(Photo: Paris Tourist Office/Photographer: Amélie Dupont)
Public-Transit Options
A great way to save money while on vacation is to commit to using public transportation in your destination. It will keep you on track with your budget and also allow you to see the city in a new and different light—the way locals do every day.
When planning your daily itinerary, peruse a map to figure out how you'll get from the museum to the coffee shop and back to the hotel. Familiarizing yourself with the city's layout will go a long way once you arrive in your destination—because no one wants to spend their vacation wandering around looking for bus stops. Download a city-specific transportation app, like SNCF Direct (the official app of the Paris Metro system, available on Apple, Android, and BlackBerry for free), or one that's more comprehensive, like the helpful HopStop app (available on Apple and Android for free), which provides train schedules and public-transit directions for a handful of European and North American cities. In addition, plan to buy a multiday transit pass—it will almost always be more economical than purchasing single tickets for each ride.
Researching the system before you go will reduce the chances of a mishap when you arrive. If the city is known for having a difficult metro system or buses that are always late, pick and choose when you can afford to take a cab or plan to get your exercise by walking whenever you can. And keep in mind that not all public transportation runs late—in some cities, trains stop at midnight or shortly thereafter. You wouldn't want to get stranded by yourself late at night in a foreign city.
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