How to have a great time without spending a huge amount of money

A vacation is is most cases more expensive than planned. It's very easy to reduce costs and still enjoy a great time. Read further and I'll give you some advice on how to save money during your vacation.

Back home, after enjoying a great time in Barcelona we noticed that we spend a lot more money than planned. This not happened once; Holidays are always more expensive than expected. S. Ruth - Paris 2010

People really like a city trip to visit a famous city, a relaxing beach vacation or a vacation in the mountains. A weekend break or a nice and relaxing beach vacation means a good time for most of people. But than, the vacation is over and back home you notice that your vacation was much more expensive than planned. Most travelers are facing this problem too. Back from vacation you wonder: "Why was my vacation so expensive and what did I get for my money?". This isn't necessary, because it's really possible to join the same vacation with a smaller budget. I'd like to give you some tips.

The high expenditure on vacations is a problem for many travelers. As a tourist specialist I get a lot of money-related comments from tourists in Barcelona. That's why I decided to write an article about saving money on your vacation. I hope that everybody that reads this article will take advantage of my advice.

Basically if you want to book a vacation you need transportation, accommodation and food. Additionally, you want to undertake all sorts of trips and activities. On all these 3 primary requisites I'll give you some ideas to save money.

Transportation

Flying for less than 30 Euro is just a rumor?

Before arranging your transportation you should wonder yourself how far you're going to travel and how many people are joining the journey. Going far from home means that you can't avoid to book a flight ticket. I'll present you some ideas for flight tickets hereafter. Whenever you're not traveling that far, maybe the distance is easily bridged by car. Compare the costs of traveling by car with the costs of flying.

An example: An average car consumes 1 liter of fuel each 15 km. A liter of gasoline costs about 1.50 Euro. This means that for every 15 km you travel you should count 1.50 Euro. Suppose you need to travel 1500 km, then the fuel costs are around 300 Euro (outward journey and return trip). You'll probably bound to a hotel two times. A simple hotel will cost you at least 35 Euro per night. (Formula 1 is such a cheap hotel for a stopover). So this means that you will spend at least 370 Euro for your journey and 2 nights in an hotel.

Divide this amount by the number of people you travel with and compare it with a flight ticket. What are the costs for the same trip by plane? Dependent on your destination, you can also opt for cheap low-budget airlines. Have for instance a look to the website of Ryanair and EasyJet. They are often cheaper than the common airline companies. Also the choice of the departure and arrival airport is of influence on the price. Airports a bit further from the Barcelona are cheaper. You can find round trip flights within Europe from 30 Euro including airport taxes. Take also the advantages and disadvantages of flying into consideration. You'll probably have a faster journey, but on the other hand you won't have access to a car at your destination, unless you're going to use a rental car.

Apartments in Barcelona

Renting an apartment in Barcelona can save a lot of money.

You would you like to sleep comfortably on a convenient location and spend the least money . Let's assume that you are not going to stay on a camping and that you want rent an accommodation in Barcelona. The most common choice is to rent a hotel room. Yet, this is often not the most economical way to stay. For a one night stay, an hotel is a good place to stay. But if you like some more luxury, like a living room and your own kitchen, than an apartment is the perfect affordable alternative. There's a big choice of apartments available in Barcelona. Not only are apartments often less expensive, it's also a way to stay together when traveling with a group of people. In addition, you can join all the comforts of your own equipped kitchen and stay in total privacy. Also towels and clean bed linen are included in the price of renting an apartment on this website with apartments in Barcelona.

Food

Avoid the tourist places, enjoy good food for less money.

Of course you want spent some time having a good diner in a nice restaurant. But in order to save some money you can also choose to prepare some days your own meal. In both cases you can save money. Of course for preparing your own meal, you need to stay in an accommodation that is equipped with a kitchen. Apartments always have a kitchen with all the necessary equipment, so you can save money by self catering. If you don't feel like cooking, you can of course go out to have diner. In Barcelona there are good and cheap restaurants. Prepare yourself well and search the web for evaluations of restaurants in your destination. Avoid restaurants in most tourist areas. And, maybe to best way to find the best places for having dinner is to question (local) people on the street for their opinion.