YES. You read that right - Europe on a budget. It is possible! Here are a few tips that you might be interested.
1. Book through Travel Fair. For our April trip, I was able to book a really good deal last July, 2018 travel fair.
2. YES! Plan early. To tell you the truth, I planned this trip 5 years ago. After I was able to go to Central Europe last 2014, I promised Hubby that we will go after a few years. And since we wanted to celebrate our birthdays there (won't tell you how old!), we decided to celebrate it in Eastern Europe. ♥
3. Avail of the early promos for your train tickets. In Austria, they have this promo called
"Sparchiene" were you get cheap train tickets if you bok 3 months in advance. And with this setup, you can pay for it little by little. Spending will not be that extravagant.
4. Use www.Booking.com or any other travel sites when booking for your hotel. Why? Through these sites you get to choose hotels according to your budget and preferred location. I'm so happy to say to I loved all the hotels that we chosed not only because it was within our budget but it was also on a very good location! I loved that most of it offered FREE breakfast as well! Very
sulit!
When in Europe, I made a couple of cost cutting when in comes to tours and shopping. Here are my tips...
5. Our whole trip was DIY. Hubby and I planned everything from the very start. I will post another blog about the Europe Trip Planning very soon! So with this setup, we were able to save a LOT. YES! A whole lot!
6. We availed of the FREE walking tour per city. This is indeed FREE! But you have to provide tips! So you give the tour guide what you think they deserve. It's a win-win situation, right? Love this concept!
7. When planning your tours, make sure you visit per area. Meaning? Finish sight seeing in one place, then transfer to another. This way, you get to save up for train rides going to and from the places. All you have to do is WALK from one place to another. Trust me, walking is your best way to save in Europe! (*wink*)
8. Visit FREE musuems. Sometimes it is free on Sundays so best to research before buying the tickets.
9. Avail of the 24H Unlimited Train Rides. You will save a lot here. Like in Vienna we got the RED Vienna Card, in Prague we got the 48H unlimited card and in Budapest the 72H rides. This way you can ride whenever you can in buses, trains and trams. Not to mention very convenient too since you won't have to buy tickets in every journey.
10. Research. Research. Research. Find everything you can before you visit a country. This way you can check which are the places that are FREE to hang out, like parks, etc. It helps to be familiar with the place to know what you should expect too.
11. We stayed away from souvenir shops. Since I became a minimalist, I don't include shopping in our itinerary anymore. Yes I would buy stuff but mostly its for our kids, parents and siblings. Yes mostly for pasalubong. AND, we love grocery shopping, so you would see us in the grocery stores ALL THE TIME! (*wink*)
12. As mentioned, grocery stores are the way to go for
pasalubongs like chocolates, local food (we even brought home a canned tuna! LOL!), there are also souvenirs like key chains and the items there are in a good price compared to the stores in tourist areas.
13. Wake up very early. This idea is more of time saving. We noticed that if we wake up early and check out the popular spots at 8 in the morning, there were not much people so, we get to enjoy the view. We get to have great pictures! This will help you save up time in waiting for your turn when there are too many people lining up for photo ops.
14. Schedule time to relax. I grew up travelling with a goal that we HAVE to go to as many places as we can. So mostly the memories that I would remember is the stress and the memory of us very tired from walking simply because we wanted to make the most out of our trip. I realized now that I wanted a more relaxing trip. I guess it comes with the age too! HA! So yes, schedule time for dessert, or coffee with your loved one. Maybe go back to the hotel to take a nap (yes we did this!). Or just end the day even if the sun is still out, eat dinner in your hotel room and enjoy the quiet evening. It helped us recharged and face another new and exciting day ahead of us.
SO there, now that I mentioned having dinner at the hotel room, here are also my tips on what you can do to save money on FOOD!
15. We didn't eat in the restaurants the WHOLE time. To save money, we just buy at the grocery stores for our dinner and eat it in our hotel room while watching a movie or just talking. It was a quiet evening, relaxing too and not to mention we were able to save tons!
16. For breakfast, we just have a sandwich and a coffee. There were days that we didn't avail of the hotel's breakfast buffet, so we just go to the nearest coffee shop and order our favorite bagel or croissant. Very cheap but filling. And we were not that full too. I love that we could still focus on healthy eating even if we were not at home.
17. Again, we went to the grocery stores for water. Water costs A LOT in Europe. So we bought a big bottle (I think 1.5 liters is the biggest) and then we just refill our bottles when we go out for the day. Instant savings! The 1.5 liter is only €0.64 compared to a €2 or even €3 in the tourist areas. YES! That expensive especially if you convert it to PESO.
18. While in the grocery stores, buy snacks that you can munch on for the day. Like nuts, crackers, cheese, chocolates or fruits. It helps to bring food. This way you don't have to buy too much when you are out and it will save you time especially if you want to see a lot of places during the day. While on tour and your typical lunch hour has just passed, your snacks will definitely come in handy. And yes, don't forget your water!
19. Get a hotel that offers breakfast.
20. Restaurants at the train station are usually affordable. There was this chinese fastfood chain that we saw in Vienna's train station. We got fried rice with two viands for only €4.50. YUM! I cannot live without rice! So happy!
21. Of course there is a reason why we were so frugal on some of our meals. Because we wanted to experience dining in Europe too. But we wanted to make sure that it is worth it. So with this view, do you think it is?
We are so blessed and thankful to be able to experience Eastern Europe during Spring time. With this trip, we realized that anything is possible if you have a budget and would stick to it. But most importantly, if you do a lot of research you will be able to reach that goal of yours. I know, because I've been dreaming of this trip for 5 YEARS! (*wink*)(*wink*)(*wink*)
