Let me start off by saying: I am not a backpacker. Sure, I like camping, but the idea of staying in a hostel makes me nervous, and I have very little interest in eating ramen noodles every day for a week (any backpackers who stumble across this blog are probably shaking their heads at my tragic lack of knowledge about backpacking, but there it is.) On the other hand, I’m also not about to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for a weeklong vacation! My second disclaimer: I didn’t use any rewards. So many of these cheap travel posts I find online require the use of points stacked up from credit cards, which, while it may be worth looking into, doesn’t help me plan a cheap trip now. So how did I do this? First: The Plane ($450)Last week, I shared how I score the cheapest flights, so head on over to that blog post to see how you can, too! Tl;Dr: look for the cheapest destinations on Scott’s Cheap Flights (not a sponsor, to my eternal sadness), and then narrow down the most inexpensive flights using Google Flights. I had been wanting to return to England for a while, and when I saw the cheap listing on Scott’s, I acted quickly. I was able to catch a nonstop, round-trip flight to London for $450 during peak travel season, when most other flights were three times that much! Second: Lodging ($200)As I mentioned, I’m a little nervous about staying in a hostel (don’t even get me started on Couchsurfing, which is also super intimidating). Since I wasn’t interested in shelling out a thousand dollars for a hotel room, I decided to try my luck elsewhere. I had a small budget, and knew I wanted a) a clean, private room with a lock, and b) a kitchen so I could save on some meals. The sites I use most often to find the cheapest places to stay are AirBnB and Booking.com. AirBnB can be a little hit-and-miss trying to find a place that looks good, but I’ve used them three times so far, and had a wonderful experience each place I stayed. (PS--if you’re not signed up for AirBnB yet, you can use my sign-up code here to get $40 off your first stay!) Booking.com is also super useful, because you can select the “star rating and price” option, to show you places with the best ratings and lowest prices. After a little bit of last-minute searching (have I mentioned that I planned this trip less than a month ahead of time?) I was able to find a private room in a house in outer London for $175, including breakfast--for an entire week! (The extra thirty dollars was when I mis-timed my bus schedule, and ended up needing to stay overnight in Swindon. Oops!) Third: Food ($170)Budgeting for food was probably the most stressful part of this entire process, because I knew I was at the highest risk of breaking the bank on food, and had no real idea how much groceries might cost in England. (The price of groceries was wildly different in London compared to my hometown, with nice cheese sold for the equivalent of $3, but a medium-sized bag of rice for $20). I specifically sought out a flat with a kitchen so that I could cook some of my own meals, but still have the option to go out and experience local food when I chose... and trust me, I ate a LOT of great food. I decided to eat out only once a day for lunch, and cook most of my other meals. A good meal cost anywhere between $5-20 dollars, so I found I saved quite a bit of money by eating a few meals at home! Fourth: Transportation ($170)I decided not to rent a car while in England, because I really didn’t see a reason to! I spent most of my time in London, where they have public transportation down--it was often faster to take the tube than to travel by car, and way less expensive. For my trips outside of London, I booked a train and bus ahead of time online, which saved me some cash, and took buses everywhere I needed to go (save for when I missed my bus one day, so I took a taxi, leading to the overspending you’ll see on my budget breakdown below). Fifth: Other Expenses ($130)Museums are mostly free in London, but I did pay to enter Hampton Court Palace, as well as the Brighton Museum when I went down to the coast. By mostly sticking to free entertainment, (museums, parks/nature, sightseeing) I really cut down on costs. Unfortunately, I don’t really have any good tips for you on souvenirs. While I didn’t buy anything for myself (I prefer memories and spending money on food), my family wanted some kitsch, and while I was excited to give them gifts, it’s hard to find cheap souvenirs. My suggestion: look for things outside of the tourist hotspots (like Piccadilly Circus), where prices will be marked up. The Final BreakdownIn the end, adding in gifts and the overspending due to The Bus Incident, I spent just over $1000 for an eight day trip to England! My hope is that this shows you that travel really can be affordable right now--without waiting to stack up points, or wishing you had a friend you could room with in every pretty city in the world. Like this post? Why not share it?If you enjoyed this article, please leave me a comment telling me what you think! Or, if you found it useful, share it with your friends! You'll be helping me turn my passion for travel into a business, and more importantly, you'll be helping your friends out with any travel questions they might have, too. See more adventuresIf you liked this post, you may also like:
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Hi, there! Call me Kris. I’m a world traveler, author and artist working to showcase the world's beauty and inspire you to find your confidence to see the world!
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