Budgeting your time is just as important as budgeting your money. Just as you don’t want to waste your money, you also don’t want to waste your time. Usually people traveling on a budget have a limited amount of time at their destination. So you will want to make the most of your time.
But itinerary planning doesn’t just involve time but also the amount of money you will be spending on sightseeing.
Day Tours
Day tours are a great way to tour areas outside of the city where you are staying. You can also find some really good deals on them but you need to do your research. Pricing between the tour companies and websites can vary greatly.
When we were in Amsterdam we wanted to do some touring in other area’s so I booked a couple of day tours through a local company. By taking these tours we were able to see area’s that would have been very difficult for us to get to on our own. The tours worked out great and I was able to get the tours for a good price.
I found the tour company by doing an internet search of “day tours from Amsterdam.” Always search several sites. To show how different the pricing can be I did a search for a day tour from Cairo.
The tour I choose was a tour of the Giza pyramids, Sphinx, Memphis and Sakkara. Prices ranged from $60 to $109 for the same tour on different sites. That’s a $49 per person difference. If you have a family of 4 that’s a $200 savings.
You can go onto the travel message boards and ask other travelers which tour companies they have used and who they would recommend.
It’s Free!
One of the best ways to save money on sightseeing is to find free things to do. There are a lot of really fun things to do that are free, you just have to look. The easiest way to find free things to do is to do a internet search for “free things to do (city name)”
Examples of free things to do in major European cities:
London
The National Gallery Museum
St. Martin-in-the-fields - a 1726 church that hosts free lunch time concerts.
Tate Modern - art museum
Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace
Westminster Abbey - cathedral
The British Museum - one of the best museums in the world
.
Rome
The Pantheon - an ancient Roman temple.
The Spanish Steps
The Villa Gardens
The Pyramid - a tomb built between 18BC - 12BC
Paris
Notre Dame Cathedral
Lafayette Fashion Show - a weekly fashion show held at the Lafayette department store
.
Barcelona
Barcelona Museum
The Picasso Museum - free on Sundays
Amsterdam
Civic Guards Gallery - 17th century art museum
Lunchtime Concerts in the park.
Dutch Manage - a 19th century riding school, you can watch the students training with
their horses
.
This is only a small example of free things to do in these cities. There are plenty more, all you have to do is look.
Another free thing to do is spend some time at a park. Pickup some lunch and have a picnic. Relax with a book or magazine. If you have children take a inflatable ball or Frisbee with you for the kids to play with.
To help budget your time, create a itinerary calendar. I always use one when planning a trip so I know exactly what we will be doing each day.
Example:
Monday - Arrive in London 11:00am
Tuesday - London city tour, British museum
Wednesday - day trip to Bath (8am train)
Thursday - Tower of London, lunch in the park, Thames river cruise
Friday - day trip to York (9am train)
Saturday - Shopping in London
Sunday - Leave for home
Of coarse your itinerary isn’t written in stone so if you get to where your going and you find out about something else to do you can always make changes to the itinerary. But by at least having a tentative plan you won’t waste time each morning trying to figure out what to do.
If you will be traveling with young children you should alternate between busy days and a leisurely day so they don’t become over tired. On the leisurely days let them sleep in a bit and take things easy.
Don’t forget to include the kids in the itinerary planning. Let them pick out something they would like to do. I started traveling internationally with my son when he was five. His first trip was to London. I sat down with him and we watch a travel DVD about London. He pointed out a couple of things he wanted to see and do while we were there, so I made sure those things were on the itinerary. The DVD got him excited about going plus he was excited because he got to pick out a couple of things he wanted to see.
Planning your itinerary ahead of time will give you time to make sure the sights you want to see are open on the day you are planning on going there. Not all sights are open everyday. Also some sights are only open a few months a year.
Train Tickets
Many other countries have great train systems so its easy to get the country as well as neighboring countries. If you will be buying multi-day passes you should buy them before you leave. Often you can get a better price if you do, also some passes are only available if you pre-purchase them. There are a wide range of train tickets so spend a little time looking through your options so you get the best ticket for your situation.
Many countries have their own local train systems that operate within that country. For example Great Britain has the Britrail train which services both England and Scotland. Then there’s the international train system, EuroRail which sevices several countries.
The EuroRail has a lot of different ticket options. First you have a consecutive ticket which means if you buy a 5 day ticket. Your days will start the time you use it and will expire 5 days later. No matter how many days you buy you have to use them all in a row. Next you have the flexi pass. With this pass if you purchased a 5 day pass you could use it for any 5 days within a 1 month period. The flexi pass cost a little. With both passes you can get on and off the train as much as you like. You don’t have to travel from point A to point B each day. You can go from point A to point B to point C to point D and then back again.
If you purchase a point to point ticket you will only be able to go from point A to point B.
The EuroRail has passes in various combinations of countries. So if you are planning on only visiting 2 countries you won’t have to purchase a pass that covers 4 countries.
If you will be travel as a family, look for a family pass. It will save you a little money. Often very young kids can ride for free with a paid adult or on the family pass.
You can look up train schedules online to determine what times the trains run. You can get a printed schedule at the train station. Always make a note of the train times and take it with you. Include the return train time so you know what time you need to be back at the station for the return trip. I also will make note of the train time before my planned train and the next train after. This way if I miss my train I know what my next option is or if I get finish earlier then I thought I will know when the prior train time is.
There are a number of discounts that are offered so check to see if you qualify for any of them.
Youth discount (26 years and under)
Group discount
Family discount
Senior discount
Child discount (12 years and younger)
