November 18th, 2009 | 
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Cheap travel means you get to go more often, go on longer trips or just save some of your money for other things. Fortunately, it doesn’t mean low-quality travel. If you find a way to get a cheaper plane ticket, for example, you might be flying on the same plane as with the more expensive tickets.
Of course sometimes you can save money by traveling differently, and that’s okay too. Why pay an extra $40 for a hotel if you like the idea of staying in a hostel with visitors from around the world? Why rent a car in countries where good bus and train systems make for cheaper and more interesting trips?
Essentially you can travel cheap in two ways. First, you can find cheaper ways to get the same thing. The other, perhaps more powerful way, is to alter your expectations and plans to create a more interesting trip that is also inexpensive. The tips that follow will help you do both.
1. See if you can book two flights cheaper than one.
My wife and I are thinking about going to Ecuador this year (2007). Checking for our approximate dates, I found that it would cost $950 each round trip from Colorado Springs, or $1,900 total. Then I checked from Colorado Springs to Miami. It would be $215 round trip. From Miami to Guayaquil, Ecuador costs $350 round trip. That makes it just $565 to Ecuador, or $1,130 total – a savings of $770.
Of course, if you are going to do this, you have to find flights that have enough time in-between them. You probably won’t get e refund if you miss the second flight because of a delay on the first. In our case, we have friends near Miami, so we’ll just arrange the flights to be a day or two apart, and go visiting. Even after the cost of renting a car for a couple days we’ll still be hundreds of dollars ahead.
2. Live in a new place for a while.
One way to make a vacation less rushed, cheaper, and in many ways more interesting, is to stop going from hotel to hotel. Why not stay in a place, and even rent a condo or apartment? We did this a few years back in Tucson, Arizona. It was nice to escape winter for a couple months, and it was fun to explore and get to know a new city. Often you can save hundreds of dollars this way, versus paying by the night for hotel rooms.
3. Be an opportunistic traveler.
This is the most valuable of these cheap travel tips. There are so many things to do out there and so many places to see, so why get stuck on just the ones you have already thought of? With a little luck, you might find a more interesting place to go for half the price. With little shopping, you might find a bed and breakfast in whatever country you visit, and pay less for a more interesting experience.
First look for all the possible alternatives that are less expensive. This isn’t about doing something you don’t want to do. But among those cheaper choices there might be a perfect trip for you. Why not find out? To start with, do any of your friends live in interesting places? Visiting friends is a great way to save on travel costs and have a load of fun (with the right friends).
Here’s a good example of being an opportunist. We were in the mountain resort town of Banos, Ecuador, and asked about the cost of taxi ride to some waterfall. It was $15. It was apparently a popular attraction with tourists. We kept that in mind as we wandered around. Then we saw a chiva (an open-sided bus with seating on the roof) go by playing music. We asked about that.
The chiva took us on a tour of the city (I rode on the roof), then up into the mountains for a view of the city from above. Then we watched the volcano Tungurahua erupt and spit out a bit of lava. They served us hot rum drinks (included in the price), and there were fire-juggling entertainers. Passengers had to push the chiva to get it started for the trip back to town. The cost of all this? $3 each. Cheap travel does not mean uninteresting travel.
Help answer the question about traveling tips
Any tips on traveling with young children?My family are relocating 2000 miles from where we live now. We are going to drive. We have an one year old, a four year old, a mini van, and 4 days. Does anyone who have traveled long distances with children these ages, have any tips?
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woww that is alot of money check out this website (http://daritravel.traverustravel.com/index.asp) and check the prices.Feel free to email me with any questions you would like to ask on here or at dario_1-6@hotmail.com
I live in a tourist town and it's so peaceful and quiet right now cause tourism is down….. GO on you trip now, the plane fares are dropping and hotel fares are dropping
You can check out this website. You can buy a cheap phone for like $60 bucks and they charge you $1.25/min for calls. Then they just charge the credit card used to purchase the phone for your calls.
So you're flying in to Dublin, and return to the US via Italy? Or will you be back in Dublin to catch a flight back to US? How about the following suggestion for your trip?
Fly from Dublin to Biarritz with Ryanair – it's quite close to get to Pamplona from there. After Pamplona, take a train to either Barcelona or Madrid and spend a few days there.
From there, catch another Ryanair flight (for Barcelona you have to go to Girona) to go to Paris-Beauvais. Otherwise there is a night train/ trainhotel that you can take – they do have some seats on promotional price in a 2nd class couchette/sleeper for 4 if you book ahead, and that will cost 70eur per person for Madrid-Paris or Barcelona-Paris. The normal price is 158eur and 150eur respectively.
Alternatively, on the same trainhotel, you can get first class with superreclining seat (you will not get a sleeper bed) and it's 143eur for Madrid-Paris and 136eur for Barcelona-Paris. A little cheaper than regular ticket for 2nd class sleeper.
For Paris to, say, Rome in Italy, again, you could find flights with Ryanair to get there. Same goes, from Rome to Dublin, if you're travelling back to US from Dublin, you can fly with Ryanair.
You're not exactly planning to travel a lot on the train so it really isn't worth it getting a rail pass. Moreover the rail pass is good only for certain trains, not most of the fast trains nor the night trains. You'll have to pay supplement on top of the rail pass if you take a fast train, or the night train, or trains that require compulsory reservations. I don't see how it's going to be worth it. You should just buy ticket as you go along. In Italy and Spain, train ticket is normally quite cheap already as it is. Especially if you buy ahead e.g. for the trainhotel, if you book early and get the mini offer price, it's less than half price of the normal ticket.
Look around Ryanair for offers. I've flew Paris-Rome before for about 40eur including taxes and charges one way. But be aware, that checking in luggage will incur additional charges. Ryanair allows only ONE (very strictly enforced in most Ryanair operating airports) carry-on not exceeding 10kg weight limited. As you're non-EU citizens, you can't avail of free online check-in so you will also need to pay a small amount of charges for the desk check-in service. Otherwise, Ryanair is pretty much one of the cheapest ways to travel between the destinations that you've roughly outlined in your question.
*Update*
I've just checked – night train from Paris to Rome direct on Artesia for 2nd class ticket can be as low as 55eur per person (I put in a random date next month on Voyages SNCF web form) although Artesia's official site indicates that the cheapest normal price would be starting from 75eur.
Hey Lauren,
Have you thought about joining couch surfers. It is a great way to meet local people and if you are comfortable staying with them in their house. They also organise regular meet ups for parties, events, festivals, trips to the beach. Great people and great fun. Its all about locals showing people the greatest experience possible in their country.
Here is NZ group link:
http://www.couchsurfing.com/group.html?gid=368
If you want to actually stay with someone my advice would be to put as much info about yourself into your profile. Couch surfing is an exchange. People volunteer their homes because they want to meet interesting people. When you go an stay offer to help out. If they work, cook them dinner or invite them out for dinner and pay for it etc.
Check peoples references before committing to stay. Stay only where you feel comfortable and if you commit to stay make sure you turn up.
You can arrange lifts with people from place to place. Take the normal safety precautions. You can check peoples references. Meet up with them in a group situation etc.
Its great fun.
Enjoy,
How about Coney Island or Atlantic City? I used to go to Coney Island as a kid. The rides were great fun.
See http://www.coneyisland.com for hotels and sights. See http://www.atlanticcitynj.com to learn about Atlantic City.
These only work if you like being around people and are willing to explore.
Huni I find that the internet is far too huge to book a holiday unless you know what you want.
I just go into the travel agents and tell them what you want and they are able to tell you exactly what you need to know about the country, you can tell them you want somewhere hot and what you want to do there etc and they will advise you where to go and show you pictures. It doesnt take up no where near as much time.
My parents were looking to go to Zante last week and it was coming up at £700 each so they went in to the agents and they got a 5* hotel for £250 each.
Bear in mind that it is summer in Peru during Christmas, so be prepared for hot weather. New Year's eve parties are all beach parties. The place to be is Mancora (a northern beach town known for its relaxed attitude and awesome waves) in the region of Piura, Peru. If you are in Lima and have no way of getting to Mancora, then try to make it to the discotheques at "Sur Plaza" (about 100 km from the city due south. It's kinda the point during the summer. You can even get there on a bus company that goes by the name of "Soyuz").
A highway express bus from Tokyo to Osaka is the best way to travel cheap.The fare is around 4000 yen. It depends on which bus company you choose. Some compay will give you a discount for a round trip and making a reservation on internet.
I couldn't find many souces in English, but there are some.