Traveling Abroad Isn’t as Expensive as You Think: Backpacking Europe on a Budget

You’ve always dreamed of sipping wine beneath the Eiffel Tower, riding a Vespa through the Italian coastline, hiking in the Scottish Highlands or dancing the night away in a Spanish discoteca. Whatever your European dreams may be, they are not as far out of reach as you may think.

There’s no better time than now to go to Europe. Flights are getting cheaper and cheaper, hostels are a great and budget friendly tool, and c’mon Europe is probably the sexiest continent to visit in your 20s. So let’s get traveling!

Getting flights?

According to data from Kayak, it’s cheapest to book your ticket on the weekend and depart the States on either a Tuesday or Wednesday. Keeping this in mind, if a major airport is nearby, you’ll want to fly out of there. I promise it’s worth the extra hours you may need to drive. I’m from East Tennessee, but I can’t remember the last time I flew out of Knoxville. I’ve always found MUCH cheaper flights from cities like Atlanta and D.C., so I prepare accordingly for the extra hours driving and it’s totally worth it when I’m saving hundreds of dollars.

OK, so you want to try to fly from the airport with the cheapest flights for your destination. My choices for checking flights are SkyScanner or Google Flights. Check out both of those are compare a couple of airports in your area and your desired destination(s).

*Some of my favorite airlines for flying on the cheap between the USA and Europe: Thomas Cook Airlines, Norwegian, and Icelandair.

I just recently bought a one-way flight from Orlando, FL to Glasgow, Scotland for $160 with Thomas Cook, which includes carry on luggage, one checked bag up to 23 kg, and in-flight food and entertainment. That’s the best deal I’ve ever found, so it’s worth the  $55 flight to travel to Orlando.

Now that you’re flying from the airport with the cheapest flights in your area, let’s think about it some more. Do you have to fly into this particular city? Could you begin your trip somewhere else? Compare a couple of different cities and remember that if you’re planning a long trip abroad that airlines like Ryanair and easyJet fly all around Europe for super cheap, so if you need to rearrange your itinerary in order to save a bit more, then DO IT. That’s more money that you can use to enjoy your time in Europe.

Moral of the story is: compare, compare, compare. Compare travel dates, outbound and inbound travel, everything!

So how cheap are we aiming for? Less than $500 round trip is completely doable. Check out this screenshot above from Google Flights. I just typed in D.C. to London, compared dates to stay roughly a month (July 29-Aug 31) and the cheapest flight is $440 ROUND TRIP! Though I’d vote for Icelandair over flying with WOW Air as they do not include any luggage, but that’s for another article.

Or. . . want a little Iceland getaway for a couple of weeks? You can get round trip flights for around $300 from D.C. or New York easily.

Clueless on where to go? Scan Google Flight’s explore map and compare. See below. For these dates, it’s cheaper to fly into Dublin or London instead of Barcelona or Amsterdam, for example.

Hopefully now I’ve convinced you just how cheap it can be to fly to Europe, especially if you’re willing to make a few compromises.

Booking accommodation?

Now that you have flights, you’ll need a place to stay. Once again, traveling abroad in Europe on a budget is all about compromise. You can get a bed in a hostel for anywhere from $5 and up (maybe even less in some destinations!). There’s also Couchsurfing, which is completely free. If you’re deciding between a hostel of Airbnb, check out my article on the pros and cons of both.

I prefer hostels over Couchsurfing most of the time as it’s a lot less hassle and you’re bound to make a ton of new friends, especially if you’re traveling solo.

I’ve made tons of friendships from staying in hostels. Many of whom I’ve met up with again, hosted in Scotland or Spain, and have traveled to visit myself. It opens new doors to beautiful lifelong friendships, and a new way to travel cheap because you’re making friends with people from all around the world who can potentially host you in their home country! Win, win, win.

I made a new friend in a hostel two years ago in Portugal who recently came to Barcelona with her boyfriend. She contacted me in advance, we met up and had a wonderful time, and funny story, I ended up helping her boyfriend (now fiancé!) plan his proposal to her while they were here!

As for Couchsurfing, it’s the perfect way to meet locals and learn more about the culture in the country you’re visiting. I couch surfed when I was in Italy and my host was so generous and kind! I was traveling solo but another girl was Couchsurfing there too. She and I brought some wine and our host cooked us up a delicious Italian dinner. Photo above for proof!

What about food?

You can save money by shopping at a local grocery store and cooking meals in your hostel. Some hostels even offer free breakfast (maybe even dinner!). The hostel I stayed at in Rome offered not only free breakfast but free pasta every night for dinner! This really helped cut back costs.

Of course, you’ll still want to eat out a bit, so research cheap eats in your destination. Street food and cafés are a good place to start. Enjoy proper cuisine too, please! Occasionally splurge on a proper meal from the country your visiting. It doesn’t have to be expensive by any means, but you still want to get a taste of the country’s authentic cuisine.

Visiting sites

Visiting the outsides of all sites is completely free. Don’t feel obligated to go inside of every landmark. For example, when I was in Rome I chose not to go inside of the Colosseum and I imagine many will think I’m crazy for that, but I just didn’t feel like I needed to. It’s so beautiful from the outside so I didn’t splurge on going inside. For others, the Colosseum may be the only thing you’ll really want to explore fully and if that’s the case, the go for it! It’s your trip and you don’t want to regret not doing the things you wanted.

Also, research free things to do and you’ll be surprised by the number by the endless possibilities: parks, museums, sightseeing, walking tours (though you should tip), free yoga classes, and so much more. Search Google, but also be sure to check out events through Facebook.

One of the best things about visiting London and the United Kingdom, for example, is that the you don’t have to pay when you visit national museums! That means you can feast your eyes on the Rosetta Stone, works from Vincent Van Gogh, and so much more for the price of $0. Amazing bonus about the UK.

So, that’s it!

Compare and do your research and you’re well on your way to an amazing European adventure. Once you plan it all out, you will see that is not as expensive as you think. I’m quite a budgeted person when I’m traveling and I’m still capable of enjoying all my trips to the fullest, so I know you can too! Pursue your dreams and see the world! It is an investment in yourself and your happiness and you truly can’t put a price tag on that.

“Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.”

– Jennifer Lee