When travelling, its important to find a safe place where you wish to stay. Regardless of your budget, whether you are staying in a 5 star hotel or a hostel, you should prioritise somewhere safe and hygienic! You also need to watch out for hidden costs in travel tickets and excursions and even things like city tax when staying in a hotel! When travelling solo, I have picked up many tips which I would love to share. These tips can help you get discounts and actually the price reduce of your overall trip and prepare you for those hidden costs!

What Is City Tax?

When travelling to different cities, you are often expected to pay CITY TAX. This is the case in all-inclusive hotels, hostels and pretty most city accommodation around the world. Some companies which you book through online will include the city tax in the full price of the room, so you pay for your room and then pay for tax once you get to the hotel. This is super helpful because you will then know exactly how much you need to pay once you arrive. However, not all companies will do this for you, and if you aren’t planning to book beforehand, be prepared to pay this as soon as you arrive and book your room at the hotel. Each country city tax differs in price, but you can be looking from roughly £1 to £5.00 per night in most locations.

Should I Book Direct Or With A Booking Company?

When booking your hotel, it is of course best to pre-book as you can never be sure that when when you arrive at a hotel that they will have the space to accommodate you. You can also save money by booking online, and in some cases, earn rewards which will give you free overnight stays. Despite the rewards you may receive with online booking companies, it is often cheaper to book directly with the hotel. If you find the hotel you wish to stay at, simply search them on google or ring them up to ask for a quote and you may end up saving quite a bit on your hotel bill!

Furthermore, air bnbs offered in certain cities may actually just be hotel rooms offered at a higher price. So always check the air bnb which you are staying at, and again give it a google search and see if it is part of a hotel establishment and booking directly. By staying as a hotel customer you may end up saving money!

One of my favourite tips to share with you is that studio room hotels exist! They are often advertised on air bnb sites. Some studio hotel rooms are the perfect place to stay when you are staying for a longer while. They often contain a kitchen and fridge etc. but are still part of a big hotel block, meaning you get all the amenities and reception that you would for a normal hotel. They often aren’t more expensive than other hotel rooms around the area and can help you save money on expensive hotel breakfasts and dinners as you can cook in your room!

Where Should I Stay?

Staying out of the city is of course a well known and simple solution to big city hotel costs. However, staying out of the city can also cost more due to travel tickets etc. Before you book your city out of the hotel, make sure that you wont be spending the money that you save on travel tickets and other hidden costs.

I always recommend staying just out of the city so that the travel is still very cheap (as you are still close) and you are still experiencing the city just not in the heart, which lets face it, isn’t always the best due to the business and expensive food and drink costs. But always make sure as a solo traveller that people are aware of where you are staying and you have good facilities where you choose to stay. Its also a good idea to compare train/bus lines so that where you are staying is easily accessible to where you wish to visit and places like the airpot!

How Do I Book A Travel Ticket?

Travel tickets, such as trains and buses are always one of those costs that you don’t prepare for. However, with apps like trainline, you can search the estimated costs of these. It is also a good app to help you plan your routes, which is also a great way to help you stay safe when travelling. You can pre-book tickets online in some countries by using these websites and travel planners, but be aware of scamming sites. I personally prefer to buy at the station as it is less confusing and often you can just use a machine rather than redeeming your code which you receive after buying online.

You should always look into different types of travel tickets because in some countries, you can buy weekly passes for tourists that are cheaper than the average daily passes. Furthermore, in some countries, like the Netherlands, they offer OV chipkarts which are basically like a ‘credit card’ for travel, and work out cheaper as you don’t have to pay the extra 1euro that you pay for paper printed card. However, these are best if you are planning to travel for a long period of time or more frequent visits.

Which Flight Should I Take?

Flight costs are also something which you need to look out for. Again, I recommend booking with the airline directly over third party bookings. When booking direct with airlines you may receive perks like the easyJet flight club, which I have and would love to write a blog on! It is also obvious that flights during the week are cheapest with Tuesday to Thursday being the cheapest time to fly, so if you can, travel during the week! It also means the places where you are visiting is often quieter too.

Always be careful with the hidden costs of flights such as baggage restrictions. I always used to use this neat hack, where I would use easyJet hands free, as you pay £5.00 (august 2020) to put your luggage in the hold, it meant I could take more stuff and a bigger case without lugging it around and paying for a whole cabin bag! This is an example of how researching can save you time and money!

Solo Travel

I hope that with all that information, you now have some great tips to help you on your solo travels! I have loved writing this series and cant wait to share more travel related blogs. I hope you have also enjoyed reading them! Leave a comment below to let me know what you thought!

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