Travelling tips, travel for less!!!...

Well Hello Everybody, I would like to talk about some travelling tips.

I hope this helps you plan your trips and enjoy the most from the places you`d like to visit. I would like to start with a picture of one of my favorite spots, this is the Palacio de Cristal, located in Madrid. Here is where I would sit to have long conversations with my family, and would also go to celebrate accomplishments.

1.- Getting to your destination.

One of my best recommendations is to buy tickets in advance!!, the more the better. Sometimes airlines increase their prices a lot (two times and more) as the traveling date gets near. Also, this allows you to check prices and compare.

Personally, I plan my trips with several months in advance; this allowed me to find deals such as my ticket Madrid-Geneva for only 40 Euros, and a ticket from Edinburgh to Oslo for also 40 Euros.

Another way around is to check for deals, if you live in a city that is well connected you can also check for deals, sometimes depending on the season, ticket prices drop, for example, I bought a ticked Madrid-Marrakesh for 100 Euros, as this was a place I definitely wanted to visit, I checked prices all the time until I saw it at 100 from always being at 240+ Euros.

The problem with this is your time availability, if you want a weekend off, and did not plan anything you might get a deal and that`s cool, but if it is your actual vacations, I would not wait till the very end to start looking for flights.

Knowledge is power, if you know how much something regularly costs, then, when opportunities present, you can determine if you are getting a deal or not.

I highly recommend the webpage https://www.skyscanner.net/, it allows you to compare prices from several airlines, it also has a very cool option to show you the cheapest destination for your travel dates, and this is something I regularly used. As I wanted to go to as many destinations as I could, I always tried to get the best air fares. For example, to find the ticket to Oslo, I put the dates of a 3 day weekend (had one day off at college), then I put from Edinburgh to everywhere, and there it was, a nice trip for just 40 Euros.

Not everything is perfect and we always learn from our mistakes, something that happened to me was that I wanted to go to Athens, and the only dates available for me was July, which is season, I used to see the prices at only 60 euros but did not make the purchase, when I finally decided, it was way too late, so for the same dates/airline, the ticket was already 450 euros (did not go by the way). So, please, investigate and plan your trips ahead, this will save you money.

2.- Accommodations.

When I arrived in Europe I used to book at hostels, it is known to be the cheapest but they are not the most comfortable.

Hostels are places where you share a room with different people, the more the cheapest. Some rooms are only for males and females, and sometimes mixed. They usually provide a locker for you to store your valuables. I would recommend this if travelling alone and if you`d like to meet other travelers. There will always be nice conversations at breakfast and interesting stories from people that come from all over the world.

Though, after I found out about the existence of AirBnb (https://www.airbnb.com/), my life changed. This webpage allows users to stay in actual houses/apartments for hostels prices, the good news is that you get your own room and have privacy.

Whenever I looked for a place to stay, I always focused on location and comments. Trying to find a place located in a good neighborhood, with good comments from other travelers and the best price for me. When I travel I don`t like to think in anything else than to enjoy, so, as I would usually arrive at late hours, I looked for places where I felt safe walking late at night/early in the morning, so I looked for prime locations, closed to main sights (Do some research about the location/use google maps street view).

For example in Barcelona, I stayed there for only 20 euros a night at L`Eixample, in Olso I shared a room with a friend and we paid 100 euros each for a weekend (Oslo is quite expensive).

3.- Buy transport card/several rides card.

If you want to go everywhere, please buy a transport card, this way you will not be so tired from walking all the time, you`ll get to your destinations faster, you will avoid having to buy tickets at every station and depending on the use, you will probably save money.

Sometimes cities have cards that include the entrance to some museums (this helps you avoid long museum lines) and discounts to some attractions.

4.- Plan your trip.

Try to plan your trip to some level of detail, I really recommend to do some research on the attractions that you`d like to visit. When I plan for my trips I do some research at tripadvisor (https://www.tripadvisor.com/) to see what are the top attractions and check at google for blogs from people that have been there, this helps me decide what I would like to visit.

After this, I start investigating about the place, how to get there, the opening hours, opening days, how long is ok to visit, etc. Usually museums and attractions have closing days that differ from each other, some on Sundays, others on Mondays or Tuesdays. What I would do, is to have this details written in a list and work it out when I`m at my destination.

For example: Day X, a Monday, as some attractions closes, I would plan to go to the parks and walk around the city, but, if I wake up and it is raining then I would try to go to a museum that I know it is open from previous research, if there aren`t any, then I would go to a shopping district and buy some souvenirs, clothes, etc, this way I avoid being always outside.

If traveling with several people, a list would avoid discussions, as all the group should know about the plan, and if someone does not like a place, it can choose to go somewhere else beforehand. Imagine being at an hotel discussing about where to go... Time is money.

5.- Get a backpack/purse/messenger bag/other.

Have something to carry maps, your travel plan list, a bottle of water to keep hydrated and some fruit/cookies. While walking you always get thirsty, and a bottle of water goes around 1 or 2 euros, just buy one and then refill it, in plenty of cities water is potable (investigate first). Also, if you go to a supermarket, you can see that prices are quite low for snacks and fruit.

If traveling on a budget, you can purchase cereal, bread, jam and cheese, cookies, juice and this saves you a lot, like literally a lot. A breakfast abroad can go from 4 and up to 8+ euros, and for 10 euros or less you can buy all the items I just described for a whole week.

I usually would have a good breakfast to start the day, then had snacks/fruit during the day and finally had a proper dinner at a restaurant.

I hope all this tips help you, there are lots to talk about in this subject, if you have any doubts feel free to make comments, I`ll try to reply them all!!