A good holiday doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Sometimes all you really need is a change of scenery, good food, somewhere comfortable to sleep and enough money left over to actually enjoy yourself.
And there are plenty of places you can visit without turning the trip into a major financial project. The secret is knowing where to go, when to go, and what is actually worth spending on.
Start With Africa
We often start thinking of London, Dubai or Paris when the holiday conversation comes up, when there are great trips much closer to home.
Ghana is an easy example. Accra gives you restaurants, nightlife, galleries, markets and beaches, while a few days around Cape Coast or another coastal town can completely change the pace of the trip.
Rwanda is another option for people who want something quieter. Kigali has good restaurants, cafés, art and beautiful scenery, and you don’t need an exhausting itinerary to enjoy it. Food, art, nightlife, beaches, vineyards, shopping, mountains — pick what interests you rather than trying to squeeze the entire country into seven days.
Morocco, Egypt, Kenya and Tanzania are also worth looking at. The point is to stop treating Africa as though every holiday here has to involve an expensive safari or luxury resort.
Travel When Everybody Else Isn’t
Timing can save you serious money.
Christmas, Easter, school holidays and major festivals usually come with higher flight and hotel prices. Travelling just before or after peak season can mean cheaper rooms, cheaper flights and fewer crowds.
It also helps to be flexible. Instead of deciding, “I must go to Dubai from the 15th to the 20th,” search different dates and destinations and see where the better deal takes you. Sign up for airline alerts, compare fares and, if your dates are flexible, check a few days either side.
Sometimes Tuesday is considerably kinder to your bank account than Friday.
Split the Bill
There is a reason group trips remain popular: some expenses become much easier when divided.
A beautiful apartment or villa that feels expensive for two people may be perfectly reasonable between four or six. Airport transfers and car hire can also work out better when shared.
But choose your travel companions carefully. Saving money on accommodation is pointless if you spend the entire holiday irritated because one person wants to sleep until 2 pm and another has prepared a colour-coded itinerary beginning at 6 am.
Decide What Deserves Your Money
Budget travel does not mean suffering.
If you love beautiful hotels, spend more on your room and cut back elsewhere. If food is your thing, choose simpler accommodation and keep your money for restaurants. If you are going somewhere for the beaches, perhaps you don’t need to pay for an expensive resort when there is a perfectly good hotel nearby.
Choose one or two things to splurge on rather than making every part of the trip premium.
Make Free Part of the Itinerary
Some of the best things you do on holiday cost very little.
Walk around interesting neighbourhoods. Visit markets. Find public beaches. Check for free museum days, parks, galleries and cultural spaces. Take public transport where it is safe and practical. Eat at small local restaurants instead of making every meal a reservation at somewhere fashionable.
And leave some empty space in your itinerary. You don’t have to book an activity for every morning, afternoon and evening to prove you had a good holiday.
Don’t Spend Money Performing the Holiday
This one deserves its own rule.
You do not need seven new outfits for a four-day trip. You don’t have to visit every viral restaurant. You don’t need to order the most expensive thing on the menu because the table needs to look good in pictures.
Repeat an outfit. Have breakfast at the café downstairs. Spend an afternoon by the pool. Wander around. Find somewhere unexpectedly good and go back the next day.
