Do you want to learn how to save money while you travel round the world? Or how to travel on a budget?
Then this is the guide for you!
I’ve put together advice from a group of travel experts on how to save money while travelling the world!
You’ll find tips on how to get the best travel deals online for cheap flights, cheap holiday destinations or last minute holiday deals. Plus the best travel sites and the best way to save money and travel for less.
Using these easy ways to save money while travelling on a budget, you will be able to travel the world for longer and enjoy yourself more. Instead of just going on a two-week holiday, wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could travel round the world for a month or two? You’ve worked hard and now it’s time to spoil yourself.
For cheap overseas trips, make sure you read ‘Travel Experts share tips on how to save money while travelling the world: 30+ Money saving tips so you can travel more for less!‘
Table of Contents
Be flexible on when or where you go
One easy way to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck while travelling is to be flexible on when or where you go. And, better yet, there’s an easy way to find the best flexible deals!
If you choose to visit New York during a holiday weekend, or Lapland for Christmas, or go for a Mediterranean beach break over Easter, you’ll always be dealing with high prices. But if you choose specific dates that you can take off work, and are open to suggestions on where to go, you can snap up crazy cheap flights. And the same goes for locking in a specific destination first, and searching to see what dates have the best prices. I’ve travelled like this for almost three years now, including nine months straight of going wherever the cheapest flight took me, and I’m never going back to my old ways!
The best way to do this is to use the Skyscanner ‘Everywhere’ search. With this game-changing search function you can choose your departure point, choose travel dates (or choose a whole month if you’re ultra-flexible), leave your destination as ‘Everywhere’ and click search, and you’ll get a long list of your potential destinations in price order. If you’re set on a place but haven’t decided on dates, simply choose your origin and destination, and leave the travel dates as a specific month or ‘cheapest month’, and the calendar shows you the cheapest dates to fly.
Welcome to the future of travel planning!
Alexx Hayward | Finding Alexx
Book flights and other tickets in advance
When it comes to saving money while travelling, most people think that they have to wait for last minutes deals, but the best way to go on a luxury trip with affordable price is to plan ahead and book your flights well in advance. You might be able to save a lot of money (depends on the route) when you book your flights some months in advance.
Being flexible with your travel dates and time can also help to find a better deal. Luxury travel is more affordable when you travel off-season.
Train journeys in many countries can also be cheaper if you book the tickets in advance and online. Keep in mind, some offers and discounts are only available online. When you travel through European countries, you can plan ahead and purchase a Eurail Pass which will help you save even more.
Booking online some activities and tours can also save you money. Nowadays, more and more attractions promote online bookings offering a special discount when buying e-tickets.
Mansoureh Farahani | Travel with Mansoureh
Book flights with a layover
One of the best ways to save money during traveling is to book flights with a layover. Not only does this give you a chance to save up on the costs of flying to your desired destination, but if you have more than 4 hours to spend in the layover country, you might have a chance to explore it as well!
Particularly for countries in Europe that require a Schengen visa, it will be easy to step out of the layover airport without a visa and take a tour of the country in the short while you will be there.
I find websites like Skyscanner.com and momondo.com very easy to check for flight rates and there is usually also an option to select notifications to track prices when they rise or fall. After tracking for a good number of days, I decide to choose when the price is the lowest. This way, you get to save up the most and spend the saved amount on something else instead!
Sarah | Hungryoungwoman
Buy last minute plane tickets
I assume you have never thought of doing this, as it sounds to crazy it’s not worth the risk. Well, I can tell you that it’s not easy, and you need to be truly strong to try to pull this off. But you can get to see places while on a “spur of the moment” kind of trip.
What works best in this case is not to have a plan for a destination. You either choose 2-3 destinations and plan them perfectly before hand, and see which you can score some nice last minute tickets to, or you choose no destination, but only a rough time estimation and desired type of trip.
Then, you use Skyscanner to find your cheap tickets. Select your departure point, add the destination as “Everywhere”, choose the time frame as “Whole month”, and voila! you have ticket options for plenty of destinations.
If you feel really adventurous, you can try the same with long haul destinations as well. I have a colleague that managed to fly to Japan during sakura, and I honestly thought all flights would probably be full that time. But what do you know? The over-inflated prices deterred people from using that company so he managed to pull this off.
Our Japan trip was in November and it’s the lesser known season when Japan should be visited. Prices for a round trip from Europe were even below 500$ per person a few days before the trip, and it can be in the same area from the US West Coast as well. This price is usually in the area of thousands from Europe, and maybe around 800-900 $ from the US if you book in advance.
But, although you can definitely do this with long haul flights as well, I strongly recommend you to use this method for shorter trips. This would mean mostly between countries in Europe or states within the US. The distance being smaller, you have fewer risks to take into account, and you can change your plans easier if needed.
Just remember: going somewhere you have never thought of going will be an adventure for sure. You don’t always need a strict plan and you can have great surprises by just flowing where the (budget) boat takes you.
Cristina : Honest Travel Stories
Camping
A sure fire way to save money while traveling is by tent camping. A night at a campsite is anywhere from free to $50 a night, depending on the site. It’s also a great way to travel in larger groups, as most campsites will allow up to 2 cars, 6 people and 2 tents before you need to reserve a second site.
Getting yourself set up for camping will cost you some startup money ($400-$800 per couple), but once you have the equipment, you’ll only ever have the reservation fee, if there is one! Check out our Car Camping Essentials for suggestions on getting your camping gear put together.
Camping also saves you money on food as you’ll likely cook breakfast and dinner at your campsite. It will just cost you groceries, which is an expense you have at home anyway.
All together, car camping can save you upwards of $100-$200 dollars per day! Plenty of money left over to spend on activities, souvenirs or longer vacations!
Helpful Websites:
- Recreation.gov – Reservations for local, state and national park campsites in the US.
- KOA (Kampgrounds of America) – National campground chain that can be found almost anywhere in the US
- Hipcamp – The AirBnb of camping! Offers unique camping experiences hosted by individuals, farms, wineries and more.
- Pitchup.com – A great resource for campsites around the world!
Carrie Campbell | Overworked & Undertraveled
Cycling Holidays
One of my favorite and most sustainable ways of traveling without flying are cycling holidays. Luckily, it was never easier nor more doable to make it happen as it pretty much only takes a willing cyclist and a bike so if you have both the cost of spending a few days on the road – especially if you depart from your base – could be cheaper than paying rent and staying home.
There are many examples of successful long-distance rides to get you inspired, such as this woman’s East to West coast cross-country cycling adventure but truly, the only thing needed is to be fit enough to go from point A to B on a bike and get started. Enjoy!
Inma Gregorio | A World to Travel
Eat cheap while traveling
Who does not like to eat in a fancy restaurant while traveling? Everybody does and ultimately ends up breaking their banks in just one day. So, what’s the solution? Won’t you taste the authentic delicious food from some cozy restaurant while traveling to a new country? Of course, you should but there must be some limitations, especially when you are traveling on a budget. There are so many hacks and tips to eat cheap while traveling, however, I find accommodation with a kitchen and carrying ready to eat food as one of the most cost-saving ways on food while traveling.
Cooking meals of your own will help you to travel cheaper and to save money on your food budget. It is really a funny experience when you are traveling solo and sharing a hostel kitchen with other fellow travelers from different countries with different food cultures. Nowadays, most of the hostels and apartments provide a kitchen, especially for budget travelers.
Don’t you have cooking skills? No worry! Carry some ready to cook food from your home or buy from the nearby grocery shops and use your hostel kitchen’s microwave ovens. It is super easy and time-saving too.
You can filter your accommodation booking search fields by ‘kitchen/kitchenette’ to find accommodation with a kitchen. It might be a little bit pricey than normal hotels or hostels, but is one of the best ways to save money while travelling.
Trijit Mallick | Budget Travel Buff
Eat your main meal at midday
When traveling we often like to eat our main meal at lunch, which can be a great money saver. Plus, in many cultures it’s the traditional way of life, including Germany and Mediterranean countries such as Greece and Spain.
Many restaurants feature cheaper lunch options – with slightly smaller but usually more than sufficient portions. Prix fixe (“fixed price”) menus are a great deal at pricier restaurants whose regular dinner service may be outside of our budget. You may not have as many dishes to choose from or it’s a set menu, but hey, it’s likely to be equally delicious!
Maybe afterward you’ll luxuriate in a nap and emerge nourished and refreshed for an afternoon of sightseeing.
Olivia | Happy in the Hollow
Extend a business trip
If you ever travel for work, this is a great opportunity to save money on travel costs. You can either try to enjoy the destination outside of business hours or try to extend the trip by booking a flight arriving before your work engagement or departing after. If you’re exploring outside of business hours, you get to save on accommodations costs, in addition to already saving on flights/train costs.
If you rented a car for your trip, you might also be able to save on any other transportation costs you’d incur while sightseeing. Just ensure that this does not violate your company’s policy. In addition, meals on your work trips are often covered or reimbursable so that’s a great opportunity to go check out the city’s food scene.
Another option is to check if flights to other destinations are significantly cheaper from your work location than your home city. For example, this might happen if visiting an airline’s city hub. You can take a few vacation days after or before your trip and save on the cost of flights. Basically, work trips can be the trips that keep giving if done right.
Juleen | Juleen Meets World
Free Tourist Attractions
One of the easiest ways to save money while traveling is to choose attractions that are free to visit. There are definitely free things to do in each city or place you are visiting.
Another great way to make the most of your budget is to check, in advance, when planning your trip, if there are free admission days at the places you want to visit.
Many museums across the globe have a free entry day – like the first Wednesday of each month. Others have a late evening free admission.
The important thing is for here to decide what you want to visit in a specific destination and to see if, by choosing a specific period of time to go to that place, it will allow you to save some money.
Loredana | Earth’s Attractions
Free Walking Tours
In the last couple of years of travelling, we have discovered tour operators that offer Free Walking Tours around their city. Where normally companies would charge anywhere between $10-$20 per adult.
Usually these tours are available for anyone in the general public and they have never asked us if we are tourists or locals. Our best experience was with an organisation called Free Walking Tours Cape Town, they are a small organisation run by volunteers who receive a certain percentage of the tips they collect as their wage.
We have found that these free tours are incredible as the volunteers have a real love for their city and do this out of passion to show us the best parts of the city (and even some secrets). Free walking tours allow you to travel the world on a budget.
Manpreet Kaur | Hello Manpreet
Get off the beaten path in big cities
Off the beaten path or ‘alternative’ activities are an excellent way to save money in a major city. For every internationally famous museum, monument or botanical garden, there are a dozen smaller, more specialised yet no less fascinating options that could be visited instead. As well as being much cheaper than their more popular counterparts, these sites often have free days of entry every week – or are even just free altogether.
A little local research as you plan your trip will work wonders for your experience, and your bank account. For the price of admission to a major attraction you could instead see three or four (or more!) alternatives which are sometimes almost exactly like the famous places, just further down the search results. For example, one of the coolest unusual places to visit in London is the Sky Garden, which gives a better view of the city than the London Eye can, and it doesn’t cost you $50 a ticket because it’s completely free!
Jeremy | Cultura Obscura
Hiking Holidays
One of the cheapest way to travel the world is to take a hiking holiday. If you are someone who loves being in the outdoors and communing with nature, this is a fantastic low cost travel option. Just how cheap can a hiking holiday be? Well, if you are wild camping and preparing all your own food, then you won’t spend more than a few dollars per day.
But if you’re not ready to rough it quite that much, there are in-between options. In all cases, you’ll be able to cut out transportation expenses entirely, apart from the transport you take at the start and end of your hike. As for accommodation, if you don’t want to camp you can choose a route that offers mountain refuge huts or hostels instead. Your food could then be a mix of self-catered meals and prepared meals at restaurants, mountain refuges or hostels.
The Camino de Santiago, for example, is a medieval pilgrimage trail across Spain that has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. Every few kilometers along the trail, you’ll find a village with at least one pilgrims’ hostel, or “albergue” as they are known in Spanish. This is not your typical youth hostel filled with young backpackers looking for a party. The albergues on the Camino are solely for pilgrims (you don’t have to be walking for religious reasons to count as a pilgrim), and dorm beds go for as little as 5 euros per night.
Wendy Werneth | The Nomadic Vegan
House & Pet Sitting
House and pet sitting can be an incredibly rewarding experience where you get to meet families from all over the world and look after their wonderful pets. A big benefit to pet sitting is that you get your accommodation for free which makes it one of the best ways to save money so that you can travel overseas for longer.
Pet sitting assignments can range from a few days to several weeks or even months. You can schedule in pet sitting for short weekend breaks or do international pet sitting and schedule your housesitting assignments around your overseas holiday.
While one of the many benefits of house and pet sitting is that you get to stay in locations longer and live like a local, you do need to be flexible with your travel plans and fit in with the plans of your house sitting family.
To find out if becoming a pet sitter is right for you, read the Beginner’s Guide to House and Pet Sitting.
Susan Gan | Australia Bucket List
Learn the local language
The whole time I backpacked in Latin America, I came across many money-saving tips like doing work-exchange, traveling during the week rather than weekends, or buying bus tickets last minute. But the one tip I found out to be really interesting is how I could save money by learning the language.
The realization struck me while teaching English on a work visa in Colombia. Along with teaching English, I also started working on my Spanish. And as I started getting better, everything starting from the taxi fares, the price of vegetables and souvenirs in local markets to tour prices started becoming cheaper all of a sudden. Sometimes I had to haggle a little, but haggling in Spanish turned out to be much more effective than haggling in English.
So my tip is to learn the basics of the local language when traveling, especially if your destination is not a developed country. It will save you money and earn you some friends as well.
Deb Pati | The Visa Project
Mystery Hotel Deals
If you’re trying to save money on accommodation, one of the best ways to score a cheap hotel room is by booking a Mystery Hotel Deal, such as a Hotwire Hot Rate or a Priceline Express Deal. When booking these deals, you can score hotels at significant discounts, sometimes up to 60% off. The caveat to this? You won’t know which hotel you’re getting until you book – that’s why these deals are known as mystery hotel deals!
When searching for mystery hotel deals, you’ll be able select a hotel star rating and the neighborhood where the hotel is located – this ensures that you don’t get stuck in a hotel far away from a city’s main attractions or a poorly rated hotel. In some cases, you’ll also be able to see a list of a few potential hotels for the booking (with one being the hotel you’ll get) as well as an actual photo from the hotel. If this happens, there are some tricks to reveal the name of the mystery hotel before booking. Despite the uncertainty of mystery hotel deals, they are a great way to save money while traveling (you might even luck out on a 5-star hotel for a 2-star price!).
Something to keep in mind when booking mystery hotel deals is that the booking is generally non-refundable. Before booking, make sure the details of your trip are set in stone so that you don’t lose out on any money!
Sydney Richardson | A World in Reach
Save money on mid-week travel
At the end of last year, my boyfriend and I decided to spend a few days in Glasgow. When we started planning, we thought it was a good idea to fly there Friday evening so we can take advantage of Saturday morning and make the most out of that two days getaway.
The moment we sat in front of the laptop to start looking for prices, we realised that leaving the city on Friday was crazy expensive and not an option anymore. Thanks to Skyscanner we were able to check the best prices for the whole week and we discovered it was way cheaper to fly there on Thursday and return Sunday morning, even if we had to take days off we would be saving more than 50€ each. Since then, I always check the prices of the whole week and decide which day of the week is cheaper.
If you have the flexibility, this is an amazing way to save money.
Laura |Lauranoesta
Save money on your airfare by using local websites
Every travel lover knows that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling you get when you find a good deal on airfare. Your heart beats a bit faster, and a smile creeps on your face as you see an airfare 50% lower than the price you just saw on a different site. I have good news if you love to fly internationally. In many cases, booking your airline ticket on the airline’s country site can save you up to 50%.
I found this trick out when I retired and moved to Medellin. I needed to fly from Bogota to Medellin. When I looked at the US website for LATAM there was a flight for $68.
When I go to the LATAM Colombia site, I can find the EXACT same flight at the EXACT same date and time for 120,900 Colombian Pesos (COP) or about $34. Just changing from the US to the Colombian version of the site saved me over 50% on my airfare.
Want even bigger savings? On the Colombian version of the LATAM site, there are even CHEAPER airfares that are not available on the US site. Look at the same flight we just reviewed. Notice anything different? See the “Basic” flight that wasn’t available on the US site? That flight, which you would never even known about if you used the US site is only 108,880 COP or $30.
Next time you are taking a trip abroad, load up google translate and head to the local site of the airline and see what kind of deals you can score.
Marco Sison | Nomadic FIRE
Self-guided walking tours
No need to splash out on expensive tours and guides when visiting a new area or city. With all the information provided on the internet or on apps, it is easy to create a self guided walking tour by yourself. Not only will you be saving money, but this has the added benefit of giving you the freedom to pop into cafes or exploring interesting alleyways without the fear of holding up your tour group.
I created my own self guided walking tour of Vancouver in Canada, and I really feel like I explored the city to its fullest. Start by researching all the must see spots in city, and then put them all on a map like Google maps which should help you work out the route that required the least walking or traveling. I always find a loop route works best. I also always do a quick search for alternative or off the beaten path attractions as well to make the tour that little bit more interesting.
If you don’t fancy making up the route yourself, chances are someone will have done the work for you, especially if where you are headed is a well-known city. There are plenty of bloggers and guides online who have posted their own tours, and there are also apps that can guide you around the most popular attractions, and tell you a little bit about them in the process.
Victoria Picking | Travels on uneven pavements
Stay in a Campervan
Staying in a campervan is a great way to travel. Not only is it super convenient, but it is also one of the best ways to save money. A campervan is both your form of transport and accommodation, meaning you don’t have to hire a car AND pay extortionate prices at hotels.
In New Zealand, where I’m from, a campervan may cost $100 NZD to $150 NZD per night for a two-berth camper. Whereas, accommodation at a mid-range hotel and car rental will cost more than double this amount.
Travelling in your own campervan has proven extremely convenient in places where road trips are the best way to travel. A great example of this is the South Island in New Zealand, where there are scenic roads stretching as far as the eye can see, such as in Arthur’s Pass, Wanaka and Aoraki Mt Cook.
A way to save even more money as you road trip the country is to buy your own converted, self-contained campervan and sell it off at the end of your trip. This is something worth thinking about for more long-term travellers. You’re likely to make a small loss, or no loss at all, meaning the total cost of your accommodation and transport will be the cost of your petrol! This could potentially save you thousands on your travels.
By Delilah | Our Travel Mix
Stay in a Hostel
With accommodation and transport totalling at two of the biggest expenses for travellers, it’s a relief to know that you can cut your accommodation budget into a fraction of what it would be by using hostels instead of hotels. There are a few advantages of hostels as opposed to other budget options – they usually have friendly, English-speaking receptionists with amazing local suggestions, breakfast and tea/coffee included and security. They often come with great city or ocean views, clean facilities and surprisingly comfy beds. Hostels make travelling for cheap super- easy to achieve!
As someone who travels in hostels as an introvert, I’ve come up with a few ways to spot beautiful hostels and avoid ‘party’ atmospheres, such as searching ‘loud’, ‘clean’ and ‘quiet’ in hostel reviews. Try booking.com or hostelworld.com to read reviews, but often it’s cheapest to book directly with the hostel. You could also shop around for deals when you arrive. Also, take a good look at the photos before booking. Dorms are obviously the cheapest options, but private rooms are a great hotel alternative. I’ve found them to be more ‘community’ driven than hotels, so I definitely recommend this for any solo or social travellers.
For more money saving tips, you can often take part in free walking tours or use their expertise to find great discounts. Also, booking tours through a hostel (if you want to keep things easy) will usually be cheaper than other accommodations as they specifically cater to budget travellers.
Cassie Bailey | Cassie the hag
Stay in a monastery or temple
Staying in monasteries is one of the best ways to save money while travelling. The abundant Buddhist countries in Asia and SE Asia offer accommodation usually for everyone, making it one of the best ways to save money and experience unique things in these countries. I have stayed in many types of monasteries and temples, like the small monastery associated with Namgyal temple on my solo Dharamshala and Mcleodganj trip in north India.
Many Buddhist monasteries offer basic accommodation at a minimum from $2 to $5 per day. A few others offer a bed in exchange for some work like maintaining a library, taking care of the garden or teaching English and computers to kids for a few hours. If you are not interested in these, you can always go for the budget monastery stays.
In India, along with Buddhist monasteries, a lot of Sikh temples offer free accommodation for both local and foreign travellers along with free food. You can find many of these Sikh temples(Gurudwara) in every city.
In the town of Bir in the north Indian state of Himachal, the Deer Park Institute offers a low-cost stay(under $5) if you enrol for their Yoga, meditation, Buddhism course or philosophy programs. The best thing about staying at these monasteries is their beautiful locations(away from the crowds), chances to experience new things where you can enjoy meditation, Yoga or spend time amidst nature all of which you wouldn’t in hotels or Airbnbs.
Reshma Narasing, The Solo Globetrotter
Stay in an apartment and cook your own meals
One way to save money while traveling is definitely the option to book an apartment and cook your own meals. Here you will actually save twice and for sure your wallet will thank you! In many countries, apartments are cheaper than hotel rooms, and also cooking your own stuff is a fantastic deal – especially in more expensive travel countries.
For example, let’s say I’m traveling to Croatia. When booking an apartment for 1-week, I save at least 50% compared to the hotel. For me that can make up to 400 euros a week! Also with buying food on markets or supermarkets and to cook home-made food is a fantastic deal. With that you can save yourself another 50% over a week, so let say another 150 euros.
Super nice and affordable apartments can be found on booking.com (you can use a filter) and of course also on Airbnb.com.
Martina & Jürgen | PlacesofJuma
Support small local travel businesses
A good way to both save money and supporting small local travel businesses while you travel is to book tours and guides through local companies. Often, there are large foreign-owned tour operators in the main streets with stiff price tags, where most of the money goes straight out of the country. However, if you walk a bit further in the back streets, you can find much cheaper local tour operators who only hire locals.
Not only do you save money and support local, but you will probably have a much better travel experience. After all, one of the best benefits of sustainable tourism is the connections you do with the locals. The amount of money you can save will depend on destination and activity but altogether on a trip, you could save tens or hundreds of dollars. But though you look for cheap activities, make sure you use ethical operators too.
Linn Haglund | Brainy Backpackers
Take your own equipment
I’ve found a great way of saving money while traveling is by planning in advance the kinds of activities I want to do while I’m visiting a particular place, and taking the necessary equipment for them!
For example, when I was looking for free and budget friendly things to do in Maui, I found that I wanted to spend a lot of my vacation snorkeling. Only problem? Snorkeling tours can cost upwards of $100 per person! Instead of finding an expensive snorkeling tour to take every day, it’s significantly cheaper to buy a snorkeling set (they can be had for less than $30) and use that to snorkel right off the beach for free.
And while you can rent snorkeling sets, that’s not something that I find super sanitary, or cheap. On average, buying and bringing my own snorkeling set to Maui on a weeklong trip saved me about $500 dollars per person compared to the price of snorkeling tours. Not bad for a $30 investment!
Ale | Sea Salt & Fog
Travel in “Shoulder or Low” Season
As most of you know, I book all of my own personal travel experiences (when I am not working within travel). I am always looking for the great deals out there for my ‘smart luxury’ travel experiences website. I search for that ‘point’ where luxury travel experiences and price intersect. Not all of us can stay in the premier suites with the fanciest bathtubs and crazy amazing views, but it never hurts to try to find them.
One thing I have found that works for me is to travel on what is known as “shoulder” season or “low” season. I understand that not everyone can do this, but since most of us are over 50, the opportunity to do so does increase! I suggest trying it, so here is how you do it:
First, you should research the area you want to go to. Then read a few articles on the internet about the “best time to go”. Within those paragraphs is where you will find what the “off” season time is. I usually choose the time that is just right before or just right after the actual good season. Because often times this is a great time to go as the weather is still very similar to the time the “best” season starts. Plus, during this time you typically will find that there are fewer people in the area. So fewer crowds typically mean more enjoyment.
Booking this way typically saves me (& my husband) about $300-$700 for a 4-7 nights of a vacation. I look around on the internet for the “best” deals I can find and do comparison shopping. Many times, I also call the actual place we want to stay to see if they have a better deal, rather than booking through a service.
Dr. Cacinda Maloney | Points and Travel
Travel Slower
My best tip for how to save money when travelling is to travel slower. There is so much money you can save this way!
The first obvious thing is that you will save money on transport costs the less you move around. But there are also other benefits. Accommodation deals can also be a lot cheaper if you travel slower. I have found that when booking a holiday rental on airbnb, for example, that usually a week’s stay costs about the same as 5 nights. The savings are even bigger if you always book for a month with it often only costing the same as 2-3 weeks stay otherwise.
When you spend longer somewhere, it’s also easier to find good deals on sightseeing and food. From finding restaurants with great lunch deals to it being easier to stock up on food and self cater for a longer stay, the savings can also be big.
Exactly how much you can save varies but I’d guess that it’s easy to even cut your costs by up to 50% if you spend at least a week everywhere you go. Even more money if you can make it a month.
As an added bonus, I think you also enjoy a destination more when you are not rushing around. When I look back, just about all my favourite destinations have been ones where I have stayed at least a week. Like Paris, pictured above, where we spent a month for only USD$2,000 in the middle of summer without doing without anything and staying in a nice apartment.
Sharon Gourlay | Dive Into Central Asia
Travel to less popular destinations
No doubt, if you looking for the best way to save money, you have to get out of your comfort zone. This is true for the method of transport, but also for the destination you choose. Finding the cheapest countries to travel to will help you to save money when travelling on a budget.
Expect high prices if you go to Maldives or Seychelles. They are very popular destinations for relaxing stays and it can cost a lot to have an enjoyable holiday. Instead, head towards other areas.
South-East Asia is famous worldwide not only as some of the cheapest countries to visit but as the main destination for young backpackers. But if you are not anymore in your 20s, you can have great experiences there too.
My suggestion is Cambodia, where pristine beaches are coupled with clear waters. Choose one of the many islands, you will not be disappointed.
Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem are my favourites. They are just off the coast of Sihanoukville, the main city of the coast. Its airport will also give you the chance to easily reach Angkor Wat, the most famous complex of temples in South-East Asia which is absolutely worth a visit.
Mario MIGLIORE |r&r.it
Travel with hand luggage only
We have been travelling with carry-on luggage only for the last three years and this has saved us a huge amount of money, especially in terms of airline checked baggage fees. Travelling out of a single backpack also makes things much easier: we don’t have to worry about lost luggage; we can check-in online and avoid queues at the airport, and packing or unpacking can be done within 15 minutes. What’s not to love?
Most low-cost airlines and some national carriers have now started charging for everything, from in-flight meals and entertainment to blankets. However, airlines make their biggest killing on luggage fees: these can start from $15 per bag and go all the way up to $40 on some flights!
Importantly, the savings from travelling with just hand luggage go much further: because we aren’t weighed down with lots of bulky bags, we can easily take public transport to and from the airport, get on to crowded buses or trains when we arrive at our destination and even walk around looking for accommodation. Public transport costs a fraction of expensive taxis and the money we save can be used for fun travel experiences instead!
Carry on travel does require some planning, but trust us when we say that the effort is well worth the reward. It makes life a lot simpler, helps you save money and once you start you’ll definitely wonder why you didn’t do it before!
Sasha Kasthuriarachchi | Mog and Dog Travels
Use a filter water bottle
Using a filter water bottle when travelling allows you to save money every day. Even when you’re just cleaning your teeth. Everyone needs clean, safe drinking water and using a good filter water bottle gives you that wherever you travel to. There are huge numbers of places around the world where tap water is not deemed safe to drink and where it’s recommended to drink bottled water. A filter water bottle lets you use tap water and it filters out bugs, contaminants and bad tastes.
The best filter water bottles let you fill up from any source (barring salt water which clogs filters quickly) and let you save money with every mouthful. Using a filter water bottle can save you US$400 a year when compared to buying bottled water. It also ensures that you’re not polluting by using huge amounts of single-use plastic bottles.
Sarah Carter | A Social Nomad
Use local public transport
One of my favorite ways to save money while traveling is by taking local public transport. Depending on the country, this can mean buses, trains, or even overstuffed shared jeeps or vehicles. Using local transport is available to foreign travelers in most countries, and prices should be the same for everyone.
Even in “cheap” countries like Pakistan, taking public transport can save you hundreds of dollars compared with hiring a private driver. Though Uber is still very affordable in Pakistan, city buses will cost the equivalent of 10 cents, and long haul buses (with air conditioning) will only set you back $5 maximum for an 8-hour ride.
I have used public and local transport in a variety of countries and regions including India, Pakistan, Poland, and Ecuador and found that not only was I able to save money, but I was also able to experience the country as those that live there do.
Public transport gives you the opportunity to meet people you might not have otherwise, and in some situations, it might even allow you to see an offbeat place or two if the vehicle makes a stop in a small town.
Samantha Shea | Intentional Detours Travel Blog
Use Travel Rewards credit cards
When I was preparing to travel the world full-time for 9 months, I tried a lot of different ways to save money and be able to afford travel. However, hands down, the BEST way I have saved money while travelling is by utilizing (responsibly) travel rewards credit cards to earn travel rewards points. It is a great way to earn travel value for a future trip on day-to-day spending you are already making anyway. And with most rewards cards offering lucrative sign-on bonuses for new card members, you could be on that next free trip in no time.
So how much could you save? Well, that entirely depends on the person and how deep you want to get into the miles and points game. For my world trip, I amassed over 1,000,000 points (across all programs) and received over $20,000 in value for those points when redeeming for flights, hotels, etc.
That is a significant amount!
However, getting into this hobby takes some education before jumping in. I think The Points Guy is a great place to start. I have been following the website for years and was even featured in their “Reader Hall of Fame” for my points strategy during my world trip. Are you the next success story??
Kara Patterson | Destination: Live Life
Volunteer while traveling
This one is a great option to travel on a budget and at the same time immerse yourself deeper in a culture. It is a popular choice for a students’ gap year as well as for people able to travel for more than one week at a time.
There are opportunities to exchange a few hours of work every day for accommodation and in some cases food too.
There are two main organizations that facilitate this type of arrangement: workaway.com and wwoof.net.
WWOOF focuses on work related to organic farms all over the world, while Workaway offers all types of work, ranging from help with the kids to work in hostels. While my personal experience is volunteering in Italy with WWOOF, I guess workaway is more popular because you are able to choose the type of work you prefer.
Besides the obvious, not paying for accommodation while traveling in different parts of the world, you can get a lot more from this experience. First of all, you will probably learn and practice the local language, which is a lot different from taking a few classes at home. Then, you may have the chance to eat some home-cooked meals, maybe even steal a few secrets from the host. More importantly, this type of experience will probably bring you a few long-time friends. Volunteering while traveling is one of the best ways to save money and travel on a budget.
Anda Bartos | Travel for a while
We hope these tips gave you some useful ideas on how to save money while travelling on a budget. Whichever method you decide is the best way to travel cheaper round the world, make sure you enjoy your holiday and have a safe trip!
Save it for later!
Travel Experts share tips on how to save money while travelling the world: 30+ Money saving tips so you can travel more for less!
Do you have any other tips on how to travel the world on a budget? If you do, we’d love to hear about them. Share your ideas by leaving a comment below.
Great tips. I’ve been traveling perpetually since I retired 5 years ago and I didn’t know all these hacks…Teaching this self described pro some new tricks.
Thanks Marco, great to hear there are some useful tips even for an expert! Thank you also for taking part in the post and providing your useful tips to save money on airfares 🙂
Thanks for sharing amazing money tips while travelling. I have checked all of your tips and definitely will use for my next trip