Welcome back to another travel blog post for my fellow travel fiends! How have you been? Where are we going? In today’s post, I am sharing 6 ways to enjoy your trip without breaking the budget. Let’s face it, the socio-economic situation in the world has been incredibly difficult. So if you’re still want to travel but scaled back, here are some tips.
6 Ways to Enjoy Your Trip Without Breaking the Budget
Book Excursions in Advance
I am such a fan of booking excursions in advance. Firstly, it allows me spread the cost over a few months. For instance, Iceland is an expensive country but so worth the visit. To ensure that we didn’t miss out on what we wanted to see, we looked at what was available. Then we each chose 2 things we wanted to do and some overlapped. A win, win situation for us! We then proceeded to book and pay for these things over the course of 3 paydays. When booking, use your credit card that earns you airmiles and thank me later! 🙂
Free Walking Tours
This is especially wonderful for city breaks as there are a lot of tour guides who offer free walking tours. Or, at the very least something low cost. It’s a wonderful way to get to know the history of the place by someone who lives there. It can also help you decide if you want to see more of a particular place whilst on the tour. That way you spend money on the things you want to see not what you think you should.
Hop On Hop Off Buses
I’ve done a few of these before or a variation of it. In Sicily, it was less of a bus and looked more like a mini train. All in all it was fun and took us up inclines which saved my legs. Anyways, this is similar to doing walking tours but saving your legs. You get a history lesson whilst being driven around with the option to hop off at some historical location to explore some more. Once you’ve finished, you get the bus going in the opposite direction, taking you back where you originally started. Depending on how long you’re there for, a 24 hour pass is sufficient. Plus they usually offer you discounts for food, museums etc.
Check Restaurants Beforehand
My next tip is to check restaurants beforehand. I used to wing it and just go wherever tickles my fancy until I went to Barcelona last summer. I was given a couple of recommendations and checked them out. Boy did they exceed my expectations in terms of food and price! This is not to say that I won’t still wing it but, I’m going to be a lot more thoughtful and intentional with where I eat.
Use Public Transport
It can feel a bit daunting using public transport in a country where English isn’t the first language. However, learning a few phrases go a long way and most cities have a similar tube/metro system. If you’re taking the bus or overhead train, just ask the staff. I was getting a bus in Sorrento to get to my hotel and the bus driver didn’t understand a lot English. However, he understood enough and when it came to my stop he announced it in Italian and a passenger translated it to me. Staff can give you the best options for your route and tell you where you can get off. Sometimes taking the £5 bus journey is a lot easier on your budget than taking the £30 private car.
Package Deals Can Be Useful
My final tip is all about those package deals. Now this can be the flight and hotel combo, the hotel and rental car combo. Or, it can be the tourist pass that I’d gotten for my Istanbul trip. One pass that covered entry to all the historical sites, a boat ride to Prince’s Island, an evening boat ride with dinner and so much more! The one caution is with flight and hotel combos, they’re usually for 2 people travelling.
These are 6 ways to enjoy your trip without breaking the budget. Travel isn’t reserved for the wealthy or only influencers, it’s for everyone. Now I’d love to know what ways you travel without breaking the budget? Let me know in the comments below.
