If you’re interested in adding a little budget travel to your itinerary, and who isn’t once in a while, think about getting out into the countryside instead of spending all of your time in the big cities. No matter where you’re travelling in the world, the countryside will almost always be cheaper than cities.
To maximize the benefit of this formula, you have to refine it even more, and plan when you’ll be in the city and when you should spend time in the countryside.
If you’re on a driving trip in your home country or one next door, this type of budget travel planning is easy. You’ve got your car, so you can do both city and countryside. Even when you want to spend time in a city, you can save money by just staying on the edge of the city or in a suburb.
Then you can drive in… or better yet, take public transportation in and avoid the frustration of trying to find parking, not to mention the cost. Parking can be expensive in almost any city in the world.
OK… maybe your time is limited, and you don’t want to waste time getting into town. If you want to stay in the city rather than on the edge of it, remember that most cities will be cheaper on weekends when the business people are gone. Hotels sometimes have cheaper weekend prices, and there could be more going on in the way of plays and entertainment.
And if you think about it… the countryside will be cheaper during the week when most people are working…. so if you’re a budget traveller, you want to plan to be in the city on weekends and in the countryside on weekdays. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are days that can save you money in the countryside.
And that will be especially true if the countryside you’re visiting is a real get-away destination for those city folks you’re trying to avoid. In this case you get that equal and opposite effect. If you’re in a popular get-away destination, it will be more crowded and expensive on the weekends.
If you’re travelling internationally or you’ve flown to your destination, you’ll have to factor in the cost of a rental car or some kind of transportation to get to the countryside. You can take a bus or a train. Some European areas popular with tourists have trains and buses that run conveniently. Some even have train and bus routes that will take you on a circle tour to some of the prettier and smaller towns.
In the United State, public transportation isn’t as good, but it is improving, so check around. In Asia, public transportation is good in some countries and spotty in others. In Australia, it’s probably easiest to drive. It always pays to ask at the tourist information offices if you’re interested in something like this.
So see, you don’t have to give up the sights you want to see to trim your budget, you just have to plan smart to save. Lay out a calendar, and work your itinerary so that you spend most of your weekends in those cities and the weekdays in the country.
You’ll be money ahead. That’s budget travel made easy!
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