Seven Ways To Travel On A Budget

Travelling is a great way to explore new places, experience different cultures and create lasting memories. However it can be expensive to travel as the costs add up really quickly. Fortunately with some careful planning it’s possible to travel on a budget.

Over the years I’ve done plenty of budget travel, trying to save every penny I can. And in this post I’m going to share some budget-friendly travel tips.

Be flexible with your travel dates

The more flexible you are the better. If you don’t have kids make sure you travel outside of school holidays when prices are at a premium. And consider the day of the week you travel. It’s almost always more expensive to travel on a Friday or Saturday, so you can save money by going mid-week or choosing unusual hours to fly. The 6am budget airline flights are always cheaper than during the day as most people don’t want to arrive at an airport at 4 in the morning.

Use flight comparison search engines

There are a number of different websites where you can compare flight prices. My favourite is Skyscanner and there are loads of way you can save money on your flights. If you know where you want to go it can tell you all of the flight costs so you can pick the cheapest time to go. You’ll find out which airline is going to be the cheapest to fly there. And it might not always be Ryanair or EasyJet depending on your location and dates. Or if you know when you want to travel but don’t mind where you can see the cheapest locations to fly to.

You can use Google Flights for cheap holiday inspiration, just click ‘explore destinations’ and it will suggest the most affordable flights for your destination.

Travel on a budget by looking into alternative airports

Airports aren’t always in the city centre or in the city at all (I’m looking at you ‘London’ Luton!) In some countries like Italy and Germany you may find a few airports quite close together.

It might not always work out the cheapest to fly directly to the location you want to go to, especially if there’s an event happening. It might be cheaper to fly somewhere close by and get a coach or train to your actual location.

I did exactly this when I went to see Taylor Swift in Edinburgh by booking my flight and hotel in Glasgow. Doing this saved me hundreds of pounds for the weekend trip.

Opt for hand luggage only

A lot of low cost airlines advertise really cheap flights, but it’s the checked luggage with can more than double your costs.

When choosing a flight, consider if you can just travel with hand luggage. Or if you do need checked luggage can you combine it with a friend to save some money. On a few longer city breaks me and a friend checked in one bag between us and split the price.

Travel on a budget by not discounting hostels

When you think of a hostel do you instantly think of a large room with bunk beds where you’d be sharing with multiple people in one room?! Yes these types of hostels exist, but you can get smaller rooms or even private ones in a hostel.

Chances are you won’t spend much time in your accommodation, especially if it’s a city break so you don’t need anything fancy. Hostels tend to work out cheaper than hotels so can help you travel on a budget.

When I went on a trip to Gothenburg in Sweden with a friend we opted for a private room in a hostel and it saved us so much money.

Compare package prices

If you’re looking for more of a resort trip then choosing a package holiday can sometimes work out cheaper. Especially by the time you’ve paid for hotel, flights, luggage, transfers etc. Even if the prices are similar you can save some hassle by picking a package. And you’ll get ATOL protection if anything goes wrong.

If the package prices are a little higher than you expected you can take out a personal loan for vacations, but never borrow above your means.

Embrace budget friendly activities

When you’re away look into free or cheap activities to do such as walking tours and free exhibitions.

In any new city I always check out if they have a city pass. These passes usually include a lot of tourist attractions and generally include transport as well. I’ve had them in Copenhagen, New York, Oslo and many more places.

You can usually get them for anything from 24 hours and it can save so much money when you arrive.

Travel on a budget without sacrificing

Just because you’re trying to save money doesn’t mean you’re sacrificing the quality of your experience. These are just a few of the ways you can travel on a budget.