Europe Travel Planning Tips
M y countless trip to Europe and travelling within Europe have resulted in so many questions from friends and followers on how to plan a Europe trip without breaking the bank, staying organized and getting the most for your money. Today, I want to share some of my hacks that I have established through trial and error, which will definitely help you plan the best trip to Europe. These tips are for those, who are looking to get the best bang for your bug, without going the total budget route - so most of the population :).
Trusted Airline
Find an airline that is reliable not only with their routes, and schedules but also with their prices! I have flown on most of the mayor airlines and while the North American ones tend to be pricy, some of the European budget airlines are just a bit "too budget". It was to my huge surprise that WOW Air feels like a standard North American airline (with a bit nicer staff, and colourful interiors!) but is consistently offering amazing prices and also sends deals on a regular basis (ie. 40% off for your birthday, 35% for thanksgiving etc). This means that you can actually count on the normal amazing prices, or wait for a deal! By deal I mean flying from Toronto to Berlin or Paris for under 450$! Another great feature is that the prices are low because it is an a la card type of travel. The base price is the flight, and then you are able to add on luggage. This way you just take a hand luggage for a few day trip or can add check luggage as you need. This helps keeping prices low for travellers who do not need too much fuzz.
BE A PLANNER
When travelling, being a planner mostly pays off. Do not get me wrong, I love not having a plan sometimes and just getting lost in a city (these are truly some of my favourite moments and memories) but generally having a plan will save time and money and also ensures you are getting what you want out of a trip. I love making a list of the places I want to visit, doing research on restaurants and coffeeshops is a must as I have eaten too much bad food and regretted spending the money! The plan then included hitting up the places that are close together, making a walking plan, lunch stop etc (Image taking a taxi to the places you want to visit in random order. How much money would you waste?) Planning also allows you to research a city, get to know the history and find out about places and things you wouldn't have know without digging deep!
USE EUROPEAN WEBSITES
This is probably my biggest hack, and I only know this because I am from Europe and booked travel on European sites before moving to Canada. Keep in mind that you can always translate a website if you cannot understand the language. For example, for most of my travel within Europe I use travel websites ending in .de (for Germany) and I seem to always get a better deal on flights, or other travel arrangements such as rental cars. It is always a good idea to ask at your European hotel for things like day trips, or airport shuttles as you will most likely get a better deal or more options this way.
For any other more specific travel questions, please put them in the comments below. I am thinking of starting a Youtube series of these type of travel tips or could add a part two to this blog post. I hope you were able to take something from this post & happy travel planning!
