Some people think that traveling alone is difficult and unsafe, but we strongly disagree with this! If you plan your vacation meticulously, you can enjoy a solo vacation and save a lot. We have collected nine working tips that will allow you to enjoy your trip and not spend a lot of money.
Plan the trip thoroughly
The first tip lies precisely in planning: you should note all your desires to the smallest detail, starting with the route and ending with potential places where you can stop. Think about where and how you will eat, how to reduce the number of things, and through which services you can book tickets. The sooner you start planning, the easier it will be to follow the initial idea, and the more you can save.
Travel in the off-season
While in summer and winter prices at various popular locations reach their peak values due to the influx of tourists, in autumn and spring the resorts are empty. If you want to save money, it is better to travel during the off-season. In addition, you are more likely not to suffer from crowded excursions or busy places of interest.
Avoid hyped-up locations
For example, if you want to go to France, don`t look for a hotel or hostel in Paris – due to the huge hype of this city, it’s quite difficult to find decent accommodation there at a reasonable price. This applies to literally any place popular among tourists. Try to settle away from them in order to gain access to budgetary cafes and not suffer from a bunch of people around.
Avoid holiday dates
This tip is also relevant – when most people have a weekend, then it`s likely they will all rush to buy plane tickets and hot tours. If demand is strong, then airlines, tour operators, and hotel managers will seize the opportunity to raise prices.
Bargain
Avid travelers claim that bargaining is one of the most useful skills when it comes to local bazaars and shops. Bargains like your life depend on it, and you will definitely save money on your purchases.
In addition, in some countries, bargaining in the market is a tradition. For example, in Turkey or Georgia. And this tradition should be followed in order to fully enjoy the local atmosphere and not go broke on souvenirs.
Book your tickets at the right time
Firstly, the price of air travel is very time-dependent: the earlier you can buy a ticket, the cheaper it will be. Therefore, it will be most profitable to buy an air ticket in advance, because tickets with a departure date in 2-3 months, as a rule, turn out to be much cheaper than tickets with a departure date in the coming days.
Additionally, it’s worth remembering the time frame:
- the price of air tickets is at its highest from late morning to evening (approximately from 11:00 to 19:00);
- the cheapest time to buy tickets is late at night (00:00-2:00) or early morning (4:00-5:00).
Fun fact: in addition to the time of day and the proximity of the departure date, there is another factor that affects the price of tickets, namely, the day of the week. According to statistics, it is most profitable to book tickets on Tuesday or Wednesday.
By the way, don’t forget that most airline operators often share discounts and promotional codes with customers. So be sure to sign up for their newsletter so you don’t miss out on upcoming promotions and attractive offers.
Book your accommodation in advance
It’s also worth thinking about booking accommodation as early as possible. If a tourist resolves this issue upon arrival, then the chances are high that you will have to overpay a lot so as not to spend the night at the airport. And if you monitor the housing market even before buying tickets, you will most likely be able to find some worthwhile options at a reasonable price. However, remember the importance of using reliable services like Airbnb.
Forget about paid excursions
Don’t even think about taking paid tours, unless it’s something you’d like to visit anyway. Most of the information that guides tell is freely available on the Internet. Reading it yourself and then using an online map to get to your destination is a great way to save money while gaining new experiences and interesting information.
Save on calls
And, of course, remember that roaming calls, while attractive (according to most telephone operators), are too expensive. Upon arrival, try to find places with the Internet to call relatives and friends through instant messengers like Viber or WhatsApp or Skype.