Experienced travelers are convinced that traveling does not require a lot of money. There is enough desire to wander and the ability to seek information.
Bright Side has summarized the tips from travel bloggers that will allow you to see the world at minimal cost. At the end of the article you will find a bonus in the form of useful information for each tourist. And may you have more travels in the near future!
11. Travel on your own
Traveling on your own, and not through travel agencies, is both more profitable and interesting. Yes, the responsibility for any problems will rest solely with you. But travel agencies have little to decide in such cases, preferring to blame the airline, force majeure, the host country and the like.
You will be able to independently lay the “same” dream route, choose the cheapest flight option, book the best-priced hotel with convenient localization for you, and choose a transfer.
The Belarusian blogger Andrei Mironchuk gives the following figures: “A trip from Minsk to the Canary Islands in travel agencies costs about € 1,100, while a self-organized trip will cost you in the worst case € 500.” Significant savings worth the time spent planning your trip!
10. Plan
The sooner you start planning your trip, the cheaper it will be. This applies to air travel, train tickets, hotel reservations, buying tickets for various events, concerts and festivals. In European countries, the sale of train tickets opens a few months before departure. In the first days of sales, it’s quite possible to buy a ticket 2-3 times lower than standard fares.
Buying tickets for entertainment, concerts and festivals in advance via the Internet is a sure way to save an average of 10% of the cost and avoid queues.
9. Save on travel
The cost of moving from point “A” to point “B” is one of the main items of expenses in travel. On vandrouki.by you can find information about promotions and discounts on flights, rail and bus crossings, accommodation and car rental. The site does not provide any travel services, but simply provides information about discounts and promotions with links to the source. Choosing the right offer, you go to the company’s website and book your accommodation or buy tickets yourself.
8. Look for a variety of ways to buy cheap flights
The blogger Stas Rabunsky, who in his 24 years traveled to 35 countries and visited several continents, shares the following strategy for finding cheap flights: you need to find the official website of the airport of the city where you plan to go. There you can see which airlines fly to this city and find the one that flies from your city or the city closest to you. Then visit the website of this airline and find out if there are any promotions now and is it possible to save money if you join the airline’s passenger club.
Blogger Vitaliy Klimov suggests using the kiwi.com resource . With it, you can find the cheapest flights from the airport (no matter when and where) and find the cheapest destinations for certain dates.
7. Save on transfers from the airport to the hotel
From any airport in the world you can get economically by bus, not taxi. Look in advance in the Internet search engine, which bus companies go to the city center and where the bus stop is located.
If you opt for a taxi, then don’t take it directly at the airport: you will be deducted at an exorbitant price, and in exotic countries they can be robbed. In addition, not all taxi drivers speak basic English.
Delivery from the airport to the hotel can be ordered through an international transfer service such as Kiwitaxi or HolidayTaxis . At the airport you will be met by a driver with a sign on which your name will be. You can pre-order additional options, such as a child seat and Wi-Fi in the car, and pay for a taxi by credit card.
6. No hotels
The blogger Vitaliy Klimov, who rode a bicycle from the west of Russia to Africa and traveling in Europe, spending at the same time no more than € 7 a day, recommends that he or she prefer hostels when traveling alone or as a student company. It’s cheap, and at the same time you get the opportunity to make new friends, spend time in the company and improve your knowledge of foreign languages.
If you are traveling with your family, it is better to give preference to apartments. Firstly, this is a significant saving on food. Of course, a couple of times a trip is worth going to a restaurant, because getting to know the local cuisine is part of getting to know another culture. But to buy food in the supermarket and cook it yourself is much cheaper. And secondly, when staying at a hotel, we live the life of a city guest. And in the apartments we try on the life of a local resident – with trips to shops, to the market, with his key to the front door.
5. Try an alternative way of staying on a trip
Agritourism is one of the ways to get free shelter, food and a chance to immerse yourself in another cultural environment in exchange for several hours of daily assistance to the hosts.
You can always find an interesting, unusual and free way to stay on a trip. For example:
On the Help Exchange resource, people from all over the world offer tourists free accommodation and food in exchange for help with housework, farm work and other types of services.
WWOOF is an international organization (located in more than 70 countries) of organic farms and gardens where anyone can come to work in exchange for accommodation and food.
Couchsurfing is an international hospitality system. You register on the site and then you can host guests or go to visit other participants yourself, and it’s all free.
Haussitting is the care of someone else’s empty house, the owners of which left for a long time, for example, for the summer, in exchange for free accommodation. You can find an offer from any country in the world. You can find such travel accommodation options on the corresponding website .
4. Rent out your own accommodation while traveling or go on an “exchange vacation”
An exchange vacation is an opportunity to travel for free, and maybe even a chance, like the heroes of a film, to meet their love.
Traveler and blogger Vladimir Druganov recommends renting your own accommodation on AirBnb for the duration of the trip . You will receive money on the card during your trip. It is both profitable and convenient.
The second option to save on living abroad is to go on an “exchange vacation”. If you are ready to provide your apartment with tourists from other countries or your native country for the duration of your vacation, then in return you will receive the keys to their house absolutely free. The most popular online services dedicated to this type of tourism:
Homeexchange.com – this service is characterized by convenient navigation, a large number of houses and apartments in the database and a wide geography.
Homelink.org is one of the pioneers of travel accommodation exchange sites. This resource offers a wide geography and a convenient system of filtering results.
Obmendomami.ru is a Russian-language service. The majority of offers in the database are from Russia and the countries of the former USSR.
3. Do not miss the opportunity for free entertainment
Free walking tour in Krakow, Poland.
Before the trip, be sure to score in the Internet search engine “Free entertainment in the city of N”, ideally, of course, in English. Festivals, concerts, open days, excursions – in big and not very cities you can find many interesting things for free. For example, information on free walking tours can be found on this site .
2. Do not buy what you can get for free
Fi access-wi . When booking accommodation, immediately choose an apartment or hotel with free Wi-Fi. During the day, use free Wi-Fi in restaurants and cafes, at gas stations and in shopping centers.
Maps of the area . Free cards are available at counters in many hotels, apartments and hostels. The card can also be obtained at the tourist information office. As a rule, they are located in the city center or near the main attractions. In advance, download electronic city maps and a guide to your phone.
Water . In Europe, you can drink tap water everywhere. In many cities, drinking fountains are installed, and you can safely drink from them. To check, you can look at maps.me – there all drinking sources are marked as “Drinking water.” Also note that there are no “Not for drinking” signs or a crossed out glass of water next to it.
Toilets . Here you will find McDonald’s, Burger King and other public catering services, as well as business centers, museums, libraries, supermarkets. All major establishments have free toilets.
1. Be flexible
The basic advice most travel bloggers give is to be flexible. Do not be afraid to experiment and suddenly change the route or dates.
Blogger and traveler Johnny Jet pays attention to the obvious thing: the most expensive time to travel is when everyone else has gone too. That is the time of public holidays, vacations. And if you shift even a day or two earlier or later in time of departure on a trip, you can save serious money. Do not forget to take into account the dates of public holidays of those countries where you plan to travel.
Pay attention to when the high season begins in the region where you plan to go, and try to get there a few weeks before it begins. This way you can save up to 50%.
