Flights to Europe can be found at reasonable cost depending on where you are, but why should it cost a lot when you get there! I have some ideas based on experiences that I had while travelling Europe and ones that I have adopted based on what I have learned.

1. Be prepared to walk!

Bridge in Frankfurt, Germany.

This is one of the key parts of my travels that I cannot stress enough, not only does it benefit your health, but reduces the reliability on public transport if you are always looking for part of the journey to have a good walk as a part of it. It adds to a sense of discovery and means that you get to experience more of the location first hand. This direct interaction with the new environment allows for interesting encounters with local people and landmarks less known to other tourists.

2. Hostels aren’t as bad as you think!

Balmers Hostel in Interlaken, Switzerland.

They are the best way to meet new people as a solo traveller or even as a big group! Pick hostels based on peoples recommendations and don’t get scared of staying in big rooms, people tend to be friendly or quiet and keep to themselves. If you are anxious about staying in the 20 people rooms, work your way up to this in stages picking bigger rooms.

Many of the hostels especially in the larger cities are well staffed and of high standards, with clean room and large amounts of facilities available to guests. Sometimes hostels I have found, especially in Cities, have been higher quality than some budget hotels. Obviously booking in advance can get you a good deal, however if you go in a low season it is possible to travel around and decide on the hostel you want to stay at a couple of nights before. This is how I did it and it proved very easy. This is great especially for solo travel as you can be as flexible as you want.

Places that I would recommend booking through are Hostelworld and AirBnb, they are the most popular options but also very reliable, just make sure you read the descriptions properly!

3. Transport the right way!

Underground metro system in Berlin, Germany.

Public transport all the way! Whether this be a well-established metro network, a bus, bike hire and traditional longer trains. There is nothing better value than public transport. When in cities try and book a longer ticket for the duration of the stay, even if it is only a few days, book a couple of day passes for a slightly higher cost, you will make the most of it!

This also brings another aspect of interaction with other travellers, as they will most likely be using public transport too. It is a great way to meet others and break up those longer journeys.

Booking an inter-rail ticket is a great way to make the most of travel in Europe, with so many high speed and efficient train options you can get across whole countries very easily. Buying the cheaper pass for 7 or 15 days travel in 30 days is a great way to travel efficiently. The 7 p.m. rule allows you to count only 1 travel day instead of 2 when travelling overnight. I used this to my advantage to cover more ground in a shorter period!

4. Bringing the right gear!

I can’t stress this enough, taking the right gear for the job is essential, also knowing some of these tricks will help. Taking the bare minimum helps.

Me carrying my very bright bag in Sheffield, UK.

Clothing

For the most part, Western Europe is temperate and depending on the time of your visit, so always keep this in mind. Regardless I would suggest comfortable performance wear, the most comfortable running/hiking type shoes that you have (due to the amount of walking) and the most comfortable rucksack you have.

For the bag you use I would try and find one that is around 25L, you can pretty much live out of a backpack not much bigger than this. Tom from packhacker has an awesome guide which takes on this idea. A key point to make is that if you travel light and take only the essentials that you can pass through airports with the bag as carry on. Reducing flight costs and meaning you can take low cost economy flights without being hit with their crazy extra costs for hold baggage. Another note would be to pick a bag with a bright colour, or attach a bright handle so that it is easy to grab in the dark and if you do check the bag it will be easy to find the bag on the carousel.

For hostels often, they will charge for some bedding, to avoid this if you want to save a little just for this, pack a cotton sleeping bag liner, they are really cheap and small and often much nicer quality from the bedding that you will get offered. Another small top tip would be to take less clothes and a bit of washing soap, plug up the sink in your hostel room and wash your clothes with the soap, and hang them up to dry during the day while you're out and about.

Technology

Depending on whether you want to take a laptop, camera or any other technology you will have to be prepared for it, and have the accessories needed to use it all. A universal travel adapter is essential in the modern day as they can take all types of power plug you may need to use, yes even in Europe they use different ones depending on country.

My top tip here would be to try and find the smallest extension type cable for your personal plug type that has 2/3 available ports as often in hostels you will only have 1 available to you, and even in some places 1 available to the whole dorm room. Everyone will love you if you have access to more ports for them to charge their gear.

Taking extra gear especially for photography can use up a lot of space if you are travelling in 1 bag, so keep this in mind and really try to streamline exactly what you require.

If you are not the type to take any extra technology with you, it is possible to achieve a lot with just a smartphone, using the camera for the Instagram shots and websites to book everything via the mobile and rely mostly on that for navigation too. I investigated some solutions for finding mobile deals through companies like Lyca Mobile, to ensure connectivity during your stay. I would also take advantage of hostels and coffee shops with their free WiFi to make booking and travel arrangements, saving as you go and taking screenshots of bookings, in case you lose connection.

and that’s it..

If you have made it this far, thanks!

I hope these tips help or give insight into travelling in Europe on a budget and as easily as possible. Let me know if I have missed anything!

I will hopefully be doing more of these so feel free to follow on Medium and on Instagram.