Planning
I read everything I could about traveling on a budget and how to save and plan for it. I learned that if you were under 26 you could buy the discounted youth Eurail pass. That sounded like the best plan for us.
I watched the price of airfare every day and bought when it was the lowest. I read the best time to buy was the middle of the week, so I watched until I saw a great price and jumped on it right away. (This was actually my first big purchase for this trip it was set! I was really going!!)
One resource I used a lot was Rick Steves. His store is in Edmonds, WA, near where I live, so I visited and actually purchased my Eurail pass there. I read his book Europe Through the Back Door, which was really helpful and gives tips for traveling on a budget.
I bought a couple things from his store that I actually didnt end up using, although Im sure others might find them helpful. One was the money belt, (we traveled in the summer and the belt just got sweaty and gross, so I didnt use it) and the other was the microfiber towels which didnt end up being very absorbent or useful for us.
Something we bought from his store that was extremely useful and that we still use every time we travel were these packing cubes. SO great for keeping your stuff organized! We bought a set for each of our backpacks.
Saving money while you travel
We stayed in hostels instead of hotels most of our trip. The hostels were perfect (although modest and much different than what we were used to staying in here) and a much cheaper option. Since we went without a real plan and nothing booked, we found hostels as we went along.
It was a fun adventure! In Barcelona we found a place to stay from a woman who was handing out flyers on the street for her room for rent. She even provided us breakfast every day! (many of the hostels did) You cant beat a free meal when youre traveling on a budget!
How I traveled Europe on a budget
Some of our hostels we found through hostels.com and hostelworld.com. From our current location, we would decide where we were going next and see if there was a hostel close by using the public computers we could find.
Other times we would just show up somewhere and there was always someone there ready to rent you a room. Dont be afraid of the hostels, theyre really great and you arent even in your room much anyway, so who cares!
If youre a student or under 26 years old, you can get discounts at lots of places, just make sure to get your international student ID card or international youth travel card (from the same link). You can get your card online or locally, if theres a place near you. All the info is on the website. These cards got us discounts at all the museums we visited.
To save money on food, we very rarely ate at a restaurant. We just found whatever we could that was cheap. The great thing about doing it that way was that we didnt spend a lot of our time waiting in lines or in a restaurant we could take our quick meal and go eat in a park or at the beach.
One of our favorite foods was the doner kebabs. We found those everywhere we went and oh how I wish I could find them here in the U.S.! Its a Turkish food kind of similar to a gyro but so, so good. There are doner kebab restaurants all over the place, they arent expensive, and they were big enough for us to share, so we ate them often. You must try one!
If you know youre going to be in one place for a few days (or more), find a local grocery store and stock up on bottled water and other foods you want. It is MUCH cheaper than buying bottled water and food while youre out.
Also, many places have public water fountains you can use to fill up your bottles. We used those as much as possible.
Another money saving tip is to use Ryanair for cheap flights between European countries. We used them to fly from Barcelona to Paris, and then again from Pisa to London Stansted. Note that seats are not assigned so if you want to sit next to your travel companions, you better be at the front of the line!
If you learn how to use public transportation, youll save a lot of money over cabs. There was only one time we took the wrong metro train, which just happened to be the last train of the night, and had to take a cab back to our hostel. This was in Paris. And the cab ride was not cheap.
If you have any relatives overseas, get in contact and ask them if you can stay for a while! Cant hurt to ask. I hope these tips have been helpful and inspired you to plan your own adventure!
I read everything I could about traveling on a budget and how to save and plan for it. I learned that if you were under 26 you could buy the discounted youth Eurail pass. That sounded like the best plan for us.
I watched the price of airfare every day and bought when it was the lowest. I read the best time to buy was the middle of the week, so I watched until I saw a great price and jumped on it right away. (This was actually my first big purchase for this trip it was set! I was really going!!)
One resource I used a lot was Rick Steves. His store is in Edmonds, WA, near where I live, so I visited and actually purchased my Eurail pass there. I read his book Europe Through the Back Door, which was really helpful and gives tips for traveling on a budget.
I bought a couple things from his store that I actually didnt end up using, although Im sure others might find them helpful. One was the money belt, (we traveled in the summer and the belt just got sweaty and gross, so I didnt use it) and the other was the microfiber towels which didnt end up being very absorbent or useful for us.
Something we bought from his store that was extremely useful and that we still use every time we travel were these packing cubes. SO great for keeping your stuff organized! We bought a set for each of our backpacks.
Saving money while you travel
We stayed in hostels instead of hotels most of our trip. The hostels were perfect (although modest and much different than what we were used to staying in here) and a much cheaper option. Since we went without a real plan and nothing booked, we found hostels as we went along.
It was a fun adventure! In Barcelona we found a place to stay from a woman who was handing out flyers on the street for her room for rent. She even provided us breakfast every day! (many of the hostels did) You cant beat a free meal when youre traveling on a budget!
How I traveled Europe on a budget
Some of our hostels we found through hostels.com and hostelworld.com. From our current location, we would decide where we were going next and see if there was a hostel close by using the public computers we could find.
Other times we would just show up somewhere and there was always someone there ready to rent you a room. Dont be afraid of the hostels, theyre really great and you arent even in your room much anyway, so who cares!
If youre a student or under 26 years old, you can get discounts at lots of places, just make sure to get your international student ID card or international youth travel card (from the same link). You can get your card online or locally, if theres a place near you. All the info is on the website. These cards got us discounts at all the museums we visited.
To save money on food, we very rarely ate at a restaurant. We just found whatever we could that was cheap. The great thing about doing it that way was that we didnt spend a lot of our time waiting in lines or in a restaurant we could take our quick meal and go eat in a park or at the beach.
One of our favorite foods was the doner kebabs. We found those everywhere we went and oh how I wish I could find them here in the U.S.! Its a Turkish food kind of similar to a gyro but so, so good. There are doner kebab restaurants all over the place, they arent expensive, and they were big enough for us to share, so we ate them often. You must try one!
If you know youre going to be in one place for a few days (or more), find a local grocery store and stock up on bottled water and other foods you want. It is MUCH cheaper than buying bottled water and food while youre out.
Also, many places have public water fountains you can use to fill up your bottles. We used those as much as possible.
Another money saving tip is to use Ryanair for cheap flights between European countries. We used them to fly from Barcelona to Paris, and then again from Pisa to London Stansted. Note that seats are not assigned so if you want to sit next to your travel companions, you better be at the front of the line!
If you learn how to use public transportation, youll save a lot of money over cabs. There was only one time we took the wrong metro train, which just happened to be the last train of the night, and had to take a cab back to our hostel. This was in Paris. And the cab ride was not cheap.
If you have any relatives overseas, get in contact and ask them if you can stay for a while! Cant hurt to ask. I hope these tips have been helpful and inspired you to plan your own adventure!
