‘You will know each other well after this!’
The restaurant host was gesturing to me and the two Italian students sitting opposite me at Oda Garden, a popular traditional restaurant in Albania’s capital, Tirana.
The place gets booked up well in advance, but we had all managed to squeeze in – provided we didn’t mind sharing our space with strangers.
As soon as I arrived, I realised why it was such a hotspot. Amidst a courtyard crammed with tables, macramé parasols and lights strung up between lemon trees, people were up dancing to a live band pumping out Albanian classics.
It was one of those magical moments where I felt like I’d been dunked, head first, into the culture of a place.
And the best bit? My main meal only cost me £4.10. This was music to my ears given the fact I was halfway through my challenge to do a getaway for just £100 – and that included everything.
My name’s Chelsea Dickenson and I’m obsessed with the price of going on holiday.
I know I’m not the only one. I believe that in each and every family or friendship group, there’s a bargain obsessive, promo-code checking, spreadsheet-wielding individual who loves nothing more than saving money on their next trip.
It was this obsession that led me to do a holiday challenge back in 2017 where I took half the amount the average British person spends on holiday a year (which worked out at slightly under £2,000) and tried to do as many holidays as possible for the total and capture it all for my newly created YouTube channel.
How much does the average Brit spend on holiday?
- Research from VoucherCodes.co.uk forecast that Brits would spend £64.20billion on holidays in 2024
- This would mean that each person in the UK would spend £1,140 on average
- In the first half of 2020, Statista data found 26% or holidaymakers between 25-35 would spend between two and four thousand pounds, while 32% would spend between one and two thousand
- The same website found that UK travellers, on average, spent 8.7 nights on vacation in 2022, compared to 10.8 nights in 2021
That year, I ticked off 10 countries, on three continents, and I even flew business class.
The challenge kickstarted what is now my full-time career as a travel expert and content creator, posting advice and travel inspiration across my website, TV, print and radio, and to my 630k followers on social media.
For over a year, I’d had the idea to do a getaway for under £100 where the budget had to cover everything. That included: getting to and from the airport, flights, accommodation, food, drink and the activities.
With rising costs across Europe, it was more difficult than I’d first expected. Long gone are the endless lists of return flights under a tenner, and while Milan had looked like a credible contender, the price of accommodation had tipped things over the budget.
However, after spotting some £20 return flights to Tirana on the Wizz Air website back in April, my bargain-booking senses started to tingle. The £20 included all taxes and booking fees, though the flight out left at 7:45am in the morning and so I knew I was in for an early start.
The next thing I had to check were the transfers to and from the airports as this cost can quite often catch people out. Flying from Luton airport, I knew I could book a cheap National Express bus for just £6 each way and fortunately the airport bus to Tirana city centre came in at just £3.43 each way.
I felt I might be onto a winner.
However, it all depended on whether I could find somewhere nice to stay for the two nights. I knew it would probably have to be a hostel, but the cost of a bed in a shared room has massively increased across Europe in recent years due to the aftermath of the pandemic and an increase in boutique hostels.
Yet, Tirana came through once again with a bed in a well rated, boutique hostel for just £12.67 a night.
My final check was how much my food and drink would cost me. I had a look at the average cost of living on a site called Numbeo and browsed a few restaurant menus online. There were plenty of options where I could score dinner for under £6 and so I was confident the challenge was a-go.
So off I went. An overbooked coach to the airport nearly scuppered me at the first hurdle, but after another arrived 30 minutes later, giving me just enough time to whizz through security, I finally landed in the Albanian capital ready to put my budget to the test.
And what a place to do it!
I was bowled over by how green the city is, and how many food and drink restaurants there were to choose between. The latter is so important to many of us when choosing a destination, with 55% of people citing that the chance to explore local cuisine is a top travel motivator in Klarna’s recent Travel Report.
The good news is that even on a budget, I could still indulge. From 43p for a spinach byrek (a flakey, Albanian pastry) to £4.10 for fërgesë (a traditional dish of cottage cheese and peppers), I found it easy to pin down affordable food.
Culture is a priority to 28% of us as well, according to the Klarna report, and thanks to a free walking tour I found thanks to a simple google, I got to explore the city – leaving a small tip of £1.71 for the guide.
I also spent a wonderful couple of hours navigating the sprawling walkways of the 289 hectare Tirana Park and set up at a trendy cafe, Hana Corner Coffee, to work for a couple of hours – nursing a rather expensive £2.05 coffee! But it was worth it to watch the world go by on their gorgeous outdoor terrace.
Want more travel tips from Chelsea?
Check out some of her bargain booking travel hacks here.
I genuinely think it’s the most underrated city I’ve ever been to.
The total for my two-day trip came in at £99.59, proving that a £100 holiday can be done! And I do think having this firm budget really helps you stop extra costs for spiralling.
I found this on a six-night road trip to notoriously expensive Iceland back in March 2019, where I managed to cover absolutely everything – including the hire car and petrol – for just £600pp.
The biggest cost saver was on food and drink, since even a sandwich could cost over £10. Instead, we shopped exclusively at budget supermarkets and cooked in the kitchens of our cheap guesthouses. It also helped that the main reason many people go to Iceland is the free nature!
If you’re hoping to book a cheap trip of your own, I have some advice about what to do.
Here are the four things you need to do to book a cheap holiday:
- Firstly, flexibility. This isn’t just about your travel dates but the destination, too: less well-known destinations can often open up more affordable prices.
- Secondly, check all the costs first. Don’t get hung up on the price of flights as they’re just a one-off and you’re actually better paying more for them if your accommodation and daily costs are going to come in cheaper.
- You can also consider using services like Klarna to spread the cost of your trip interest-free, as long as you know you’ll be able to pay it all off in time. It’s available on loads of popular travel sites like Booking.com, Hotels.com, Airbnb and others.
- And finally, set a budget. It’s really easy to get carried away when you’re on holiday so why not make a budget challenge of your own?
Many believe that setting a budget can detract from a holiday, but in the case of Tirana, I found it really forced me to find local experiences off the beaten tourist track that actually enhanced my trip.
That, and the restaurant host was right! My predicament actually encouraged me to meet new people and form friendships with others I would have otherwise never had the chance to meet.
Later on this year, I intend to attempt another budget challenge in Korea. It’s not known to be the cheapest destination, but I can’t wait to discover what I can get for my money.
It will be hard to beat lunch for 43p, though!
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