The primary concerns people have when travel are the cost of flights, hotels, food, and activities that make a trip worthwhile. But the travel industry is always expanding and evolving, becoming more accessible to those looking to have an international or domestic travel experience without the high costs.
Luxury travel is spectacular if you can afford it, but you can have just as much fun exploring on a budget. There are plenty of options that can help lower what you spend for accommodations, flights, and the costs of living abroad. Here are 7 tips that can help you travel more affordably.
1. Stay in a Hostel
If you’re willing to stay in communal spaces, you’ll save plenty of money on travel accommodations by staying in hostels. Hostels offer affordable prices for single beds in shared rooms with anywhere from 2 to 20 people. Some can be as cheap at $15 a night depending on the time of year you travel and where you stay. With hostels you can spend the same amount for 5-7 nights that you might spend in one night at an average to upscale hotel. Check out these sites before booking your accommodations: hostelgeeks.com and hostelworld.com
2. Try a Working Vacation
A rising trend in affordable travel are platforms that allow you to stay in a given location for free in exchange for some type of work. The most popular sites where you can find these opportunities are Workaway and WWOOF. All types of work are offered on these sites like nannying, housekeeping, gardening, house sitting, pet sitting, and even positions working in hostels. These jobs ask for around 20 hours of work per week while offering you free accommodation, use of amenities, and sometimes food.
3. Avoid Tourist Traps
When exploring cities with high tourism numbers like Rome, Paris or Barcelona, it’s probably best to find places to eat and shop away from main attractions. Not only will journeying a bit beyond the tourist centers provide a more accurate experience of the culture, but it will also offer better quality food and products for more affordable prices. Before you start your trip, you should also familiarize yourself with the location, common scams, and ways vendors might be trying to take advantage of tourists.
4. Book in advance
When booking flights and accommodation you’ll find more affordable prices if you book months in advance. As the date you plan to travel approaches, prices will increase by the day, which means if you put off booking your flight or Airbnb for a few days it could cost you more. While you’re booking ahead of time, make your flights even cheaper using affordable flight search engines like Skyscanner or Expedia.
5. Travel off-season
Though it’s tempting to book all of your trips for the warmer months, you’ll find cheaper deals for flights, accommodation, and tourism services in the off season. So though you’ll probably want to thrive under the Tuscan sun in June, it’s important to remember that beautiful places like Italy are just as beautiful in the winter, spring and fall as well.
6. Group Tours and Weekend Trips
Take group trips that offer transportation to a location for a set price instead of renting a car or attempting to do it yourself. These can be hit or miss, but if you’re looking for a day tour from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher and don’t want to spend hours on an expensive train ride or renting a car, then your best bet is a group trip which takes you to destinations by bus with an experienced tour guide. Check out Viator to see what’s available in your favorite location.