Amazing vacation on a budget =)

It’s finally summer! School is out and you have booked your plane tickets or planned a road trip  here are some  tips .Not to worry – you can still have an amazing vacation on a buget.

Getting There & Finding Places to Stay

If you haven’t planned your accommodations yet, here are a few cheaper alternatives to an expensive hotel:

Sublet/rent an apartment or house. There are many websites from which you can rent apartments or houses for short periods of time for great prices. This is usually cheaper than a hotel, and not only do you save a ton of money on the price per night, but you can also cook your own meals. Just make sure the site you use is reputable!

 Take advantage of hotel points. See if you or your parents have any hotel, credit card, or airline points/miles sitting around, all of which might be able to be used to pay for hotels.

Restaurants

Even though you will be exhausted and starving when you arrive, do not eat at the first restaurant you see! This has been my curse. Every time I arrive in a new city, I end up eating at the first decent-looking restaurant I see and always get an expensive and disappointing meal. Make sure that you check the prices on the menu and maybe a review or two, no matter how tired and crappy you feel!

 If you are staying in a hotel, do not immediately take the suggestions of the concierge. They can give great tips, but remember that sometimes, the hotel gets paid for recommending certain places to guests, so they don’t always have your best interests in mind. Listening to the concierge is how my family ended up eating dinner on the outside deck of a boat on the Danube in Budapest in 90 degree heat. I was so nauseous and hot that I couldn’t even eat my ridiculously overpriced meal.

 Ask locals for suggestions. Whether it is a friend who has visited the area many times, someone you know who lives there, or even a person you meet on the street, find out what favorite restaurants and sights are. This way, you will end up at fabulous places that are off the beaten path and almost always cheaper than the touristy places in the center of town.

 Don’t eat at restaurants geared to tourists. These restaurants mark up their prices a lot. If you are in a foreign country and the restaurant you are looking to go to touts an English menu and is filled with English-speaking people, try something different!

 Cook your own food! You will not be missing out on any experiences, just saving money! In fact, you will be living even more like a local if you shop at the local markets. This way, you  get to experience the atmosphere for much less money.

Attractions

Research all of the museums and attractions and pick the ones that have the most to see. 

 Go to museums on free days or use discounts. Usually, museums will have designated days and hours where there is no admission cost. Try to find out these times and go, so you will save money on admission costs. Also, you can buy packages of discounts or buy one ticket to get into a few places, so make sure you look up those deals.

 Don’t do the unnecessary attractions. Sometimes, super touristy things cost the most money, and your time could be better spent elsewhere. I know that instead of spending $30 to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris or ride the London Eye Ferris Wheel and look at the city from above, I would rather spend my time exploring the neighborhoods below and getting to experience how the locals live. After all, the best thing to do in a city can be to just pick a point on the map really far away and walk there – it doesn’t cost any money and you never know what you may find.

Shopping

Avoid the temptation to shop the chains. I always have fun checking out the international locations of stores like Zara and H&M, but I try not to buy too much there because all of them truly do have the same merchandise as the H&M in your local mall.

 For cheap finds, look for vintage stores, thrift stores, flea markets and other outdoor markets. You will find amazing items that are completely one of a kind, and usually very reasonably priced.

 Focus on buying accessories, not clothes. They can take up less room in your suitcase and can represent a lot more about a culture than clothes. Think about it – you can buy a nice white blouse anywhere in the world, but a necklace or ring crafted by local artisans? You won’t find that anywhere else. Plus, jewelry will last you forever with decent care.