Now the Covid restrictions on international travel are slowly disappearing, it´s time for your long desired city break! If you fancy going away for a few days with your partner, friends or you´re booking a hen/stag party, we’ve got some valuable tips below to book yourself a cheap city break!
Flights
In our ‘Everything you need to know about booking flights’ blog we explain in detail how we book our flights. We love the ´Explore´ functions on SkyScanner, KAYAK, Google Flights and Kiwi to browse possibilities for destinations (when we´re not sure where we want to go). Just simply fill in your nearest airports for departure and the date or month you want to go. You will now be able to see all the great deals around the world! This is usually how we decide where to go! Kiwi.com is quite unique with it’s search functions; it can connect flights that don’t codeshare and can also combine flights, trains and buses to get you to your destinations as cheap as possible! A real budget-backpacker tip there!
When you have found a good flight you can book directly via the comparison website like SkyScanner or Kiwi.com or you can have a look at the direct websites of the airlines. EasyJet, Lufthansa, Swiss and Emirates are the ones we use the most.
Loyalty Programs
Another way to ensure you get the cheapest flights is to make use of loyalty programs like Avios and Miles & More. You can use your Avios points for discounted or free flights by British Airways, Vueling and Iberia. Miles & More is a loyalty program owned by Lufthansa. Partners of Miles & More are Swiss, Austian, Singapore Airlines, Eva Air, Egypt Air and many more. For the Dutch among us, who shop regularly at AlberHeijn and Shell, you remember all those AirMiles you’ve unconsciously been collecting for years? Spend them on discounted KLM holidays!
Accommodation
Choosing your perfect accommodation is such a personal and subjective process. For most people, price is one of the leading factors. Your best bet will be to find a comparison site and filter on price. Our favourite comparison site is Booking.com, we´ve been using it for years and always gives us discounts and sometimes free breakfast with Genius. Others we often use are Hostelworld, Agoda and Expedia. If you want to book directly via the hotel chain you can try OYO rooms, Travelodge or Premier Inn for the best prices (especially in the UK). If you love pets and want to stay anywhere in the world for free, try Trusted Housesitters for a unique travel experience!
Packages
Many providers offer travel packages and city breaks for a really competitive price. This often includes flights, hotels and sometimes transfers. Our favourite is Expedia but we also often use Kayak, SkyScanner, trip.com and lastminute.com. If you want a hassle-free booking experience then this might be the best option for you! We always book everything separate because we like the freedom it gives us to change things along the way.
Activities
What is a city break without exploring the city? We love to have action packed days full of activities and sightseeing. Our favourite helpline for activities in new cities is of course TripAdvisor. There are hundreds of tours and experiences available with loads of reviews! Other good websites are Viator, Kayak and Get Your Guide. Also, try to find a Facebook group of the city you are visiting, there might be locals providing (free) city tours!
Transport
For longer holidays there is the option to rent a car, but for city breaks it’s very unlikely this will benefit you in any way. Try to use as much public transport as possible, as this is often the cheapest way to get around. Ask your accommodation to help with this as they know the city best. If you are travelling to multiple cities or your main mode of transport is by train/bus, the following websites can come in handy for you: FlixBus, Rail Europe, Interrail, MegaBus, BusBud and Rail Easy. Try to steer away from taxi’s for long distances as this is often very expensive. If you do prefer taxi’s, consider sharing a ride with others or booking one via GetTransfer!
Travel money
Let’s talk money! Alright, we’ve been talking money all this time but lets talk about travel money. With electronic payments getting easier by the day, the times of changing travel money at your local bank are over. Let’s be honest, how many times have you paid cash since Covid? Every big city is in the same boat and probably prefers contactless payments anyways. We love using the Caxton whilst abroad and let us tell you why. This free currency card allows you to instantly load Euro’s, Dollars and 10+ other currencies through the app. It offers very reasonable conversion rates and is hassle free! If you do prefer having some backup cash you can compare the rates from Tesco or Travelex or take your local currency and exchange at the destination for the best rates.
This might be a lot of information to process, but ultimately it will save you money! One of our goals for the coming years is to interrail across Europe, and can’t wait to share this experience with you! We are looking forward to ticking some amazing city’s of our bucket list! Have a look at our previous trip to Rovinj, Croatia via the link in the photo below.
Travelling Translated
This blog might contain affiliate links. This means if you click on it and buy something, we’ll possibly make a small commission from it, at no additional cost to you. This enables us to keep sharing our travel tips and stories for you to enjoy.
