In Europe, London is a top pick for affordable vacation destinations, for these exact reasons. Not only do you have more flights to choose from, they are cheaper than if you flew to a more remote location.

On average, staying in London may be a bit more expensive than other European destinations, but the seemingly endless choices in hotels, restaurants, transportation, tours, and other travel essentials gives travelers opportunities to mold their vacation to fit their budgets. And you can use London as your home base to set out on day trips to other more exotic locations or buy a Eurorail pass and see those more remote countries without the expense of flying there.

A note about Eurorail passes needs to be made here.  You cannot buy a Euroail pass in Europe. These types of passes must be purchased outside of Europe. Also you must purchase it before your trip, and have it validated at a train station in Europe before boarding a train in your selected European destination.

You can purchase different types of Eurorail passes depending on how and where you’ll be using it.  Prices vary according to the type of pass you buy.  These can seem expensive at first glance, but they can be well worth the money when you consider the places you can go armed with this small card.

The greatest part about a European vacation is that the American dollar has massive spending power abroad.  With the exchange rate, you can expect to get more bang for your buck when spending overseas.

For lodging, you should look at staying in hostels which are abundant in Europe.  It’s best to make reservations so you don’t have to worry where you’ll be sleeping for any given night.

In general, hostels are quite inexpensive – in many places, you can expect to stay for under $20 a night.  In a hostel you will have a bed, shared bathroom, and sometimes breakfast. Remember that you are going to Europe for the sites and people, not the hotel rooms.

Traveling abroad is, of course, going to be more expensive than a trip to Disney World, but the experience will be well worth the money spent.  If you’ve budgeted enough money, you can have an amazing time with memories that will last forever!

   These are only a few of the possible places that you can take your family for vacation.  There are endless options for you if you think creatively and plan accordingly.  What else should you know about taking a family vacation on a budget?  Plenty!