How to Find Cheap Accommodation: 10 Budget Travel Tips

Cheap accommodation is available all around the world. Beyond hotels, there are plenty of lodging options you can get for a fraction of the price — or even completely free. Here’s our guide on how to save money on accommodation while travelling.

Do you know what most people think? That travelling is expensive. But that’s simply not true. Travel costs can be reduced in many ways, and finding cheap accommodation alone can save you thousands on the road.

Travelling is only expensive if you choose it to be. The handful of hotels you find on the first page of Google are just a tiny fraction of the options available to you.

You can find a place to stay anywhere and at any price, sometimes even for free. It all comes down to your willingness, ability to step out of your comfort zone, and a bit of luck.

So let’s take a look at where to find cheap accommodation and what your options are.

Hostels

Price: €4 – €20 per night

Hostels are the best way for travellers to save money on the road. You share a room and bathroom with other people — sometimes even ten other travellers. That’s what makes a bunk bed so incredibly affordable. Every room has lockable lockers, and in most cases, you’ll get a simple breakfast in the morning.

The quality of hostels varies from place to place, but we’re almost always pleasantly surprised. It’s not unusual for hostels to have their own pool or restaurant, and Wi-Fi and air conditioning are standard in more developed countries (or available for a small fee).

Besides the low price, hostels are a fantastic opportunity to meet other travellers — you bump into them at every turn. The shared kitchen and common areas practically invite you to make new friends.

Tips for staying in hostels

• Avoid hostels without lockable lockers
• Get yourself earplugs and a sleeping mask
• Search for hostels on Booking.com and HostelWorld

If you’re not into socialising and prefer undisturbed sleep, you can always book a private room instead.

Budget Hotels and Guest Houses

Price: €10 – €60 per night

Guest houses and budget hotels offer more privacy than a hostel, but usually without a kitchen and at a higher price. Breakfast isn’t typically included either. On the other hand, you get a standard-sized room, a comfortable double bed, and the peace and quiet that hostels sometimes lack.

We tend to choose this type of accommodation when we have work to do and need to focus.

How to choose a budget hotel or guest house

• Use Booking.com for your search
• Read reviews carefully, especially regarding the location

Short-Term Room and Apartment Rentals

Price: €10 – €60 per night

When people have a spare room in their house or flat and live in a great location, they often offer it for rent. You can stay with them for the price of a budget hotel, but you get access to the entire flat, including the kitchen and living room.

A short-term rental in a residential neighbourhood also offers a deeper insight into local culture and everyday life. You essentially get to experience what it’s like to live as a local. That’s something no hotel or hostel can give you.

Tips for choosing the right apartment or room:

• Search for short-term rentals on Airbnb (get a discount on Airbnb)
• Read reviews from previous guests
• Check the location on the map and look at transport connections
• Longer stays are cheaper — don’t be afraid to negotiate the price

During our travels, we’ve rented countless houses, flats, and rooms. For example, in the beachside town of Playa del Carmen, we lived in a fully equipped house for an entire month, which cost us just around €10 per night.

Camping

Price: €0 – €20

Packing a tent or a travel hammock and heading into nature is often the cheapest and most fun option. From wild camping in a forest by the road to pitching your tent at a fully equipped campsite — it’s always an adventure.

With a tent, you can reach places that many travellers never visit. For the right choice of tent and sleeping bag, check out our packing guide.

Camping tips

• Always carry enough water — a source won’t always be nearby
• Store food well sealed, ideally hung from a tree
• Leave the campsite in the same condition you found it

We love camping. We spent 14 days camping in Hawaii, 45 days cycling through Europe under canvas, and two weeks in Uganda. We look forward to pitching our tent every summer!

House Sitting

Price: €0 per night

You might be surprised, but there are loads of people around the world looking for someone to look after their home while they’re away for an extended period.

Most of the time, this means caring for dogs and cats, watering the garden, and maintaining the house. In return, you get the entire house for free — and not uncommonly, a car too!

House sitting tips

• The best platform is TrustedHousesitters
• Clarify and write down your responsibilities with the owner beforehand
• Don’t search for specific dates — be as flexible as possible
• Fill out your profile carefully; house sitting is based on mutual trust

Homestay

Price: €10 – €60 per night

Living with locals is the best way to fully experience a foreign country. And when you don’t speak the language, it’s quite an entertaining experience too. A homestay differs from short-term rentals in that you actively participate in family life. You have breakfast with the host family, sometimes dinner, and if agreed upon, you even help around the house.

How to choose the right homestay

To find a homestay, simply search Google for your destination name along with the word “homestay.” You’ll usually find several websites offering them right away.

Communicate as much as possible in advance, and if you’re searching on the spot, agree on everything before you pay. This mainly concerns meals, the standard of accommodation, and any help your host might expect. That way, you won’t be unpleasantly surprised.

Couchsurfing

Price: €0 per night

If you’ve never heard of Couchsurfing, it’s high time you signed up. It’s a huge community (over 5 million people) of individuals who offer their couches and spare beds to travellers for free.

Why do they do it? Because they love meeting new people and often share the same travel spirit. You communicate intensively with every host before your stay, and you both leave reviews afterwards. If you’re an introvert and feel uncomfortable chatting with strangers, Couchsurfing might not be the best option for you.

Tips for successful Couchsurfing

• Fill out your Couchsurfing profile as thoroughly as possible — you need to earn your host’s trust
• Always put effort into your accommodation request — the more personalised, the better
• Expect to spend time chatting with your host or even going on a day trip together
• Other great platforms for Couchsurfing are WarmShowers and HospitalityClub

Volunteering: Accommodation and Food for Work

Price: €0 – €25 per night

Instead of paying with money, you can pay for your accommodation with work. There are countless opportunities around the world, from specialised tasks (a doctor in Africa) to basic jobs anyone can do (building a fence around a farm in Scotland).

This typically gets you into schools, hostels, farms, or even on a boat.

Tips for finding accommodation in exchange for work:

• WWOOF, WorkAway, and HelpX are the best platforms for finding volunteer opportunities
• Always clarify in advance how many hours of work per day the host or organisation expects and whether meals are included
• Sometimes you have to pay to volunteer — watch out for that!

Home Exchange

Price: membership fee on HomeExchange or LoveHomeSwap

Several specialised websites offer home exchange services. For many people, it’s a very cheap way to enjoy a holiday in comfort while their own home is well taken care of.

If you own a house or a nice flat, definitely register on one of these websites. You might just manage to swap homes for a week with someone who lives right by the sea or high in the mountains.

Home exchange tips:

• The best websites are HomeExchange and LoveHomeSwap
• Getting your first reference is always the hardest part — keep trying even after a few rejections
• Choose exchanges appropriate to the quality of your own home — nobody will swap a luxury villa for a run-down flat on the outskirts of town
• You don’t even need your own property to start; HomeExchange works on a credit system — read the terms and conditions carefully

Overnight Transport

Price: the cost of a ticket or flight

If you have a journey of more than eight hours ahead of you, consider overnight transport. Trains, planes, buses, and ferries often offer night services specifically designed for sleeping. You won’t find a shower on board, but you’ll fall asleep and wake up in a completely different place!

We took a night ferry from Greece to Italy and spent the entire night on the upper deck. The pleasant breeze alternated with diesel fumes, but it was an experience we fondly look back on.

The overnight train from Bangkok south to the coast was also worth it. After a comfortable night in an air-conditioned carriage, we were woken by the morning sun in our berths and watched the Thai countryside roll by outside the windows.

Tips for overnight travel:

• If possible, choose a seat with the most legroom
• On trains, book a lower berth rather than an upper one — the air conditioning often blows directly in your face or lights shine on you up top
• Bring earplugs, a hoodie (in the tropics, AC can cool carriages down to 16°C), and a sleeping mask
• In Asia, use 12go.asia — we’ve had excellent experiences with them

Southeast Asia and India are a category of their own, where the differences in accommodation quality and availability are truly enormous. We therefore recommend doing thorough research before heading to these regions.

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