Our anniversary was getting closer so Joe & I wanted to treat ourselves to a long weekend exploring somewhere neither of us had been together before. We started searching last minute holiday deals for the perfect romantic destination, but such holidays are only so affordable if you are willing to go mid-week – not an option! After some careful calculations we estimated it was probably going to cost us around £600 for two nights in Rome, this wasn’t feasible if we were going to stick to our new-found budget plans.
So England it was!
We spent 4 nights before departure planning a road trip around South-West England and managed to draw up a schedule jam packed with three exciting new cities to explore and fun things to do.
Bristol – Just £26.60!
First stop on the road trip was Bristol, where we explored Blaise Castle and its beautiful grounds. The best thing about visiting Bristol is that there’s plenty of things for us to do on a budget! We had researched Blaise castle before we left home and found that it was totally FREE to visit, our only cost was lunch! We could of easily spent longer here exploring the grounds but the heavens opened and we decided it was best to move on. The afternoon took us into Bristol’s busy city centre. A friend had told us about an indoor crazy golf course called Jungle Rumble which was the perfect treat for a wet afternoon. As we’d saved money in the morning we decided to play a few holes!
Bath – £107.60 (inc our anniversary dinner and accommodation)
We arrived in a rather drizzly Bath in very much need of dinner! So after checking into our Travelodge and feeding the ever hungry parking meter we came across a Thai Tapas restaurant. I’d never really tried Thai food so I was intrigued and tapas is a great way to try new food as you can pick a selection and what you don’t like you can leave for your partner! – Who wraps bacon around mussels anyway!? The next morning we made the most of the morning sun and went to see the Abbey and Roman Baths. I was really keen to see the Roman Baths but was rather let down when we saw it was £11 each to walk around them – peeking over the walls would have to do! It did seem that everything in Bath came at a price, we were put off the magnificent Abbey and the garden grounds due to costs. But we were still able to enjoy the beautiful views of Bath just walking through the streets. I would definitely recommend visiting Bath, but perhaps not for the budget traveler.
Bournemouth – £95.91 (inc accommodation and three meals out!)
Bournemouth was our final stop and we had plenty of time to enjoy the sights. We checked into an impressive Spa Hotel that was actually cheaper than our Travelodge in Bath! The sun broke through the clouds just in time for lunch, so we set out along the beach front to find some classic seaside grub – fish and chips of course! We spent most of our time in Bournemouth walking along the beach, playing on the penny machines at the arcade and drinking tea at various cafe stops along the promenade!
So how much did it cost?
Our last minute budget road trip came to a grand total of £337.06!! Almost half the price of a city break in Rome!
The Budget Breakdown.
- Food – £154.51
- Accommodation – £88.00
- Travel – £60.50
- Attractions – £19.20
- Parking – £13.10
Our Tips for Budget Travels
- Pre-Planning – the best thing you can do before setting out to explore a new city is to Google it! Its amazing what you’ll find – we definitely wouldn’t have found Blaise castle if we hadn’t of done our research.
- Set a budget – When you set aside a budget for a trip its much easier to stick to low costs when planning which attractions to visit. Its always nice when you have money in the pot left over from a trip too!!
- Keep a money log – We found it very useful to note down what we were spending as we went along that way we were sure about how much we had left to spend to enjoy the rest of our trip.
Experienced travellers, do you have any tips for travelling on a budget? We’d love to hear your suggestions!
[…] a day for the 3days; this sounded a lot more realistic than it actually was, I’m glad to have planned a weekend breakaway not long after this trip! It was exhausting and I was very glad to be set up next to the […]
Sounds like a cool little road trip away! I love a bit of crazy golf, I will have to remember the Jungle Rumble next time I am down Bristol way.
We went to Bournemouth recently on one of those Groupon style deals and although the hotel was a bit grotty you couldn’t really complain about the price at around £100 for two, for two nights including dinner both nights!!!! We found it a bit of a laugh to be honest and it made the trip more memorable in a weird way, plus we only stayed in the room to sleep anyway and was out the rest of the time!
I’d recommend signing up to the travel section at Groupon along with Amazon Local, KGB Deals and GoGroupie and keeping an eye out when you want to go away again. Just don’t get sucked into buying deals for the sake of it, there are always cheap deals on so you should never really “miss out” on anything.
We’re always checking out Groupon for a good deal but have never taken the plunge with it, but I think we will do soon after hearing lots of good reviews about their holidays. The only downside is they are usually mid-week so you have to make sure you can get the time off work! Thanks for stopping by!