Couples Trip with Friends - Under £190 per person for EVERYTHING!

In November I took my first solo trip and challenged myself to actually be fully budget conscious. Going travelling on your own is of course easier to stick to a budget in a lot of ways and I feared that travelling with my partner or friends could mean losing control of that budget. So, this trip I went with my partner AND my friends to really put this to the test!

In these break downs I show you how I achieved a bargain holiday, full transparency, so you can tailor some money saving tips to stay budget conscious yourself and achieve more for your budget. All prices are quoted in pounds for simplicity; I use a Curve Card (save on transaction fees and bank charges) which shows these conversions on their super helpful app or will use the going rate in any other instances when calculating to keep this super accurate.

Arcul De Triumf, Bucharest - Me, Shaun, Husband Ross & Linda!

We always travel a lot more out of peak seasons and introduced our couples friends to some cheap travel tips last February, snagging those Ryanair sales. This year they seemed up for another adventure but, with some much larger projects on the horizon for me and the hubby, this would have to be a budget friendly adventure.

Flights found for £26 return to Romania offered a new destination and cheaper accommodation and food options than Western Europe so we decided on three days in Bucharest. Our friends wanted to make this a bit more of a treat trip so we agreed that separate accommodation might be the best to keep everyone happy. We wanted to be central so agreed we would both look in the Old Town district only. They found a beautiful boutique hotel including breakfast and booked three nights, coincidentally about 5 doors up from the hostel I enticed the husband in to as an adventure.

Our flight arriving at 3am I went fully in to the budget conscious mind frame and asked if I really needed that third night? Instead, we hopped on the airport bus (£3.06 for the both of us), dropped our bags off, freshened up and took a morning stroll to the train station, ready to kip for the three and a half hour ride to Sinaia for some castle sight seeing. This meant we only needed two nights accommodation, an absolute steal at £5 per bed with my booking.com Genius discount; £20 for the whole duration.

The view from our hostel dorm.

Trips to Bran Castle from Bucharest can be quite pricey but it is possible to do it yourself and keep to a budget. I planned us trains to Sinaia, to see Peles and Pelisor Castle first, connection to Brasov and then back to Bucharest for £25.34. Entry to all three castles was £38.38 for the both of us. We walked up to Peles Castle from the train station in the morning but I had researched the walk to be more like half an hour and we ended up taking about double this so we got one of Romania’s pricey taxis back down for £2.68!

Once in Brasov it’s a 40 minute drive to Bran, where Dracula’s Castle is. The bus is the cheapest option (we got this back for £5.71 for the both of us) but it’s a bit of a walk from the train station. Our friends are more in to convenience so I took on haggling duties for a taxi. Like taxis in a lot of countries you have to know what a fair rate is and be prepared for a bit of an argument to get the best deal but we managed to avoid ‘tourist’ prices by ignoring my friends red faces as I refused to pay more than what I’d researched as a best price. We paid £7.14 per couple for a 40 minute drive, not bad at all.

Our packed snacks from home had been doing us just fine up till now but we got some hot drinks wandering round the market stalls at the base of Drac’s Castle and then found a cute place for late lunch after. Food and drink budget for the day came in at £15.71 and we even bought some souvenirs for £30.36. A basic excursion typically comes in at £70 each; we paid £79 for our transport and entries, almost halving the cost!

Bran Castle & Market.

Day two we caught up over coffee (£3.93); our friends had filled up on their hotels breakfast, we munched on Asda filled crepes and had our stash of cereal bars and nuts for a day of sight seeing in the city. The metro is incredible value at £3.22 (£6.44) for an all day travel card and so we also played around with scooters, touring the parks and Arc De Triomphe in style (£3.04). Drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe were our only other outgoing (£3.93) alongside joining my friend in a small jewellery purchase (£7.14) whilst browsing some of the lovely boutique stores.

In another country we may have needed to keep our evening simple but in Romania, even when on a budget, you really can still afford to spoil yourself and we had a rather messy night out. Starting with a swanky cocktail bar, followed by a traditional Romanian restaurant with live band and then on to the amazing nightlife Bucharest’s Old Town has to offer - bar after bar, shisha, midnight doughnuts, music, strip clubs and even more X rated entertainments all within a little triangle surrounded by lit up architecture and further culture. We spent £152.86 between the both of us and had a wild night, you could easily spend a fraction of this if pre drinking at home and going for a slightly lower key meal.

Nomad Sky Bar - Old Town, Bucharest.

The next morning I miraculously woke up feeling great. Having slept like a log my two nights in a hostel from exhausting my body with so much travel and partying I felt like I’d made good use of my rest! Some more crepes whilst getting ready and our hostel let us leave our bags again whilst we went to explore the city further. NEVER carry more in your pack than you need to! It’s tiring and, leaving items such as clothing, you don’t need to worry even in a hostel.

Tea at the renowned Carusel Bookstore (£5.54), wandering around amazing street art, getting in my business research with a Cat Cafe (£3.57) and wandering the shopping mall before Mac Donalds to fuel us for our evening flight (£6.07) highlighted how cheap a day in Bucharest really can be! We got an Uber to the airport (£2.34) and some tasty pastries (£5.71) before flying out.

Miau Cat Cafe - Linda, Me and Ross.

From take off to touch down this brings the total to £374.95, divided by two with the hubby makes our individual cost £187.48!