9 Tips to Plan Perfect Weekend Getaway This Valentine’s Day Within Budget

It’s that time of the year again when the entire world expects you to publicly show your love and commitment to your special someone. Blissfully enough, this year Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday making it an easily convertible holiday, cocooned away from people in your daily life.

While you set about making the most of these favourable odds, ensure that you emerge out of the long weekend only with a love hangover, while avoiding a money hangover. Make sure you plan that perfect weekend getaway this Valentine’s Day within budget using these tips:

1. Decide on a budget

Ever heard of the man who kept going round and round in circles while using a map because he just didn’t know where he wanted to go? Planning for a trip can be a similar exercise if you have no idea of your budget or how much would you be comfortable spending. You could also beak down the budget from one blanket figure to some major spend categories like hotel, flight tickets, food etc to help you fine tune the plan further.

2. Staycation to be a tourist in your own city

One of the most expensive and time-consuming parts of almost any holiday is the travel to the destination, be it by road, train or flight. Most of us take our own cities for granted always choosing to believe we will someday explore the fascinating aspects of our cities.

Book a nice hotel and make this Valentine’s Day staycation an occasion to become a tourist and fall in love with and in your own city all over again. With no pressure on time or a long list of places to visit, you could also choose to pamper yourselves at the hotel.

3. Consider group tours

Strength lies in numbers and so does savings. Yes, you might be wondering how does group and romantic go hand-in-hand. But, in the trade-off to have a good enough place to explore with expert guidance and not going completely off the charts on the budget, this works out to be a fairly good option worth considering. Also, remember that finding special intimate moments while in a crowd has a charm of its own.

4. Plan in advance

Most of us remember a lot of things at the last minute, including making travel plans. When it comes to long weekends or special occasions, such over sight can often be costly. So, in this case, plan things in advance to be able to get better prices in good time.

5. Save money on travelling to the destination

If a staycation is not your idea of a weekend getaway, and travelling out of the city is an essential aspect, then this is a major area where costs can be controlled. Ensure you check super aggregator websites like Sky Scanner to get better prices on the same flights.

If you have some time before you absolutely must book the tickets, then you could also put a flight tracker to get notifications on price change on the chosen flight. On the other hand, if you are location flexible, some websites can help with the range on short listed options and help make your choice.

6. Accommodation: Check comparison websites and consider BnBs

For hotel accommodation also, make sure you check comparison websites like Trivago or even TripAdvisor (yes, apart from must-check hotel reviews, now the site also gives comparative prices from the biggest hotel booking sites). Another option is to consider BnBs be it through AirBnB or other home stays in the location.

7. Plan and book activities

We often end up assuming that flights and hotels are the only two main categories on a holiday where we could end up over spending. However, when we reach the destination, in the dearth of things to do and having to make last-minute decisions we could very well end up paying through our nose for activities or guides. More importantly, especially on such popular weekends, the best options could very well be all sold out if it’s not planned and booked in advance.

8. Food

When hunger pangs attack or the tongue wants what it wants, considerations of the wallet often go out of the window. If you have opted for a breakfast inclusion in your hotel room cost, binge in the mornings to sustain yourself for a longer part of the day. Street food is one of the options that should be an essential part of your food consumption on almost any trip.

Not only is it one of the most authentic parts of the place you are visiting, but it also comes with the added advantage of generally being cheap. Mall food courts is something most of us avoid on holidays, but you will be surprised at what a good and budget-conscious reflection it often is on local food.

9. Shopping

Remember the main motive of the trip – getting away from the world and celebrating your love by making new memories. Even if you do need souvenirs of the trip just so you remember what a good time you had, you would do well to limit it to the cheap visible things like magnets and key chains.

Unless there’s something really unique to the place that you absolutely must get, my suggestion would be not to give in to the temptation of buying the regular mundane things that you could very well get at home.

If you keep these nine tips in mind while making the most of this Friday Valentine’s Day, you are bound to be able to successfully plan a romantic weekend getaway without burning a hole in your pocket.