New couch or a trip to France? Hm, hm, that’s tough, but we’ll go with France. How much time do you actually spend on a couch! Seriously, though. I know that not everyone is willing to sacrifice it all for the next trip. Honestly, not even me, though I could best be described as “Will work for travel”.  But, how can you have a trip and not have to give everything else up, still afford that couch? We share our favorite ways to save money on family travel:

Coolkidz’ ways to save on food:

• Avoid expensive restaurants: we have often learned that the best rated restaurants on TripAdvisor are generally places where the tourists go and not the locals.  Since traveling with kids we usually rent an apartment or we go camping, which gives us a chance to make our meals ourselves. It’s way cheaper than eating out all the time and we still get to try the specialties, we just buy them in the supermarket.
• Try picnics: grab already prepared food from a supermarket or buy a pizza and eat it on a beach or up in the mountains – no restaurant can top those views.
• Try IKEA and other stores with restaurants – we seriously plan all our trips around Ikeas’. If there is one around, we go there for lunch: kids love the food and the playground, I love the fact that I’ll be able to enjoy my meal in peace and there is never trouble with finding a parking space.

Coolkidz’ ways to save on accommodation:

• Rent an apartment: it is usually more affordable and you get more space.

Here is your guide to finding perfect family accommodation.

• Go camping: we are big fans of camping and can’t wait for warmer weather to take our tent for a ride. Camping is low-cost while still a lot of fun.
• Visit family and friends and you can really save up on accommodation and spend some great time with your loved ones.

Coolkidz’ ways to save on transportation:

• Look for deals and plan everything yourself:  We use global search engine sites, which help us find comparisons for flights, car rentals, ferries…

Check out why you might not be getting cheap airplane tickets and what can you do about it.

• When it comes to driving: it’s good to bear in mind that in most European countries there is a big difference in the price of gas on the gas pumps located on highways or off the highway.
• Get a booster seat to save on car rentals.

Coolkidz’ ways to save on entertainment:

• Research: if you are planning to visit a lot of sites, then it pays to research and see if there are any discount cards, combo tickets, on-line savings, admission free days… which will help you get extensive reductions.
• Don’t overdo it: pick one thing a day – like a zoo, museum, or a science center and then really enjoy it and take time to see it.
• Enjoy the free stuff: every place usually has a lot of great free things to see and do as well.