SIGHTSEEING
1.Use a guidebook — they’re $20 tools for $3,000 experiences. Saving money by not buying one is penny-wise and pound-foolish. An up-to-date guidebook pays for itself on your first day in Europe.
2.Stay in touch cheaply by dialing direct to loved ones back home. International phone cards with scratch-off PIN codes are sold at newsstands throughout Europe. They offer calls to the United States for 3 cents a minute — a huge savings over the $3-a-minute rates offered by the big American services.
3.Look up friends, relatives and contacts in Europe. Assuming you are reasonably interesting and charming, you’ll enjoy an abundance of hospitality. Bring a show-and-tell baggie filled with photos of your family, house and hometown.
4.Don’t let frequent-flier miles cloud your judgment. Choose a plane ticket, car rental, hotel or tour according to the best value for your trip, not in hopes of scoring a few extra miles.
5.Hike in the Alps. Even if you pay for a lift ticket to get you quickly into the mountains (early rides are generally discounted), the glories of the Alps are one of Europe’s great values. The Alps are littered with helicopter-supplied mountain huts offering cheap beds and menu prices that don’t go up with the altitude.
6.Travel with a partner to share and save. A single hotel room often costs nearly the same as a double. By splitting taxis, chores, guidebooks and picnics, couples save time and money.
7.Travel off-season in Europe, generally October through April. You’ll get cheaper airfare, find more budget rooms, spend less time in lines and meet more Europeans than tourists.
8.Museum passes save time and money. The Paris Museum Pass, for example, pays for itself in four visits and saves you hours by letting you skip the long lines and scoot right in to most sights.
9.Couples can cut museum audio guide rental fees (generally $5 each) in half by bringing their own MP3-player earbuds and a standard Y-jack adapter and sharing a single machine. (They have standard speaker jacks.)
10.Time is money, especially when you’re on vacation. You pay at least $12 per waking hour just to be in Europe. Saving time (for instance, a couple taking a $10 taxi ride rather than catching the bus) can be a smart budget trick in some cases.
SHOPPING AND MONEY
1.Do most of your shopping in the cheaper countries where gifts are more interesting and your shopping dollar stretches the furthest. The difference is huge: For the cost of a pewter Viking ship in Oslo, you can buy an actual boat in Turkey.
2.Take advantage of department stores anywhere in Europe for cheap folk art, souvenirs, postcards, inexpensive cafeterias and free bathrooms.
3.While flea markets are notorious for ripping off tourists, they can offer some great deals. Prices are soft, so haggle.
4.Wear a money belt. You’ll save money by not losing it to a thief. Be on guard in crowds. Suspect that any commotion or scuffle is a screen for thieves at work. Be wary of fake police who ask to see your wallet. Assume beggars are pickpockets. Watch out if a scruffy-looking mom approaches you with her baby in a sling; with her hidden arm free, she can rip you off. When you know the scams, they’re almost entertaining.
5.Use ATMs rather than traveler’s checks. You’ll get your cash cheaper and faster. While ATMs give the best possible rates, they do come with transaction fees. Minimize these by making fewer and larger withdrawals. Store the cash safely in your money belt.
6.Pay with local cash, not credit cards. While credit cards get you a good exchange rate, many places offering Europe’s best deals — from craft shops to B&Bs — accept only cash.
7.When changing cash, avoid exchange bureaus that don’t show the buying and selling rate. By seeing both rates you can derive the profit margin, which should be within 5 percent. Places showing only the selling rate are hiding something — an obscene profit margin.
8.Students, families and seniors should ask for discounts. But be warned: Because the United States doesn’t reciprocate, many countries don’t give their standard senior citizen discounts to Americans.
9.In any transaction, understand all fees and expenses. Ask to have bills itemized. Assume you’ll be short-changed. Always ask “How much?” Do your own arithmetic and don’t let the cashier rush you. Smile, but be savvy.
10.If you’ll be doing any substantial shopping, learn how to get the Value Added Tax (VAT) back. It takes just a few minutes (generally at the airport), and it’s cash (around 15 percent to 20 percent of your total) in your pocket. Each year millions of euros in VAT refunds are never claimed.
TRANSPORTATION
1.Fly “open jaw” — into one city, out of another — to avoid a needless, costly and time-consuming return to your starting point.
2.Cars are worthless and expensive headaches in big cities. Pick up your rental car after the first big city you visit, and drop it off before the final big city of your trip. Paying $30 a day to store a $50-a-day car while touring a city is a pricey mistake.
3.Know your rail choices: Eurailpasses can offer big savings, if you’re traveling a lot. For short trips, it’s cheaper to buy tickets as you go. Throughout Europe First-Class tickets cost 50 percent more than Second-Class. If you’re on a short trip and a tight budget, buy Second-Class tickets as you go.
4.Before buying a Eurailpass, research the options sold in Europe. For instance, Germany’s “Beautiful Weekend” ticket lets groups of up to five travel anywhere in the country on Saturday and Sunday afternoons on non-express trains for about $40.
5.Find a good travel agent who knows Europe and sells consolidator tickets. Consolidator or “discount” air tickets are perfectly legitimate. By putting up with a few drawbacks (no changes allowed and no frequent-flier miles earned), you can save hundreds of dollars. But remember, the cheapest tickets may save you a few dollars, but if you need to make even the smallest change, you can lose all your money. Student agencies are not limited to students and offer some great airfares.
6.Buses, while generally slower, are about half the cost of trains, especially economical in Britain, home of Europe’s most expensive train system. For instance, traveling from London to Edinburgh costs roughly $175 by train (Second-Class, five hours) and only $60 by bus (nine hours).
7.Groups save by driving. Four people sharing a car generally travel much cheaper than four individuals buying four rail passes. Six or eight in a minibus are traveling really cheap.
8.Park carefully. Thieves recognize and target tourist cars. Paying to park in a garage with an attendant can be a good investment.
9.Europe’s highly competitive, no-frills airlines, such as Ryanair and easyJet, can often get you from one city to another faster and cheaper than the train. Most offer no commission to travel agents, and many are bookable only on the Web. But beware: Cheap airlines often use small airports located far from town, which can cost you a little extra time and money.
10.Make the most of public transit. Single tickets can be good for round trips, transfers or an hour of travel. Three rides generally cost more than a day pass. Airports almost always have cheap and convenient public transit connections to the town center.
EATING
1.Avoid touristy restaurants with “We speak English” signs and multilingual menus. Eateries that are filled with locals aren’t always cheaper, but they serve better food.
2.Picnics save you money: $15 buys a hearty picnic lunch for two anywhere in Europe. Stock your hotel room with drinks and munchies upon arrival. You can pass train rides enjoyably over a picnic meal. Many grocery stores have elegant deli sections, giving you the ingredients for a classy (if not cheap) picnic.
3.Eat with the season. Germans go crazy for white asparagus in late spring. Italians lap up porcini mushrooms in the fall. And Spaniards gobble snails (caracoles), but only when waiters announce that they’re fresh today. You’ll enjoy more taste for less money throughout Europe by ordering what’s in season.
4.Adapt to European tastes. Cultural chameleons drink tea in England, beer in Prague, red wine in France and white wine on the Rhine. They eat fish in Portugal and reindeer in Norway. Local specialties get you the best quality and service for the best price.
5.Throughout southern Europe, drinks are cheaper if you’re served at the bar rather than at a table. The table price can be a fine value if you’ll linger and enjoy the view. But those just tossing down a quick drink can do it at the bar for about half the price.
6.Convenience stores are the rage in northern Europe. They offer convenience, but bigger grocery stores will save you 30 percent on snacks, drinks, picnic grub and takeaway food.
7.Some of the best cheap eateries are in or near open-air markets. They cater to market workers and savvy local shoppers. Any place open only for lunch on workdays is targeting local workers and will offer great values.
8.Most countries have early bird and “Blue Plate” specials. Know the lingo, learn your options, and you can dine well with savvy locals anywhere in Europe for $15.
9.Don’t overtip. Only Americans tip 15 percent to 20 percent in Europe. We even tip when it’s already included or not expected. When in doubt, ask locals (customers rather than restaurant employees) for advice.
10.To save money in most (but not fancy) restaurants, couples can order two side salads and split an entree. To save more, request tap water instead of mineral water, drink the house wine and skip dessert. Know the local word for tap water, or you’ll get it in a bottle and pay.
ACCOMMODATIONS
1.A B&B offers double the warmth and cultural intimacy for half the price of a hotel. You’ll find them in most countries, if you know the local word: Husrom is Norwegian for sobe, which is Slovenian for zimmer, which is German for bed-and-breakfast.
2.Europe’s 2,000 hostels offer countless cheap dorm beds. A hostel membership pays for itself in four nights. And it’s not limited to youths. In fact, those over 55 get a discount on a hostel card. Using the hostel’s kitchen, you can cook for the price of groceries — a great savings for traveling families. Many hostels offer simple double rooms, and there are now more independent hostels than ever (no membership required).
3.Know your hotel’s cancellation policy. Many European hotels charge for one night, even if you cancel well in advance.
4.Brussels and the Scandinavian capitals, which cater to business travelers, offer deep discounts to vacationers who arrive without reservations when business traffic is slow. During summer and weekends year-round, hotels virtually never book up and you can get a fancy business hotel room at a cheap one-star hotel price. It’s not unusual for travelers to drop by the tourist office upon arrival and score a $300 double for $100.
5.Throughout Europe, budget-chain hotels rent rooms at B&B prices. The cookie-cutter rooms — which cost the same for singles, couples or even a family of four — offer the greatest savings for traveling families.
6.Be smart about hotel choices. A three-star place (with room service and a 24-hour reception desk) is a bad value for a budget traveler who’s satisfied with a one-star place (e.g., no elevator, no restaurant and no shoeshine machines in the hallway). Opting for the shower and toilet down the hall can save you $30 a night.
7.Ask for a deal on your hotel room. You’ll have the best chance of getting a discount if business is slow. It helps if you contact the hotel directly because a room-finding service costs the hotel a booking fee; offer to pay in cash and/or stay at least three nights.
8.Pack the room. Funky European hotels have rooms of all sizes, and hoteliers are often happy to pack in extra beds. The more people you put in a hotel room, the cheaper (and more memorable) it gets per person.
9.Hotel breakfasts, while convenient, are rarely a good value. If breakfast is optional, increase the character and lower the price by joining the local crowd at the corner cafe for coffee and croissants.
10.Book a berth, and sleep on the overnight trains.
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About Rick Steves
Rick Steves, the author of “Europe Through the Back Door” and other European travel guidebooks, took his first trip to Europe in 1969. He also hosts travel shows on public TV and radio.
His Europe Through the Back Door business now has 70 full-time employees. ETBD offers European tours — and free travel information through its travel center and Web site ( www.ricksteves.com).
NEXT WEEK IN TRAVEL
Europe 2007 — with Rick Steves’ annual report on what’s new in the old countries.
