Booking Weekend Trips:
Studying abroad in Europe is a great opportunity to travel to various countries. The best way to optimize your experience is by booking weekend trips in advance. Planning out your semester ahead of time will make your trips more affordable and guarantee you don’t miss out on opportunities.
Flights:
Before you go abroad, create a list of the top destinations you would like to see. I advise you to be flexible on when you want to visit the destinations so that you can find the cheapest weekend to fly there. A great way to find the cheapest flights is with Google Flights. Google Flights allows you to see the prices for the whole month. I recommend looking at Ryan Air or Vueling Airlines as they typically offer more budget-friendly options. Another way I like to find flights is by using Skyscanner. Skyscanner allows you to view all airlines and multiple airports to help find the best, cheapest, and fastest route.
Class Schedule:
I also recommend not taking a class on Mondays or Fridays if you have the option to. This would allow you to travel on less busy days and stay in a city for a long weekend. I was fortunate to only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Therefore, I had opportunities to travel on Thursday nights and Mondays, which significantly made my airfare more affordable and opened up opportunities to spend more time in different cities.
Research:
Furthermore, make sure to research events and holidays in the cities and countries that you would like to visit. This can help with finding weekends with more affordable accommodations and flights. Researching events and holidays beforehand will make sure you don’t miss out on any opportunities to enhance your experience. Examples would be spending Semana Santa in Spain, St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, Basquestta in Italy, October Fest in Germany, etc. Spending time in these countries during these specific times is eye-opening and will expand your knowledge and understanding of their cultures.
Your study abroad experience will go by fast. Therefore, the best way to get the most out of your time is to plan out your weekend trips.