5 Ways to Save Money on Travel
Travelling can be so expensive, but you don’t have to break the bank to head out on a new adventure, because there are ways to keep the cost down and sometimes you have to think outside the box to do it.
To try and help some of you get off on your travels with a few extra pennies in your pocket, here’s 5 ways to save money on travel:
Coach or Minibus Hire
If you are heading off on holiday in a large group, then hiring a coach or minibus may just save you some pennies and it isn’t as hard as you may think to hire one. SMC Coach Hire, for instance, offers vehicles (and drivers) that have 8 to 75 seats and all you need to do to get an idea of pricing is visit their website and submit an enquiry.
Prebook Activities
Prebooking activities can often save you money when compared to buying it on the day. So why not sit everyone down, come up with some “must do” activities and then spend some time hunting for the best deals possible on them.
Look For Free Attractions
The saying “nothing in life is free” isn’t quite true. In fact, all over the place, there are free things to do, from visiting parks and local landmarks to many museums who offer entry. So before you head away why not do some research into the area and see what may be nearby and free.
Travel Off-Peak
If you have to travel by public transport, then aiming to travel off-peak can really make a difference to the overall cost. While buying in advance can save you up to 75% with savings being had right up to the day before travel. Also splitting tickets can make for a saving, if you have to change at a station, see what the price is like to travel A – B and then B – C rather than straight from A – C.
Talk to the Locals
Locals know all the best places to visit, so why not try and strike up a conversation with those who know the area well and see where they suggest heading. After all, if anyone is to know about the hidden gems it will be them.
So there you have 5 ways to save money on travel, but have I missed any important tips you can think of?
*This is a collaborative post.
Great post, some really good tips on saving money when travelling! I always monitor flight prices & the cost of the accomodation and try to book at the best time, I can’t wait to travel once this lockdown is over! 🙂
Great tips.
A great tip is to travel in your own backyard. Staying local means you can cut down on travel costs, save on hotels and, if like us, you have difficulties travelling, it’s less stressful. People often forget to explore their own area. I always recommend Googling your own area and see what the tourists say. It’s amazing how people who are unfamiliar see your area, you can learn from them and save money!
A great piece of advice, always helps when it is so expensive when you have three children to take with you x
Ah yes travelling during off peak season I have found definitely is cheaper than say if you went in the summer or at Christmas. Sometimes a difference of 100’s of pounds!
These are some great ways to save money while travelling. I like to go on off peak times as its so much cheaper
One of the ways that I save money is by doing road trips and the driving myself. When you have a family of four, the savings can be quite significant.
These are great tips. I always try to pay for activities ahead. Sometimes ordering tickets online are cheaper than buying them when you get there. I did this when we went to the wax museum in Vegas.
I just love to walk and go camping when we travel. I do visits attractions as well, but being able to walk the city and see it’s people and buildings always makes me happy.
I agree with the last tip. Talk with the locals, not only does it make you feel at home, it also makes you learn a lot about the culture. Plus you’ll learn about the shops or restaurants where you can avail for less.
These are all great travel saving hacks, I am planning a few trips for next year and need to find a way to save money.
Great tips. We always try and book activities or trips online prior to travelling too. It really helps when you’re budgeting
It really does, it is amazing the amount you can save when you do it as well.
I never thought of Traveling off-peak! Thanks for all the great advice!
No problem at all I really hope it helps you in the long run 🙂
Coach trips really are cheap compared to trains in particular. I can’t believe how expensive it is to get to London on Virgin compared to the MegaBus. If you can cope with the length of the journey, a coach saves loads of money!
That is so true, sadly I can’t do coaches or I would definitely look do the megabus instead of trains.
love the idea of asking local people for their reconditions, they would defiantly know the best things wouldn’t they! x
Exactly they can really know about places that just don’t make it onto the “tourist” radar.
Will have to keep these in mind for the future, money goes so quickly while travelling
It really does, but there is always a way to make it go a litter further.
These are great tips. Travelling can get very expensive.
I am so glad people like them, hopefully, they can help people save a few pennies.
Great suggestions. Yeah, pre-book, esp online, would almost always ensure some sort of discount.
You can get some great deals just by searching about online that is for sure.
As always, these are great suggestions! I love talking to locals, to get a bit of their culture & lifestyle as well! 🙂
It is such a fun thing to do isn’t it – it can really make a difference.
There are some great free attractions across the UK. I always look for special vouchers or discount codes too x
There really are and people should look to take advantage of them more I think.
These are very helpful tips
thank you for sharing
No problem at all I am glad they are of use to people.
I agree that the locals can give lots of good advice as to what to do and how to do it cheaply. We once joined a local Mothers’ Day cruise in Alaska and had a wonderful time with the people who lived there.
It is amazing the little secrets they know about isn’t it.
I love that you’ve given some money saving options for traveling. I’ve traveled off-peak before to save money and will have to try your other suggestions as well, on our next trip.
I hope they help you save a little bit more money in the future 🙂
These were some great tips. I especially was fond of the one where you advised to speak to the locals. I think that is sheer genius.
It is interesting the local hidden gems they will know about, places that must be explored.
I am going on a few long term trips pretty soon so these tips are extremely helpful! Maybe I will even save enough to take ANOTHER trip!
Sondra xx
Ekk that sounds really exciting where are you heading off to?
These are great tips for saving money on travel. It is so important that we budget when we are planning a vacation or things can quickly get out of hand.
Most definitely it can be so easy for spending to get out of hand just because you are on holiday sometimes.
My favorite way to save money while traveling is to both pre book and go in the off season. Something special about being one of few tourists in the area!
They really do make a huge difference, don’t they. Love knowing you can enjoy yourself and spending time away.
Great post!! I love to travel and wish I could do more of it. I’ll definitely be giving some of these tips a try to save some cash!
I hope you manage to get to travel more in the years to come 🙂
i love to find great deals on travel, and free attractions are right up my alley!
It really does make a huge difference, doesn’t it.
Lots of great ideas on travel savings. I’m especially a fan of finding free activities. So many destinations have free museums that are wonderful.
There is so many things you can do for free when you look for them, isn’t there.
Living in a tourist location, I can testify to travelling off season. Everything here is cheaper during certain times of the year. Just do your research because we have several events that happen during the normal off season, but that up our prices. Like bike week!
It is crazy how much it puts up prices when you travel peak season, I do feel for those who live in tourist areas and have to put up with the price hike themselves.
Great tips! I try and travel off season as much as I can, although come next year when our son starts school I’m not sure how feasible that will be.
I always think it is such a shame that it is the kids holidays that dictate prices as that is the times when travel can bring so much.
My family hates it because I always prefer to walk around when possible in a city versus taking a bus, cab or subway. Partly to save the money and also because I have a lot of energy.
I used to do the same, sadly I don’t have so much choice but to take transport these days though.
this is so true and in fact it is more enjoyable as it is less crowded and u get to experience the real thing. i always try to go off season weather dependent!
I hate being anywhere crowded it puts me off the whole experience to be honest which is a shame.
Some great times here. We always look for free things to do when travelling and it’s amazing how much there is.
There really is or things that don’t cost too much either.
Fantastic tips! We always look for free activities and also speak to locals about suggestions for places to eat and visit!
Locals really can offer such a great insight, can’t they.
These are all great tips! I discovered pre-booking offer some kind of discounts and we make sure we always go that route. I will try your other suggestions next time. Probably traveling off season would be great. Less crowds, more savings.
It really does make a difference doesn’t it – I’ve found some places even offer more offers when you prebook!
I usually go to hidden gems and free attractions. It’s the memories that counts. I make sure to take a lot of photos!
Most definitely you don’t need to spend a lot it’s about the memories that are made.
You’re right, there’s no need to spend a fortune while travelling. There are always hidden bargains to be had 🙂
Most definitely and they can offer just as much of a good time!
These are some practical tips for saving money on travel. Traveling offseason and also looking for flight deals are some of the main measures we take for optimizing travel costs.
They are some great tips, it is amazing the deals you can find when you go looking.
Traveling can be so expensive. Your tips are awesome and very helpful. Thanks for sharing.
I am so glad you like the tips – I hope they help you out in the long run 🙂
To travel off peak is a great suggestion. It can help you save some money, but it also lets you save on aggravation by not ealing with crowds.
It is amazing how much you can save by just waiting for the next train even when it comes to peak / off peak travel.
I do like to cut costs where I can when I’m traveling. Prebooking and scheduling things out beforehand will help a ton.
It means you know what your going to do and when as well, which for me as well is a big thing.
I like to prebook most stuff. I like to at least have some sort of plan for most days of my vacation, especially with kids that want to know what we’re doing.
I am the same, I have to admit I don’t like not knowing what is going on.
I find that a ton of money goes to FOOD! So any time you can buy your own food or bring, it is helpful (but not always possible). Also plan ahead – booking way ahead of time can save a lot of money.
That is so true! I know some people who do an online food shop like they would at home and have it delivered I think that’s such a good idea.
We always look for free attractions when we travel. Everyone is surprised by how many cool free things we find.
It is crazy all the free things that are out there just to be found.
I often utilise these tips even on my current adventure in Barcelona. I use public transport when necessary but walk most places and love searching for free attractions.
Oh I bet you had an awesome time in Barcelona!
I always book as far in advance as I can to save some money when I travel. I try to research the area and see what free activities are available.
It really is a good tip, it is amazing how much people can save when they plan ahead.
Great tips. I always search the special events calendars for the cities we’re visiting. Sometimes you can find neat festivals, events, concerts, etc. It’s all about maximizing your travel budget without minimizing the experience.
We have some amazing free festivals and events around here so looking out for them is such a good tip!
I love to travel, but expenses definitely do add up quickly! These are excellent tips to help save at least a little bit of money from trips and guidelines I tend to stick with myself.
It really is crazy how quickly it becomes a huge expense if you don’t keep on top of it.
I almost always travel off-peak and tend to not go away in July/ August just because it’s so much more expensive. While I don’t have kids I’m going to take advantage x
I don’t blame you at all, it is such a shame that they up the prices when kids are off.
I love to travel during the off-peak time, that is a big money saver. I’m a planner so I believe in planning in advance.
It really is such a huge difference, it amazing me how much they put up prices at peak times.
Taking a trip soon. These tips will be a big help for me in the money saving department.
I hope you have the most amazing time on your trip 🙂
Great tips here, I agree with travelling off peak and also pre booking in advance if you can as you can save quite a bit x
It is amazing the difference in price, it shocked me when I looked into it more.
What is travel again? I haven’t been more then 90 miles away from my house in over 7 years…
But good tips nonetheless….
You have a good holiday close to home it doesn’t have to be a long way away 🙂
For the most part we do everything you said here. I think the most ideal thing in the world is traveling on off peak times. You can save thousands of dollars. It was well worth it.
It really is amazing how much the cost shifts by, it is such a shame.
Great tips
It’s always good to save (should I say not yo be ripped off)
Most definitely and if you just do things it can be so easy to pay too much.
Learnt this the hard way!!
I’m usually a lot more savvy
Living and learning -its the way to go
These are fabulous tips! I try to travel off peak when I can. It’s tougher when the kids are in school though. I also try to find free stuff to do.
It definitely can be hard to do sometimes, but even if you manage it a small % of the times you’re making a saving over all.
We like to use our jobs association to keep the cost low on our travels. We also pre-book everything.
It is awesome that your job allows you to try and keep travel down.
Traveling out of season is always a plus and booking ahead is saving money and time. Plus you always know you are going to get in to whatever it is you want to see.
Booking ahead often means you have a seat as well which can definitely be a plus too 😉