Is it possible to travel abroad for short trips spontaneously and on a budget!

[Iknowtheyareusefulstorage]

Basically this - DS (17) and I wanted to try and make a few memories and be a bit more interesting!

We are both constrained to school times and haven't a great budget - is this a completely pie in the sky dream only for the rich, or is it still possible to sometimes grab a toothbrush and go - and if so, where to look?

Everything and everywhere is on the table.

Thank you x

Nope. If you're on a budget the further you plan ahead the better.

Booking ahead will be the budget option

Well, just for comparison, we booked two eurostar trips last year, one at short notice (3 weeks), one six months in advance. Two nights in city centre Ibis or similar hotels, in Belgium.

The 3 weeks notice one it was cheapest to do a eurostar package and it was 800 quid. The 6 months notice one we booked train and hotel (which was slightly nicer than an Ibis) separately for 400 quid. Both outside school holidays.

So booking in advance halved the cost for almost identical trips. As you have to go in school holidays, I'd be spontaneous well in advance 😀

Okay - need to be planned spontaneity by the sound of it?
We can do weekends as well as holidays.
Thank you 🙂

If you don't mind where you go then go on google flights, put in dates, departure airport but no destination and see where comes up cheap

Groupon and secret escapes worth a look too

yeah of course, look at coach holidays, Butlins, scour Booking.com etc. Consider camping too, of course.

Try skyscanner app for very cheap flights, you can search a whole month for the cheapest and there's an "I'll go anywhere" button.
Then once you've got the flights, do an air bnb search for those dates and search the price from low to high.
We did it for a good few years pre- covid. Haven't done it since because we have small kids now.

Yes if you are flexible with where. Look on airline websites, TUI etc and you'll see bargains for travel immediately but only if they have availability and easiest for one or two people. I booked at 1/4 of the list price for instance to fuerterentura ai with 3 weeks to go and my dd did a weeks cruise ai also for 75% off 4 days before departure (afterall the plane had empty seats and the ship had a room, I'm guessing that's the marginal cost of 2 extra passengers plus a little extra.) our best bargains have all been TUI own brand planes, hotels and ships

I've seen even cheaper deals but we couldn't go then, as only 24 hours before departure. We never book more tgann6 weeks ahead, you pay so much more

See where Ryanair flies to from your local airport. If you travel with just a small under the seat bag it can still be cheap.
Also use skyscanner as others have suggested.
It might throw up destinations you'd never have thought of!
I had a great long weekend in Riga a while back. I've also had some fabulous holidays in Hungary - though it's getting a bit more expensive these days. Camping in Hungary is very cheap though the facilities are a lot more basic than you would find in France for example.

Definitely Skyscanner search from whichever airport you're departing from to "anywhere". You can find some very low fares that way.

Some great ideas thank you - I am trying to be a bit braver and just go for it. I don't want to miss out by overthinking!

I do regularly! It's very doable

Any tips @egowise ?

Usually 3 weeks before is cheaper if you're booking late.

You don't get the best deals, but depending on what you want and when you fly, you can get good deals.
Thursdays and Tuesdays are usually cheaper to fly to Turkey for example.

@Iknowtheyareusefulstorage join Facebook group Extreme day trips UK - you'll get lots of ideas for cheap short haul trips

Are you within reach of the Channel tunnel (driving rather than Eurostar)? There are SO many places within a couple of hours' drive (Bruges, the Hague, the first world war battlefields, the Champagne region, Arras, the amazing aquarium in Boulogne etc etc). We did the tunnel at the last minute last year in the school holidays, and it was 200 quid for the car, rather than £1000+ for four flights. And so much quicker than all the faffing around with airports. But we're within an hour's drive of the tunnel.

Not hugely near unfortunately, but I'll still add it to the list! 😃

Yes you can. Ryan Air tickets aren't on the 3rd party sale sites at the moment. They are super cheap at the moment.

Hotels / apartments are cheap through local tourist information offices.

We went to Barcelona at short notice; tickets £35 return, 3 person flat £450 for the week. Try for self catering because it is much cheaper than eating out every night.

We've done some tiring but massively fun weekends away by getting sort of Friday 8.30 pm flights from Heathrow! (Or any airport, as not sure where you are). Places we've found with surprisingly cheap flights + availability have been Copenhagen (it's so close!) and Bologna (€1 pizza? Yes, please!).

Live _the dash on Instagram do great budget ideas.