‘Oh Darling, Let’s Be Adventurers’!

 

 

Hello!

 

Today’s post is a very special one. It’s been almost 3 years that we introduced ‘Travel’ into Beautyandthebeing and it’s been so much fun sharing our travel stories and experiences with all of you. But, travelling overseas is not all fun and games, there is such a lot of planning and budgeting that goes into each trip and we really take our time researching and making sure we are saving money wherever we possibly can.

 

So, today we thought of doing a Budget Travel Post. Here are our Top 5 Tips to Save Money While Travelling Overseas:

 

 

 

Tip #1

Choose Your Flights Wisely

 

The first thing we always do when planning a trip is to look at flight options – different carriers, timings, prices, etc.

One of our biggest advice would be to book a flight well in advance (if possible) and also choose a weekday (instead of a weekend) when booking a flight. We have noticed that you can save close to 20% on your flight if you keep these 2 things in mind while booking!

Another great way to save money on your flight tickets is to travel off-season. You can also subscribe to websites that deal with flight sales like Couponrani.

Opting for indirect flights is another way to save big bucks…just saying! 🙂

 

 

 

Tip #2

Save on Accommodation/Hotel

 

Hotel or hostel? Well, that depends on your preference. For us personally, we choose hotels that belong to a hotel chain that we’re familiar with or we choose to stay with friends/family. But, if you are trying to really save on your accommodation, then a hostel would be your best bet.

On the other hand, if you want to save money but still want privacy, we would recommend an Airbnb or a holiday rental home because with these options you will most likely have a kitchenette where you’ll be able to cook your own meals (you save on food too then!).

Coming back to how we plan, we almost always choose a hotel that is close to a metro or a bus/tram station and also that is close and well-connected to the city centre.

 

 

 

Tip #3

Save on Transport

 

When you are travelling overseas, transport will always be one of the main spending areas for you. How do you get from point A to point B? Now there can be a lot of ways – hire a car and drive yourself, take a cab, hop on a bus, take the tram or metro or simply walk! What you choose is entirely up to you.

On our most recent travels we realised that the cities we were exploring were quite well-connected and compact, so we could walk almost everywhere. The only thing we had to do was plan our sightseeing meticulously. We always referred to the city map and planned how far we needed to walk to the nearby tram/bus/metro line and then take the cheapest option.

Another great way to save on transport is to buy travel passes. We did this on our trip to Salzburg and Budapest last year and it helped us save significant money on transport and sightseeing (Click the links to read how our experience was with both cards). You can also read all about our 4 Days in Salzburg | Our Itinerary (What To See & Do).

 

 

 

Tip #4

Save on Food and Drinks

 

Yes, you can save on food & drinks when travelling and it is not always about 5-star dining!

Rule no. 1 – leave the minibar alone! Food and drinks in the minibar are priced ridiculously high and you can buy the same things from a 7/11 or the local supermarket for so much cheaper 🙂

Another way to save money on food is to not opt for breakfast when booking your accommodation. We prefer to not eat at the hotel and always walk around the corner and explore the nearest cafe’s. These places are significantly cheaper and also a great way to meet the locals and taste the local food 🙂 If not that, we usually buy basic food items and keep in our room, so a lot of times we end up having a cup of tea/coffee along with a sandwich we made ourselves in the room.

Karan always likes to research food and drinks BEFORE we even leave for our holiday. So he’ll look for cafe’s and restaurants online and then go through their menu to see what we would fancy eating when we are actually there. This is also a fantastic way to find budget-friendly eating places and options. Another great tip – always ask for the ‘dish of the day’.

On a recent trip to Europe, we really enjoyed exploring the local markets that are set up in different parts of the city every day and we would eat and drink from local vendors… what an experience that was and trust us – no luxury dining can be a match for it!

Coming on to drinks – it’s always good to taste the local drinks, be that wines or beer. For us, the whole idea of travel is to meet the local people and really soak in the culture….almost live like the locals. Always remember, local food and locally produced drinks will always compliment one another 🙂

While we are on the topic of drinks – we always carry our own bottles of water wherever we go. You will not believe how expensive a bottle of mineral water can get when travelling overseas, so a tip is to always carry your own bottle and fill it as you go.

 

 

 

Tip #5

Save while Sightseeing

 

This is perhaps where we save most of our money while travelling abroad. Sightseeing can be expensive and entries to top tourist attractions are never cheap, rarely ever free…. but, you can still save money! Here’s how – explore DIY style like we do here at beautyandthebeing 🙂

One of our absolute favourite things to do when in a new city or country is to go on a Free Walking Tour the day after we arrive. Free Walking Tours are such an amazing way to explore a city and understand it’s culture and history. To know what a free walking tour is and how it works, read our post on Exploring Munich with SANDEMANs New Europe Walking Tour.

Our second tip to save money while sightseeing is to buy a sightseeing pass. These are really useful and sometimes have an added benefit of a travel pass as well. Two fantastic examples of this are the Salzburg Card and the Budapest Card that we took on our recent trip (click on the links to read about our experience with both cards).

Some sightseeing passes not only offer free entries or discounts to popular tourist attractions like museums, restaurants, theatres, etc, they also offer unlimited free public transport!

If you are a student or a senior citizen, you can also benefit further using your ID cards as there are always special discounts and entries for the same.

 

So that sums up our Budget Travel – 5 Tips to Save Money While Travelling Overseas. Do let us know if you have any tips and tricks to save money when travelling abroad…we love to hear from you 🙂