10 Simple Ways To Save Money While Traveling — To Travel 2 Times More

No, you don’t need a lot of money to travel a lot! More important than money is the way you optimize your spending and you organize your budget.

I had learned the hard way how to spend my travel money so I can have the necessary funds to travel more. It’s not a big deal actually after you understand a bunch of basic things.

I developed a list of 10 simple things that can help everybody save money for future travels while traveling.

Search for free attractions

For example, when I went to Bologna, I discovered Bologna’s secrets. It’s a list of 7 free places that can be visited.

Instead of trying the museums, everybody goes to, why not experience something unique and free?

I am confident there are a lot of destinations having such easter eggs waiting to be discovered.

Take part in free walking tours

Another costless thing you can do is take part in free walking tours. It’s very nice to visit a place for free and to see it throw the eyes of a local person, don’t you think?

There are many such guided tours organized for free, you just need to look for them.

Take an empty bottle of water with you and fill it before embarking on the plane

R U Crazy? How can you buy overpriced water from the plane when you can drink your own, for free?

It’s a good money-saving tip to carry with you an empty bottle of water and to fill it from the bathroom right before you get on the plane.

I never bought anything to drink from the plane after discovering this tip.

Look for free entry museums

Visiting museums should not be always pricy, don’t you think?

The most interesting museum I visited during the Bologna trip was “Museo per la Memoria di Ustica”. It has free entrance and it commemorates the events of a famous plane crash. It’s a heartbreaking and unique experience… you can try for free.

Many locations have different museums with free entrance. You should consider visiting them.

Go to Instagramable places and take lots of photos

Another free thing you can do is to take photos in different instragramable places. Guess where you can find some places?! Yep, on Instagram.

Taking nice photos in Instagramable places is always a good and free thing to do. You return home with nice and costless memories.

Don’t drink coffee in coffee shops

Instead of drinking pricy coffee, I prefer to make my coffee in the hotel room and carry it with me in a thermos.

I consider spending more than 1 Euro on a coffee waste of money. By doing your coffee you will drastically reduce the expenses. Practically, you save money and drink your favorite coffee.

Don’t eat in tourist places

Always avoid eating in tourist places, unless you want to try pricy and mediocre-tasting food.

The cheapest way to eat is to buy things from the supermarket and carry sandwiches with you. The second-best alternative is to eat street food — this is usually good food and cheap.

Buy two-way tickets from the airport to the city

If you want to reduce your travel costs, you should buy two-way tickets from the airport to the city (and from the city to the airport, obviously).

A lot of bus companies provide this option and offer a discount for it.

One thing is for sure! Avoid taxis at any cost, unless you want to throw money over the window.

Use a free withdrawal card

A crucial thing when traveling is to have a free withdrawal card. You don’t want to pay extra fees every time you need cash.

I don’t have the habit of buying the local currency from exchange stores because I usually “leave money on the table”. Instead, I prefer to pay with my card whenever I can and to use cash only when it’s mandatory.

When I travel, I use both my credit card and my Revolut.

Be careful not to withdraw money from private ATMs with big commissions

Some private ATMs have withdrawal commissions so you must be careful.

I avoid them as much as I can and I always pay attention before withdrawing money.

This was originally posted on Medium.

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