When I told people that I was planning to go to Europe for 3 months alone, they seemed skeptical, worried, and tried to convince me not to do it. I listened to their worries, but it didn't stop me. I went on and started planning my trip.
Today I want to share my experience on the main questions you might have when planning a solo-trip to Europe for the first time plus some tips and tricks to save money.
1. Planning the whole trip at once vs improvising
I believe that when you are planning a trip you start living it, you might even feel more excitement due to all the unknown and the expectations your mind creates about how it will be. However, I also find it interesting not to plan the entire trip and leave some flexibility to change the plans at any time. That might be to stay longer at a place you really loved, to go to a place you might not even knew it existed, or even to leave sooner from a place that might be a 1-day visit.
In my case, I planned the first half of the trip (45 days). And I left the other 45 days to my gut. I have to say it was the best decision I could make. For example the day when I was in Milan, my next stop was Berlin. I was on the phone with my dad and he told me I should visit Cinque Terre, considering I was already in Italy. I made some quick research about the place, checked out some pictures which seemed amazing! Such a picturesque and charming village full of colorful houses in a risk next to the ocean. I had to go there. Then I checked how much it would cost me to get there, it was so easy (as all transportation in Europe), so I bought my one way ticket. I then searched for a hostel in the app and I found that it was not very cheap, but I could stay about 3-4 nights in Riomaggiore. I lost my ticket to Berlin, which cost 14 euros (so it didn’t hurt that much).
And well, that’s the kind of quick turnarounds you can make in your trip when you don’t plan it entirely. Leave some room for inspiration.
2. Building a smart Itinerary
Creating your trip itinerary depends on your objectives and limitations. The goal of this post is to share with you how to travel optimizing your budget, so this will be the base of my recommendation.
Take advantage of websites/apps such as skyscanner, it lets you search for the cheapest ways to get to each city. All you need to do is follow these steps:
1. Select one way, so you can jump from one place to another during the 3 months.
2. Enter the city from were you will begin your journey
3. In the To field, enter Everywhere, this way you can rank the countries by price
4. On the Depart field, select Entire Month
5. Hit Search flights and relax, the website will do the rest
6. You will get a ranked summary by country with the estimated lowest prices only
7. Pick your favorite country
8. As an example, I selected France. And the third cheapest option from Madrid was Paris. Being my first time in Europe, I knew it was a must.
9. Repeat the exercise but now departing from Paris and find out which is the next cheapest destination. Or, you might want to travel within France by bus or train, and then depart from a different city to the next country in your list.
3. Choosing your hostels wisely
I used Hostelworld because you can apply filters, it is full of reviews, you can reserve and pay easily, and find all your bookings in one place. So, the first thing you need to do is define your priorities. Here are the considerations I had based on my priorities (I was 29 years old, wanted to meet people but also wanted to have a nice quiet place to sleep so I could be ready to explore the place the next day).
Location. If you are on a budget, you probably want to stay near the city centre. That will save you some transportation money and it will be more comfortable to go in an out at any time you want.
Reviews, reviews! Take advantage of other’s experiences and opinions to know what to expect, there are so many options out there that checking reviews is a great way to filter places.This is the time were you decide if you prefer a quiet hostel or a party hostel. The reviews will tell you if it’s the right place for you.
Breakfast. Filter the hostels that have breakfast included, the price might be a little higher than the cheapest hostels but you will save money in that one meal during your day.
WiFi. Ensure the place has WiFi. Unless you already have a package on your phone, having a good internet speed is almost as important as having hot water isn't it?
Security. Make sure the hostel has lockers, you don’t want to carry your backpack all day and end up needed an urgent back massage.
Price. Don’t always pick the cheapest hostel. Now that you’ve filtered all the important stuff, check the prices and if you don’t find one that fits your pocket, then we can start sacrificing some features according to your priorities of course.
4. Packing lean
Obviously this depends on the time of the year you travel to Europe. My trip was from May to July so I was expecting a warm weather, however there were places like Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin that were very cold for what I am used to in México. So definitely you have to be prepared for all kinds of weather. Here is the list of what I packed:
7 T-Shirts
1 Shorts
1 Jeans
2 Dresses
1 Leggins
1 Light-weight jacket
1 Scarf
1 Tennis
1 sandals
Sun glasses
Toiletries
Basic medicine
Cell phone and iPad
Lock
Refillable water bottle
Underwear for 10 days
1 Bathing suit
Passport
Credit Cards
Euros
Plug converters
I had to fit all of this in my backpack, and yes I had to do laundry every week, but remember this is all going to be weight on your back! You want to keep it light & simple so forget about fashion for a while :P.
I really hope that if you are on a budget and want to make the most out of it, these travel tips can help you plan your future exciting journeys and save money at the same time! Don’t forget to let me know how it goes! Or if you have more itinerary tips that you want to share, I would love to read you too!
Enjoy your trip
Kassandra
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