Budget vacation life hack. How to plan a budget vacation abroad: life hacks

America

Lisbon is called the “European San Francisco” for a reason: the cities have the same bridges, trams, steep streets with sharp ascents and descents, and a very special atmosphere. Lisbon, like San Francisco, is a bright, unusual, bustling city where life does not stop for a minute.

Rafal Bojar

You can fall in love with Lisbon as soon as you get off the plane: the fresh sea air will immediately turn your head. And when you are in historical center, then you will understand that you have disappeared completely and irrevocably.

The beauty and originality of Lisbon is amazing. You will not find another city like this in Europe: with ancient buildings, steep streets, yellow trams and the magical scent of orange blossoms.

pepoexpress

I want to return to Lisbon. Once again, and then again and again.

However, situations may arise when the price of tickets for TAP Portugal flights and accommodation in a hotel somewhere in a cozy center can make you feel sad and longing.

Do not get upset and put off meeting your favorite city for later: there are many ways to travel to Lisbon on a budget without sacrificing your own comfort.

Tickets to Portugal

Tudor Niculaescu

If direct flights are hitting your pocket hard, consider connecting flights. There are popular services to search for tickets online booking: Aviasales, Skyscanner, Momondo.

Portugal can also be reached through neighboring Spain. For example, book a direct flight to Malaga. And from there, fly to Lisbon on a Ryanair or Vueling flight, popular low-cost airlines.

In addition, there are direct buses from Spain to Portugal (however, this is an adventure for the most extreme). You can check prices and bus timetables on the Eurolines website.

Cheap accommodation in Lisbon

To find affordable and comfortable accommodation, we recommend starting your search at least a month before your intended trip. Try searching on Hotellook, on this site you can compare prices in different hotel booking systems, including Booking, and choose the lowest one. Or Hostelworld if you're looking for a hostel.

Yes Hostel Lisbon

Hostel- not only a convenient and affordable solution for those who want to save money. This is a kind of youth hostel, providing guests with a bed in common room for 10 euros per person.

As a rule, most hostels are located in the city center or within walking distance from it.

Staying in a hostel is fun. Solo travelers will easily find company for walking around the city, going to a bar or club.

The hostel is also suitable for traveling companies (there are rooms for three, four or more guests), or couples. Facilities are located on the floor, or are provided in the room itself. Carefully study the offers on the site if the location of the bathroom is important to you and you do not want to share it with other guests :-)

You can also find an inexpensive hotel or guest house (guest house), the price of accommodation in which will vary from 25 euros per night.

Another option, ideal for a large group of travelers: rent an apartment in Lisbon. Deals can be viewed on the Airbnb apartment booking website.

Airbnb

A special mention is Couchsurfing - a popular youth movement of those who like to travel, communicate, and completely immerse themselves in the life and customs of the country. The concept of coachsurfing involves having one of the locals give you accommodation for free (and cultural program). To use the services of the site, you must register, create your profile and indicate the dates of the trip.

If you are embarrassed by this method, you can create a topic in the Lisbon community and tell who you are and when you arrive, ask the locals to walk with you and show the city. Community members are very sociable and open people, and will happily spend time with you.

Food in Lisbon

Discover Portugal

Portuguese cuisine is varied and amazing. Even if you're on a tight budget, don't put up with the thought of dining at McDonald's. On the contrary, you will not only be able to taste local delicacies, but also save money.

Look for authentic places where they gather locals. Such cafes are full at lunch and dinner, but empty at other times of the day. To find an authentic cafe, just turn off the bustling tourist street in the lane adjoining it;
If you managed to find a restaurant where locals dine, order prato do dia - the dish of the day. If you eat little, you can ask for a half portion, or order soup (1.2 euros);
Fans of hot dishes will be interested in trying soup at Loja das Sopas. This "shop" can be found in almost any food court in shopping malls. The price of a large portion of soup will be only 3-4 euros;
Buy food in large chain supermarkets. Find out at the reception of your hotel or hostel where the nearest one is;
Water costs between 40 cents and two euros, depending on where you buy it.

In the photo: half a serving of turkey fillet (4.2 euros) in one of the restaurants in Lisbon

If you want to try traditional Portuguese cuisine, we recommend that you pay attention to small family restaurants, as well as ask where the locals go.

Among the traditional dishes of Portuguese cuisine are a variety of seafood, salted cod bacalhau, "caldo verde" - rich soup with vegetables, "caldeirada" - several types of fish stewed in their own juice with potatoes, meat dishes, chicken "piri-piri" with very hot red pepper, feijoada - stewed black beans with meat and sausages.

You can choose restaurants using the Tripadvisor service, which contains information about the institution, as well as guest ratings. However, in recent times this service has deteriorated, and many of the reviews there are custom-made. Similar to it is the Foursquare service.

vanessa fermino

It's hard to imagine Lisbon without the traditional pastelarias cafeterias, where you should definitely have a cup of coffee with delicious pasteis de nata (pasteis de nata) - pastries with cream, as well as try the traditional Christmas cake Bolo Rei - "royal pie" with nuts and candied fruit (if you arrived in winter).

Transport in Lisbon

Lisbon - Big city with developed infrastructure. Transport system here is logical and convenient. To save money on travel public transport, use transport card Viva Viagem, which operates the Zapping system (zaping) - money is credited to the card account and withdrawn as it is used.

The system is suitable for paying fares on the following modes of transport:

Carris (buses, trams, lifts and lift within an hour, transfers without extra charge) - 1.25 €
Metro (1 trip) - 1.25 €
commuter trains CP (ticket for 2 hours, transfers without surcharge) - 1.80 €
Ferries Transtejo/Soflusa (1 trip) - from 1.80 to 2.56 €

Discount cards

With the help of the EURO26 Youth Card, it is easy to get discounts on various types of goods and services: for visiting museums, cafes and paying for tickets.

Lisboa Card - a card that entitles you to free travel on public transport in Lisbon: metro, buses, trams (including historical routes 28 and 12), ski lifts and the Santa Justa elevator; providing free admission and discounts at attractions.

Sights of Lisbon

To fully immerse yourself in the magical atmosphere of Lisbon, it is best to move around the city on foot, armed with a map and guide, because there are many amazing places located away from the usual tourist trails.

Pedro Ribeiro Simões

Go wandering through the narrow streets of Lisbon, where incredible discoveries await you: graffiti, street artists, cozy restaurants, ancient churches and courtyards hidden among the houses.

Pedro Ribeiro Simões

Lisbon has a wide variety of attractions and museums, and On the first Sunday of the month, admission to many of them is completely free.!

Art lovers should visit the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, which displays one of the best private collections in the world, assembled by an oil magnate. A collection contemporary art located in the Berardo Museum (entrance to the museum is free, there is wi-fi and air conditioning in the halls).

The Oriental Museum is dedicated to the turbulent colonial past of Portugal. The Museum of Carriages exhibits numerous carriages, golden carriages, saddles, and other attributes of ancient modes of transport.

To feel the history of the Portuguese Empire, be sure to look into the spacious halls Maritime Museum, which presents a collection of ship models from the first caravels to royal yachts.

Fashion lovers should visit the free Museum of Fashion and Design (MUDE) on Rua Augusta, which traces the design history of the last decades.

Note. editorial: Now the museum is closed for reconstruction

Karin S.

There are a lot of museums in Lisbon, so choose the ones that interest you.

You can ride the legendary 28 tram, the Santa Justa elevator or one of the lifts for half the price if you buy a Viva Viagem pass in advance, rather than buying a ticket directly from the driver.

Stephan and Anna Gürtler

It is worth seeing the "medieval" Lisbon - climb to the castle of St. George, from where an incredible view of the city spread between the hills, the Tagus River and bridges across it opens. Enter the ancient cathedral of the 10th century - Se - and feel the calmness and tranquility in the air of this temple.

Go to the Jeronimos Monastery and the Belem tower to feel the spirit of the times and the grandeur of Portuguese history.

There is nothing difficult about making your trip on a budget. A little planning and knowing a few savings secrets is all it takes. Flights, hotels, visas, transportation, meals, communications - all of these items can be reduced with a little effort. MAKE-TRIP shares a dozen with you useful tips, how to travel cheap. Hurry to find out!

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1. Travel on your own!

The first (and most important) law: do not be afraid. It's simple, it's fun, it's cheap. Some people do not even imagine that it is possible to travel abroad without the involvement of agencies and other organizations - they believe that this is the only way to guarantee their safety. And in the end, they either get a boring rest, mostly in a supine position, or spend unimaginable amounts on more or less non-standard rest. Traveling alone is not only possible, but necessary! Only independent trip can be considered a real journey, everything else is tourist vacation. Everyone can organize a great trip for themselves, you just need to show a little independence. Look at our different countries and cities.

In our opinion, it is especially interesting to travel by car (personal or rented) - complete freedom of movement! If you are interested in this option, read our tips about. Traveling is amazing too!

2. Find the cheapest flights

The ability to find and book flights at the lowest price is the most needed skill for budget travel. The main rule to always remember is that the earlier a purchase is made, the more likely it is to find an attractively priced option. Ours will help you become a real master of finding the cheapest flights. It makes sense to keep track of the current ones on our website and see ours in a particular country or city.

Also, be sure to read about - in this article we talked about the schemes of budgetary entry into Russia through the border European countries. In addition, we advise you to find out about, which allow you to fly for amounts close to zero (buying tickets for 20/30/40 euros will not be a problem).

It is best to search for flights on the Skyscanner metasearch engine - it will find the most profitable offer in any direction. This is a good assistant for independent travelers, as he searches for tickets among hundreds of airlines and does not take a single ruble commission from the buyer. The search engine makes it possible to view the cost of tickets to any country from all cities of Russia (or any other country) at once - a very convenient feature for budget travelers, it allows you to find an option at the best price.

(Photo by Rennett Stowe. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

3. Make your own visas

Why resort to the help of an intermediary and pay him twice or three times as much for it? You do not turn to the help of agents if you want to buy something in a supermarket, and here you do not need to. After all, we are going to travel economically, and not to improve the welfare of strangers.

Find information on the Internet about the nearest consulate or visa application center of the desired country, collect all the required documents and go to them. Many people think that it is more reliable to do it through an agency, allegedly this way the probability of visa refusal is lower. This is a delusion, since the whole mission of these intermediaries is that they will take the documents to the consulate instead of you. Tips on how to prepare the right documents to improve your chances of getting a visa are easy to find on the Internet. Our site also has for a number of popular destinations.

4. Find and book your accommodation the right way

To make travel cheap, you need to find inexpensive accommodation. You can use the excellent metasearch engine Roomguru.ru and choose the right hotel according to your criteria and reasonable price. This resource compares prices among different booking agencies and finds the best deals. Large database of hotels, hostels, guest houses and so on. We recommend reading our tips on.

An alternative to hotels is a popular service for renting private accommodation Airbnb.ru. Try to find an apartment or house for your trip. It is much more comfortable and often cheaper (especially if you travel with a company or family). The service has a huge selection of unique accommodation (beautiful apartments, villas and even residential boats and castles!), Accommodation in which will make your trip much more enjoyable and memorable.

And for those who generally want to live for free, the Couchsurfing resource is vital, where after registering and creating a personal profile, you can find people who are ready to host travelers. The network covers millions of users around the world.

(Photo by Phillip Pessar. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

5. Travel light

Take only what you really need - do not burden yourself with excess luggage. As a result, there are a number of advantages: there is no need to wait a long time for baggage claim, there is no threat of losing it, you don’t have to pay for overweight (and with low-cost airlines in general, any baggage is always paid separately and can cost you up to hundreds of euros), and move around the airport and to your destination will be much easier and more pleasant if you do not have to lug huge suitcases and bags with you. We even fly to Asia for semi-annual wintering with only one backpack per person.

Read also our tips on and formation. By the way, we recommend shopping on Aliexpress (we order camping equipment, equipment, and numerous accessories there) - it turns out to be much more profitable than shopping in regular stores. Pay attention to reviews to choose the best product. Another good store for sports and travel goods is Decathlon (where we bought a tent, hiking clothes and other equipment for trips to Altai and the Caucasus).

6. Find out about airport transfers in advance

Taxi is always the most expensive way to travel, it is much more profitable to use public transport: bus, metro, train. Read about all the possible options before departure - this way you will save a lot of money.

However, sometimes it is more convenient and cheaper to use an individual transfer - for example, when you are traveling with a large company and order a multi-seat car. For these cases, we can recommend a reliable service. Even better - rent a car right at the airport (find best deal available on Skyscanner Car Hire).

(Photo by martinak15. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

7. Night move instead of hotel

Night travel by trains and buses will make travel cheaper. This is a good opportunity to save time and money on the hotel at the same time. It is better to take first class tickets - you will have to overpay a little, but then you will be comfortable and you will sleep well. It’s not so convenient to ride on buses, so it’s better not to overdo it and not plan daily night trips for yourself - your body will swear. However, in some places there are slipper buses, the peculiarity of which is recumbent soft shelves instead of standard chairs (we made night trips to these more than once). It's definitely a great option for budget travel without loss of comfort.

In Russia, it is also convenient to travel by train for short distances, picking up night crossings. For example, we traveled from St. Petersburg to Moscow, from Perm to Kazan - the journey took exactly one night, we slept well. There are many route options. You can find and book a train ticket at.

(Photo by Don McCullough. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

8. Use discounts

Groupon gives you the opportunity to buy coupons with a significant discount on a variety of things and events: restaurants, shops, entertainment, attractions, leisure etc. If you are a student, a young teacher, or you are just under 30 years old, then it makes sense to get yourself an ISIC, ITIC or IYTC card. in Europe and North America on them you can get good discounts in the most different places- from cafes to museums.

9. Save on communication

Use Skype or Viber to communicate with Russia. Connect to local operators for local calls and 3G internet. By the way, using Skype you can call any landline and mobile phone numbers- these calls are paid, but inexpensive (for example, we used this opportunity to call from Vietnam to Russia and unblock a Sberbank card).

10. Use travel tickets

Learn about the system travel tickets to urban transport. As a rule, there are many types of travel cards, depending on the mode of transport, validity period and travel zones. Think about what type of ticket is best for you. If you want to save money and decide to travel like a hare, keep in mind that in many countries (especially in Europe) fines for free riders are very high.

Also in many popular tourist cities there are special museum cards, which provide discounts for visiting attractions and allow you to skip the lines.

11. Organize excursions yourself

It is always cheaper to get to the place you are interested in without the participation of agencies and guides, besides, you make your own visiting program - there is no need to adapt to a given schedule and rhythm.

(Photo by Moyan_Brenn. Licensed cc by. www.flickr.com)

12. Eat at local restaurants

Eat while traveling cheap and delicious at the same time! Tourist-oriented restaurants always jack up prices. And in the places preferred by the residents themselves, you will find a real national cuisine, the lowest prices and the most delicious dishes. If you see a lot of local visitors in some restaurant or cafe, it means that the food is excellent there - feel free to come in too!

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Follow these tips, read the site and travel on a budget!

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Anastasia Sergeeva

Traveling smart: cool life hacks for tourists

Traveling takes us out of our comfort zone and plunges us into a completely unfamiliar environment full of new experiences and adventures, sometimes even extreme ones. And so that only good memories remain from them, we have prepared the most interesting life hacks for tourists that will help you, for example, make a fire without matches, make a spoon from improvised means, and even warm up popcorn without a microwave.

Pack things compactly

There is almost never enough space in a suitcase and backpack - a typical situation, especially for the fair sex. To compactly fold clothes and make room for other important things, you should remember these life hacks for tourists:

We unfold the T-shirt on the table.
We put underwear on top, then fold the sleeves of the T-shirt to the middle.
We turn the left side of the T-shirt to the right, and then fold the right side to the left.
In the upper part of the folded T-shirt, put the socks crosswise, and begin to wrap the T-shirt in a roll.
We turn the ends of the socks left outside and put them on the roll one by one.

Such a trick for tourists to note - how to compactly fold three things instead of one!

Lamp for the tent

If you do not have enough flashlight at night to light the tent well, then you can use the following life hack for tourists. Take a canister or a small white plastic barrel and hang an included flashlight on it. The light will begin to bounce off the white translucent canister and turn it into a larger and brighter light source.

Reheating popcorn without a microwave

You went on a picnic with vegetables and kebabs, took a movie with you to watch it in nature, and popcorn for the movie ... which still needs to be cooked. But how to do it without a microwave? And here life hacks for tourists help: take two identical squares of foil, pour popcorn on one, and put the other square on top. Walk along the edges of the squares, wrapping them outward in a round frame so that the popcorn does not fall out and the foil case does not let out air. Now it remains only to put the foil on the coals, hold it on them for literally 2-4 minutes - and the popcorn will cook no worse than in the microwave. Enjoy!

Do-it-yourself dry closet

In order to civilly relieve yourself in the wild, without fear of defiling the surrounding nature, you can take a few little things with you, from which you can very quickly make an improvised dry closet with your own hands. You will need a bucket with removable handles, a large, heavy trash bag, a padded toilet seat, and a roll of toilet paper. Put a roll on the handle of the bucket, put a garbage bag inside the bucket, fixing it on the edges of the bucket, and put on a soft circle on top so that it is comfortable to sit later. Ready!

Where to hide the most valuable

It seems that it is easier to carry a safe with you when traveling than to find a secluded place among travel items where you can hide money and other valuables as securely as possible. But tourists have already come up with their own life hacks in this regard: take a large package of wet wipes with you! Remove napkins from it, and put money, keys, a bank card or other important little things inside. That's all, from the outside it looks like a real package, but thieves have not yet managed to figure out such a hiding place, and prefer not to delve into napkins.

T-shirt bag

When traveling and camping, you may always need an extra bag or backpack to accommodate all kinds of souvenirs, purchases, finds. Therefore, it would be nice to learn in advance how such a handbag can be built from an ordinary T-shirt:

We cut off the sleeves of the T-shirt and cut off the neck a little.
Cut the bottom of the T-shirt into vertical strips, making only parallel cuts, capturing both the bottom and top sides.
Tie each bottom and top strip into a strong double knot.

How to make a fire without matches

One of the most useful skills for tourists is the ability to make a fire even when you don’t have matches with you. Experienced travelers have come up with tricky life hacks for tourists:

Instead of wire, you can take steel wool, or even easier - a thin piece of foil.

bottle spoon

Forgot to take disposable tableware with you? Interesting travel hacks will come to the rescue! All you need is a plastic bottle, a marker, a knife or scissors, and a lighter. One has only to draw a spoon silhouette on the bottle with a marker or felt-tip pen, and then cut it out of the bottle, as shown in the figure below. To give the spoon softer edges and a curved shape, melt it in the right places and along the edges with an ordinary lighter.

To not leak

If your lotions, tonics and other cosmetic and even food liquids are constantly leaking in your suitcase, we recommend the following life hacks for tourists: take cling film, put it on top of the bottle neck and only then screw the cap on top. Done - no more leaks!

Collecting pesky insects

Those who love to go hiking and picnicking know how annoying midges can be in nature, trying to stick to our clothes. But you can quickly get rid of them if you find an old clean paint roller or a small rolling pin. Just wrap the item with double-sided tape and remove the protective film. Now run the roller over the clothes, and see for yourself how many midges you collect on the tape. Fast and convenient!

Mini cosmetics

In order not to take heavy bottles with your favorite cosmetics on a trip, you can learn interesting travel hacks! You will need some soft plastic tubes, a clip, a marker and a lighter. Cut the tube into shorter pieces. Put a clamp on the edge of such a short tube and fuse it with a lighter to close the hole. Using a syringe, draw gel, shampoo, etc. into the tube, and then fuse this hole too. Sign the name of the product with a marker directly on the tube, so as not to get confused later.

You will see even more life hacks for tourists in this video:

Take it, tell your friends!

Use stopovers

Stopover (stopover) - free stop at a transit point with the opportunity to stay in the city for a day or more. For example, if you are flying in North America, you can make a stopover from four hours, in Central America - from six hours. If you fly to Thailand via Sri Lanka, you can stay in Colombo until three days. The best part is that the cost of tickets does not change. You can't see the whole of Rio de Janeiro in five hours, but you can get a general idea of the city.

Information about possible stopovers is contained in the fare description (fare conditions, fare rules, tariff rules). If a stopover is allowed, tell the airline that you want to stay in the transfer city.

Ticket aggregator sites will also help. If you are dealing with Aviasales, look for this link:

In order not to get into trouble, first study the cost of tickets separately and taking into account different days of departure and arrival.

On the airline website, look for Multiple destinations - these are the same stopovers. If the fare includes a stopover, the airline issues a visa, provides a hotel and a transfer. If the stopover is longer than 24 hours, luggage must be collected and taken with you.

By the way, in many cities of the world there are special communities in which local amateur guides hang out in anticipation of stopover tourists. Google and Facebook are here to help.

Choose seats on the plane in advance

Anyone who has flown knows how important it is to choose the right seat in the cabin. Especially if it's a flight to the other end of the world. When planning a trip, study the layout of the aircraft cabin in advance. There are enough sites that allow you to do this, for example Seatguru or Samolety. It is enough to know the flight number and type of aircraft. This is how, for example, the filling of the Airbus A320 from the Aeroflot fleet looks like:

If you experience weakness and nausea on board an aircraft, choose seats in the bow, closer to the wings.

Take oatmeal on the go

Have you discovered a healthy lifestyle and the delights of proper nutrition? Vacation and flight is not a reason to change the regime. This trick was suggested to us by experienced stewards and old-timers on a diet. Take a zip-lock bag and fill it with a handful (or any other desired amount) with any filling. Nuts and dried fruits will do. Everything! On the plane, ask for a cup of boiling water to dilute a healthy breakfast in it.

Use essential oils for motion sickness

Nausea and motion sickness on an airplane? Grab a bottle of peppermint oil and sniff it every time you feel weak. If the airline has strict rules about liquids, put some oil on a handkerchief.

Join a group

Don't dare to travel alone? And you don't need to. Become part of a group of tourists, including both professional guides and amateurs like you. For a relatively small amount, you will acquire fellow travelers and improve your English in a relaxed atmosphere. tourist groups many, like Flash Pack , Travendly , Interpid .

Use bags and baskets for storage

enabea.com

When traveling, a foldable laundry basket is useful: you can store dirty things in it. A bag for washing delicate items will also be useful. You can put in it what will go to the wash at home. A large zip-lock bag makes it easy to carry wet items, such as a swimsuit that you swam in a few hours before your flight.

Take a face spray on the plane

Moisturizing facial spray with a natural composition and in a permitted mini format will maintain the hydrobalance of the skin and save it from dryness. Pay attention to the composition: it should not contain parabens, sulfates and other harmful ingredients. Note to ladies: if you take a fabric face mask with a trendy panda pattern on board, you can take care of your skin and have a lot of fun with your fellow travelers.

Get functional clothes

Functional and very light jacket, which can be easily rolled up and put into a special weightless case, does not take up much space and is useful in case of early departure, late landing or when flying from one climate zone to another.

Book your lunches in advance

Are you planning to travel to the USA? Pay attention to the Grab application. It will help you to pre-select and order lunch or a cup of coffee in the restaurants closest to the desired terminal at most airports in the country.

Pay Wi-Fi in advance

Some airlines, such as JetBlue and Virgin America, do not provide free Wi-Fi on board. Check this point and pay for Internet access in advance. Before the trip, it’s a good idea to study the Wi-Fi map: which airports on the planet provide passengers with Internet access.

Ask for free

Many airlines have a wide range of free perks for passengers. You may not know about it unless you ask a direct question. Toys, puzzles and crayons for kids, wet wipes, cookies and juices - feel free to ask, it's free.

It's hard to believe, but some airlines ( Air Canada, Etihad Airways, KLM) continue to provide economy class passengers with free alcoholic drinks during international flights. Yes, you just have to ask again.

Rent a car

In many countries, it is easier and cheaper to rent a car than to travel by public transport or taxi. In Google Play and the App Store you will find car rental apps in different cities and countries.

Find out more about the country of destination

Knowledge of cultural traditions will help save on trifles. Find out before the trip how much it is customary to leave a tip, whether you need to pay in restaurants for drinking water and at what time the cheapest products in local markets.

Use a single tourist card

paperplanesblog.com

A single card will help you save a lot on city routes. For example, for 48 euros you can buy a two-day “pass” for 50 Parisian museums. An Italian Firenzecard costs 72 euros. This is 72 hours of inspection of 72 museums of the country.

Look for free attractions

Each city has free attractions and entertainment. In New York City, enthusiastic guides provide free tours, including walking tours. In Madrid, on Sundays, admission to museums is free. In Amsterdam, volunteers arrange study tours around the city.

What tricks help you save money and travel comfortably? Share in the comments.

With the current exchange rate and the not very favorable economic situation in the state, unforgettable trips with all the amenities to distant (and not so) countries seem like something from the category of fantasy. But it seems so only at first glance and only to those who do not know some tricks. These 65 tips and secrets from famous traveler and journalist Vladimir Druganov will help you travel much more often and more comfortably than you could imagine!

Air travel

Bilet.ru - a site with the ability to book a flight and receive a reservation by mail without payment.
The bank of last-minute tours and charters is located on the tourdom website, the "exchange" section, and last-minute tours are on tourstanok.
RTW tickets from the three airline alliances do not include the company's low-cost airline. Therefore, the circumnavigation will be significantly more expensive.
Access to business lounges at 600 airports in the world (120 countries) with Priority card pass. Shower, snacks for free.
Discount of 500 rubles for any air ticket / hotel using the promo code VLADIMIR9813 on the onetwotrip website.
Get free ticket on an Aeroflot flight by collecting miles for reviews on tripadvisor.
Do not drink coffee before and during the flight. It will only increase the panic and palpitations.
The GateGuru app will tell you everything about the world's airports. Where are the ATMs, what stores are there duty free.
Drinks on board the aircraft, if it is not a low-cost airline, are not limited. You can ask for two glasses of juice and then another for dessert. In low-cost airlines, you can always get plain water for free.
Food wrap is cheaper than luggage wrapping services at the airport.

Security

Rename contacts of relatives/important friends on your phone to English language. If something happens to you, the doctors or the police will be able to figure out who to call. "Mom", "Dad" is more understandable for an English-speaking employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations than "mom" and "dad".
Take out an annual insurance that includes all countries of the world and a period of stay abroad of 90 days. Wherever you suddenly break loose, you will always be protected.
Upload scans of all important documents to Google Drive. If you lose the originals, you can print at least copies in any Internet cafe in the world.
Take with you 3-5 bank cards and store them in different places. If you lose your main card or have it stolen from you, calmly block it, transfer money to the second card and continue your journey.
Make yourself a "cover" letter in English/Spanish with a seal (you can type or fake) and your passport photo. Write who you are, where you are going and why you are good. In any situation with the police, this will greatly simplify your life.
Do you want to be left behind by street barkers in all countries of the world? Learn the phrase "I'm here for work" in the local language, and voila - you will quickly lose interest.
When renting a car / motorcycle, take a photo of all scratches and flaws on the phone right in front of the owner.
Download mobile app from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. By pressing the SOS button in the application, your GPS coordinates will be sent to both rescuers and SMS to your friends' phones.
Take a wide range of medicines with you in the first aid kit. You never know what will happen to you.
Take an external battery pack with you when you travel. Then you will always stay in touch, even if there is no electricity near you for a whole week.

Leisure

Almost all museums in the world have free admission days. Get to know them and put reminders on your calendar.
If you are transiting through or , do not forget to sign up for free sightseeing tours.
What to see in a new city? Read the articles on the Internet "City in 1 Day" - they already contain the most important and interesting places.
Food spotting is a mobile application that allows you to see what a dish looks like and portion sizes before placing an order.
Excursions from a tour operator are 2-3 times more expensive, and are carried out by the same companies with which street agencies cooperate.
The best offline travel guide is the Triposo app.
Get up with the dawn. Then you will see the sights without huge crowds of tourists and enjoy their grandeur, and not the noise of children and the conversations of guides.
Buying tickets for excursions/attractions via the Internet is a sure way to save an average of 10% of the cost and avoid queues.
Plan your itinerary interesting places and attractions one after another, so that it is convenient to examine them sequentially, and not to wind from one end of the city to the other and back.
Go to a couchsurfer hangout or go to a popular hostel - both there and there you can find new acquaintances, as well as ways to have fun in the evening or the next day.

Movement

When hitchhiking in Europe / America, you can use signs with the inscription of the nearest city. This will speed up your movement. But if there are many villages between foreign cities, and even more so in Russia, it is better to vote without a sign.
Try to buy tickets for night buses/trains/flights. This will save you a lot of money on housing.
From any airport in the world can be reached economically by bus, not by taxi. Look on Google for which bus companies run to the city center and where to look for a stop.
Free guides and maps of the city are available in many hotels at the reception or at individual counters. The more stars - the more chances to get them for free.
Best offline maps - maps.me.
All metros of the world in one MetrO application.
In Russian Railways compartment cars, choose 37th and 38th seats. Then in the compartment you will have only two seats instead of four.
The Rome2Rio app will help you plan your travel itinerary and give you options on how to get to your destination, how long it will take and how much it will cost.
When traveling around Russia, Yandex.Transport will show you when your bus arrives. On a trip around the world help will come Google Maps with his bus schedule.
Sign up for promotions from your favorite airlines to be the first to know about big sales and make real savings. That's how you can buy a ticket for $1.

Accommodation

In hostels, you can arrange to spend the night in exchange for cleaning or other help.
Get 8 nights in Bulgaria for free - just participate in the loyalty program from ayda.ru
The cheapest place in the Maldives is Maafushi Island. 3 star hotel for $48. And there are similar places in all resorts. Spend more time preparing and you will be rewarded.
The cheapest cities in Europe: Bucharest, Warsaw.
Participate in loyalty programs of various hotel chains. Free nights and a free upgrade to a deluxe room are nice bonuses.
Housing on 2-3 lines from the beach costs 2-3 times cheaper than on the first line. Walking to the beach is not only economical, but also good for your health. And if this is not a popular hotel, but housing from a private owner, then it will even be 4 times cheaper. Just walk around the city looking for "Room for rent" signs.
If you have a place to rent, you can make great money on AirBnb, get money immediately on your card in dollars during your trip. It's convenient and profitable.
If you are traveling to warm country- Do not bring a tent with you. Take a modern hammock. It weighs 100 grams, and for its garter you need any two points of support at a distance of 2 to 5 meters. And the awning, which weighs exactly the same, will save from the rain.
When choosing between an 8- and 10-bed room in a hostel, prefer the more expensive option - a 6-bed room. It is almost always empty, because those who save are usually settled in a 10-bed room. And so there is a chance to be in the room alone.
When using couchsurfing, look for appointments 2-3 weeks in advance, no later. Because the average response time is 4-5 days, and in order for you to accurately find an entry, you need to start looking for it three weeks before the trip.

Other

Participate in all competitions where travel is played. I have already won three trips.
Buy an inflatable neck pillow. It will take up much less space in your luggage than its balloon-filled counterpart.
Do not take gadgets (including a mouse) on batteries with you. This is the additional weight of the batteries, and if these are batteries, you will also have to take the charger with you. Take a universal technique that is charged from usb.
You can take part in the Rio de Janeiro carnival by simply buying a costume from special companies. And to participate is not to look from the outside. These are completely different emotions.
The best offline translator is the Yandex Translator app. The best online translator is google translate. Translates both your speech in real time and inscriptions from a photo.
In supermarkets in America, Thailand, Hong Kong and other countries, 2 hours before closing, discounts of up to 50% on perishable products are arranged. Eat discounted delicacies.
There is free Wi-Fi all over the world in libraries and universities, not just McDonald's.
Take things with you that you don't mind throwing away. In any country you want to buy something new. And so - throw away the old thing, and a new one will take its place. Your back will thank you.
Use Groupon. It is available in 40 countries around the world.
If you left home for a long time, for example, to travel around the world for three months, then upon your return you can recalculate for utility services. All you need is a boarding pass/ticket.
All currency rates in one Currency app. It is very convenient and helps not to get into money when a Vietnamese taxi driver asks you for 3,000,000 dong, and you, looking at the application, understand that he is cheating you and the trip should only cost 300,000 dong.
Don't forget about Tax Free if you are buying electronics.
Create a blog/website. The VKontakte group is also good, but you won’t get far on it. This is a great place to earn money.
Install the Clashot app to earn income from mobile photography.
Use the Gransjoy travel delivery service to boost your karma and maybe earn some money along the way.