Save Money When You Travel To Europe

Europe is a great travel destination, with an incredible variety of people, stunning architecture, breathtaking countryside and a huge number of cultural activities. However, if you are thinking of taking a vacation to Europe, it can be an expensive business. So, how do you make your money go further while still enjoying all that Europe has to offer?

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One of the major expenses when you travel to Europe is the cost of airfare. If you try to book your flight a few weeks before you travel, you will end up spending thousands of dollars. Instead, try to find a flight four or five months in advance, and be flexible about which days you can travel. This will radically reduce your fare, especially if you look around for the best deal on travel comparison sites such as Expedia.

Once you arrive in Europe, transportation is still likely to be quite expensive. The cost of renting a car is substantially more in Europe than it is in America, so this is something to avoid if you can. That being said, you could combine it with accommodation if you were to, say, rent a camper van in Iceland, which might make things work out a little less expensive, and you’ll have the freedom to decide where you go, and when you go there. If you didn’t want to drive then, fortunately, Europe has a wonderful rail system, with trains that run frequently to many local and long-distance destinations. Trains can still be expensive, but they’re not as expensive as traveling by car, particularly if you take into account the sky-high price of fuel in Europe. In addition, as someone who is coming from outside of Europe, you’re entitled to buy a Eurail pass – which will give you substantial savings on train travel throughout Europe.

The price of accommodation in Europe can also be quite high – it is comparable to what you would pay in major North American cities such as New York or Chicago in most cases, and it is even higher in some places. However, there are a number of ways that you can get more reasonable accommodation if you plan ahead. For example, you could join a holiday club such as Royal Holiday Vacation Club – this will give you access to luxurious properties as part of your membership. If you are prepared to rough it, then you could stay at youth hostels – which are actually open to people of any age. By staying in a youth hostel, you can save as much as 80% when compared to the cost of a mid-level hotel – for example, you may be able to get a room in a hostel in London for as little as 20 pounds.

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Finally, there is the cost of eating while you are abroad. While it is nice to splash out from time to time at a fancy restaurant – and there are plenty of these in Europe – you will rapidly exhaust your travel dollars if you do this on a regular basis. Not only that, you will miss out on a great opportunity to experience the local cuisine. Instead, try eating where the locals eat – if you can find somewhere that looks well frequented, the chances are that the food is good.