Let’s face it, study abroad is expensive. Between flights, housing, tuition, and even the exchange rate (if it doesn’t work in your favor), it’s easy to blow your savings on the essentials and have nothing left for yourself. But, luckily there are some ways you can save money and still #treatyourself
1. Consider all modes of transport
One of my favorite things about Europe is how awesome bus/train services are. Typically bus services are the cheapest, followed by the trains, and lastly planes. But, this isn’t always the case! Believe it or not, sometimes flying can be cheaper than taking the train. Here are some of the best sites for bargain hunting:
Trains/buses: Eurostar, Flixbus, Trainline
Plane (Skyscanner, Kayak, Google Flights)
For an even cheaper deal, you can use a carpool service like BlaBlaCar. This is great if you’re traveling regionally since driving is often quicker than public transportation.
2. Don’t book direct bus/train tickets
Oftentimes prices spike up if you are taking a long train/bus ride between two popular destinations. Instead, book a one way to a station in between both destinations, and then another one way from there to your destination. I saved over 100 euro doing this when booking my trip from Milan to Geneva, and all I had to do was switch once at Domodossola, which is a small Italian city near the Swiss/Italian border.
3. Don’t Forget About Student Discounts!
I've found that European countries are pretty generous with student discounts, especially for tourist attractions. I got into the Alcazar in Seville for 2 euro, the Vatican Museum for half the price (8 euro), and many more locations at similar price points.
4. Cook
I can’t speak for all countries, but groceries in Italy are cheap compared to those in America. Pasta, tomato sauce, chicken cutlets, and mixed greens costs about 5 euro total, and is enough for me to eat for the week especially since I travel on the weekends.
5. Book tickets early
Ticket prices almost always increase the closer you book to the departure date. This is especially true for discount airlines like RyanAir, where a 17 euro ticket can quickly increase to 50 euro if you wait too long.
6. Book tickets in “incognitio”mode on your browser
Many transportation services use dynamic pricing, especially airlines. This means that they’re likely to increase prices based off your search history, and this is the last thing you want when researching deals for a trip. Going incognito doesn’t save your browsing history and prevents sites from collecting cookies, which helps ensure that these sites can’t collect as much data on you and skew pricing based off that.
7. Hostels aren’t as cheap as you think
Booking one bed in a mixed room hostel is pretty cheap. Booking hostels as a group however is where it gets expensive. There have been times where my friends and I paid 74 euro per person for 3 nights in a 10-bed female-only room, which we immediately regretted.
After that mistake we’ve made it a point to search for an Airbnb if we’re traveling in a large group, since we can easily share beds and split the cost for a nice place to ourselves. Oftentimes doing this is much cheaper, especially when you search for lodging in advance.
8. Use public transportation in every country you travel to (if possible)
The metro, bus, and tram systems are easy to navigate in almost any country, and tickets are relatively inexpensive. I use Google Maps to figure out timings and directions to bus stops/stations, and the app is free!
9. Split certain foods with your housemates
Food spoils quickly in Europe because there are no preservatives, so it’s both economical and resourceful to split some groceries with your housemates. Foods like butter, olive oil, bread, cheese, and jam are a few that I like to share.
10. Take advantage of social media
I can’t speak for all countries, but I’ve noticed that Italians heavily rely on social media (especially Facebook) to promote events. There you can find discounts for clubs and bars, and get put on the guest list for free entry if you message them online in advance!
