Fun and Frugality Equals Holiday Adventures
A stay on the Continent always manages to lift my spirits, whether it’s sipping a jug of sangria on a beach in Spain or soaking up the marvels of Italian architecture on a weekend trip to Venice. Whenever I’ve hoisted my backpack on my shoulders for a trip to Europe, two words are always at the forefront of my mind: fun and frugality. After all, you can’t put a price on the spirit of adventure, but if you were to do so, in my mind it would be a figure less than £100, and would certainly never run into four figures. Here are just some of the ways that my friends and I have seen the best of Europe without putting too heavy a strain on our travel budgets.
Go For An Up And Coming Destination
Search out countries and cities in Europe that haven’t yet been besieged by tourists. I’ve visited family in the Swedish city of Gothenburg and found it much more charming than its arch rival Stockholm. Both offer a host of museums, shopping districts and quaint riverside eateries with the difference being that Gothenburg works at a less frenetic pace and isn’t dotted with Seven-Eleven shops!
Choose Destinations On The Ferry Route  Â
Travelling by ferry still offers a cheaper alternative to trains and even low-costs airlines. Most prices include a car and two passengers, and can come in for as little as £50 per person return. Ferries to France head to ports such as Caen, St Malo, Cherbourg and Roscoff. St Malo provides the perfect gateway to the Cote d’Emeraude (Emerald Coast), which is dotted with seaside resorts. Many years ago I kicked off a shoestring trip to Europe by taking a ferry to Ostend in Belgium, en route to Brussels.
Get Four Star Accommodation And Meals For Free
Although this sounds too good to be true, it really is possible. I signed up to work as a volunteer at an intensive English language course for Spaniards through Vaughan Town. My only outlay was a return flight to Madrid which I paid around £75 for and a free coach was then laid on for the 2.5 hour journey to the town of Barco de Avila, near the border of Salamanca and Extremadura. My four star accommodation came complete with a Jacuzzi spa bath and a supersize comfy bed. Others were lucky enough to get a split level room with a fireplace. Three tasty meals a day, with wine, were also included. Your only task was to talk to the group of Spanish professionals in English and some afternoons/evenings were free to prop up the hotel bar, go for a walk on the extensive grounds with other volunteers and generally unwind. As an added bonus, our new found friends took us on a tapas and nightlife tour of Madrid on our final night.
Choose Carefully Before You Opt For DIY Over A Package 
This idea may sound a little left field, but buying a package holiday to use the flight alone can sometimes work out in your favour. As an example, my friends recently spent a week on the paradise on earth that is Butterfly Island in Southern Turkey near the resort of Olu Deniz. The island is home to a hippy traveller vibe, stunning gorges and bamboo beach huts. While they paid out around £300 or more for their flights, around £50 for a couple of nights of accommodation in Olu Deniz before they had reached the island, I opened their eyes to another way. If they had bought a cheap 7 night package for under £200 to a resort near the island, they could have abandoned it for all or most of the trip at a fraction of the price of their DIY option.
Kate Knight writes for Savoo.co.uk, the money saving, voucher code and destination site for savvy shoppers.