5 Ways to Save Money on Holiday
1. Take public Transport
It’s likely anywhere that you go there will be local mode of transport that will be much cheaper than a private taxi. Before you arrive at your destination, take a look at the prices of using the Metro and/or Bus system. If you’e in a large city, it’s likely that the Metro will be faster anyways. Public transport also helps you see more of the city/town that you’re in. If you must use a Taxi, consider looking at the general price online before hailing a cab to ensure you don’t pay more than what is standard (eg: In Thailand you will haggle a price – and if you’re not savvy, you will be paying a lot more than you should).
2. Stay outside of the tourist districts
One great way to spend too much money is to stay in the ‘Tourist’ areas. Tourist areas can be great, but most of the time you don’t need to stay directly in that area. Accommodation is usually the biggest expense you will have on Holiday, and as a result you have the most opportunity to save. Use google maps to get an idea of how far accommodation is from the things you want to do and attractions you want to see. When booking, make use of customer reviews and pay special attention to any mention of the location.
3. Use Supermarkets & Convenience stores
You don’t have to eat at restaurants 3 times a day. If you’re just in the need of sustenance head to the local Supermarket. There you will find local food as cheap as you could ever get it. Sometimes a Supermarket can be a tourist attraction as you see all the weird and wonderful foods/drinks you have never seen before.
Buying Alcohol from the Supermarket is also a great way to save money. Instead of sitting at a bar with an overpriced 10€ Beer, just buy a 1.5€ Beer and head to the beach, park, or your accommodation balcony with a view.
4. Free Walking Tours
Larger cities usually have ‘Free Walking Tours’, these are an absolutely fantastic way to see a new city. We have done more than 10 at this point, and haven’t been disappointed yet. How ‘Free’ walking tours work is that you will provide the tour guide with a tip at the end of the tour based on how much you feel the tour is worth. As a result, you can pay what you can. Just search google for ‘Free Walking Tour’ with the city to see if there are any there, usually you have to secure a spot in advance. In Europe our favorite company for this is Sandemans.
5. Travel during the Night
This one is a good money saver if you can pull it off. The goal here is to use overnight transportation to get to your next destination. This way, you save money on needing a nights accommodation and you also save valuable time. The only downside with this option is it’s usually pretty hard to fall asleep if you’re a light sleeper. We have done sleeper trains, boats, and buses for this reason and successfully got where we needed to go whilst saving a good amount of money and
You may also be interested in 10 Common Travel Mistakes to avoid!
