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Don’t lie to yourself 🤥, we all dreamed of being able to travel without breaking the bank ! Whether you're a student, job-seeker, employee or retired, the budget is a criterion that makes you sweat 😰
I think now, you know my megalomania, my desire to travel the world. Except that my wallet is not very cooperative (nor my banker for that matter 🙄)!
So, in this article, let me introduce you to 2-3 European countries that you can afford to visit, without worrying about having to hold onto until the next salary.
Belgium 🇧🇪
Aaaah Belgium ! The land of waffles and good fries 🍟 !
In terms of not too expensive countries, it is part of the top 5️⃣
For a weekend of 3 days, I had to spend 250€, all included, even the small pleasures next door.
Transportation 🚍: From Paris, you can find a fairly affordable bus ticket, not exceeding 30€ AR and in addition, it is not that long, about 3h.
Accommodation 🏩: For accommodation, we opted for the Airbnb (there are also good hotels, but the apartment alone, is more intimate). It cost us 120€ for 2 people, and the accommodation was really spacious. Not the little rat holes. No ! A good 40m2.
Tourism 🌇 : Honestlt, you have a lot to visit … The Atomium, the Manneken-Pis, the Royal Palace, the main square… The best thing, and this is what we did, is to take a tourist bus pass for the day, from the Brussels East station. He goes all around Brussels and you can go up and down wherever you want.
Food 🍕: The most interesting part, the food 😌. There, we really enjoyed ourselves. We didn’t eat at the apartment once ! Belgian fries, waffles stuffed like carbonara, beer… We’ve “busted our asses”!
For a first trip, it seems reasonable.
Portugal 🇵🇹
In another life, in my early youth, I spent four days in Portugal 🤗. At the time, I was in a relationship with a Franco-Portuguese, who absolutely wanted me to discover this culture. I didn't expect anything, but for all that, I was pleasantly surprised by the trip. And aside from the beauty of the place and the landscapes that could be found there, what really surprised me was the cost of living there 🤩.
Let me give you a little background on that.
Transportation ✈️: First of all, let’s start with the price of the flight. Personally, I left Lyon and for the flights I didn’t break my head too much, I looked at what were the good deals, with a price comparison site and for about 60€ per person, I had my flight Lyon-Porto. Once we got there, we rented a car 🚗 for the 4 days and it was between 70 and 80€ (It’s up to you to see what kind of car you want to move around; we took one of the cheapest)
Accommodation 🏨: As far as the accommodation is concerned, we spent 3 nights in the hotel, at a rate of 50€ per night so 150 for the stay, which amounts to 75€ per person. And let me tell you that the room in question was really great: double bed, armchair, bathroom with bath, and also and above all a mini terrace with a view of the beach 🌅 right in front ! It was really the first good surprise of the trip.
Tourism 🌇 : In terms of the activities, we didn’t do a lot of them since we mostly visited friends and family, so it was more like a restaurant and a nightclub atmosphere, but for the few that we could do that were mostly cultural visits, the rates did not exceed 5€.
Food 🍛: And then there !!! But there !!! We ate every day outside (noon and evening) and each time, we ate for less than 10€ 😎. I think I can even say for less than €8. And I can assure you that these were not fast-food restaurants, but restaurants, with quantities... but huge. We could have taken a dish for 2 each time. So quality/price ratio, it was the top of the list. I also gained a few kg during these 4 days (which I quickly lost back in France given the cost of restaurants here…).
Given the lifestyle we’ve been living through these four days, I can guarantee you that you’ll be able to really enjoy your stay 😉, without the feeling of having to restrict yourself, for fear that you won’t have any money left to finish the month when you return from your holiday.
Croatia 🇭🇷
PTo be honest with you, I never thought of that. They're friends of mine who offered me and as I like the adventure, I said yes and I was absolutely not disappointed !
Total budget, 300€ max all inclusive except extra activities, for a week of travel.
So, you’ll have to excuse me, but since it dates back to 2017, I can’t remember the exact prices.
So it's in 2017, that I take off for Zadar (and not Dubrovnik as many would have thought).
Transport 🚍: From Toulouse (yes, there was a time when I was from Toulouse. My best life by the way 🥹). We first took the train to Marseille and then a Ryanair plane to Zadar. On the spot, we chose to take taxis instead of the bus, because it was less for us to pay a taxi for four (it was loooongtime before Covid 🙄), than to pay for bus tickets.
Accommodation 🏩: The cheapest choice, the Airbnb. As I said earlier, there were 4 of us. So we booked a 3-piece beachfront 🌊 , a little off-centre. 💶 Price per person 70€
Tourism 🌇: First tips, English is the only international language with which they communicate. Then, It is a rather historic city, old, which can be visited on foot in about a day, with small restaurants, bars... or test everything that’s local. There is also the possibility to take boat trips 🚤 ( I saw dolphins 🐬🤩) for about 70€ a day. ⭐️ Small recommendation for sailors organs.
Food 🥘 : I don’t think I specified it, but 100€ is the equivalent of 700 Kuna (which is why we took taxis instead of the bus). The kuna being the Croatian currency. So, it was profit, over a week, we spent only 100€ in grocery shopping, for 4. Apart from that, the days when we went out, we ate in the city for not much either. The fact that the kuna is worth 7x the French currency has really been an advantage for all.
⚠️ But beware of alcohol. Already, it's to be consumed in moderation but is also very misleading. It tastes very sweet, but it goes up very quickly. I don’t know the percentage in their alcohols, but they’re strong— you can’t say I didn’t warn you 😏
Last little tip before you let go, to say hello 👋🏾, we say "bok".
To (really) finish this time, as a self-proclaimed globe-trotter 😎, here are some tips:
the website/ the app "Voyage privé": great travel deals, from regional to international, up to -70%. Half board, full board, hotels, apartments, with or without flight ✈️… there’s everything!
Good Flight trick ✈️ : Search (if you have the possibility) your tickets, on Tuesday between 10PM and 3AM. Not many people know it, but there are liquidations during those hours.
When you inquire about the prices of plane tickets, trains, buses, etc., start private navigation. Otherwise the site uses your cookies and increases the price of the ticket every time you leave the site to return to book on.
If you are a sociable enough person, the hostels or rooms at homestay will come back to you cheaper. If, on the other hand, you prefer to have your privacy (like me), prefer Airbnb before hotels. Sometimes less expensive and more “cozy”
And it’s on those good plans that we say goodbye 👋🏾. And if you also have travel advice, I’m a taker! 😁