Welcome to my new column, 'We ask the budget travel experts' where you get the inside track on the best of budget travel from an exciting range of travel experts..
In our first interview, I'm very excited to present to you a two part bumper Q&A with the amazing Lara Dunston from Grantourismo.
Lara Dunston + Terence Carter from Gran Tourismo
"Holiday rentals are the way to go if you’re travelling on a budget..."
...says travel writer Lara Dunston and her writer-photographer husband Terence Carter who recently finished a yearlong round-the-world trip which they blogged about on Grantourismo
The couple stayed in 36 different holiday rentals, provided by their project sponsor HomeAway Holiday-Rentals
Around one-third of them budget places, so we thought we’d pick their brains about any pearls of budget travel wisdom they could pass onto us.
1. What are your favourite budget destinations in Europe?
Kotor, Montenegro
My top three would be Krakow, Poland; Budapest, Hungary; and Kotor, Montenegro. Having said that, it’s not really about whether the place itself is a good or bad budget destination, it’s about how you apply yourself to the experience of it.
"Budget travel is about attitude, resourcefulness, and a way of thinking more than anything."
Budget travel hasn’t always been possible or has been super-challenging in some destinations, such as London and Paris, where accommodation at all levels is expensive. But now that there are increasingly more affordable accommodation options, like couchsurfing, home stays and holiday rentals, it’s far easier to keep costs down these days.
2. Why would you recommend holiday rentals as a budget friendly option for budget travellers?
Krakow Apartment
Holiday rentals can cost far less than hotels even though they might be just as stylish and more spacious – partly because they don’t have the amenities, facilities and services a hotel does, as well as real estate value and the colossal costs of running hotels. Another reason holiday rentals can be cheaper is because they’re not slap bang in the city centre, but city centres can be dull places once workers go home and inner city suburbs are more fascinating and fun. Stay even further out and you’ll pay even less – just make sure you’re on a bus/train line. Having a kitchen is a big advantage – being able to cook and shop local markets and supermarkets in a foreign place is fun. But even if you don’t cook, you can save lots on stocking the fridge with drinks and snacks. If you can share a rental with friends or family, even better – it can sometimes work out cheaper than a hostel and you have all that freedom and space.
3. Would you consider hostelling and couchsurfing in your travels across the world?
My husband and I did a lot of backpacking when we were young – the first trip we ever took together was a six-week backpacking trip around Mexico; I spent a year in Latin America doing research for my masters and backpacked the length and breadth of the continent; and we backpacked all over Europe. We’re a little older and married now and hostels aren’t ideal for couples, especially a working travel writing couple. Ditto couchsurfing, which I’d consider if I was travelling solo or as a travel experiment, but it’s impossible when you’re working – which is why holiday rentals suit us so well. We can set up our laptops and spread all our stuff out at desks or the dining table, and create a home office for a while. We can work at any time without disturbing anyone, turn some music on, open a bottle of wine, cook dinner as late as we like, and watch a DVD to relax before bed. Sometimes we’ll make friends when we travel or catch up with old friends and invite them to dinner. These are all things you can’t do at a hostel, hotel or someone’s living room.
4. What is your most memorable budgettastic foodie experience in Europe?
There are so many! Cheeses, salamis and olives from any deli or market in Italy; tapas bars in Spain; aperitivo hour in Milan where you can help yourself to a free buffet when you buy drinks; cicchetti (bar snacks) in Venice; baguettes fresh from the oven, smothered in pâté in France; blini and caviar on the train from Moscow to St. Petersburg; making a salad of sun-ripened vine-picked tomatoes, fresh fragrant basil and olive oil, anywhere on the Mediterranean; pizza in Napoli; Turkish snacks (including flavoured hommous!) from Vienna’s multicultural Naschmarkt; churros in Jerez; pommes frites with mayonnaise in Belgium; and all the fantastic seafood snacks at the markets in Scandinavia where for just a few pounds you can buy fresh crab on pikelets, tubs of small fresh prawns, and big bread rolls stuffed with seafood.
5. What are your favourite budget places from your grand tour?
Kotor Apartment
1. Ceret, France
We stayed in a big, beautiful two-bedroom ground floor flat with a sunny courtyard that goes for £55 per night or around £12 per person.
2. Kotor, Montenegro
Although it was a 15-minute stroll around the waterfront to the old city, we had a spacious modern apartment with spectacular views that sleeps six and costs £45-70 depending on the season, so about £8-12 per person.
3. Perpignan, France
Home to Europe’s spookiest Easter procession; here we stayed in a cute, central, old city apartment that sleeps four, so about £15 per person.
4. Sardinia, Italy
Our home there was a charming apartment in a beautifully restored old house, a short drive from the beach that costs £50 per night in low season, or £25 per person
Barcelona Apartment
5. Spain
We stayed in several apartments, in Jerez (http://bit.ly/eGwrdI) Madrid (http://bit.ly/ihm0Ll ) and Barcelona, all modern, spacious, and central, for about £25-30 per person per night.
Stay tuned tommorrow for the second part of our Q&A with Grantourismo where Lara gives us her top 10 tips for saving money on travelling in Europe!
All images are courtesy of © Terence Carter
