How to save money while traveling and travel around Europe cheaper. What is more profitable: tours or independent travel? Cheap travel around the world

It's spring and we're already planning vacations and future trips. Anyone who has a little experience of independent travel is already familiar with popular services for booking hotels and private apartments and knows where and how to buy cheaper tickets. And besides, he is well aware of what couchsurfing and volunteer programs are.

Therefore, we have selected lesser-known and less radical ways to save for those who are not ready to volunteer, work an overnight stay, or look for registration. It's still not fun for everyone.

Find friends abroad and go on a visit - Hospitality Club

To Europe for pennies - “Nesterovsky” train

The so-called "Nesterovsky" train makes it possible to get to Europe 40–70% cheaper. The point is that branded train Russian Railways No. 029 Moscow - Kaliningrad goes through Vilnius, but the prices for tickets there are as for domestic ones, and not for international routes, that is, low. If you take a ticket to Nesterov and get off in Vilnius, before reaching Kaliningrad, the trip will cost only 1,600–2,000 rubles. And once in Vilnius, you can choose one of many low-cost flights around Europe (you can buy tickets in advance) starting from 10 euros.

How to buy: in Moscow - only at the box office Belorussky railway station, in other cities - at any box office. Online will be a little more expensive. And of course, for such a trip you need a valid Schengen visa.

Hotel discount offers - Hotel Tonight

Free excursions - Sandemans New Europe

Last minute flights - Last minute

Finding free toilets - AirPnP

Calls from your number at local rates - Roamer

Exchange of houses and apartments - Home Exchange

The best way to tell about the capabilities of the service is the comedy “Exchange Vacation,” where people, after meeting people on the site, go on vacation and stay with new acquaintances. The exchange cannot always take place simultaneously: travelers often take turns visiting each other. Now the service database includes more than 65 thousand houses and apartments in 150 countries. Of the Russian offers on the site so far, only Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Save on the Internet - Protect Free VPN+Data Manager

The Protect Free VPN+Data Manager application allows you to compress any type of data, which helps to significantly save Internet traffic. The operating principle is as follows: mobile phone requests data through the operator providing the connection, then the data goes to the application server, where it is compressed, but the quality does not deteriorate. The application works through a VPN connection, which allows you to save traffic and, most importantly, safely use the global network.

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Experienced travelers are convinced that traveling does not require a lot of money. The desire to travel and the ability to search for information are enough.

website summarized tips from travel bloggers that will allow you to see the world with minimal costs. At the end of the article you will find a bonus in the form useful information for every tourist. And may you have more travels in the near future!

11. Travel on your own

Traveling on your own, rather than through travel agencies, is both more profitable and interesting. Yes, you will be solely responsible for any problems. But travel agencies also decide little in similar cases, preferring to blame the airline, force majeure, the receiving party, and the like.

On your own, you can plot “that very” dream route, choose a cheap flight option, book the best-priced hotel with a location convenient for you, and select a transfer.

4. Rent out your own home while you travel or go on an “exchange vacation”

An exchange vacation is an opportunity for free accommodation while traveling, and maybe even a chance, like the characters in the film, to meet your love.

2. Don't buy what you can get for free

WiFi. When booking your accommodation, immediately choose an apartment or hotel with free Wi-Fi. During the day, use free Wi-Fi in restaurants and cafes, gas stations and shopping centers.
Area maps. Free cards are available at counters in many hotels, apartments and hostels. The map can also be obtained from the tourist information office. As a rule, they are located in the city center or near the main attractions. Download electronic city maps and a guidebook to your phone in advance.

Water. In Europe you can drink tap water everywhere. Drinking fountains are installed in many cities, and you can safely drink from them. To check, you can look at

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Number of sources used in this article: . You will find a list of them at the bottom of the page.

These days, most people still view the ability to travel as a luxury. Traveling, however, does not necessarily mean spending exorbitant amounts of money on expensive air travel and hotel rooms. There are many budget options, which you can use to make your dream trip come true. So if you think you can't afford to travel, think again. Read the following step by step instructions, and before you know it, you'll be on your way to somewhere you've always wanted to go, while still staying within your budget.

Steps

Try to find profitable options for air, rail, road, ship/ferry transportation. The Internet provides an excellent opportunity to do this. Take advantage of low-cost airlines, which usually fly to the same destinations as commercial airlines, but their tickets are much cheaper.

Traveling by train. Amtrak is the national rail carrier of the United States of America. When traveling in Europe, consider purchasing the Eurail (for non-EU citizens) or Interail (for EU citizens) international travel passes.
Traveling by bus/minibus. Greyhound provides bus service throughout the United States. Eurolines offers a travel pass that allows you to travel between more than 45 European cities. Megabus provides bus services within North America and Europe.
Air travel. Air travel is typically the most expensive travel option. Check out flight comparison sites such as travelsupermarket, skyscanner or kayak. Or use an airline ticket reseller such as travelocity, expedia or opodo.
Traveling by boat/ferry. Cruises can be inexpensive if you consider that accommodation and meals are included. Cunard provides transatlantic transport. Use TheCruisePeople to compare cruise prices.

Find a profitable accommodation option. Search online and view a list of all youth and tourist hostels in your desired location. Remember that you don't need a first class room, but are just looking for a place to stay.
- Consider using sleeper trains to combine travel and accommodation costs.
Find out if you can stay with friends to save on accommodation costs. However, remember that according to the Chinese proverb, “Guests are like fish - after 3 days they begin to stink.” So don't stay too long, or you might lose your friendship. If you are lucky and receive an invitation to stay with friends, then try to maintain the image of an exemplary guest during your visit: keep your place of residence clean, make your bed in the morning and help with the housework.

Spend your days without additional expenses. Walk a lot, visit free or cheap attractions. Take shuttle buses or other inexpensive public transportation options. You can learn a lot about a place without spending a lot of money. Talk to friendly people and ask for their advice. Consider scenic walks as part of your journey. Visit local tourist information centers where you can get a selection of information and ask staff about ways to optimize your stay without breaking the bank. Many tourist centers can offer travel tickets with a discount. Check online before heading to a museum open house.

Avoid restaurants, take pasta and soup bags with you. Thus, with only $1000 you can travel for about 6 weeks. Since you came for adventure and not shopping, you shouldn't buy souvenirs. Instead, take as many photographs as possible, these will be your souvenirs.
If you are booking your stay online, first book your hostel or hotel for one night. This way you'll already have a place to stay, but also the opportunity to look around and find better accommodation the next day. You can usually leave your luggage at your hostel/hotel, so you don't have to carry it around with you while you search for cheaper accommodation.
- Unless you're traveling through Europe, take cash rather than traveler's checks. Keep your money and passport in a secret body wallet and never lose sight of it.
- Do not take expensive jewelry with you if you are traveling this way. The only expensive thing you need is a camera, which also needs to be attached to your body.
- Take a sorong on the road, which you can use as a sheet, towel, cape, nightwear, clothing, etc.
- If you plan to stay somewhere for more than a couple of days, buy groceries. Even if you don’t have a refrigerator, you can buy at local market fruits, vegetables and bread. It will cost much less than restaurant food. If you are hungry, eat a piece of fruit and some bread. Even if you still need a filling meal after this, you won't have to buy too much.
- To save even more on accommodation when traveling long distances, choose an overnight flight. While you may not get some of the best sleep you'll ever get while on the road, you'll be able to provide yourself with money for extra expenses once you arrive at your destination.
- Browse LateRooms.com, Lastminute.com, and HotelTonight for last minute deals.
- Contact the hotels directly. Intermediary sites with their special offers are a great option, but sometimes better rates are only available from the hotels themselves, and they may even offer discounts for longer stays.
- Book a room with a kitchenette. Even if they only have a microwave and refrigerator, you can save a lot by avoiding restaurants.
- If you plan to stay in one place for a long time, consider renting an apartment or house instead of a hotel room. IN in this case Daily cleaning is not provided, but it is much cheaper. In addition, you will have the opportunity to cook yourself.
- Always look for a travel provider with affordable prices before you travel and only make advance bookings if you are completely confident in your decision.

You can go to enchanting Europe in different ways. For example, buy first class tickets, stay in a five-star hotel and visit expensive restaurants every day. Or you can take a tent with you and hitchhike, subsisting on instant noodles. Both of these methods seem like extreme extremes that are not suitable for all travelers. It is much better, both in terms of costs and the degree of pleasure from the trip, to take the middle path and arrange a budget trip for yourself. To help you organize this, we have prepared this article with useful tips.

Tempting “hot” offers

When travel companies trying to somehow sell their tours, they call them “hot” and significantly reduce their prices. The closer the departure day, the cheaper such offers become - after all, you need to fill out the group. For those who want to get to Europe cheaply, such tours can be a good solution! But we must also take into account their negative sides.

You must be ready to take off “tomorrow”, which is not very convenient. In addition, it is not very often possible to find a tour to exactly the place that is most interesting to you. And during the trip you are “attached” to other members of the group. Changing plans and improvising in such conditions is difficult.

On the other side, organized tours also have advantages. You don't have to worry about tickets and accommodation - relax and enjoy. You also get some protection against the unexpected. After all, the organizers of such trips often have both experience and established connections.

Traveling to Europe on your own is cool and not scary at all

The other approach may seem more hassle, but it will give you more freedom. And if you organize everything wisely, it will be more convenient. Travel to Europe on your own! You just need to plan your movements, take care of tickets, visas and hotel reservations.

Many tourists have already made similar trips. And they like them much more than even the most attractive “hot” tours. Here are some tips on how to organize an inexpensive (or even cheap!) independent trip to Europe. A .

Don’t be “like everyone else” to save on tickets

It may seem that one of the most expensive travel items will be air tickets. But no! You can fly to Europe cheaply if you use the services of low-cost airlines and select unpopular departure days.

There are really a lot of low-cost airlines, or low-cost airlines, in Europe. And some fly into Russian cities to then take tourists straight to European attractions. For example, it is worth checking the prices and schedules of the following airlines flying from Moscow: Aegeanair, AirBerlin, Air Baltic, Eurowings, Meridiana (flights to Italy), Niki, Vueling, WizzAir. Also remember about easyJet and Ryanair, which have an extensive network of destinations within Europe.

To travel around Europe more economically, when choosing a departure date, act “not like everyone else.” Holidays and weekends become times of mass travel. Airlines raise prices during this period. IN weekdays the flow of passengers is less, and to prevent planes from leaving empty, fares for such flights are lower. The price range is visible on airline websites. You can also buy tickets online there.

To have the maximum choice and not miss out on great deals from airlines, it is convenient to use special services that make it possible to compare different flight options - such as momondo.ru, skyscanner.ru or aviasales.ru. . Check out what deals and cheap flights to Europe are available right now:

Hostels, b&b and cheap hotels– choice for budget travel to Europe

Cities popular with tourists have a huge variety of hotels, and you don't necessarily have to book rooms at branches of popular chains like Hilton. Small hotels or budget b&b can be quite convenient, especially if you want to travel around Europe cheaper. Perhaps in such places they do not always provide a “free” breakfast, cleverly included in the price of stay. But is this why you are going to Europe?

Usually budget hotels are located some distance from the city center. Therefore, if you want to save money while traveling, you will probably have to use transport to get to the main attractions. This should be taken as a delightful adventure and an immersion into the life of local residents. However, there is always a chance to “catch” a special offer from hotels or b&b located in the center, especially if you book in advance. Many resources allow you to make a reservation with the ability to cancel it later, without losing money. However, always check your booking conditions carefully to make sure they include free cancellation so you don't lose money if your plans change. Don't delay, check which budget hotels are currently available on booking.com:

A good opportunity not only to save money, but also to communicate with locals, as well as to get to know the country better and get to know it “from the inside,” is to rent an apartment or room. The popular resource airbnb.com is gaining momentum for good reason - more and more travelers are attracted by the opportunity to stay in real apartments of real people, while saving a significant part of their travel budget.

For those who are not very picky about living conditions, European hostels are convenient. They are especially popular with young people who have limited budget travel, and may become great place for accommodation while traveling. They can be ordered at hostelsclub.com or hostelworld.com.

Public transport, hiking, and perhaps a bicycle!

If you come to Europe on your own, you will have to solve the issue of transport after leaving the airport. Taxi is not compatible with the idea of budget travel. Even if the driver charges exactly according to the meter, the price for a simple transfer to a hotel can be quite significant.

There are buses from each airport. Often these are even city flights with regular fares. Knowing where you are flying, take an interest and bus routes to the city. This is easy to find out at the airport by going to the official information desk. In many cities there is a metro line to the airport. Why is there a taxi here?!

Even if you arrived in European country As part of a group, you may want to break away from other people and walk around the city on your own. In this case, you should also not contact taxi drivers. Public transport in Europe is well developed and very convenient. And it costs several times less than a taxi. If you plan to travel a lot, you can buy a pass for several days.

An even more convenient way to get around the city as a tourist is to walk! Especially in the center. This way you will be able to see much more and get much more vivid impressions.

To get around the city, independent travelers often rent bicycles or Segways. In the majority European cities no problems with bike paths.

What will really help you on your journey is a map! Before traveling to Europe, you can download a specialized mobile application with a map that will work offline. This way you can use it without access to the Internet, which is very expensive in roaming. And if the map also contains information about attractions, including even opening hours, then this will make your trip much more enjoyable! All of the above can be found in.

Travel to Europe. How to save money on excursions?

Live guides leading groups of tourists are gradually becoming relics of the past. Following them in the hustle and bustle and in a noisy group of other tourists is not always convenient, and individual service is very expensive. But don’t give up on full-fledged excursions to European cities! After all, many attractions contain mysterious riddles, there are fascinating stories associated with them. Just looking at a building is not at all the same as finding out along the way when it was built, who lived in it, what mystical legends associated with him... A convenient mobile application installed on a smartphone can come to the rescue -! It will make staying in tourist places extremely exciting and will allow you to explore the city with a “personal” guide, available at any time, and significant savings.

If you like museums and other similar places where you have to pay an entrance fee, inquire about free days. They may only happen once a year, but sometimes they happen weekly.

Often in Europe it is possible to save money on visiting attractions by purchasing a special guest card for tourists (for example, Roma Pass in or Prage Card in). The price of this card includes admission to the city's main attractions, museums and galleries. Often it also includes free travel on public transport, as well as discounts in many restaurants.

Eat like the locals

Of course, once in Europe, many will not refuse a romantic dinner in a chic restaurant. It's a wonderful, albeit expensive, experience. But you can’t repeat it every day! No less tasty, but much cheaper food is served in small bistros and canteens, created more for local residents than for tourists. Look around and think about where you would eat if this were your hometown.

Many products can be bought in regular stores or at the market. It is not only cheaper, but sometimes even better than a restaurant. Buying real Italian cheese, Spanish oranges, French baguettes, Swiss chocolate and other local products is an experience that will be remembered after the trip!

We need language to communicate!

It may seem strange that communication with local residents allows you to save money, but this is a fact. Especially if you speak the same language with them. In most European countries, English is spoken fluently, so you can ask others for advice in this language. It's okay if someone doesn't understand you. The second, third, fourth person will answer and tell you something that you won’t find in any guidebook. Imagine that a foreigner would contact you with questions about your city. Wouldn't you tell him where to eat cheaply and well, where to stay inexpensively, how to buy tickets to a concert without overpayments, what is worthy and inexpensive to see in the surrounding area.

Another secret good relations with Europeans is an attempt to say a few phrases in their native language. Your efforts will be appreciated and you will be able to make friends. Our favorite mobile application, which we have already mentioned in this article, will be an excellent communication assistant for you - by installing it, you can use a convenient audio phrasebook completely free of charge. In it you will not just see how this or that phrase is written, but you will be able to hear it - all phrases are voiced by native speakers.

It's very helpful to meet someone in the city you're traveling to in advance. There are special services for this, for example couchsurfing.com.

Travel with a group

Another way to save money while traveling is to organize a trip with a group and split the costs between everyone. A trip for two or three is much more profitable than traveling alone: both due to hotel rooms (living in a double or triple room is much more profitable than in a single room), and due to transport (you can take a taxi or rent a car and divide the costs between everyone fellow travelers - accordingly, the more of them, the greater the savings).

Of course, the style of travel depends on individual preferences. If you like to travel alone, then don’t break yourself. If not, look good company. Just keep in mind that when traveling with fellow travelers, common interests and the ability to come to an agreement are very important - make sure that the potential travel companion is “on the same wavelength” with you, so as not to ruin your entire vacation.

By the way, if you could not find travel companions among your relatives and friends and are not ready to travel on your own, this is not a reason to refuse the trip. Sociable travelers who are not alien to the spirit of adventurism may be interested in the service - this is a special platform for finding travel companions. Of course, remember to use caution and common sense when searching.

When you go on a trip to Europe, you shouldn’t save on everything. It’s better to get the most out of the trip than to bite yourself later. Otherwise, what was the point of going at all? Experiment, study, travel with joy and inspiration!