Traveling and seeing the world can be one of the most rewarding experiences you’ll ever have, but it can also cost quite a bit of money. From airfare to accommodations, food, and activities, it’s easier than you might think to overspend on your trip. The good news, however, is that with a few simple and savvy tricks, you can cut your travel costs and enjoy your trip for less. Keep reading to learn more about some of the best ways to save money on your travels.
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Sign Up for Email Newsletters
Keep in the loop about the best deals and discounts by signing up for email newsletters from flight comparison websites, hotels, tourist activities, and more. When you get the cheapest flights sent to your inbox, it’s easy to grab the latest deals as they become available and book your travel for less. Plus, by signing up to travel company email newsletters, you may also be able to get exclusive discounts and deals that are only available to subscribers. Also, there are certain times of the year when the flights give enormous discounts. If you are signed up for a regular newsletter, you will be one of the first to hear when any such sale kicks off. And hence you can make the most of it.
There are many other ways also to save on your tickets, particularly flight tickets. Here’s our post with tried and tested tricks to score cheap flight tickets. Do check it out.
Choose Budget-Friendly Accommodation
Accommodation can quickly become one of your biggest travel expenses. However, there are plenty of budget-friendly options to explore that can help you save money. Instead of booking a hotel, consider Airbnb, hostels, or homestays. These options are often a great way to find a place to sleep at a fraction of the price of a hotel. Along with this, consider booking your accommodation in advance, and booking during the off-season when prices tend to be lower. Sometimes, when you are traveling to a city, staying a little on the outskirts can save a lot of money than staying right in the center. We got a great deal at one third the price of the core hotels in the center of Madurai, when we stayed almost on the outskirt of the city at K4 apartments on our trip to Madurai and Rameshwaram in 2023.
Eat Like a Local
Eating can be another significant expense when traveling, especially if you are visiting different restaurants for your meals each day. However, eating like a local is a great way to save money as well as experience your destination in a way that many tourists might not. Skip the expensive restaurants and head to local markets, small eateries, and street vendors instead. Not only will this help you save money, but it’s an excellent way to try delicious local cuisine. For instance, when we were on our two weeks trip to Europe with our then 3 years old daughter, we often ate from roadside stalls, small restaurants and takeaway joints. Which saved us a lot of cost.
Also, if you are staying in an airbnb, you can even cook your own meal which saves even more on food cost. Plus you are consuming home cooked meal even when on vacation. So, it’s a total win win.
Look for Free Activities
Many destinations offer a wide range of free or low-cost activities that you can enjoy without spending a huge amount of money. Check out local parks, museums, and historical landmarks where admission is free. Plus, exploring your destination by foot or bicycle can be an ideal way to see more of the sights and scenery for less. You can easily rent a bike anywhere now a days and go about exploring on your own place. To explore places through free, self planned walking tour is our favorite way to save a lot on our travel. Wondering how we plan our self paced free walking tours with the help of google maps? Checkout some of these posts to get an idea:
Our self planned free walking tour of Florence
A walking tour exploring Lucerne for free
Walking around the heritage quarters of Fontainhas on our own pace
Exploring the white town of Pondicherry on foot
A free walking tour around Chiang Mai Old City
Amsterdam walking tour for free
If you are not so much into walking, you can always go for public transportation, which we discuss next.
Use Public Transportation
Taking taxis or renting a car can quickly add to your travel expenses. And leave you with a smaller budget for having fun and seeing the sights. We seriously felt when we visited Amsterdam and Paris on our Europe trip. Taxis are really expensive here. And the two or three times when we had to take one, our budget was really affected a lot. Instead, using public transportation to get around tends to be a cheaper option – and most cities have affordable, reliable public transport options like buses, trains and subways that you can take advantage of. So, after our first few times taking taxi in Paris, we reverted to the subways. In fact, we put in effort to understand the Paris Metro network and started navigating it like a pro by the time our 3 days in Paris were over!!
Lot of other smaller places have shared public transport like autorickshaws and shared taxis which you can as well avail of. And if not public transport, you can rely on hitch hiking or taking a lift. But, do go by your judgement of whether it feels safe or not depending on where you are traveling.
Be Flexible with Travel Dates
Wherever possible, try to give yourself the flexibility to travel on different dates as this can help you save money on airfare and accommodation. Instead of choosing your dates first and then booking your travel, find travel deals and offers in advance so you can make sure that you are available on those dates in good time. Plus, try to travel in the off-season or on weekdays rather than weekends, since this can help you save a significant amount of money. Come long weekend and holidays and everyone starts traveling. We faced this issue on our week long Kerala trip during Puja holidays. When the highway was almost jam packed. And we had to drop few sight seeing plans because of the crowd !!
And the experience was just opposite when we traveled to Ooty during monsoons. Although it rained intermittently, it never poured enough to ruin our plans. And we got really good deals on hotels as well as there was no crowd at most of the public places. So, yes, traveling off season can be rewarding at times.
No matter where you are traveling to or how long you plan to stay, there are many smart ways to cut your travel costs and enjoy your trip without overspending. By following the above tips, you can save money for more fun activities and make the most of your travel experience.
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