(Closed) Money saving tips for European Honeymoon?

• StephieBee
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: September 2012

I would definitely recommend booking your hotels yourself. 🙂 We used booking.com, and were able to book great deals for rooms all over the place. Also – I would highly recommend, when you book your rooms, get a room with breakfast included; this will make it easy for you to get a jump on your day with a big breakfast!!

• Ivelanded
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: September 2013

1) Look into staying in hostels (they are SUPER fun, actually)

2)travel by train/bus. there are lots of different types of passes you can buy that will save you money on this ahead of time.

3) plan on eating cheap, yes yes yes. I lived in the UK and Ireland for a bit and was super broke. I ate MOSTLY from little convenience stores….lots of bread and bananas! Also, staying at hostels saves money here because they usually have breakfast foods and have kitchens so you can go to a grocery story and buy pasta and sauce and make dinner for two nights for $5. 

4) sign up for the TravelZoo newsletter. It’s been the best resource for me for getting deals on things like flights, car rentals, and even bus and hotel packages. Generally the deals with them are sent out closer to the date, so about two or three months before you could begin really scouring them and probably find some good things for your trip.

• gingerkid
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: October 2013

1.  Agree with the Hostels!  Hostels are way, way cheaper than most hotels.  Additionally, many hostels also offer private rooms in addition to dorms, and often include free breakfast (or at least offer one for cheap).  I was using hostelbookers.com for a while, but switched to Hostelworld because their website was better laid out and seemed to have more hostels indiexed on it.

2.  Have an idea of where you want to go.  The easiest way to save money is to have a general plan so you’re not wasting time (and money) schlepping back and forth across the continent.  I don’t mean plan every little detail, but I found it easiest to at least have an idea.  

3.  3-6 cities sounds reasonable for your timeline.  I spent betwen 2-4 days in most cities I visited.  Do some research beforehand so you have a general idea of how much time to allot in a desired city.

4. Get a train pass.  If you have a train pass, I wouldn’t bother with busses on the Continent, but UK and Ireland are another story.  (The trains in Ireland are awful!)

5. Locate the nearest grocery store to where you are staying.  When we travel, we do picnics A LOT.  A good baguette, some cheese, a bit of sausage or pate/liverwurst, some fruit, outside on a nice sunny day can’t be beat.  Plus, many hostels also have kitchens so you can cook your own meals!  I got really good at making alfredo and Fiance can’t say enough food things about pasta i pesto.

6. Clubbing is expensive.  If it is not your thing, don’t bother – drinks often run upwards of 7Euro (=$10) in the regular clubs.  Plus they’re smaller.

7. Stay away from restaurants in touristy areas unless it has been recommended to you by a local.  Most restaurants in the touristy areas are a poor deal and you will end up over spending.

8. Most cities have companies that run “free” walking tours.  I say free because the tour guides are paid on a “by-tip” basis.  It’s still a cheap/easy way to see most of the major sights, and get your bearings in a new city.

9.  One of my favourite (and free!) things to do is to just wander.  You see so many cool things that way! (but make sure you always have a map!).

Do you have an idea of where you are going?  Knowing specifically which part(s) of Europe you want to visit may help the rest of us Bees give you some more specific tips.

• kb7
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: May 2014

Get a Eurail pass.  You can choose from unlimited for a certain amount of time, or just certain countries.  If either of you are over 26, get a super-saver pass, which includes both of you.  If you’re under 26, you could get a second class pass which is cheaper, but if you’re going to popular destinations during peak times, tickets could sell out.  The super-saver pass is 1st class, and we didn’t have any problems with sold out tickets since the single 1st class tickets are more expensive.

• Sharebear
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: May 2013

Not really a money saving tip but a tip about money:

Always have change!  We toured 8 countries in Europe and seemed like everywhere we went, you have to pay to use the toilet.

• Alsace
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: November 1999

Great tips here so far!

Plan your itinerary carefully and don’t spend the whole time in expensive countries/cities (Switzerland, Scandinavia, London…).

Many museums have spesific times when they are free.

• PimmsBride
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: June 2014

@DomesticDiva:  Look into InterRail. You basically buy one train ticket which will take you to nearly every country in Europe and costs depend on how many days / trips on the trains you take. It is a hugely popular option for students, young couples etc because its a great way to travel and see a lot when on a major budget. Here is the link; http://www.interrail.eu/ .

If you are travelling a long distance you can also book an overnight train (they come with sleeping bunks) so you don’t have to pay for accomodation. Maybe not the most romantic night’s sleep but definitly a gret money saving option.

Also Eastern Europe is far cheaper than Western, look at going to Hungary, Poland, Romania etc which are all beautiful places with loads of history and culture.

• Alsace
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: November 1999

• PimmsBride
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: June 2014

• FrenchNewlyWed
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: April 2012

When you plan your itinerary, check if the Eurrail is really worth it…sometimes it isn’t. 

I live in France, and have travelled England, Spain and Croatia so can give some tips for those countries. 

In Europe you are allowed to hitchhike, not saying you should, but I have. 

Another option is to look at hiking and backpacking together, but I don’t know if you are into that hardcore vacationing…but my dh and I bring our tent and there is amazing hiking to be done. 

For transport there are low-cost flight companies like Easy Jet and RyanAir that might even be better than trains while in Europe. However, you cannot bring too much luggage or there is a fee. 

I also recommend AirBnb, I’ve done it and we also regularly host with it. Otherwise, there is Couchsurfing…which is free! I host and surf frequently. 

Other posters are right about touristy cafés, make sure to choose wisely in cities like Paris. If you can stand to walk a few streets away from the Eiffel tower, it will definately be cheaper meals than those that grab tourists in the busy area. 

In France there is also a carpooling site, I’ve used to get a ride from the south of France to paris called covoiturage.fr

You can also rely on grocery stores to get tasty things to eat, rather than restaurants. Also, try to choose accomodation with a kitchen. Some hostels are also really nice for couples with real private rooms…we stayed at the Bubba Hostel in Barcelona and had a super comfy bed, more expensive but more privacy. 

• MASPA
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: November 2012

I would keep an eye on the exchange rate.  You can order euros at your bank.  Sometimes its cheaper than the airports all you have to do is find out.

As fun as taking the train may be, sometimes flying within the EU is crazy cheaper. and quicker. 

Do all the arrangements yourself.  Its soo much easier and inexpensive in comparison to using an agent.

Go to off the beaten path places as well as touristy spots. 

• LittleWigeon
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: April 2015

Instead of using your credit card or carrying lots of cash, I recommend a CaxtonFX prepaid card. We always use these when we’re going on holiday. You get a card that you load up with  money from your own bank account, and can use it to withdraw cash at ATMs. You can top up on the go too by sending a text message, it’s brilliant 🙂

• Pollywog
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: City, State

@DomesticDiva:  My parents visited me in England and my sister in Australia on American Express miles. They paid for all of our expenses on the card for years and it worked out great.

To save on hotels, I have found that Airnb is not necessarily cheaper– in fact it can be way more expensive. I would use kayak to check out prices first. I also found that working with a travel agent based where you want to travel can help cut costs too.

As far as food, hotels will provide breakfast, so that saves you money. For lunch and dinner, we would normally try to avoid tourist areas and just have one big meal a day. Then the smaller meal we would get from a food truck, takeout, or grocery store.

You can also save a lot of money by walking insted of cabbing or bussing or metroing. It is a great way to explore!

• swiss_bee22
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: July 2013

If you can get your flights free, that’s already alot! Stay in Hostels and cheap hotels or even go camping. That’s really fun in places like Italy, Spain or even Switzerland!

Somethimes flights are cheaper than going by train. Look at easyjet.

Book your flights as far as possible ahead.