Cheap holidays to consider

When times are tough and there is not a lot of money about, it doesn’t mean that you have to miss your holiday, there are many cheap holidays that you can take without spending a fortune.

Less is more

Sometimes the less money you spend the better holiday you have. It’s about looking at all the options and choosing one that suits you and your family or you and your partner or just yourself.

Camping

Camping is one cheap option with hundreds of excellent sites in many countries and, of course, spending quality time with your family, exploring exciting new areas of the country is always a great idea.

Hill walks

Go hill walking for the price of the map and the gas to get you to a good area. Explore old churches, castles, interesting architectural oddities, new buildings, old buildings. Go to a lake or the shore, have a swim or dip your toes in the ocean. Pick up shells and build sand castles. Learn about your country, all too often we go away to see new places abroad and, shamefully we tend to know little about the area where we actually live.

Cancellations

Holiday cancellations are another way of having a cheap holiday, wait until the last minute before booking your holiday, and hope that someone has to cancel theirs. You should be prepared to go at a moment’s notice and not mind too much where your holiday destination is going to be. Have your cases packed and your passport ready and you could be skiing by dinner or lounging on the beach in the sun the following morning.

Home Exchange

If you have a lovely home in some interesting part of the country, a cottage beside the ocean, an apartment in a place of historical interest a big city, small town or farm, then maybe you could think about a home exchange. These can be undertaken in the same country or in a different country but be sure you understand exactly what you are taking on when you decide to house swap. Your house must be immaculate and all the general detritus of everyday life must be out of sight. You should lock away anything that is precious to you, but also realise that accidents happen and if something gets broken, make sure it is not your precious antique glass jug. Holidays abroad in someone else’s home are great fun, make the most of them and see all there is to see, but make sure you treat their home as you hope they are treating yours and leave it the same way as you found it.

Friends home exchange

Another type of home exchange is if you have friends living in a part of the country that you would like to visit and they would like a family holiday in your area. It might be that you are in the town and they are in the country or city and the ocean whatever combination, it is definitely worth asking as most people will not have even thought about it, but make sure you get everything sorted out before you exchange or you could lose friends.

Students

If you are a student then there are some options open to you that are not open to everyone. With an International student card (which you can obtain if you study full-time at a college or university) you can acquire low cost flights, cheap travel on buses and trains throughout Europe and many student deals on food and accommodation. Also as a student there are working vacations available, teaching vacations at student summer camps, student exchange programs and student work experience courses. Working on a farm is another option, picking grapes in France, Spain, Italy and Germany is something that many students have done over the years, the best way is to organise yourself before you go and make sure there are actually jobs to go to. There are alternative farm choices that are not restricted to students ‘Woofers’ or Workers on Organic Farms gives an opportunity to anyone who is prepared to work hard, to experience life on farms throughout the world.

Limitless options

There are many other ways to avail of cheap holidays, go in off peak times, go to cheap countries, rent cottages, find holiday specials in the ads, use charter flights, go sail boat training, the only limit is your imagination, so enjoy.