Where To Go Abroad On A Student Budget
As the meme goes: you want to see the world, but you can only afford to go to your back garden. But I’ve put together a list of places, 4 abroad and 4 in the UK, that you can easily afford on a student budget. A cheap but amazing holiday, so get your friends and get going.
1. Amsterdam
Flights are available from as cheap as £30, but if you’d prefer a slightly more reliable airline you can get flights for around £60 which is still pretty cheap. Hotel wise you don’t have to worry about anything being too pricey either because you have plenty of hostels you can check in to that cost around £20 for the night. This makes an estimated weeks trip there and back about £300, leaving you plenty of spending money for around the city.
You could visit Anne Frank’s House and see where the famous story happened. Or you could visit the Van Gogh museum is you are more of an art lover.
There are plenty of canal tours you could take, even catch a ferry up to Northern Amsterdam, if you want to experience more of what the city has to offer. Or if you prefer keeping your feet on the ground there is also the wonderful neighbourhood of Jordaan for you to wander around.
Amsterdam has a lot of culture to offer so why not go and see for yourself.
2. Tenerife
This is for those that prefer to get a tan over massive amounts of culture. You can travel to Tenerife for the week for about £500-£700 which is more expensive than Amsterdam but apparently, that’s the price you pay for the sun and beaches.
Tenerife offers a lot of activities that will have you scared but also loving life. You can be snorkeling with the turtles and kayaking with dolphins, make a difference from swimming with them. You can also visit their amazing water park and aquarium, or even take a tour of the North of the island viewing the Teide Mountain.
If you want a beach holiday with lots of sun and activities to keep you entertained then this is the place for you.
3. Venice
Back to the culture, but also the romance. Venice is famous for its romantic atmosphere, but it also a city that is sinking so you may want to visit before it’s underwater. Plus after its appearance in Spiderman: Far From Home, you can go visit all the places that Tom Holland performed all his stunts.
You can travel to Venice for about £80 and finding accommodation can be quite cheap as well if you find reliable hostels or hotels. I’d say you would need to budget around £600 for a trip to Venice which for a student isn’t too bad.
While you’re there why not travel on the famous Gondolas and have a romantic experience-ish. Or you can go visit Doge’s palace, a gorgeous Gothic-style building, or you can go see St Mark’s Basilica and marvel at all the highly intricate paintings on the wall.
There are also plenty of bridges and other historical sites to visit, including walking around St Marks Square. You won’t be short of things to do while you are in Venice.
4. Paris
Do you want to travel to Paris via plane or the Eurostar, you have more choices with going to Paris and you can have an amazing time here. Including going to Disneyland!
The Eurostar can get you to and back from Paris for as cheap as £50, and with accommodation everywhere you turn you can do a week in Paris for about £500 and have an amazing time.
While you are there you could visit Versailles and see the gorgeous Hall of Mirrors and its’ gardens, or go and experience all the art held at the Louvre. Just be sure to book all these tickets way in advance because you can waste a day just cueing for these places. There is plenty more history in the city, there are even catacombs to go into if you wanted something different.
Or you could climb up the Eiffel Tower and see the gorgeous view of the city from up there. And finish off your week in Disneyland. Paris is a great option for all types of people.
5. Cambridge
So we’re back in the UK and starting off with an amazing stay in Cambridge. You ever wonder why the university is so highly regarded, it isn’t for the actual university, its just because everyone wants to be in the gorgeous city.
You can stay in Cambridge for about £300 with Air BnB, I love using Air BnB because you get some gorgeous apartments you get to stay in and you don’t have to deal with any awkward hotel staff. So what can you do while you’re in Cambridge?
There are plenty of tours to take, including a 45-minute guided Punt, so you don’t need to go all the way to Venice to go punting. But if you don’t want to do any guided tours, you can just go exploring the city yourself. There are plenty of parks and rivers for you to experience and take pictures off, as well as the most gorgeous book shops. I think this is a major selling point, I’m not sure how it appeals to everyone else…
6. Bath
You can stay in Bath for about £300 and can probably experience more culture and history here than any other city. It’s also considered very romantic if that plays to what you are looking for in a holiday.
The main thing to do in Bath is visiting the Roman Baths dating from 43AD, it’s a beautiful and historic building and with the ruins that are underneath it’s an interesting place to spend the day. You can learn all about how the people of the past relaxed and possibly take tips for how you are going to cope with the third year at uni.
You can also visit Bath Abbey while you are at the baths and see the gorgeous architecture that is a mix of 7th, 10th, and 12th through to the 16th centuries. It mainly results in the gothic architecture but it’s a beautiful building to study.
If historic scenes are your thing you can wander around the massive gardens or go around the high-end shops. The houses and buildings on the streets are something else and you’ll leave wanting to be able to live there forever.
7. Glasgow
You can do a week in Glasgow for around £400 as obviously it requires a bit more traveling to and it’s a major city. But because it’s a major city, it means there is plenty for you to do on your trip away.
If you like your drink, there is a whiskey tour you can go or you can just go by yourself and find the best whiskeys that way. There are also numerous historical sites to visit, including many different art galleries, a science museum and also the Riverside museum which has interactive displays. There is also the Lighthouse, People’s Palace and Glasgow Necropolis.
Not just buildings, there are botanical gardens to visit as well. There isn’t a shortage of things to do in Glasgow, but if you are wanting to explore further you can take a trip to see the Loch Ness.
8. York
Last up is the beautiful city of York, I have recently just been to visit here and I must say, it truly was a beautiful city. You can travel here and stay for a week for around £400 like Glasgow, and you’ll have plenty of things to be doing.
There are a lot of shops to go around, literally, you could spend the whole week shopping and you’d still be finding streets you haven’t already gone down. One of those is a little street that houses many Harry Potter items, the Shambles, so if you are a Potter fan you could spend an entire day on this street.
There are also historical sites to see, including its cathedral. But York has more than just historical sites to see, York also caters to those that love to be scared. They have a great Dungeon to go down and visit, where the actors are great at getting you to laugh after you’ve just jumped out your skin, and they have an amazing room of mirrors that you get lost in.
As well as that you have a Ghost tour that you can take and it is honestly the best thing about the city of York. You get to see more of the city than you would going around by yourself as the tour guide will point out parts that you don’t notice. The guide is so charismatic and funny that it is honestly the best decision you’ll make for your trip. So enjoy your night trip of ghost hunting.
