You can afford to travel to Europe, even if you’re on a budget! Here you’ll find everything you need to know to stay in the top cities in Europe for around $43 a night. We did it and so can you!
With top attractions like Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, it’s no wonder that the price of a hotel room in London is one of the most expensive in Europe. The average rate is over $130 a night and climbing.
Yet we are spending just $48 a night in London during the height of tourist season. Our average cost for lodging during the last six months in Europe is just $43 a night. And we’re not staying in hostels or under bridges.
In London, we’ve got our own private studio apartment with a full kitchen in Muswell Hill. Transportation to the heart of London starts with a bus ride an eight-minute walk away.
Secret #1: No hotels!
We stay away from traditional accommodations like hotels, motels, and B&Bs as much as we can for one reason: They are too expensive.
Even travel agents laughed at us.
Harv was scheduled to teach his university classes online and this seemed like a dream opportunity to spend time abroad. We had a year to travel! Before we started our slow stroll through Europe we created a budget that included transportation, accommodations, food, incidentals, and sightseeing. When all the other travel costs were figured in, we had about $65 a night for a place to stay.
You can rent a room in a convent!
We began scouring the Internet and guidebooks. Everything was too expensive or far removed from the places we wanted to visit. We looked at unconventional places, really unconventional—like monasteries and convents. Too austere for us and even these sanctuaries were $90 to $100 a night. We considered shipping our van overseas for camping. Too many horror stories from people who had found their vehicle stripped when it arrived. And van camp sites were also around $100 per night.
We called a travel agent for help. When we told her our budget she said what we were looking for was impossible. She was still laughing when she hung up the phone. It looked like our travel dreams were disappearing faster than a tourist’s wallet in a crowded Paris subway. And all this before we even got out of our driveway. If we can’t afford a year in Europe, we asked ourselves, could we afford six weeks? A month?
Act and adapt to make travel cheaper
Act and adapt is a life rule that we try to live by. If we couldn’t go everywhere on our list, we decided we would pick one place. We chose Barcelona. After sitting in front of a computer until we were bleary eyed, we found a pension for $103 a night. Pensions offer the barest of amenities and are more like a private room in a hostel than a hotel.
The idea of t visiting Barcelona was thrilling, but we weren’t yet ready to give up our dream of traveling throughout Europe. The search continued. But the answer wasn’t on the computer, it was right in front of us. We just hadn’t seen it.
When we travel in the states, we rent out our home using an online marketplace that connects people with homes or rooms to rent directly with those seeking accommodations. There are many companies that offer this, but we like the original one, Airbnb.
A light bulb went off
Are there Airbnbs in the places we want to visit? A quick search confirmed there were and the prices were exactly what we had been looking for. We would go ahead with our eight days in Barcelona because there were no Airbnbs available for the flight dates we had already booked, but from there we would use Airbnb exclusively.
Hotels vs. Airbnbs – You won’t believe the differences!
In Barcelona, Spain, our room at the pension was cramped and contained one full-size bed with a scratchy wool blanket to cover ourselves. A bare, overhead bulb cast a harsh light over the room. A window faced a brick wall on the other side of a narrow alley, but the desk clerk warned us to close it at night and anytime we were away. Because the room was dreary and had no way to cook, we ate out for every meal, which drove up our costs. In those eight days in Barcelona, we spent on restaurants and our bare bones room almost as much as we now spend for a full month when we Airbnb in other locales.
Airbnbs we have known and loved
Lisbon, Portugal – we stayed in a charming one-bedroom apartment in a bohemian neighborhood with lots of restaurants, art galleries, and shops nearby.
Florence, Italy – our spacious studio built in the 1400s was in the heart of the city, a half block from the Duomo and numerous art museums.
Brussels, Belgium – we had a great flat a few blocks from the actress Audrey Hepburn’s birth home with shopping, museums and transportation all within an easy walk.
Edinburgh, Scotland – we could see the grounds of the Holyrood Castle from our flat and there was a large grocery store a five-minute walk away.
In London, England – we stayed in Muswell Hill, a quiet neighborhood where the actor Peter Sellers’ grew up and maintained a home. It’s also the childhood home of Ray and Dave Davies who went on to found the rock group The Kinks.
What to expect in an AirBnB
Most of the Airbnbs we have stayed in are apartments. Our current one is a converted garage attached to a house. All come with everything we need for a comfortable stay, just as you’d expect to find in a hotel: bedding, towels and Internet. Unlike you’d find in most hotels, each one is equipped with a small kitchenette. We typically eat breakfast and dinner at home, which is a huge savings. Every one of our Airbnbs except London has had TV and a washing machine.
Just like in hotels, amenities may include a coffee maker, laptop-friendly work space, iron, shampoo, and blow dryer. When you are looking for an Airbnb to book, all the essentials and amenities each property offers are listed, so you aren’t left guessing.
Our Airbnb “must have” list
We always make a list of our must-haves and search for homes that fit that criteria. Our must haves include kitchens and pet-free due to our allergies. If you’re traveling with kids, you can choose to see only listings that allow children.
Privacy is important to us so we always rent an entire space, but you have the option to save even more money by renting just a room in someone’s home. Typically, you will go through a common area to access your bedroom. Your bathroom may be private or shared. The hosts often make the kitchen available to you.
Secret #2: Longer stays save money
That idea may sound crazy at first blush because it’s the exact opposite of how Americans typically travel. We save for years to spend seven to ten days—if we’re lucky—in one dream location. Then we rush from one tourist site to another and try to jam in 500 years of architecture and art between gulping down gelato and a slice of pizza.
Think about it. The two main expenses when traveling are transportation and lodging. If a ticket to Paris cost $500, it will cost that same amount whether you stay for seven days or a month. When you break it down, you are getting a much better deal for that $500 when you stay an extended time. The cost of the ticket divided by seven days means you paid about $71.50 a day just to get there. Now divide that $500 by 28 days. Your ticket price has dropped to just $18 a day.
Extended stays also lower lodging costs. Airbnb rates are already great, but you can slash them even further by staying for an extended time. Airbnb encourages hosts to offer discounts to guests who stay longer, and typically the discounts start at seven days. Stay 14 or 28 days and your rates drop again. Some of our discounts have ranged from 30 to 48 percent.
Look at these AMAZING savings!
Our London stay cost $1,579 for 33 days, or $47.85 a night. If we had stayed in a hotel for 33 days paying the average of $130 a night, we would have paid $4,290 plus local and tourist taxes that could easily add on another $400, for a grand total of $4,690. You will pay taxes when you use Airbnb as well, but they are included in the price quoted, so there is no guessing or being surprised when you get the final bill.
By using Airbnb in London and staying for an extended time, we saved $3,111. London is one of our more expensive stays. Overall, we have spent on average $43 a night since we began using Airbnb in Lisbon.
Here’s how to save even more
Few hotels offer kitchenettes. Because we stay in Airbnbs with kitchens, our food costs are dramatically slashed. We’ll be offering money saving food tips based on our travels in a future blog post.
Thinking of a winter vacation in Mexico? You’ll find great rates on Airbnbs there, too! Check out this article to read about the best Airbnb in Mexico City written by the External Expat.
Secret #3: Book early for best rates
Once you’ve determined your destination and must-haves, start looking at what is available. We couldn’t change from our pension to an Airbnb in Barcelona because everything at our price point had already been rented.
The more popular your destination, the earlier to begin looking. Pickings were already slim for London in summer, even though we were searching the December prior. Lisbon is not as popular with American travelers and we found plenty of options just a couple months out.
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More posts!
You might also enjoy reading about our tour of a beautiful Paris neighborhood here, visit a classic film lovers’ Paris bookstore here, or learn how to shop a Paris food market here. And remember to subscribe to our newsletter via the sign-up box on this page for insider tips, pictures and recipes.
Slow Stroll Travel is a better way to see the world. We show you how to travel more and spend less. Like our Facebook page to find out where we are in the world.
PATRICK SORAN says
I have been so curious about how you two are doing this. Great ideas!
Diane Bishop says
Thank you, Patrick. We weren’t ready to give up on our dream but at times we wondered if we were crazy!
Tammi Kushner says
Love this, such a wealth of information. Happy travels!!
Diane Bishop says
Thank you, Tammi. You are the master traveler. I will be calling on you for ideas.
Nancy says
Love love love this blog. Just like talking to my beautiful neighbors in their back yard.
Diane Bishop says
Thank you, Nancy! I always enjoyed our talks.
Mike Duran says
When Alan and I stayed in Barcelona it was going to be for a year, It started when I told a month long Study abroad course through my local community college. That wasn’t cheap but it gave me the courage to try something even longer. If your a student, you can do the year abroad. If your company has benefits like a sabatical you can apply for that, Which is what I was lucky enough to do. We arranged through a language school to rent a student flat short term, Then we search around for an apartment rental agency to show us some apartments. We ended up renting a 2 bedroom modern really nice fully equipped unit right on the beach for about $33 per night. Beach Front!!! So worth it. I would do it again in a hearth beat!
Diane Bishop says
That is amazing, Mike. I didn’t know the full back story but it was Alan’s stories about Barcelona that made me want to visit. Clever about working with the language school to get a flat. And what a deal you found with the rental agency! WOW!
Nadia says
All these tips make a ton of sense! I have been staying in airBNBs everywhere I go and I have been so happy with that decision!
Manon van Os says
Great information! It is really true that when you stay longer it’s actually cheaper! We also use Airbnb extensively and often it’s so much cheaper and you have a beautiful house too! Some great tips in this blog 🙂
Rahat Arora says
Very nice blog post, add this in my bookmark to read these secrets to staying in Europe. Thanks for sharing.
Diane Bishop says
Thanks for stopping by, Rahat! We are learning more secrets every day!
Luda says
Wow, $43/night is quite the accomplishment! I love AirBnb for the same reasons you described – I stayed in a private room a few times (such as in NYC) and our hosts were such lovely people that showed us around the city. It’s a great way to save money and even make a few friends 🙂
Diane Bishop says
Hi, Luda, I think Airbnb is still a new concept so some people are afraid to try it. But for us, it made international travel a reality! We like to rent an entire home but I have a number of friends who are renting out private rooms in their homes and everybody is happy. They make extra $$$ and their guests have a homey place to stay for a great price.
Luda says
Great post! I also used Airbnb a few times and had wonderful experiences each time – especially the hosts who showed us NYC 🙂
Claire says
Nice tips! It’s so funny you mentioned that Americans travel too fast from place to place. It’s so true and for us Europeans, it’s very hard to understand!
Simone says
Longer stay to pay less, completely agree. I did like this with B&b several times and i really des the trick!
Love to read your blog!
Diane Bishop says
Hi, Simone! Thanks for reading. Glad to hear these tricks have worked for you as well.
Lisa says
These are great tips! I’m European so always take it for granted how expensive it can be for other travellers visiting. Muswell Hill is pretty!
Diane Bishop says
Hi, Lisa,
We really enjoyed Muswell Hill. And what a great view of the London skyline from there! I read recently that travelers should expect to pay about $1,000 a week per person to stay in Europe. We never would have been able to visit at those rates. Using Airbnbs, we have been in Europe for seven months and counting!
Ann Crawford says
Thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas! Hopefully we’re not too far behind you.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Diane Bishop says
We would love to meet you on the road!
MaryRae says
Thank you for your tips. I might just get to Paris sooner than later. I will be reading your posts on Paris to learn more.
Aubrey says
Thanks for the good information! My husband and I eventually want to travel to Europe but it always seems like such an expensive project. Loved the tip of staying longer to save money (and we love Airbnbs!)