Save Money with these Top Twelve Travel Tips

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day has me reminiscing about the week I spent on the Emerald Isle, two decades ago! Friends and I traveled around the island for one amazing week, taking buses from the Guinness Storehouse to the house of Waterford Crystal to the Cliffs of Moher. For now, we are getting as close as we can to worldschooling from home, but I’m counting down the days to our next trip. Check out this list of ways to save money with these top twelve travel tips.

Multi-Attraction Passes

See if your destination has passes that cover multiple attractions, sometimes called a multi-attraction pass, combo pass or city pass.

• Dublin has an all-inclusive pass that covers 35 attractions plus hop-on, hop-off bus rides!
• Niagara Falls has a combo pass that we’ve done with kids (and I recommend taking more than 1 day to squeeze it all in, like we did).
• Atlanta, Georgia has a CityPass that we enjoyed with kids, too! It covered fun places such as the Georgia Aquarium and Atlanta Zoo.
• Some cities in Japan have city transportation passes!

Self-guided tours

Save money on guided walking or bus tours but still get in your history. If the city is a walking city, buy a book of walks authored by locals. It’s a wonderful way to pick up the history of the city while getting in steps! It’s almost like a treasure hunt and you get a wonderful sense of the city as you wander about.

I’m a huge fan of the Top 10 series of DK Eyewitness Guidebooks, which have detailed maps of off-beat places and suggested itineraries for walking or driving.

If you don’t want to look like a tourist, stopping on city streets and reading from a book, there are podcasts! Rick Steves has a podcast of auto tours, and there are also walking podcasts that will tell you about a city as you walk through it. (I haven’t personally tried these but friends have!)

Abbreviated Tips 3 through 12 from Wanderschooling Mamas

From Lisa, @bruschoolhouse (linked to her full IG post)

• First & foremost, I try to find a rental or hotel with fun amenities and/or a great location. Other free & low cost activities are: neat trails, unique playgrounds & splash pads, waterfalls, clear lakes, pretty beaches, clear creeks to splash in, and nature centers.
• My next $ saving tip involves FOOD. Sooo pricey to eat out these days. We usually do a few meals and/or desserts out but cook the rest of the trip. One thing I especially try to avoid is spending our food budget on fast food on the road. To help in this area, I like to pack our fancy Coleman cooler (keeps ice/cold for 7 days). Check out her post for a list of what she packs into her cooler.

From Bobbie, @reclaimingwonders (linked to her full IG post)

• MUSEUM RECIPROCITY: Buy one well-chosen museum membership for about $120. Get your family in free to any museum on the reciprocity list for the next year.
  • Science and children’s museums – ASTC
  • History and art museums – NARM, Time Travelers, SERM
  • Botanical gardens – AHS
• TRAVEL HACKING: My top money saving tip only entered our life in the last year. In the last four months, our family has had ten free nights in hotels through credit card points and have lots of points saved up for this summer’s adventures. Check out her Instagram post for how to do this, step-by-step.

From Laura, @tolbertstakethetrail (linked to her full IG post)

• Stay in a campground at a national park! National park lodges are pricey and hard to get into. National park campgrounds can also be tough to get into, but the prices are….normal campground prices!!! We stayed at the Grand Canyon for $17/night—cheaper than an Indiana State Park. 🤯 It is more work to camp, but if you shop at a local grocery store for some simple, even premade food, it’s well worth the effort for the cost savings.
• Eat premade food from a grocery store or gas station! If you have horrified visions of 8 hours old hot dogs on a roller, think again! Check out her Instagram post for some of her favorite options.

From Jodi, @duckcrossinghomeschool (linked to her full IG post)

• Eat most of the meals in the hotel room, instead of at a restaurant. We’ll either grab frozen meals, or the fixings for sandwiches. Not only is it cheaper, it’s easier for me to make sure my food is actually gluten free.
• Use hotel points for most of our rooms. We have a credit card that gives us @hiltonhonors points and free rooms. We also get perks and upgrades. Check out her Instagram post for a photo of an amazing hotel room upgrade: a huge corner room in Belfast.

From K, @thishomeschoolerslife (linked to her full IG post)

• Doing this has saved me hundreds! I like to utilize as many savings opportunities as I can by contacting tourism boards many months prior (of my trip) and inquiring about:
  • discounts
  • guidebooks
  • coupon savings & information about the location. It has helped me to plan and narrow down restaurants (especially if they have a coupon offer or discounts in the pamphlet/guide book mailed to me)
• Before a trip I download several apps that help save $$ before & during my travels. Check out her Instagram post for a list of apps and for a bonus tip!

I learned so much from my friends. Do you have a genius tip to add? Please drop it in the comments below!