Are you planning a trip to Europe? Or have you always wanted to go, but never knew where to start with something big like traveling overseas? No worries! You can start right here.

If you’ve never been overseas, planning a trip can seem super daunting. It’s tempting to just say “eff it” and book an escorted tour or cruise and be done with it. But in my opinion, a trip where you get around on your own is so much more rewarding! The journey can be just as much of an adventure as the destination. 

But, I get you. There’s SO many questions. How do you even start? How do I get there? What is it going to cost me? How do I get around? It can seem overwhelming and scary, but don’t worry! I’m here to help solve that planning mystery. We’re going to break this down step by step.

First, pick a destination

Duh. This may seem like a no-brainer, but narrowing down where you really really want to go is super important. Where is that dream European destination you’ve always wanted to go to? Maybe a place you have ancestral ties or a connection to? Or even a place that you’ve seen pictures of on Instagram that makes you squeal “damn, I need to go there!” (If you are anything like me that is practically everywhere, but we’re talking super favorites here.) 

Keep it simple

As an American with limited vacation days, when I first had the opportunity to go to Europe I wanted to go everywhere. However, I strongly encourage you to resist this urge. I know this one is really hard especially if you have no idea if/when you will get across the pond again. It is super tempting to jam-pack your itinerary when going to Europe because everything is so close together. It’s like, oh lets go to Germany…but wait Switzerland is riiiiight there, and so is Austria….we could just pop over the border….and on it goes. But I must insist…please resist the urge to go to 5 (or more!) different countries over a 10 day vacation. There’s SO much to see in any one country, let alone 5. Pick one, two at tops. You will thank yourself later. I prooooooomise.

Figure out how to get there

Where’s the closest major airport to where you live? What’s the closest major airport to your destination? Sometimes the best flight deals can be found using major routes. But sometimes flying to a nearby airport can score you some savings. Where to start? When I need to figure out how to get someplace I use a handy app called Rome2rio. Enter any two destinations in the world, and poof: it lets you know all of the different ways to get from A to B – whether it be flights, trains, cars, ferries, or a combination. It will even give you estimates on price and time. Rome2rio is a great way to find out a very general overall cost and uncover nearby airport options.

Start tracking flights

Once you have an idea of how to get to your destination, you need to figure out roughly how much that will cost you. How? Get your booty on over to Google Flights. This is hands down my favorite search engine for finding and tracking flights. I recently gushed about Google Flights in my recent Apps post, but it is fantastic for several reasons:

• The month price view allows you to see all of the prices for the whole month. This is great for finding out which days are cheapest to fly on.
  
• You can track prices with email updates. Once you find a fare for your given route, you can track the prices via email updates and get notified when the price goes up or down.
  
• It gives you links to book directly with the airline. It’s always better to book directly with the airline. It saves you so much hassle if flights are cancelled or if you need to make any changes.
  

Also, if you are still unsure of where to go, the explore function on Google Flights is clutch. Enter your departure city and dates then leave the destination blank. You can use the map to explore all of the places you can go on those dates, and the prices of course. It’s a great way to find out the cheapest city to fly into.

Finding the best deal

Tips for finding the best flight deals to Europe:

• Start searching and book early. Booking several months out is always cheaper than waiting until closer to departure.
  
• Europe is the most expensive in the summer months. Consider flying in the off (winter months) or shoulder seasons (like April/May or September/October).
  
• Remember to search in an incognito/private search window on your browser if possible. If you are searching the same flight dates or route over and over and start to see the prices creep up on you – you’re not going crazy! Browser cookies are to blame. Search incognito and they shouldn’t be a problem.
  
• Consider flying on a weekday. Flights are typically cheaper if you fly during the week. Although it’s not always the easiest time to fly though for working folks like myself (since we’re trying to utilize weekends as much as possible) it can result in considerable savings.
  
• Choose flights wisely – the cheapest flight might not always be the best deal. Say you found a great flight price, but it has three stops and a total travel time of 35 hours. Another flight might be $100 more, but only 2 stops and a total travel time of 12 hours. You get more ACTUAL vacation time by paying $100 more. Worth it? Absolutely!
  
• For more tips on finding great flight deals, check out this great blog post by Thrifty Nomads, “How to Book the Cheapest Flight Possible to Anywhere”
  

Troubleshooting

So what if the flight prices you are finding are way more than you are willing to pay? Then maybe this destination or route is not the best choice for you. But don’t despair! Go back to the beginning. Europe is dense, is there a bigger airport nearby you could fly from? (Try reversing your “From” and “To” destinations on Rome2rio for ideas). Could you fly into a different city near your destination and take a train or bus? Fly during a different month? Play around with your options. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Next steps

OK so you’ve settled on a destination, and gotten an idea of what a flight there will cost you (and are OK with the price). The next step? Don’t buy that flight juuuust yet. A flight is only the first piece of the puzzle. You need to get the rest of your trip budget in place first to see if the whole trip is a feasible idea. How? I got you.

Follow me on over to Pond crossing 102: budgeting for all the things…