How to Travel Europe on a Budget

By Courtney Judd on July 9, 2012

photo on flickr by maus

Years of dreaming, months of anticipation, weeks of planning, and days, hours, minutes, seconds of stressing led to more acne and an incredible backpack trip across Europe! I spent seven weeks studying abroad in Madrid, Spain with thirty-five other BYU students taking classes at the University of Alcalá. We had one free weekend to travel during the program so I darted off to Portugal, but the intense traveling began the night the program ended. In a two week period my friend Haley and I bussed to Barcelona, flew to Rome, flew to Paris, and flew to London. The two of us have imagined traveling to Europe our entire lives, but the biggest problem is that it is so darn expensive!! We managed to travel the five countries at minimal costs, so to simplify the process for you I’ll let you in on our secrets.

Transportation to Country

With the exception of traveling from Madrid to Barcelona we found flying between countries to be the least expensive. We used sites like Vueling to search for flights. EasyJet and Ryanair are usually the cheapest, but if you have a choice between the two choose EasyJet even if it appears slightly more expensive, because Ryanair tries to scam you with lots of hidden costs. Before booking the flight use google maps to gauge the distance from the airport to the city you will be staying in. We made the mistake of flying into the Paris Beauvais Tillé Airport which is an hour and a half bus ride outside of Paris. Another way to save money is to sleep in the airport the night before flying, but I don’t recommend it because it is miserable and you will be overly exhausted the next day touring around. Traveling to other countries isn’t the only transportation you need to account for though–the next thing to worry about is traveling within the country.

Transportation Within Country

The metro and train systems across Europe are excellent and take you almost anywhere. Each different city has different deals for the public transportation. In Barcelona there is a 10 ride pass for 10 euro that you can share with multiple people. Since we were only there for two days with five people total we bought two 10 ride passes, shared them and split the cost. It ended up being about 4 euro each. In Rome we bought the three day pass. In Paris there were so many museums we wanted to see that we decided it was worth it to buy the Paris Pass, which included transportation, admission into scads of museums, and city tours. In London we bought a day pass every day. In short, taking the metro and walking are the most effective ways to travel. Bring good walking shoes!!

Hostels

In Europe hostels are the way to go to minimize cost. They are dorm-like settings where there are multiple beds in one room and you rent one bed for yourself and sleep in a room with strangers. For Americans this might sound sketchy, but rest assured hostels are safe places to stay. The three best websites we consulted to find cheap places to stay were HostelWorld, Airbnb, and EuroCheapo. The people at the front desks speak multiple languages including English, so there is no language barrier problem. They are typically helpful in giving tourism suggestions and giving directions. You can usually print boarding passes from the front desk as well. The best hostel we stayed in was called the Yes! Hostel in Portugal. Yes! Hostel is a chain though and they have other locations, so if you have the option choose Yes!. It is new, clean, cheap, and includes free breakfast, wifi, and printing. In Paris we found a place called Paris for Girls on Airbnb for only 8 euro per night and it had new beds and was in a convenient location right in the city. In Rome we stayed forty minutes outside the city for 11 euro per night at a family friendly venue called Tiber Camping Hostel. The distance wasn’t a problem since we bought the three day metro/train pass. Another thing to consider is Couch Surfing. The way couch surfing works is if you have an account, you can sleep on someone’s couch for free. The only catch is to have an account, you must allow people to sleep on your couch for free. This wasn’t a viable option for me since I move around too much, but if you live in a place where you can offer up your couch this might be a good option for you! The bottom line is there are a lot of cheap places to stay in Europe that are also safe.

Food and Drink

Trying the food in a foreign country is a crucial component of experiencing the culture, but it can get pretty pricey. We found the best way to try the food and remain frugal at the same time was to eat one main meal a day from an inexpensive restaurant and purchase snacks from the local market to get through the rest of the day. Water is the cheapest thing to drink, but bring your own refillable water bottle! In Rome there are fountains to fill up everywhere, it’s incredible! It was harder to find places to fill up in the other cities, but not impossible. Bringing your own water bottle cuts costs, because in tourist destinations they jack up the price of bottled water. Another way to save money is to abstain from drinking alcohol. Alcoholic beverages add up and they blur your ability to appreciate the cities. I personally was glad that I was fully alert to see all the sights and learn about the history.

Language

For the most part you can get by with English, but if you are concerned about communicating in a non-English speaking foreign country you can study the basics before you go. I met a guy from Kansas at Tiber in Rome who recommended the site LiveMocha to me. It teaches you the basics of a language of your choice for free and connects you with native speakers to practice with. They help you with the language you are learning and in return you help them with English. Not only does it help you learn new skills, but it is an opportunity to help someone else learn English.

Tour Guides

Admission into historic sites is expensive enough and paying for a tour guide isn’t worth the extra money. A great way to visit the sites and maximize your learning opportunity is to download Rick Steve’s audio tours in iTunes for free! I found out about this too late and it is my biggest regret that I didn’t do this. I am excited though to study the places I visited now that I’m home.

I had no idea how to plan a trip before I planned my Euro Trip and I swear afterward I was brain-dead, but I learned a heck of a lot. I hope you find these tips helpful in planning your own adventure!! These are all the things I wish I had known. Anyway, happy travels!