I’ve been super lucky in the travel department these past few months, that’s for sure. And while Mr. Jaguar and I still haven’t decided what we’re going to do for our official honeymoon in June, we both agreed that we had an absolutely amazing pre-wedding-moon together! It was long, it was hectic, it was fast-paced, and it was perfect for us.
I thought I’d throw some ideas out there for another continent altogether that I visited just before we frolicked around North America—Europe! I should point out that during this particular trip, I was without the other half—I traveled with a girlfriend. However, Mr. Jaguar and I have done Europe together (on a similar guided tour) on a prior occasion, and had an amazing time as a couple.
There are a few ways you can explore Europe, depending on your time-frame and your budget.
First things first: work out how long you want to visit & how much you want to spend! You’ll also need to remember to incorporate your flights over to Europe, too: we always used Skyscanner to figure out the best option, but you can also try Kayak or Cheap Flights if you want to double-check your deals. After that, the choice is yours!
If you’re wanting to do it yourself with your sweetheart and build your own honeymoon, the possibilities are endless. The beautiful thing about Europe is that flights between countries are relatively cheap, and you can also forgo flying altogether and make use of the rail system to get from city to city. While Mr. Jaguar and I organised short breaks to Europe, we found the following websites to be the most useful:
- Expedia – great deals on hotels in particular. Also, if you’re planning on starting from London, you can sometimes pick up cheap packages that also include your travel option. We used them for countries like Copenhagen, Switzerland & Belgium, because they worked out cheaper than catching the train/flying over there & booking separate hotels ourselves.
- Travelsphere – it’s a UK based company, but they run dozens of short European tours, mostly encompassing coach travel and accommodation as well.
- Hostelbooker – yes, you read that right: HOSTEL-booker. If hostelling it isn’t your thing, don’t freak out—a huge amount of the hotels listed on this website are actually in regular hotels: and you can even request private rooms. We’ve booked rooms with them in New York City, Queensland, Australia, and in Paris, France—specifically PRIVATE rooms, and each time we’ve been in a standard old hotel room. Not bad, and at a fraction of the cost you’d find elsewhere.
- Viator – the best place for activities and tours! Just plug in the country you’re visiting, and you’ve got yourself a whole slew of options. Again from personal experience, we’ve used them for mountain exploring in Switzerland. My brother also used them for an afternoon exploration of Rome…by Segway!
- Contiki – definitely not for everyone, but if you want bang for your buck—this is how to do it. The only catch is that it’s an ‘under 35’ tour company, so you tend to be travelling with younger coach-mates. Any guided tour is all about what you make of it: you can be social and out with your tour-mates all the time, or you can use it for the included accommodation and transfers, and do your own thing. That’s what we did, and we had an absolute ball. (Prices here are in AUD, so you’d need to contact them for prices in your currency of choice.)
No matter how you do it, Europe is incredible. My most recent trip was 24 days long, and we covered eleven countries in that time—it was super quick, it was intense, but wow, was it an experience. And only in Europe can you visit so many amazing and unique places that are so close to each other. Here are some of my favourites from my travels, can you pick ‘em? (Caution: photo heavy!)
All personal photographs
Do you have any recommendations for travelling through Europe on a budget?
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