The following list just gives you a taste of all the budget strategies that exist. No doubt you’ll encounter more ways to stretch your travel dollar.
Planning
Airfare to Europe can make you blow your budget before you even leave home, but fear not — there are plenty of ways to save.
Go off-season.If you can travel at non-peak times (October through May for most major cities and tourist centers), you’ll find hotel rates up to 30 percent below the prices of peak months.
Travel midweek.If you can travel on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, you may find cheaper flights to your destination. When you ask about airfares, see if you can get a cheaper rate by flying on a different day. For more tips on getting a good fare, see Chapter 5.
Try a package tour.For many destinations, you can book airfare, hotel, ground transportation, and even some sightseeing just by making one call to a travel agent or packager, for a price much less than if you put the trip together yourself. (See Chapter 5 for more on package tours.)
Always ask for discount rates.You may be pleasantly surprised to discover that you’re eligible for discounts on sights, transportation, hotels, you name it. Members of AAA, trade unions, or AARP; fre-quent fliers; teachers; students; families; and members of other groups sometimes get discounted rates on car rentals, plane tickets, and some chain-hotel rooms. Ask your company if employees can use the corporate travel agent and corporate rates even for private vacations. You never know until you ask.
If your family emmigrated from Europe, you may get another dis-count. Many ethnic travel agencies (usually found in major cities) specialize in getting forgotten sons and daughters rock-bottom rates when returning to the Old Country. It’s worth looking into if you can find one near you.
Transportation
Getting to Europe uses up most of your transportation budget, but just getting from place to place can add up too. Here are a few ways to make the most of your remaining transportation dollars:
Reserve your rental car before you leave.If you know you want to have a car for some or all of your trip, rent it before you leave through a major U.S. company to save big bucks over the cost of renting on the spot in Europe (see Chapter 6 for details).
Don’t rent a gas guzzler.Renting a smaller car is cheaper, and you save on gas to boot. Unless you’re traveling with kids and need lots of space, don’t go beyond the economy size. For more on car rentals, see Chapter 6.
Invest in a rail pass.Europe’s extensive train system constitutes its greatest transportation asset. The train system’s best value is its family of Eurorail passes (see Chapter 6).
Walk a lot.A good pair of walking shoes can save lots of money in taxis and other local transportation. As a bonus, you’ll get to know your destination more intimately because you explore at a slower pace.
Lodging
Hotel costs in Europe can be sky-high — especially in big cities. If you don’t relish the thought of shelling out big buck for a swank room you won’t be spending much time in anyway, try some of the following tips:
Catch 20 winks on an overnight train for $0 to $38.Armed with your trusty rail pass, you can jump on an overnight train and fork out just $38 for a reserved bunk in a sleeping couchette. Or if you’re feeling lucky, take your chances on finding an empty sitting couchette, slide down the seat back, and — voilà! — you have a bed for free! In the morning, you’ll have reached your destination plus saved yourself a night’s hotel charge.
Leave the private plumbing at home; take a room without a bath-room.You can get a hotel room that shares a bathroom down the hall for about two-thirds as much as you pay for a virtually identi-cal room with its own plumbing.
Get a triple or cots, not two rooms, if you have kids.At most European hotels, kids stay for free in a parent’s room. At the worst, a hotel may charge a small fee ($10–$20) for the extra bed.
Rent a room instead of staying at a hotel.At $20 to $50 a night, pri-vate rooms for rent beat out even the cheapest B&Bs or pensions.
You may also get the experience of staying in a real European home, which no 5-star hotel can give you for any price (see Chapter 7).
Give the ultra-cheap accommodations a try.If sleeping near 150 roommates (mostly students) on a wooden floor under a big tent sounds appealing, you can spend a night in Munich for $11, breakfast included. Budget options abound in Europe, from hostels (dorm bunks cost $20) to convents ($20–$50) to extreme options like Munich’s aforementioned mega tent. Check out www.beyond hotels.net, and see see Chapter 7 for more details.
Opt for a double bed instead of two singles.Fewer sheets for the hotel to wash equals savings for you. Though this “twin versus double” option is disappearing in many places, it still holds true in some countries. Even noncouple buddies can travel this way — although if your traveling partner is of the opposite sex, pretend you’re married just to put traditionalist Europeans more at ease.
Get out of town. In many places, big savings are just a short drive or taxi ride away. Hotels outside the historic center, in the next town over, or otherwise less-conveniently located are great bargains.
Never allow the hotel to handle your laundry— unless you enjoy being taken to the cleaners, so to speak. You can wash a few pieces of clothes in the sink each night, roll them in towels to sop up the dampness, and hang them on the radiator to dry — or even better, on the heated towel racks (a silly amenity even cheap places are installing). Or look for a laundry shop that washes and dries clothes based on weight (an average load costs $10). Most European cities have them; start looking near the local university.
Rent a room that doesn’t include breakfast.Often hotels charge an extra $10 to $15 a night when breakfast is “included.” You can get the same food for about $3 at a nearby cafe.
Dining
Don’t worry — you won’t have to starve or even eat bad food to keep dining costs to a minimum. There are plenty of ways to eat well in Europe without breaking the bank:
Stuff yourself if your hotel room rate includes breakfast.Don’t be shy about loading up on the food that comes with your room. Have three rolls and a big bowl of cereal or as much meat and cheese as you can eat. Trust me; you’re paying for the food. To avoid an expen-sive lunch, stick an orange and an extra roll in your pocket for later.
Reserve a hotel room with a kitchenette.Doing your own cooking and dishes may not be your idea of a vacation, but you can save a lot of money by not eating in restaurants three times a day. Even if you only make breakfast or cook the occasional dinner, you’ll save in the long run.
Try expensive restaurants at lunch instead of dinner.Lunch menus often boast many of the same specialties, but at a fraction of the dinnertime cost.
Lunch on pub grub in Britain and Ireland.An authentic, yet cheap, meal in a British pub includes a sandwich and a sturdy pint of ale.
You can find options for sandwiches and snacking in every country.
Order from fixed-price and tourist menus.Fixed-price meals can be up to 30 percent cheaper than ordering the same dishes à la carte. Although the options on a fixed-price menu are limited, you can’t beat the price.
Picnic often.For well under $10, you can dine like a king wherever you want — on a grassy patch in the city park, in your hotel room, or on the train.