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I’m all about budget travel. I mean, who doesn’t like to save money? However we often stop searching for ways to cut costs after we’ve booked the trip. The cheap airfare is nailed down, the price comparison site has found you the best hotel deal and you’ve been saving for months. But once you’re on your trip, you’re overwhelmed with options and your money doesn’t go as far as you’d like. That’s why I teamed up with 20 other travel bloggers to bring you our best money saving travel tips that actually work. Your spending money may go further than you think on your next trip.
Pick the right credit card
Look for a credit card without foreign transaction fees is one of my best money saving travel tips. Don’t pay fees on top of the currency conversion rate. I find changing money before I leave home is best but also do research on the benefits of my credit cards for when I have to pay for big ticket items like accommodation.
Eat away from tourist attractions
Katie from The Travel Strategy
One of the best ways to save money traveling is to avoid eating near tourist destinations. Often, restaurants in these areas will hike the price up because they know tourists will pay for the convenience of the location. Walking a few streets away from touristy areas will make a huge difference.
Get more tips and ideas from The Travel Strategy on Pinterest
Set a budget each day
By Cristina from My Little World Travelling
Most people I know associate travelling with expensive experience, however, they don’t know you can travel without spending a fortune. One of my top tips for saving when travelling is to set a budget for each day. This helps me stick to my budget, look for cheaper alternatives and spend my money wisely.
Follow Cristina on Instagram for more travel ideas
Look into attraction combo tickets
By Or from My Path In The World
When going on a city break, look for combined attraction tickets if you want to visit several sights or museums. You’ll usually find them at the local tourist office or online on websites like Get Your Guide, and they give you a certain discount for visiting multiple sites.
Use a free parking app
By Brittany from Travel by Brit
Parking is always an unexpected (and frustrating!) travel cost. Here some tips for using travel apps to reducing parking costs while traveling:
• Search for accommodations on Booking.com or Airbnb that offer free parking.
• Bookmark free parking spots in the area on Google Maps to use during your trip.
Take an overnight bus
By Becky from Becksplore
If you have to travel over a longer distance, a good way to save money on accommodation is always to take overnight busses. It is usually cheaper than flying, it’s a more environmentally-friendly way to travel and if you otherwise would be travelling during the day, it can also save you some time.
Take a reusable water bottle
By Raluca from Travel With A Spin
Reusing a bottle of water is my simplest trick to save money. I’d have to buy probably 4 half liter bottles of water per day. Multiply this number with 1 to 3 euro and you’ll get a sum that you’d prefer in your pocket for something else. If I don’t have a reusable bottle, I just keep the first one and refill it from the tap. However, keep in mind that this only applies in countries where tap water is safe to drink. Otherwise one might have to add a Lifestraw to filter it.
For more travel ideas follow Travel With A Spin on Instagram
Use a rideshare app
By Jackie & Justin from Life Of Doing
Riding taxis can be an expensive way to travel. Use ride-hailing apps such as Uber or Grab (in Southeast Asia) as cheaper alternatives. They’re safe and easy to find and pay for transportation. Input the starting and ending location, and the apps show the cost. Plus, the transaction can be cashless.
Watch out for free museum days
By Evelina from Ev Being
I simply love visiting museums when I travel to new places. How do you find which museums are free? Most museums have free days once per month or week. Just google ”free museums in x destination”, check the visit section in the museum’s webpage, visit virtually or buy a city pass.
Follow Evelina on Pinterest for more budget travel tips
Sign up for rewards programs
By Constance from A Well-Read Wanderer
You can save on accommodations without staying in hostels by using a rewards program. If you’re brand loyal, individual hotel chains have programs (like Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton), but I use the Hotels.com program. Every 10 nights, I get 1 night free across lots of different brands.
Get more travel inspiration by following A Well-Read Wanderer on Instagram
Plan longer stays or barter for accommodation
By Heather from Heather Begins
AirBnB gives discounts starting with a one-week stay. Bump that up to a month, it’s even bigger savings. If you speak directly to the host you might save even more than you can with the app. Another tip is to try and barter services; offer to do gardening or cleaning work in exchange for lower accommodation fees in hotels, hostels and lodges.
Follow Heather on Twitter for all her adventures and stories
Compare public transport options
By Ada from Beyond The Yellow Brick Blog
Before arriving, know approximately how often you’ll need public transportation and rates for off-peak and peak travel. If you only need it a couple times a day, you’ll overpay if you purchase an unlimited ride pass. Conversely, if you want to hop on and off frequently, get the pass!
Follow Ada on Instagram to see some of the amazing places she visits
Keep copies of your documents
By Michelle from Wander Eat Write
After working and traveling through all seven continents, I’ve learned that emergencies can be costly, especially when it comes to losing your travel documents. When you’re traveling on a budget, the last thing you want is unexpected expenses. Keeping digital copies of your passport, visas, and other official travel papers uploaded in a secure cloud account that’s accessible anywhere can save you hundreds of dollars for expedited replacements in a foreign country.
Eat local street food
By Carley from Home To Havana
Eating street food is a great way to save money while also experiencing local culture. Make sure you choose a vendor that is popular with locals – they’re not only the best judges of quality and taste. The best options will look fresh, not like they’ve been sitting out too long.
Check out Carley’s amazing content over on Instagram
Visit local grocery stores
By Abby from Worth Every Trip
Paying for food can get expensive when you travel…especially if you have hungry kids! Stopping at a local grocery store to buy breakfast food and snacks for the trip, saves us money, while giving us more time to explore our destination! It’s a win-win!
Follow Abby and her beautiful family’s travels on Instagram
Rent a bike
By Jen and Ryan from Montana Discovered
Renting a bike is a great way to save money in a lot of places. Going out for a bike ride is a fun free activity, and using a bike instead of taxis or other transportation options will save a ton of money on getting around. Plus, it’ll give you a totally different perspective on your destination!
Check out Montana Discovered on Instagram for some travel inspiration
Drink local beer
By Ryan from A Single Step
When holidaying around the world, it’s sometimes tempting to stick to the global beers that you know, but don’t! It’s generally cheaper to pick a local beer, and you might even stumble across some new favourites. Grab yourself a cool Ožujsko in Croatia or a Mythos in Greece, and then you can call afternoon drinking ‘sampling the local culture’.
Follow Ryan on Twitter for more about travel and adventure
Stay in hostels
By Cassie from Cassie The Hag
Hostels are (most often) the cheapest accommodation, whether a $2 dorm or a budget-friendly private room – this has saved me hundreds of dollars over the years. Search for hostels suitable for introverts if you want to avoid the crowds. Hostels often have free breakfast and staff usually know the cheapest ways to see local attractions, since they’re used to serving travelers who are on a budget.
Book accommodation far in advance
By Victoria from Guide Your Travel
Finding affordable accommodation is one of the best ways to save money on a trip. To get the best deals you should book your hotel as far in advance as possible and monitor how the prices change for a few weeks before making the final decision. Clearing your browser history and cookies can really help as well.
See the beautiful places Victoria has visited by following her on Instagram
Book a room with a fridge
One of my biggest money saving travel tips is I always check if my hotel room has a fridge. That way I can buy cold drinks in the supermarket to take with me for the day and save on tourist attraction pricing. I can also store any leftover food or snacks instead of throwing away good food just because there’s nowhere to keep it.
Travel with friends
By Gian from Carryon Babe
A good money-saving travel tip is traveling with friends or a group in general. You can all split the cost for accommodation, rental car, and food. In addition, a lot of excursions give discounts when you have a large group.
Look into free walking tours
By Taryn from Chasing Trail
Cities and towns worldwide offer walking tours, and they’re often free. Not only are walking tours fantastic for saving money, but you also get a different perspective on the area and you may meet other travelers. Some tours are show-up-and-go, but reservations are often required. Contact the local chamber of commerce or visitor center to learn more.
For more travel adventures, follow Chasing Trail on Instagram
Money saving travel tips to live by
Not all of these tips might work for you but even if you can use one or two on your next trip it will save you some money. Maybe that’s money you can put towards a nicer dinner one day, or a must do activity that otherwise would have been too expensive. Travel is all about give and take, different things are important to different people. It’s alright that we don’t all travel the same way but if you can save a little bit of money along the way, isn’t that better? Even put it towards your next trip.
If you’ve enjoyed this post leave a comment or share using the social media buttons below. Which of these money saving travel tips will you use on your next trip? Do you have any tips of your own?
I love the tip about no-fee credit cards – the same goes for ATM cards! We’ve saved SO much money by having a bank that doesn’t charge any ATM fees.
Such a great list! Thank you for including me 🙂 Free walking tours and traveling with a group are game changers.
These are awesome tips!! The credit card one and booking a room with a fridge is so important that a lot of people don’t consider!
Great, practical recommendations that everyone can take advantage of! Will definitely make sure to remember the free museum days!
These are really great tips! I’m always looking out for ways to save money when I travel.
I agree with all these tips! My favorite way to save on travel is to eat only one meal out per day. I keep other food in the fridge or whip up a meal with ingredients from the grocery store. It leaves more money to focus on the things that are more important to me!
I always tend to stay away from tourist areas when I’m eating – the prices are so high! Lots of great money saving tips here.
These are some great tips! I love the one about eating away from tourist attractions. I always try and do this where I can. Not only is it cheaper, but I think heading a little further away from the tourist district gives you a much more authentic dining experience! Thanks for sharing the great tips!
Great tips (as always!!)
To be honest I do a lot of these already, and some of the others (like hiring bikes, eating street food and visiting local grocery stores) makes trips more fun as well as being good for the wallet!
I love looking out for free museum days! Most of the time they’re at the end or beginning of the month, which is when I’m not travelling there though.
These are such useful, easy to follow tips! Definitely agree not eating out every single meal can have a big impact on your budget! Also great tip about the museums – this has accidentally happened to us in Athens and we saved like 30 Euro.
These are some great tips that are easy to incorporate into my life. I’ve been taking a reusable water bottle with me everywhere for a while, and I’ve definitely saved lots of money just from not buying water while I’m out and about.
Wonderful tips to help people save money during their travels. Eating local tends to be a safe bet, not only because it can be cheaper compared to larger establishments but it helps introduce people to local favorites they may not have tried otherwise.