Answering your most asked question:
How to Plan a Multi-Destination Trip to Europe or Asia—
So I basically “backpack” but the boujee way – checked luggage and hotels/Airbnb instead of a carry on backpack and hostels, I could never. Just make sure you’re ready to juggle luggage, it’s not too bad.
All you need is $1k-2k to start booking flights and hotels/AirBnbs, AT LEAST 10 days PTO (Paid Time Off) from your job so you can have a guaranteed paycheck when you come back home, and AT LEAST 1 other person to split hotel/Airbnb accommodations with. In my opinion, I’ve found in general – you don’t need anymore than 2-3 days in each country you choose unless you’re city hopping within that country then approximately one day per city. This is an adventure trip, not a relaxing one. You will constantly be on the go so be prepared to know what you’re signing up for!
First, I do A LOT of flight/train/destination research to determine dates of travel, method of transportation and affordable destinations – write it down or take screenshots. I look to book the (usually) most expensive part first – the outbound one way flight to your selected destination (typically $300-$450 per person to Europe/$500 per person to Asia) This is only if roundtrip doesn’t make sense based on the destinations you choose or if it isn’t running you cheaper. Also, look around different airports in cities nearby your home based airport to fly out of. Sometimes a 3 hour drive to that airport to save $200 is worth it. Once you’re in Europe or Asia, one way flights or trains to hop country to country are SO cheap. I’m not married to specific airlines or picky about any, you pay for what you get – so my source of truth, my bible of traveling is Google Flights (scroll down for a detailed explanation and screenshot). It filters almost every airline and tells you the most efficient flight time and cheapest travel dates. I don’t do connecting flights unless its a short layover because making your travel time longer will drain you, I don’t care how cheap, typically stick to 10 hours to Europe. However, if it’s a long layover in a destination I have family or friends in (FLL/MIA or JFK/LGA for me) and have enough time to leave the airport and come back (yes, you can do that!) – sometimes I’ll make that a trip of itself but make sure to check-in your bags and have a light carry-on/personal bag. I also use Omio.com or RailEurope.com and choose the cheapest flights/trains (factor in additional fees for carry on or checked bags if needed). I usually book 2-3 months in advance – every flight, train, hotel/Air Bnb separately… hurts your bank account less being spread out instead of all at once.
The cheapest destinations in Europe I’ve found to fly out of from MCO, FLL & MIA (I’m based in Florida) are to/from Dublin, Paris, Rome, Madrid, and Lisbon.
The cheapest destination in Asia I’ve found to fly out of FLL to/from is Bangkok.
Second, once I determine the cheapest country to fly into, I look at cheap flights/trains to countries nearby my “fly into” destination and confirm hotels/AirBnb are also affordable in that city. Once I determine what cities/countries I’ll visit based on flight/train prices, I then book my flight to come home from the cheapest city if I didn’t book a round trip (that makes sense within my travel route) as that’s second most important/most expensive.
Third, I book the flights/trains to hop country to country as they are pretty cheap and all booked separately.
Fourth, I book the hotels/AirBnbs once all my flights are booked (but I’ve already done my research in Step 1 to determine the accommodations are reasonable). My saying when going through this process is “I can always be homeless but never stranded!” But you’ll always find somewhere to stay, so that won’t be the case, but flights will always raise in price.
Lastly, I worry about food, excursions and spending money after all flights, trains, hotels/Airbnbs are booked. This is obviously another cost to save for on top of the $1k-2k I initially said you need. I’ve found the sweet spot is walking with $2k to travel with, but this should be the least of your worries as you can save for this after everything is booked. Plus, food cost is cheaper in most parts of Europe and super cheap in Asia so don’t worry at all about that.
Multi-Destination Trip Examples in Europe & Asia—
I always appreciate full transparency so these are real prices from trips I’ve booked myself .
1) Europe – 12 nights, 13 days (August 5th to August 18th, 2018)
•FLL to Paris One Way via Norwegian Air (includes 1 checked bag) $389 per person
•Paris to London via RailEuro $105 (bags included)
•London to Venice via British Airways $135 per person (includes 1 checked bag)
•Venice to Florence via RailEuro $42 per person (bags included)
•Florence to Naples via RailEuro $51 per person (bags included)
•Naples to Rome via RailEuro $34 per person (bags included)
•Rome to FLL One Way via Norwegian Air $524 (includes 1 checked bag)
FLIGHTS/TRAINS TOTAL: $1,280 per person
AIRBNB TOTAL: $1,701 ($141 avg per night) This was split between 5 people.
MY TOTAL COST TO BOOK: $1,421.75
2) Asia – 13 nights, 14 days (March 16th to March 31st, 2019)
•FLL to Bangkok RoundTrip via China Airlines $1,036 per person
•Bangkok to Surat Thani (Koh Phangan) via Thai Air Asia $47 per person
•Surat Thani to Phuket (Koh Phi Phi & Phang Nga Bay) via Thai Air Asia $93 per person
•Phuket to Bali via Scoot Airlines $138 per person
•Bali to Bangkok via Thai Air Asia $72 per person
FLIGHTS TOTAL: $1,386 per person
AIRBNB TOTAL: $598 ($46 avg per night) This was split between 2 people.
MY TOTAL COST TO BOOK: $1,685 (excluding food, excursions, miscellaneous spending, etc.)
3) Europe – 9 nights, 10 days (November 27th to December 8th, 2019)
•FLL to Madrid RoundTrip via AirEuropa (includes 1 checked bag) $612 per person
•Madrid to Copenhagen via RyanAir $81.14 per person
•Copenhagen to Budapest via RyanAir $58.48 per person
•Budapest to Berlin via WizzAir $16.21 per person
•Berlin to Prague via RailEuro $24.46 per person
•Prague to Madrid via RyanAir $16.31 per person
FLIGHTS/TRAINS TOTAL: $808.60 per person
AIRBNB TOTAL: $308.07 (excluding Spain, I stayed by my friend who was studying abroad) ($34.23 avg per night)
This was split between 2 people.
MY TOTAL COST TO BOOK: $962.63 (excluding food, excursions, miscellaneous spending, etc.)
4) Europe – 11 nights, 12 days (November 16th to November 28th, 2022)
•MCO to Dublin One Way via Delta $450 (includes 1 checked bag)
•Dublin to Amsterdam via RyanAir $58.30 (includes 1 checked bag fee)
•Amsterdam to Nice via Swiss Airlines $144 (includes 1 checked bag fee)
•Nice to Monaco Roundtrip via RailEuro $8 (no bags)
•Nice to Eze Roundtrip via RailEuro $8 (no bags)
•Nice to Lisbon via EasyJet $65.27 (includes 1 checked bag fee)
•Lisbon to MCO One Way via AirTransat $345.42 (includes 1 checked bag)
FLIGHTS/TRAINS TOTAL: $1,078.99 per person
HOTELS TOTAL: $1,188.61 ($108 avg per night) This was split between 2 people.
MY TOTAL COST TO BOOK: $1,673.29 (excluding food, excursions, miscellaneous spending, etc.)
ADDITIONAL INSTAGRAM Q&A —
Q: Just how?!?
A: Hopefully you read the above by now, that ones for you ❤️
Q: Can you help me plan a Euro trip next year?
A: Unfortunately with my 9-5, I literally have no time and am no travel planner. But hopefully this blog post gives you an idea of how I do it, the price ranges and a route guideline. But do feel free to DM me for any advice!
Q: Who did you book flights/hotels through?
A: Google Flights is the only flight booking platform I use in general (other than Omio for European flights). I typically search one ways since I usually fly in and out of two different destinations, in map view & I don’t select a “to” destination. I just hit search and enter a random date for a flexible search (see image below). I literally pick where to go and when to go based on cheap flight prices and what makes the most sense flight time wise. You don’t want to be spending 5 hours in a flight hopping country to country losing an entire day in the middle of your trip, I recommend 2-3 hour flight/train times max.
To book stay accommodation, I use Hotels.com solely because I love the “book now and pay later” option (unless it’s more expensive to book now and pay later, then just pay it now) and they always have the best prices IMO, or through my company hotel discounts website which is only for me – sorry! Then of course, Airbnb.com is great for the pay half now and pay half later option. But recently (like for this last Euro trip) they’re the same price as hotels, so hotels win for me.
Q: How did you book this trip? Was it a package?
A: I don’t book packages for trips unless it’s an all-inclusive vacation in the Caribbean. For those, I recommend CheapCarribbean.com or JetBlue Vacations. For really far international trips, I like to have full control over creating my own itinerary to see the places I want and do the things I enjoy, so this trip was specifically Google Flights, Hotels.com and my company hotel discounts website.
Q: How do you cater the trips to your budget? Best way to travel on a budget?
A: I don’t limit myself to a budget when planning and booking trips because I’m initially looking for the cheapest flights in the first place, with the mind set of knowing I’ll have to drop at least $1-2k. But getting to go to 4-5 countries is always worth that to me. I close my eyes, just hit the book button and pray it works out! Always does. Even if I hypothetically make myself broke from booking all the flights and hotels, but not having anything saved at that point in time for the trip itself… who cares! I’ll wing it, save up again since I booked 2-3 months in advance there’s still time, and whatever amount I have saved up by the time it’s time to leave is what “type of trip” I’ll get, right? So that part is up to you to have the funds by the time you depart for your trip. I typically plan my paychecks out well since I have a 9-5, my salary is guaranteed and I always know what to expect/what I’ll have so not sure how much I’m winging it since I have an idea, but you get the point.
Feel free to comment or DM me on Instagram if you have any additional questions!
xoxo, Chrissy
