I’ve written several posts about traveling on a budget for longer term trips (see here and here) since I find those are actually the cheapest trips, but I wanted to share a few general tips for cutting costs on any trip around Europe. Since traveling here for several months and planning lots and lots of little side trips in between my farm volunteering, I’ve discovered tips from locals and just from my own research that are quite helpful. My travel style tends to be a little all over the place, honestly. Sometimes you’ll find me in a taxi on my way to a 3-4 star hotel (if I’ve found a killer deal on Priceline!) and other times you’ll find me hitchhiking and Couchsurfing, most of the time, it’s somewhere in between. To be honest, I find the less money I spend, the more interesting and enriching experience I have. Most of the expense is in the moving around and the lodging. So I try to focus my frugality on these parts and splurge on good food.
1. Consider taking a bus instead of a flight or train. Buses in Europe are pretty inexpensive and they are really nice (not like Greyhound in the states!). It’s so much cheaper to take a bus from London to Paris than any of the other options (like $35) and it’s often cheaper to take a bus than a train or flight anywhere in Europe. Here are a few options but there are loads of companies, including smaller regional ones so just start googling to find out all your options!
National Express (England)
2. Book early and use small airlines. Sometimes the key to finding a cheap airfare and train fare is just booking early. Sometimes train or air is cheaper, just depending. Always check both and the bus as mentioned above. I’ve found lots of great fares but often don’t act on them soon enough so end up missing them! Be flexible on your dates if you can and consider the small airlines. I flew from London to Berlin for $25 and Berlin to Stockholm for $20. It’s quite inexpensive to get around Europe, if you plan. Here are a few I small airlines I’ve used that are quite often a quarter the price of a train. Lots of people complain about small airlines. I honestly have no complaints other than it’s insane no one gives you water but if you have low expectations (it’s a cheap airline, after all) and know what to bring (water!), it will be great! But, if you don’t check luggage, and check in online before you get there, you should be fine!
3. Pack light and don’t check luggage. I have an upcoming post about how I pack but I’ve found packing light ends up saving me baggage fees, taxi fees (maybe, you can walk instead since you’ll be doing a lot of sitting on the train/bus/plane.) I carry a mid-size back pack and a tote bag.