Top 10 Tips for Traveling in Europe Cheaper and Better
After writing an ultimate guide on traveling the world cheap with 15 travel bloggers, I realized that you need to apply some different tips when you visit Europe.
That is why, I asked 5 travel bloggers to help me write 10 tips for traveling in Europe cheaper and better.
Those are the tips that we all often use to travel as much as we can spending less and enjoying our Euro trips more.
So, let’s start!
One of the biggest issues when traveling to European cities is finding an appropriate accommodation (good location, low cost…). Here are some tips on finding the best lodging for you.
Use Different Booking Sites
When travelling in Europe, it’s easy to assume that booking.com has the best inventory of hotel rooms and the lowest price but this isn’t always the case.
I always use comparison websites like HotelsCombined.com and Trivago.com as my starting point when looking for a hotel. Sites like hotelscombined.com compare all of the different hotel booking sites, and sometimes the individual hotel’s website, to see which one offers the cheapest price.
Not only do they show you which booking website (booking.com, hotels.com etc) has the best price, but by search multiple booking websites you also get to see hotels which might be on one site and not another.
Hotels also offer perks on one website, for example, free parking or free breakfast, but not another, and comparing all the different booking websites makes it easy to see which site you should book with.
Travel tips by James from Worldwide Shopping Guide
Last Minute Accommodation
I am heading back to Europe for the third time this year. I have a few ways I save money. For accommodation, I mostly stay in hostels, when the cost is unreasonable (70 Euros a night for a bed) I will couchsurf or check out AirBnB. When I travel between cities I usually catch an overnight bus to save on one night’s accommodation. My best tip for food is to eat locally. Whenever I had a craving for foreign food the bill tends to be double or even triple.
When I stayed in Helsinki one of the guys working at the Hostel taught me a trick. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to stay but if I booked through the usual booking sites booking.com etc the rate was 24 pounds. If I waited until the actual day till after 10am I would get the room for 14 pounds.
I looked around at other cities too and they certainly had cheaper rates for last minute bookings. This may not work everywhere but always worth a shot when visiting the more expensive parts of Europe.
Travel tip by Petro from www.worldmission196.com
Budget Airlines
My favorite way to travel is by plane. In Europe, you can buy flights for mere pennies thanks to short distances and many low-cost airlines.
One of my last trips was to Valencia, and the flight by Ryanair cost only 12 euros for return tickets from Poznan (Poland). Many people wonder, how they can make the prices so low. I made a research and found 6 secrets low-cost airlines use to make tickets so cheap.
Ryanair has the largest network of flights in Europe. Some other similar companies in Europe are Hungarian WizzAir, British EasyJet, German EuroWings, Spanish and Italian Vueling and Volotea. Norwegian Air (airline name of two words) also has many cheap flights to other continents.
Well, traveling by plane is not always the cheapest way to get to other places in Europe. There are other ways…
Tip from RomanRoams
Learn about 4-month budget travel in Europe
Busses and Carsharing
Traveling by trains is usually very expensive in Europe, so many budget travelers travel by busses and using carsharing companies. However, you can learn how to travel by train in Europe here.
Probably, the largest bus company (and a low-cost one) is German Flixbus. During several years, it has grown to a giant overtaking its competitor MeinFernBus (which is a part of Flixbus now). American Megabus also has its routes in Europe. But mostly, such companies specialize on a specific region or country. Alsa – Spain, Simpleexpress – Baltic countries, PolskiBus – Poland and so on.
The most popular carsharing company in Europe is BlaBlaCar. There are also some local ones, but this one works almost in the whole continent.
Tip for RomanRoams
Hiring a Car
Here’s my Europe travel tip (half-way through my 20 month trip around Europe):
Investigate hiring a car, particularly if you’re visiting some out of the way places where public transport will be a hassle. I’ve gotten deals starting from €13 per day (in Slovenia and Slovakia), but even found it cheaper in Switzerland than the expensive train passes. It also means you can be more flexible with the location of accommodation, meaning you can nab cheap out-of-town Airbnb rentals.
Travel tip by Shandos from https://travelnuity.com
Free Museums in Europe
Did you know that Europe’s most visited museums can be entered for free? Most of them all have one day a month that there is no admission fee. For the worlds most visited museum, the Louvre that is for example every first Sunday of the month.
Yes these days are busy but you will save $10 in general. If you are a student always ask for discounted tickets, make sure you can show a valid ID or your international student card.
Travel tip by Tom from http://www.traveltomtom.net/
City Passes
Almost every big and popular European city has a city pass for 1-2-5 days. City pass is a ticket to most of the city’s attractions with a discount. If you want to visit many museums and popular places, it is worth purchasing one.
Tip from RomanRoams
Food Markets in Europe
My top tip for how to travel cheaper and better in Europe is:
To eat for less head to the local food market. Most cities and towns have a weekly or even daily food market and these are the best places to find good value products. Not only is it cheap to eat at markets but the food is usually super fresh, too.
As an additional bonus, you’ll get to see what the locals eat and see how they interact with each other. Food markets are a great way to understand the culture and landscape of a country.
Travel tip by Melanie from http://www.melaniemay.com
Eating Locally
Eating locally is always a great way to save money, try authentic local food and learn more about the local culture. You won’t get any of that eating at the restaurants in the most touristy places close to the famous attractions. Moreover, the food there is often not fresh, not tasty and could even be bought frozen in the nearest supermarket (and you thought that you tried the authentic Italian pizza).
Ask some locals, where they like to eat or just check travel forums or websites (like mine) for the places people recommend.
Stay Safe
Even in the safest countries, you shouldn’t trust everybody. Even though the beautiful places where you at might seem so peaceful and friendly, there can be people willing to get some money on confiding tourists. There are different ways of fraud that you can encounter in European countries.
Some are even done on the government level (like crazy currency rates and commissions when changing the money in Prague). Before visiting every new country, you should check safety information about it. My favorite place to check it is Wikitravel.org website.
It was our list of the top 10 Europe travel tips you should know before organizing your next trip to the Old World (even if you live in Europe). Share it with your friends traveling to Europe or save on your Facebook wall not to forget for later. You will also like this post on the benefits of traveling!
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