Travelling is expensive. Shockingly expensive at times, especially with the current EUR-CAD exchange rate.
So we’re absolutely spending a lot of money. (This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our family!) But we’re also trying to be intentional, choosing what’s “worth” it and saving where we can so those bigger moments feel good, not stressful.
(Here’s my first round of money-saving tips from our trip.)
USING A COUPON
When John and the kids went to Schönbrunn Zoo, they got a 25% coupon for Lindt. We used it later that week; Lindt is never going to be cheap, but 25% off is definitely better than full price!
USING PUBLIC TRANSIT
Month-long public transit passes have saved us SO MUCH MONEY. I cannot imagine Ubering all over the city. Despite doing plenty of walking, I’ve also taken public transit every single day in Vienna (except for the two days the kids were sick).
BRINGING WATER
I can’t stand paying for drinks when we’re out, unless it’s something special like a hot chocolate or a nice coffee (see below). So… I try to bring at least one bottle of water (filled from the tap at our apartment) with me every time we go out.
PACKING FOOD + SNACKS
We’re spending a long time in Europe and it’s not reasonable to bring food everywhere we go. But, as often as we’re able, we take something along. I try to bring sandwiches if we’ll be gone for the majority of the day, and always have a few granola bars or a bag of cashews in my purse.
GROCERY STORE PICNICS
Another option when I don’t want to bring sandwiches from the apartment is buying prepared food at a grocery store. The night we went to Prater Amusement Park (blog post on this adventure coming soon), we opted to walk 500 m out of the park (you can come and go freely since there’s no entrance fee) to a grocery store to pick up supper.
We bought two bottles of water (cheaper than you could buy on site), a little charcuterie tray, sushi, a few store-brand protein shakes, and some other finger foods.
REDUCED ENTRY
The aquarium had reduced entry fees for adults on Monday through Friday nights after 5:30 pm, so that’s the time of day we visited to the aquarium!!
A FREE MUSEUM
Sadly, there aren’t many free museums in Vienna, but we made sure to go to the main free museum and it was awesome!!
KINDA FREE MUSEUMS
While there aren’t many always-free spots, there is a group of museums that are free on the first Sunday of the month. (Monthly free days are quite common; we visited The Vatican Museums for free on the last Sunday of the month when we were in Rome.)
On Easter Sunday, John and I went to the Beethoven Museum in Heiligenstadt and Indy and I went to the Virgilkapelle in Stephenplatz, free of charge!
TRAIN REIMBURSEMENT
We were reimbursed almost $100 CAD because our Westbahn train was delayed by two hours. Once again, a huge thanks to Sabine for letting me know about this refund policy.
SET A PRICE CAP FILTER
When we’re looking for accommodations, we set a price cap!
For our apartment in Vienna we filtered by two bedrooms, free cancellation (since we were booking months in advance), and then only looked at options that fit those specifications.
For the purposes of our upcoming road trip, we filtered by free parking and free cancellation and a price limit. We need the first two factors AND we only want to see options below a certain spending threshold. It can be hard to walk away from a great place that’s way above the budget; it’s easy if you never see it in the first place 😉
TIMING OF TRAINS
Many train tickets are cheaper outside of peak hours. When you’re booking, make sure to look at options a bit earlier and later in the day to compare pricing.
Also, booking tickets well in advance can save a lot of money! For the most part, last-minute tickets are the most expensive.
CHECK OUT THE PAID BATHROOMS FIRST
In some fast food restaurants, it’s wisest to use the bathrooms before ordering. That way, you’ll get a coupon for the entry fee to the bathrooms that can be applied to your meal.
For example, at a McDonald’s, we paid €0.50 euros to use the bathroom, but got a voucher for that exact amount that we could cash in at the counter when I paid for our food. If we had gone to the bathroom after our meal, the voucher wouldn’t have been useful.
OVERNIGHT OATS
We have been eating a lot of overnight oats. I mix oats, peanut butter, cinnamon, milk, raisins, and frozen berries in a bowl. We heat them up in the microwave in the morning (the kids drizzle some honey and a few chocolate chips on theirs).
They are absolutely delicious. They’re also filling… and cheap! A bag of oats is €0.69.
GROCERY STORE: SALES + REDUCED ITEMS
We continue to shop sales (last week, strawberries and grapes were on sale… so strawberries and grapes came home with us; this week it was AMAZING apples that were €1.67 for a six-pack, so that was my fruit of choice). And we keep our eyes peeled for discounted produce!
COOKING AT HOME
This saves so. much. money.
AND THEN… WE SPLURGE
Because we are absolutely not saying no to everything.
Like this wowzers-that’s-not-cheap (but it was delicious) €6.50 caramel latte (that’s about $10.50 CAD). John and I each enjoyed one on our first brunch date out together since arriving in Europe.
And Smoked Salmon Eggs Benny on a potato waffle (€20). SO GOOD. But definitely a splurge; that’s $32 CAD, which we determined was definitely the most we’d ever spent on a breakfast item! John was the saver at brunch, getting a €18/$29CAD item instead.
Another splurge was the pay-per-ride at Prater (alas, there’s no option to buy a pass). My goodness, amusement parks add up FAST. That said, we prioritized certain rides over others and I feel like we kept spending reasonably in check while having an absolute blast!
BUY LOWER CATEGORY TICKETS
For the Votive Church Light of Creation show, I bought the cheapest ticket option (feeling very confident in that decision when most online reviews said the cheapest tickets offered the absolute best views for the show). I was happy to save money and while it wasn’t cheap, between Belle’s discount for being a student, it offered good bang for buck in my opinion.
TWO FRUGAL FAILS
- You can save €2/ticket if you book tickets online for Kunsthistorisches Museum (the largest art gallery in Austria). The online ticketing system wasn’t working properly, so technically this “fail” wasn’t our fault, but the ticket agent also didn’t accommodate the fact we couldn’t book online so we had to pay full price. A €4 loss.
- The internet assured me you could get €12 standing tickets for Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at Karlskirche. I schlepped the kids across the city to get said tickets (the internet also assured me they were not available for purchase online), only to be told by the agent they stopped that program a year ago. Womp, womp.
Okay, that’s enough out of me on this topic for a while. But you can get a sense of the kind of rhythm we’re settling into: spend intentionally, save where it makes sense, and try not stress over how quickly the money flows out!!!
Some days we’re packing sandwiches in recycled bags and refilling water bottles… and other days we’re sitting down to an expensive caramel latte.
- If you’ve travelled (especially with kids!), I’d love to hear about your best money-saving tips!
- Are you a pack-all-the-snacks person or more of a “buy it when we get there” type?
- What’s one thing you will always spend money on, no matter how frugal you’re trying to be?
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I love your balance, Elisabeth! It’s great to be frugal, at the same time you don’t want to turn the whole trip into a budgeting exercise. You’ve hit the sweet spot.
That bathroom voucher tip is gold, I always forget that when we’re in Germany or Austria.
I’m doing a little outing with my parents today and we’ll be taking a packed lunch too. Eating out in Switzerland, even for something simple, gets expensive fast. It definitely makes a homemade sandwich feel like a smart luxury.
Hope the adventure with your parents was fun and that your picnic was delicious!
Transit is the one thing I will splurge on if it saves my sanity. Taxis in Japan are very expensive. When we arrived at the airport the 3 of us opted to pay the $300 CND to get to our AirBnB rather than navigate a train, then a subway, with no knowledge of how to use those systems, and a walk using GPS. We agreed we could cut somewhere else and we did by buying a lot of our food at 7-11s which have surprisingly top quality food in Japan!
I am thrifty where food is concerned, pack snacks, look for free events, and am not a shopper of souvenirs so save a lot there.
A few times we’ve Ubered and taxied to/from the airport and it is SO much less stressful than navigating public transit with all sorts of bags (often in a foreign city where the language is different).
I’ve heard about the famous 7-11 food!
Same with the souvenirs! I like to take pictures instead.
You are amazing – hunting down all these options. It’s like a second job!
I don’t travel much, but staying with family saves money on lodgings.
For hotels, book through the corporate site. Theres usually better flexibility for cancelations and adjustments than if you book through an alternative site. (I’m too old to gamble that all our travel plans will work perfectly.)
On my last trip, I checked for discounts online in front of the desk clerk at 10pm at night for a hotel so we could get some rest without breaking the bank. So have no shame in looking for savings.
It definitely takes time and intention, hence being a balance!
Accommodations add up so fast and staying with people saves a TREMENDOUS amount of money.
Great tip about booking directly.
All such useful info, a lot of which we do, too. It’s likely easier to find good grocery store travel food in Europe. Wouldn’t it be nice if airlines adopted that refund/delay policy?
It depends what the flight delay is; if it’s “within the airlines control” like staffing issues or scheduled maintenance. It’s rare, but we’ve gotten a few great reimbursements.
The policies are also much better if your flight is within Europe. North America isn’t nearly as generous.
Excellent list!
I’m sure you’ve already thought of this, but if I want to pack snacks such as granola bars (or a certain brand of chocolate wafers I like), I always buy a multipack. That’s cheaper than buying individually, or in smaller packets of two or three.
I don’t know if it’s the same in countries outside Denmark, but here you get vouchers for recycling bottles and drink cans. You put them in a machine in the supermarket and it gives you a paper coupon (only for that specific shop though).
Things I always spend money on: museum and art gallery tickets, the occasional lunch or dinner out and ice cream!
Yes to bulk buying (though it can be hard to bring/store/consume larger quantities).
In Canada, if we take bottles in we get cash back, but there’s only a few places that accept the bottles. I wish it was at the grocery store; that would be so convenient.
The thing about always having snacks on you is that it can be more than a money saver. Sometimes there aren’t good food options, and sometimes it’s inconvenient and/or it takes too long to stop for food. I go back and forth between bringing food and just seeing what I can find on the fly.
I will always splurge on the extra experience that’s going to give me a memory and get ruthlessly cheap with things that don’t matter. When I go somewhere, I always have the main list of things that I want to do, and then I learn about other things when I’m there. If those things come with admission fees, that’s fine. On the other hand, when I first started traveling I loved going out to eat, and over time it’s become less special, so I’m starting to eat in more. It saves money, but that’s not really why I’m doing it. I guess that’s what this is ultimately about: spend money on fun things, which includes $10 lattes, and don’t spend money on non-fun things.
Yes! I carry snacks less to save money and more for my mental health. Hangry kids are NOT fun.
The $10 latte was definitely worth it AND felt extra special because it’s so rare. That’s another thing: splurges generally feel more like splurges and luxurious if you don’t have them all the time.
You have the perfect attitude- save money when it makes sense, and splurge when you really want to. As you said, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for your family. You don’t want to look back and feel like you missed anything.
Yes to always bringing food! When Paul and Isabel flew back to Chicago, they had a VERY early flight and wouldn’t be home until mid afternoon. I packed them both breakfast sandwiches and lunch sandwiches. Isabel said “Oh, this will save us money!” I wasn’t even thinking that- I’m just so used to bringing food in case there are no vegan options.
I guess I have little splurges throughout the week- like tea at Starbucks (not as expensive as a fancy coffee drink, but more expensive than making tea at home) and one night a week we do takeout for dinner. Oh and I bought a book yesterday- definitely a splurge!
I think money spent at coffee shops can get a bad rap. I adore my local coffee shop and going once a week or so brings me so much joy! Yes, I could make my tea for a fraction of money at home, but the experience is wonderful and it feels like I’m indulging.
Hooray for fun books!
Wonderful!
I would try to save as you are doing, because it’s not just a vacation week (when I’d be more willing to splurge) it’s months of normal life, just in Europe! It must be such a weird but fun feeling to be on an extended vacation like this!!
Yes! It feels like a trip, not a vacation to be sure. Life isn’t paused in most areas (John works 5 days a week!), so we have to be strategic about spending.
What I love about cities is all the visuals—beautiful architecture, landscaping in people’s yards, parks. Museums, amusement parks, zoos—none of those things tempt me. I think that my simple rural/small town life hasn’t prepared me for the sensory overload of all those added attractions! But oh my goodness, the restaurant/cafe treats look very tempting.
There are so many things to see. And it feels like limitless side streets to explore. And the architecture is just generally amazing!
You’re absolutely right about spending where it’s important, and saving when you can. Traveling with my family can be frustrating because my husband and daughter prefer a hotel, don’t really like AirBnB. Which means spending money on meals that I would rather not spend. I need to discuss with them about our upcoming trip once we start plannning…If we were going to be gone as long as you are, we would absolutely be a lot more careful.
I wonder why they don’t like AirBnb. The only downside to Airbnb to me is the check in process. It can take more work and be a hassle. A hotel is generally always accessible. But in terms of space and amenities, I prefer an apartment/Airbnb location!
I can’t speak for those particular people, but I don’t love how Air BnB negatively impacts local neighbourhoods with rent and its use of data. On a practical level, sometimes places vary a lot in terms of cleanliness and safety, or there’s more of an onus on the guest to adhere to random rules (beyond the general expectation of being tidy and taking out the trash). I appreciate the anonymity of a hotel as in, I go as a general guest and don’t really interact with the owners. I do go to local b and bs sometimes.
Definitely downsides to Airbnb. We mostly use it for longer stays (a month in a hotel would be… a lot).
Oh, definitely!
We could not be described as frugal travellers by any stretch of the imagination, but I often do a picnic from the supermarket when I travel; their sandwiches and salads can be great. Sometimes I’ll just do a few pieces of fruit if we’ve been eating out a lot. I’ve also done the more solid salads for dinner in my hotel room (mainly when I’m travelling without G, I’m not sure how that would go down with him). That is often because I’ve felt like I’ve eaten out enough. We also almost exclusively use public transport rather than UBER and book long-distance trains early. If we are doing AirBnB’s I will also filter by price.
This is no good for travelling in Europe, but when we did a 2-week road trip to Central Australia with the kids, we borrowed my parents’ little plug-in car fridge. We were able to have breakfast and lunch supplies in the car, which saved us heaps. We were a little bit over chicken and salad wraps by the time we got home though.
A plug-in cooler/fridge would be so helpful. We’ve never had one, but I’ve eyed them before for road trips!
A coolbag could be helpful for this, despite not being as good! I took one on a trip once and it was a lifesizer when I had to clean out my fridge and defrost the freezer.