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There comes a point in nearly every person’s life when the desire to go travelling becomes too strong to resist. Europe is always high up on the agenda, with many incredible cities packed close together waiting to be explored. The urge to travel is always enticing but more often than not, money worries put a stop to these dreams before they can be realized. However, covering a whole continent may actually be a whole lot easier than you think. Here are some useful tips for seeing the best of Europe without breaking the bank.
Travel by train
The train network across Europe is very good and with an Interrail pass, you can travel through any country you wish for a fraction of the price of flights. There are loads of different passes. So if you want to travel around one country or plan on visiting as many as possible, you’ll be able to find the perfect one for your trip. Night trains are especially popular for the economical traveller as it saves you the hassle of finding accommodation and nothing beats the experience of sleeping in Frankfurt then waking up in Gare de l’Est in Paris.
Avoid staying in hotels
Hotels can be expensive but hostels aren’t the only alternative. Staying in a self-catered apartment gives you the freedom to live to your timetable with no early alarm calls, no curfews and no need to worry about missing breakfast if you were out the night before. With staying in an apartment, you can stave up your travel funds while cooking your own meals in the kitchen of your rented apartment instead of going out to restaurants every night.
Travel during “off-season”
If you are looking for a hot summer holiday then perhaps this doesn’t apply to you. However places get a whole lot cheaper once the majority of tourists have left. Travelling in May or September instead of during the peak of summer will not only mean that the weather is a bit cooler for long day walks but by avoiding the hoards of tourists, queues for the top attractions will be shorter.
Plan ahead
Whether you are booking an apartment or planning your travel, make sure you do it as early as possible. You can save a lot of expense throughout your trip just by booking online, allowing you to stretch your budget a whole lot further!
Photo credit: Nurse-issistic Traveller
Good tips. Money worries are most definitely the biggest halt to my husband and I’s constant want to travel. One suggestion I would add too, is start a regular budget for travel. We put away money every month so that when we travel we aren’t constantly trying to play catch up when we get back, we already had money put away!
For smokers quitting is always helpful too. A big chunk of my funds for my Phils trip was just the money I saved from not smoking. About $300 a month for 8 months. Not to mention the health benefits. Unfortunately I ended up starting smoking again during my trip but I’m off them again now, going on almost three weeks. It is much easier this time since I was only smoking not even four months where as last time I had been smoking for seven years.