One month ago me and some friends were planning a beach day trip. We thought about going to Narbonne, but I had already been there and wanted something new. That’s when Argelès-sur-mer came to our mind. Suddenly, a friend of ours said Argelès-sur-mer was overrated, always crowded and was honestly not up to the hype. She went on to suggest Collioure.
To be honest, I had never heard about Collioure. However, we checked it up online and were convinced right away. Once I got there, I could not believe how I had never heard about this magical place.
How to get there?
You can get to Collioure by train or bus, if you don’t have a car. Either way, it will take 3 hours to get there from Toulouse. Prices vary depending on the season. However, SNCF usually has weekend deals and you can get a round trip to Collioure for just 2 euros.
What to do in Collioure?
Here is my list of things to do in Collioure, you can use it as a checklist
Walk alongside Port d’Avall. You’ll see nice bars and restaurants for having lunch
Swim in the cold mediterranean ocean. At first it feels freezing, but then it is just incredibly refreshing
Have a picnic in Platja de Collioure. Try to sit far from the trash cans, there are many flies
Visit Château Royal. We just walked alongside, did not enter.
Grab a Gelato (preferably speculoos flavour). This is a must for ending the perfect beach day.
The return was not that fun
If you have been traveling in France for a while, you know this country is known for their constant strikes. It turns out there was a strike planned for the day we went to Collioure, which made the return train take 4:30h to get back to Toulouse. So, my best tip would be to check if there are any strikes organized for the day you are planning to travel.
Thank you for coming back one more time. I hope you have enjoyed the blog posts so far and have found them useful. I have already shared with you some of my best tips for saving money while traveling.
Today, I want to share some common mistakes that I’ve made and that I’ve seen my friends make. Back when I started traveling I would’ve loved if someone had come to me and had shared these mistakes so that I could’ve avoided them. So, without further due, here are 3 common errors us travelers make so that you don’t make them too:
Mistake #1: Stay at a very expensive hotel only to sleep there
Hey, I’m not against staying at fancy hotels full of amenities and premium experiences. I mean, sometimes it’s fun to splurge on a nice hotel for extra confort. However, I’ve made the mistake of paying a lot of money for a really nice room, only to find myself leaving the hotel at 8 a.m to explore and getting back at 10 p.m to go to bed. In many occasions I don’t even enjoy all of the amenities of the hotel because I’m out exploring.
In this sense, try choosing cheaper places to stay if your itinerary consists of exploring the city you are visiting. Every now and then I would suggest staying at a luxury hotel if your plan is to relax by the pool, enjoy good food, and spend most of the day inside the hotel.
This seems pretty obvious, but one of the most common errors is to overpack for a trip. I can’t tell you how many times I have returned from a trip only to find clothes that I never used or accessories that were unnecessary to pack. Not only you end up carrying a heavier bag, but you’ll have to pay extra in certain airlines for overweight.
In this sense, try planning in advance the exact outfits for your trip, only pack one emergency outfit, and wear the bulkiest items on the plane. You’ll save space and money.
The last common mistake is to spend unnecessarily on food or eating out. This includes buying your breakfast, lunch, diner and snacks at the airport or at the bus station. Usually these places have higher prices and the quality is horrible. For me, there is nothing worst than spending money on airport breakfast.
Instead, meal prep your airplane/bus/train food and snacks. My go to options are overnight oats, a sandwich, banana, apple, a trail mix and some chips. These usually fill me up and are not expensive at all when you bring them from home.
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. For today’s post I knew I wanted to talk about money saving tips while traveling. However, I wanted this post to be dedicated for those travelers that are just beginning in this budget-friendly traveling lifestyle.
Hey, I know it’s not easy to change from one day to another your traveling style in order to save money. I’ve been there, it was hard for me too to choose hostels over fancy hotels, flying low cost and backpacking. That’s why today I wanted to share with you some starter travel hacks that are truly effortless, but will reduce travel expenses considerably. So, without further due, let’s start!
Tip 1: Opt for night traveling
One of the best ways to travel Europe is by train or bus, they are usually less expensive than traveling by plane. However, they normally take longer. For example, going from Toulouse to Paris by plane will take 1 hour and 20 minutes, while traveling by bus will take 11 hours. Nonetheless, traveling by plane costs 4 times more than bus.
I know 11 hours in a bus can be hard, but hear me out. If you were to travel by plane to Paris, let’s say at 8 p.m, you will be getting there by 9:30 p.m. You’ll then have to get a taxi and spend the night in a hotel. From my point of view, that first night spent in unnecessary. You just spent a night at a hotel, but you actually didn’t do much in Paris, you just arrived. Here comes my tip, which is choosing night traveling by bus or train.
If you had chosen the bus option, you would have departed at 8 p.m from Toulouse and arrived in Paris just at 7 a.m. I think it’s pretty obvious where I’m going here, but you just saved one hotel night in Paris and spent way less in transportation. This could be the case for traveling to Barcelona, Nice, Madrid, etc.
One of the best options for saving in accommodation is to stay in a hostel. However, I know staying in a hostel is not for everyone. But would you believe me if I told you that you can be staying in a hotel or Airbnb for less than a hostel. This can be the case if you travel in group or with your partner.
I went to Lisbon in October with 4 other friends. We were looking for accommodation in HostelWorld and the average cost was 35 euros per night per person in a good quality hostel. Meanwhile, staying in an Airbnb ended up being 25 euros per night per person. We had our own bathroom, kitchen, living room, and 2 separate bedrooms with 4 beds.
Later on, I went to Bordeaux with my boyfriend and found a private bedroom in the Meininger Hotel for only 28 euros per night per person. That was the same if not cheaper than staying in a hostel, for way more comfort. So, whenever you are traveling try to invite other friends so that you can divide the cost of accommodation.
Public transportation is your best friend when traveling to a new city. It is way cheaper than spending money on Uber or renting a car and finding parking. Not only that, it gives you the opportunity to visit the city as if you were a local. Nowadays every city has weekly or daily passes that include unlimited public transportation and their price is a total deal. So, my best recommendation is to go directly to a bus/metro station as soon as you arrive to the city and check for these deals, you’ll thank me later.
My best tip to save in food is to grocery shop at your destiny, specially for breakfast and lunch food. You can buy baguettes for 1 euro, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomate and mustard in order to make some amazing sandwiches that will save you money. Also, you can find instant food like ramen or soups that are easily made in the microwave or with hot water. Hotel food can be very pricey, and you can use the money saved for a special diner later in the trip.
Tip 5: Do not eat at restaurants near tourist traps
Now, if you still choose to eat out, I have two tips for you. First, avoid eating at restaurants that are next to tourist attraction sites. For example, avoid eating next to the Eiffel Tower, because prices are likely to be higher there. Instead, walk away from the tourist traps and you’ll see how for the same dishes, prices reduce considerably.
My second tip is to compare prices with the online menus of the restaurants, which are usually available in apps like The Fork and TripAdvisor. In this way, you’ll choose the cheapest and best option to eat in advance.
Do you ever feel exhausted of having a long week of classes in Toulouse? Or do you feel like you need a quick getaway from reality, but have no clue where to go?
Well, I would like to share with all of you Narbonne-Plage. This is the perfect sport for a one day beach getaway with friends. It really has everything students are searching for: beach, sun and cheap food. Imagine after a long week of assignments going to soak into the cold Mediterranean Sea, eating paninis in front of the beach with an ice cold Coke.
Where is Narbonne ?
Narbonne is located in the southern coast of France, between Perpignan and Montpellier. This amazing destiny is close to Toulouse, the bus ride will take about 1h45, and by train 1h15, so it’s ideal for a quick day trip. Down below you will be able to see a screenshot of the location of Narbonne in comparison with Toulouse.
Screenshot taken from Omio.com
How to get to Narbonne from Toulouse
There are 3 options in order to get from Toulouse to Narbonne. The first option is by car. Now, this option is ideal if you have your own car. Otherwise, renting a car just to visit Narbonne its honestly not worth it. The car will stay the majority of the day parked.
That’s why, for those like me who don’t have a car, I would recommend getting to Narbonne by bus or train. As I said before, both the bus and the train ride will take less than 2 hours to Narbonne, and both of them are not expensive.
In my case, the round trip by train was 4€ because throughout the month of September the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF) made special offers for close destinations like Narbonne. However, the price of transportation should be maximum 10€ per trip.
Crystalline beaches in Narbonne
Special tip : for some reason it was cheaper for us to book the outbound and inbound trips separately. If we booked them together the total price was 20€, meanwhile booking them separately gave us a total of 4€. So try booking them both ways to compare and get the best prices.
CAUTION: Narbonne is not Narbonne-Plage
Now, the bus/train will take you from Toulouse to the town of Narbonne. In this town, as in many other european places, you can visit cathedrals and admire the beautiful architecture. However, what I recommend is going the beach (Narbonne-Plage), which is 30 minutes away from Narbonne.
When we first got to Narbonne, we didn’t know the beach was so far away. There are buses that constantly go from the city to the beach, and you can buy your ticket at any tabac store you see. In each bus stop you can see the time schedule for these buses depending on the day of the week. HOWEVER, I do not recommend going on a Sunday. There is rarely any bus, and you will end up paying for a 30 Uber ride to the beach (there is only one Uber driver in town by the way). So try going any day different from Sunday.
The Uber we had to pay to get to Narbonne. It was a Mercedes, so at least that was nice.
What to do in Narbonne-Plage?
Here is a list of the best activities you can do in Narbonne-Plage
Go to Aquajet (waterpark)
Play beach volleyball
Eat delicious paninis (8€) in La Gringoterie
Swim in the cold ocean
Get a tan, the sun is usually pretty intense. I still have mine and that was 3 weeks ago.
There is usually a flee market by the beach where locals sell little souvenirs
