I’m leaving in 2 days and excited for 3 weeks of travel to destinations I’ve never been before. Best of all…I’m sharing the experience with my husband. It hasn’t fully hit me yet, but the familiarity of airports and check-ins will get me right back into travel mode. Where exactly am I going? Excited while I’m typing this – Paris for a couple of days, then Istanbul & the Turkish Coast for the bulk of our trip before stopping over in Amsterdam. Weeeeeeeeee!!!
Self-Planned Itinerary
I prefer booking my own intinerary instead of pre-packaged tours for the freedom of staying where I want for how long I want. In the end, I usually save some money too. A bonus when you’re a travel junkie like me. It’s sometimes just as fun to plan your trip as going on it, but the downside of booking your own way is the stress of searching for fares, looking at the laptop for hours wishing the price would drop or cursing why there’s no availability for the hotel you want. It usually comes down to Time vs Money in all cases.
In the end, it’s all worth it – independent travel with freedom to spend time as we want – with some cash left over to use on location. Stay for 7 days instead of 2 – we can if we want. Rent a car or take a train? That’s up to us.
Places We’re Visiting and Costs (For 2 people)
We’re going for a full 3 weeks on this trip and travelling as a couple. The costs below are approximately what we’re spending as compared to estimates for a similar 3 week pre-packaged tour. Pre-packaged tours have their advantages as well, but beware of higher costs. We used Skyscanner to search for low cost fares and either booked directly with a hotel or used Booking.com.
*You can take our costs as an estimate to budget for your own travels, but keep in mind some can travel cheaper than this and others may spend more depending on your departure point, month of travel, etc.
***As reference, here’s an estimate for a similar 21 day packaged tour to Turkey for 2 people I saw advertised : ie) $5778.00 ($2889.00/person)+ airfare from your home destination (in addition to personal expenses & some lunches/dinners).
*Some walking tours and entrance fees included. Packaged tours have their advantages as everything is pre-planned for you and you don’t have to worry about transportation, but most often tours cost more if you’re on a budget and you’re on a pre-determined fixed intinerary.
***Our Costs for Two People Booking Independently (end of Sep-mid Oct): $4310.00 ($2155.00/person including airfare from home city) in addition to expenses/food (breakfast incl in most hotels). *Excursions, entrance fees not included.[/box]
Breakdown of Costs
Transportation (Flights/Buses/Trains/Car)
- Vancouver to Paris (returning from London): $1747
- Paris to Istanbul: $248
- Istanbul to Izmir: $88
- Buses & Car Rental in Turkey: $400*estimate as we will be booking once we get there.
- Antalya to Amsterdam: $356
- Amsterdam to London: $203
- Total Transportation= $3042.00
Accommodations (basic, 3 star boutique or b&b style hotels with breakfast included):
- Paris x 2 nights: $216
- Istanbul x 7 nights: $443
- Izmir x 3 nights: $186
- Pamukkale x 1 night: $60 *estimate as we will be booking once we get there.
- Fethiye x 1 night: $66
- Kas x 2 nights: $142
- Antalya x 1 night: $56
- Amsterdam x 2 nights: Free (staying with a friend I met when backpacking 6 years ago!)
- London x 1 night: $100
- Total Accomodations: $1268.00
EXPERIENCE OF EXPLORING THE WORLD = TOTALLY PRICELESS.
