Resources to use to travel on a budget
Canal in Bruges, Belgium, taken July 8, 2024 © The Ultimate Vacations Guide
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Yes, you can travel on a budget!
Traveling is something that we all aspire to do more, but we all think “If I had more money, I’d be able to travel more.”
I’ve thought the same exact thing. Thinking like this discourages us from finding ways to travel without spending a lot of money. I’m here to tell you that you do not need to have a ton of money in order to find ways to visit destinations you have always wanted to see.
In this blog post, I’ll be covering:
• Where to stay instead of an expensive hotel
• Where to find and book tours of famous attractions and landmarks
• When to drive instead of fly
• Using public transportation
Where to stay:
When we make plans to travel/go on vacation, we often start researching what hotel we should stay in. More and more people today are looking to Airbnb to book lodging, but due to a lot of controversy about Airbnb, people are starting to look elsewhere for lodging. I have had great success with Vrbo, which I mentioned in another article here. Vrbo is just like Airbnb where you rent someone’s property on your vacation, and it’s a lot cheaper than what a hotel would charge you, not to mention you have a lot more space than just a hotel room. Vrbo lets you rent properties in different cities all over the world and lets you choose between houses, apartments, condos, villas, and even cabins and cottages. My family has rented properties through Vrbo while on vacation and we have always been satisfied.
If you want to save money while finding lodging on your vacation, check out all Vrbo has to offer here!
Speaking of where to stay, I advise that you do not stay close to or in a tourist area when on vacation. Prices at these places, which not only include hotels but also Vrbos and Airbnb’s, are higher because they are so close to popular tourist attractions. Of course, this is done on purpose to make you pay more for being so close to attractions and landmarks. When I was in Paris in the summer of 2022, my family stayed at a hotel in the Montparnasse neighborhood in southern Paris. This neighborhood is not too close to tourist attractions but is a close walk to a Montparnasse subway station, which made it very easy for us to get around Paris (subway tickets in Paris are also very cheap). What is also beneficial about not staying too close to the major Paris attractions is that you get to see what Paris is really like, away from all the touristy things. This applies to other destinations too; we did the same thing in London. We stayed at a hotel in the City of London (central London), a very close walk to a subway station instead of staying in the West End, which is where popular tourist attractions and landmarks are. I talk more about using subways and public transportation below.
If you prefer staying in a hotel instead of renting a property, hotels.com is a great source to find hotels in your vacation destination. When you go to the website and enter your destination, you can filter your results by how many stars the hotel has, what area the hotel is in (i.e. West End of London), the nightly price you are willing to pay, amenities you want, and more. Click here to book a hotel through hotels.com!
How to book tours:
If you love exploring like me, the first thing you probably do is find tours to go see famous attractions and landmarks. The best way I have been able to book tours to see attractions and landmarks is through Viator, which I have talked about in another article here. I have booked tours in Hawaii, Italy, and the UK through Viator and will continue to use it in the future. Booking through Viator is not only a way to make the most of your trip by finding enthralling tours, but it is also a lot cheaper to book tours through them than through your cruise line if you are on a cruise. I talk about finding cheaper ways to explore destinations on your cruise below!
It was on a Viator tour in summer 2022 where I was able to see Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath in the UK in one trip!
Entrance to Windsor Castle with guards in front © The Ultimate Vacations Guide
Stonehenge © The Ultimate Vacations Guide
Bath Abbey © The Ultimate Vacations Guide
I want you to have the same amazing tour experiences that I’ve had. You’ll never know all of the incredible experiences exploring your vacation destination until you try checking out Viator here!
Click below to save 20% when you book a tour through Viator!
When to drive instead of fly:
If you planned a trip to Europe, for example, you obviously can’t drive there. However, if you are traveling somewhere in the USA that is feasible by car, like driving from the Tri-State area to Florida, this will save you tons of money in flights. My family has driven from the northeast to Florida several times and it has saved us thousands of dollars! We always spent a night at a hotel in Virginia or North Carolina and then continued the drive into Florida the next day. I highly suggest that you drive instead of flying to your vacation destination if it is feasible. If you have to book flights for your vacation, you will see a lot of different dates/times for when flights will be cheapest to book. Airlines change their prices all the time (literally every day), so keep checking prices, both far in advance of your departure date and as you get closer to it. If you are looking for a specific timeframe, I have often read that booking a domestic flight is cheapest around a month before your departure date. Don’t start researching flights too close to the departure date because that is when flights will be most expensive.
Another option is to take connecting flights to get to your vacation destination, which are generally less expensive than nonstop flights, even though it will take you longer to get where you want to go. Consider connecting flights if they are much less expensive and you don’t mind taking more time to get to your destination.
Expedia is a great source for finding flights that all airlines offer, and you can filter your results to find cheaper flights, prices for departure times during certain parts of the day (early morning, afternoon, etc), nonstop or connecting flights, what airports any layovers are, and more to see what prices are lowest to save the most money. I go to Expedia before going onto an airline’s website when researching flights.
Using public transportation:
As I mentioned above, using public transportation is a great way to save money while on vacation. Public transportation is also a lot faster than using a taxi to get to where you want to go by avoiding traffic (unless there are delays on the subway, of course). If you are visiting a major city, research online to see if the city has a subway system. So far, I have used the subway system while visiting Paris, London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Boston, New York, and Washington, DC. What makes using public transportation more advantageous is that taxi drivers know that tourists do not know the city they are visiting very well, so they purposely drive around more before heading towards your destination to increase the fare and get you to pay more money. I have heard of this happening a lot in London (FYI: the taxis there are black). If a place you are visiting does not have a subway system and you have to get to where you need to go by car, consider Uber or Lyft before a taxi. The price you pay is fixed based on the distance between your departure and arrival destinations and it won’t change as your ride continues. I have done this in some cities where there was not a subway station close to where I wanted to go.
If you are nervous about using the subway system in a new city or a new country, don’t overthink it; it is not difficult to figure out. Using the subway in Paris, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen for my family was very straightforward even though we don’t know French, Dutch, or Danish, respectively.
I hope this blog post has inspired you to use these resources when planning your next trip. I want you to remember that you do not need to be wealthy to have a fun, fulfilling, and memorable vacation. If you’re eager to start planning your next vacation, check out tours of iconic attractions and landmarks of any city you are interested in right here!
