In Europe, France is a top pick for affordable holiday destinations, for these exact reasons. Not only do you have more budget flights to choose from, they are cheaper than if you flew to a more remote location. Driving to France can also have its advantages and is our favourite method of seeing the country.

On average, staying in France may be a bit more expensive than other European destinations, but the seemingly endless choices in hotels, restaurants, transportation, tours, and other travel essentials gives travellers opportunities to create their holiday to fit their budgets. And you can use Paris as your home base to set out on day trips to other more exotic locations or buy a Eurorail pass and see those more remote cities without the expense of flying there.

A note about Eurorail passes needs to be made here. You cannot buy a Euroail pass in Europe. These types of passes must be purchased outside of Europe. Also you must purchase it before your trip, and have it validated at a train station in Europe before boarding a train in your selected European destination. Check online for various offer which are usually family or period orientated.

You can purchase different types of Eurorail passes depending on how and where you’ll be using it. Prices vary according to the type of pass you buy. These can seem expensive at first glance, but they can be well worth the money when you consider the places you can go armed with this small card.

The greatest part about a European holiday is that the Sterling Pound has massive spending power abroad. With the exchange rate, you can expect to get more bang for your buck when spending overseas.

For lodging, you should look at staying in hostels which are abundant in Europe. It’s best to make reservations so you don’t have to worry where you’ll be sleeping for any given night.

In general, hostels are quite inexpensive – in many places, you can expect to stay for under £20 a night. In a hostel you will have a bed, shared bathroom, and sometimes breakfast. Remember that you are going to Europe for the sites and people, not the hotel rooms.

Travelling abroad is, of course, going to be more expensive than a trip to Cornwall, but the experience will be well worth the money spent. If you’ve budgeted enough money, you can have an amazing time with memories that will last forever! There’s also huge educational value in trips to Europe for the kids, so do your research and also find out what your kids have been learning about Europe at school.

In this series of articles we have given you only a few of the possible places that you can take your family on holiday for a budget. There are endless options for you if you think creatively and plan accordingly. What else should you know about taking a family holiday on a budget? Plenty!

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