000 to 50,000 rubles in foreign currency equivalent per month).

16) Break stereotypes
« No one will pick up three guys on the road», « We have a child, who will let us in?"etc.

Get this nonsense out of your head. They’ll pick you up and let you go. It happened that 5 travelers stayed with me at once, just like I had to travel with three of us with a child, and we were allowed to spend the night.

All problems can be solved if we look for a solution. You can also travel a lot and cheaply.

If you have any additions, write in the comments, share your experiences and tricks, beginners really need these simple and inspiring tips.

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There is nothing difficult about making your trip on a budget. A little planning and knowing a few saving secrets is all it takes. Air tickets, hotels, visas, transport, food, communications - on all these points you can reduce costs if you try a little. MAKE-TRIP shares with you a dozen useful tips, how to travel cheap. Hurry up to find out!

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1. Travel on your own!

The first (and most important) law: don't be afraid. It's simple, it's interesting, it's cheap. Some people cannot even imagine that it is possible to travel abroad without the involvement of agencies and other organizations - they believe that this is the only way to guarantee their safety. But in the end, they either get a boring vacation, mostly in a lying position, or spend incredible amounts on a more or less non-standard vacation. Traveling on your own is not only possible, but also necessary! Only an independent trip can be considered a real trip; everything else is a tourist holiday. Anyone can organize a great trip for themselves, you just need to show a little independence. Look at ours in different countries and cities.

In our opinion, it is especially interesting to travel by car (personal or rented) - complete freedom of movement! If you are interested in this option, read our tips about. Traveling is also amazing!

2. Find the cheapest flights

The ability to find and book airline tickets at the lowest price is the most necessary skill for budget travel. The main rule that must always be remembered is that the earlier the purchase is made, the greater the chances of finding an attractively priced option. Ours will help you become a real master of finding the cheapest air tickets. It makes sense to keep track of the current ones on our website and look at ours in a particular country or city.

Also, be sure to read about - in this material we talked about schemes for budgetary access to the Schengen countries through European countries bordering Russia. In addition, we advise you to find out about flights that allow you to fly for amounts close to zero (purchasing tickets for 20/30/40 euros will not be a problem).

The best way to look for flights is on the Skyscanner metasearch engine - it will find you the best deals for any destination. This is a good assistant for independent travelers, since it searches for tickets among hundreds of airlines and does not take a single ruble of commission from the buyer. The search engine makes it possible to look at the cost of tickets to any country from all cities of Russia (or any other country) at once - a very convenient function for budget travelers, it allows you to find an option at the best price.

(Photo by Rennett Stowe. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

3. Apply for visas yourself

Why resort to the help of an intermediary and pay him double or triple the amount for this? You don’t turn to agents if you want to buy something in a supermarket, so you don’t need to here either. After all, we are going to travel economically, and not to improve the well-being of strangers.

Find information on the Internet about the nearest consulate or visa center of the desired country, collect all the required documents and go to them. Many people believe that it is more reliable to do it through an agency, as it is supposedly less likely to be denied a visa. This is a misconception, since the whole mission of these intermediaries is that they will take the documents to the consulate instead of you. Tips on how to properly collect documents to increase your chances of getting a visa can be easily found on the Internet. Our website also has options for a number of popular destinations.

4. Search and book accommodation correctly

To make travel cheap, you need to find inexpensive accommodation. You can use the excellent metasearch engine Roomguru.ru and choose the right hotel according to your criteria and reasonable price. This resource compares prices among different booking agencies and finds the best deals. Large database of hotels, hostels, guest houses and so on. We recommend reading our tips on how to.

An alternative to hotels is the popular private housing rental service Airbnb.ru. Try to find an apartment or house for your trip. It is much more comfortable and often cheaper (especially if you travel with a group or family). The service has a huge selection of unique accommodation (beautiful apartments, villas and even residential boats and castles!), living in which will make your trip much more enjoyable and memorable.

And for those who generally want to live for free, the resource Couchsurfing is vital, where after registering and creating a personal profile you can find people ready to host travelers. The network reaches millions of users around the world.

(Photo by Phillip Pessar. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

5. Travel light

Take only what you really need - don’t burden yourself with unnecessary baggage. As a result, there are a number of advantages: there is no need to wait a long time for baggage claim, there is no threat of losing it, you don’t have to pay for excess weight (and with low-cost airlines, in general, any baggage is always paid separately and can cost you up to hundreds of euros), and you can also move around the airport and Your destination will be much easier and more enjoyable if you don’t have to lug around huge suitcases and bags. We even fly to Asia for six-month winters with only one backpack per person.

Read also our tips on formation. By the way, we recommend making purchases on Aliexpress (we order camping equipment, equipment, and numerous accessories there) - it turns out to be much more profitable than shopping in regular stores. Pay attention to reviews to choose the best product. Another good store for sporting and travel goods is Decathlon (where we bought a tent, hiking clothes and other equipment for trips to Altai and the Caucasus).

6. Find out about airport transfers in advance

A taxi is always the most expensive way to travel; it is much more profitable to use public transport: bus, metro, train. Read about all the possible options before departure - this way you will save a lot of money.

However, sometimes it is more convenient and cheaper to use an individual transfer - for example, when you are traveling in a large group and order a multi-seater car. For these cases, we can recommend a reliable service. Even better, rent a car straight from the airport (you can find the best deal on Skyscanner Car Hire).

(Photo by martinak15. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

7. Overnight transfer instead of a hotel

Traveling at night on trains and buses will make travel cheaper. This is a good opportunity to save time and money on a hotel at the same time. It's better to take first class tickets - you'll have to pay a little extra, but you'll be comfortable and get a good night's sleep. Traveling on buses is not so convenient, so it is better not to overdo it and not plan daily night trips - your body will swear. However, in some places there are slipper buses, the peculiarity of which is recumbent soft shelves instead of standard seats (we have made night trips to these cities more than once). This is definitely a great option for budget travel without losing comfort.

It is also convenient to travel around Russia by train for short distances, choosing overnight journeys. For example, we traveled from St. Petersburg to Moscow, from Perm to Kazan - the journey took exactly one night, we slept well. There are many route options. You can find and book a train ticket at.

(Photo by Don McCullough. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

8. Use discounts

Groupon gives you the opportunity to buy coupons with significant discounts on a variety of things and events: restaurants, shops, entertainment, attractions, outdoor activities, etc. If you are a student, a young teacher, or you are simply under 30 years old, then it makes sense to get yourself a card ISIC, ITIC or IYTC. In Europe and North America you can use them to get good discounts in a variety of places - from cafes to museums.

9. Save on communications

Use Skype or Viber to communicate with Russia. Connect to local operators for local calls and 3G Internet. By the way, you can use Skype to call any landline and mobile phone numbers - these calls are paid, but inexpensive (for example, we used this opportunity to call from Vietnam to Russia and unblock a Sberbank card).

10. Use travel tickets

Find out about the city transport ticket system. Typically, there are many types of passes depending on the type of transport, validity period and travel zones. Think about what type of ticket is most suitable for you. If you want to save money and decide to travel like a hare, keep in mind that in many countries (especially in Europe) the fines for free riders are very high.

Also in many popular tourist cities there are special museum cards, which provide discounts on visiting attractions and allow you to skip queues.

11. Organize your own excursions

It is always cheaper to get to the place you are interested in without the participation of agencies and guides, and besides, you create your own visiting program - there is no need to adapt to a given schedule and rhythm.

(Photo by Moyan_Brenn. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

12. Eat at local establishments

Eating while traveling is both cheap and tasty! Restaurants aimed at tourists always raise their prices. And in the places that the residents themselves prefer, you will find real national cuisine, the lowest prices and the most delicious dishes. If you see a lot of local visitors in a restaurant or cafe, it means they have excellent food - feel free to come in too!

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Follow these tips, read the site and travel on a budget!

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Most of us develop a wanderlust at some point in our lives. But in reality, for many it is not so easy to get together and buy a ticket. Traveling costs a lot of money, and sometimes it’s scary to think how much we spend on the road.

But it turns out you don't have to have a ton of money saved up for travel—you can go anywhere on a shoestring budget. We've all heard the saying: "The best things in the world are free." However, many people believe that this rule only applies to the small pleasures in life, like time with friends or the smell of spring. This is wrong! Great joys can also be free. Well, or very cheap.

So if you want to turn travel from dream to reality, but don't know how, take some advice from Graham Hughes. He is a British adventurer, director and television presenter, as well as a Guinness World Record holder. He completed his epic journey around the world on a relatively shoestring budget. His 4-year trip by land, without flights, cost about 40 thousand dollars.

How could he afford this? It is true that Graham took out several loans for his trip, and also made documentary notes along the way. But he also knew that budget travel was the best way to travel around the world. But it needs to be done correctly. Below you will find 10 ways to help you plan your trip correctly.

Avoid expensive countries

Countries such as Qatar, Angola or Norway are the most expensive in the world. This may be obvious to you, but before you go anywhere, plan your trip and cross expensive countries off your list. You can have the same entertainment, if not better, in budget countries.

Travel light

Don't spend money on things you might need before you go. Most of the time, you probably won't be using an underwater camera or an expensive tripod. If you really need something during your trip, you can rent or buy everything on the spot.

Find a good guide

You just need to know the value of things. You should be savvy regarding exchange rates, prices for various excursions and trips (especially in taxis). This will allow you to plan your trip better and make it less likely that you will be out of money halfway through your trip.

Unlock your phone

Most phones are designed to work with any service provider and all you have to do is plug in a SIM card. If you plan to take your phone with you while traveling, buy a new SIM card in each country you visit. It will cost you much less than roaming calls.

Buy travel insurance

While it may seem like you'll be wasting money before you even start your trip, insurance is very important for the budget traveler. For what? Because if you are uninsured in a foreign country and suddenly need medical care, it could cost thousands of dollars.

Cheap flights

Browse the list of budget airlines and see if you can find cheap flights. If you are planning a trip but have not yet decided on a destination country, look at where tickets are cheapest. Let chance decide for you.

Choose street food

Street food can be cheap, tasty and safe - and more accessible than the restaurants you find along the way. If you're concerned about food safety, ask locals for advice. They are usually happy to help.

Couchsurfing

This is an opportunity to stay in other people's homes as a guest and not have to pay for a place. Not only will this help you save a lot of money, but it will also allow you to experience another culture from the inside and have a real travel experience.

Bargain

Sometimes the cost of goods for a traveler is several times more expensive than for local residents. Learn to bargain and get the best price for yourself. But if the seller is really not inclined to reduce the price, accept it. He's just trying to earn a living.

Don't buy souvenirs

When you're trying to find the best souvenirs at the best price, you often miss what's going on around you. Instead of worrying about what you bring home, try to enjoy the moment. Memories and photographs will usually be sufficient.

Graham Hughes went traveling alone on a budget of no more than $100 a week. However, he was able to have enough adventures. And if you also suffer from wanderlust, you can follow his example. Watching your expenses is a good idea, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy traveling on a budget. So no matter where you are, there are plenty of easy ways to cut costs.

To travel like this, you just have to look for opportunities and be willing to accept them. Don't let an empty wallet stop you from taking the trip you've been dreaming about your entire life. Just remember: with the right attitude, the best things in life, even things like traveling the world, can be very cheap.

Tireless romantics are already planning their next independent foray into a new country, city, or territory. And someone is going on a more familiar, but long-awaited vacation tour using a ready-made package. But how to learn to travel both interestingly and on a budget applies to all categories of travelers for whom expenses are of key importance. Experienced pilgrims, for whom inexpensive travel has become a kind of test of adaptability, will help you learn the secrets of this noble cause. Their stories and advice boil down to 5 ironclad rules for budget adventures around the world.

A rule that is not shown to everyone, but if you have the opportunity to use it, it works flawlessly - drive only on your own.

Fits:

• free, young people;
• sociable, courageous tourists;
• married couples without excessive demands.

If you know the language of the country where the tourist’s gaze is directed, then you can freely travel on your own in any case, it will still be cheaper and much more interesting than through an agency. By the way, about the last one. It is the services of intermediaries that eat up a decent part of the travel budget, making economical trips impossible. But everything that is done in the agency is quite accessible to oneself.

You just need to spend an evening on useful information and instructions, of which there are a great number on the Internet today, and book tickets and accommodation on your own. If you need a visa, then it can be done without the participation of others, especially when you live in a developed city. However, residents of the outback should not despair either - if they plan to make a tour on their own, then such a task should not become the first obstacle.

Part two - do it yourself

The rule that smoothly follows from the first one is that choosing your own airline tickets or other travel tickets helps you travel economically.

This makes it possible:

Absolutely the same actions will bring success when searching for housing on your own. There are a lot of metasearch engines that search for the best options, for example, super-cheap, but with the amenities of hostels, owner-occupied apartments, mini-hotels. Also, you should definitely study with interest a topic called “crouch surfing.” Then you can generally get accommodation during the trip for free.

More detailed instructions on how to do all of the above are available in large quantities on the Internet today, choose what you liked best and learn. In the unstable times of our days, it is not fashionable to throw money away.

Part three - banks can help too

A rule that reveals how to travel on a budget with the help of banks. The fact is that considerable competition in the market forces banks to fight for any clients, which gives rise to a bunch of interesting offers from the banking side. If you already have a preference for a certain bank, then you need to ask if it has a corresponding package of travel-related services. By 2018, many banks had developed very profitable programs for tourists using their payment cards, which provide:

• cashback miles;
• refundable interest for booking hotels and tickets;
• free insurance;
• gift bonuses and more.

If you don’t have a single payment card on hand, then you should not be lazy to find a suitable bank with favorable offers for tourism and start a relationship with it. However, you need to be more careful when choosing a partner bank - often a considerable commission is charged for using some cards abroad.

Young promising students and professionals should take an interest in international cards ISIC, ITIC or IYTC - a very profitable system for budget travel in Europe and the USA.

Part four - visas

Self-employed visas have already been mentioned, but a few more little tips won’t hurt. Firstly, it is a deep myth that obtaining a visa through travel agents is more reliable, faster or more successful. In fact, all the work of travel agency employees in terms of issuing a visa for a client comes down to the fact that they simply give the necessary package of documents to the consuls themselves instead of the clients. It is absolutely possible to do this yourself and with exactly the same success. But without overpayment. Detailed, very simple instructions from sections of special sites will tell you how.

Part five - on the road

The first 4 tips concerned preparation for the tour, and now tips for saving money on the road:

• luggage should be as compact as possible and with minimal filling - the pleasure of traveling increases in direct proportion to the reduction in the volume of things taken with you and vice versa, the threat of loss and overpayment for excess weight also disappears (especially for low-cost airlines);
• when going on independent budget travel, you need to carefully identify at home the scheme for moving from the airport of arrival to the place - doing this by taxi is very expensive, and the public transport schedule can be very unique in some countries, it is better to know about this in advance;
• It’s better to eat away from tourist areas, in snack bars, cafes and taverns for locals, every future thrifty traveler should firmly understand this, real ones already know about this - prices for the “menu” for their own people and tourists differ by 2, or even 3- 4 times.

When thinking about how to inexpensively make a tourist cruise, you don’t need to limit yourself to superficial ideas heard by chance from friends. The more information, the more profitable it is to travel around the world without a lot of money, so when you choose a destination, read, read, read as much as possible about it, and then you will be able to save on absolutely everything. But there is no need to try to save money abroad on travel tickets from Europeans or the United States; rabbits are punished very strictly there.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Do you want to travel inexpensively? Travel. Dot. No excuses.

All you need for this is a great desire and desire to explore every corner of this world, a little time for planning and money. The material component very often stops many people who want to go somewhere, because there is an opinion that traveling is expensive. But that's not true. Whether you want to travel within the country or abroad, one thing remains unchanged - you can and should travel based on your own budget. And if you have a modest one, it doesn’t matter. You will only need a little time and a strong desire, and they will help you deal with all the nuances.

All advice is based solely on our own experience (good and not so good). Yes, no matter what it is, it is still an experience. After all, it is thanks to him that we know how to cheaply travel around Europe from Ukraine, and not only. And so that this experience is not bad, we believe that it is necessary to draw useful conclusions from it so as not to step on the same rake every time.

So, we decided to go a little further and remove as many of these “rakes” as possible, so that neither we, nor you, nor your boyfriend/girlfriend, in general, no one will trip over them next time. Down with the rake! After all, cheap travel is real and it’s much easier to do than you might think.

Little advice— take only the essentials and throw on as many things as possible on yourself, thereby leaving more space in your backpack, bag or suitcase.

One city is not the limit. One country too.

It is not necessary that the city of your arrival and departure be the same. Sometimes it will be much cheaper to move or fly to another city or even country, and then go home from there. Unfortunately, sometimes a low price for a ticket from point A to point B does not mean the same low price for returning from point B to point A. Moreover, I think that adding a couple of cities or countries to your route will never be a minus. Unless you are pressed for time - then you need to look at other options for saving money while traveling.

Love the buses

If by land, then in 90% of cases the cheapest way will be by bus. Trains, although more comfortable, are sometimes much faster, but on a budget trip you can choose a less comfortable option. Believe me, it can be cool on the bus too. In addition, no one canceled the availability of Wi-Fi and sometimes personal screens for watching movies :)

You can compare ticket prices and plan a budget holiday in Europe using Omio (GoEuro).

Don't rush with your tickets

In the case of trains in Europe, look at the different ticket options (group, day, multi-day, etc.) and buy 2nd class. Believe me, in Europe, second class trains are often much cooler than our Intercity+.

Do the same with public transport. It is often much cheaper to buy a travel card for the whole day than to travel three times on a regular ticket. Think in advance how often you will need to use public transport and calculate which option will be more profitable for you.

Use couchsurfing

I think everyone has already heard about this service. But we are sure that not everyone used it. If your budget is tight and you really want to travel, try it, you won’t regret it. We heard a lot of reviews from friends - not a single negative one. Everyone was always satisfied not only with free housing, but also with communication with good and interesting people, as well as an unforgettable time with them. After all, couchsurfing is often not just a free place to sleep, but also people who are ready to tell you (sometimes even show) about interesting places that you won’t find in a regular guidebook, as well as tell you about local culture and traditions.

The only caveat is to be prepared to cancel your arrangement at the last minute. There's nothing you can do about it - anything can happen.

Pay in your native currency

If you have the option of choosing a currency to pay for your ticket, choose the currency of the country in which you live. Why spend extra money on conversion? In addition, very often the price may differ depending on the currency you choose. Therefore, check, check and check again!

Phew, that's the end of our list. We hope these tips will help you save money on your trip.

If you have any questions, you know how you can find us 😉