2019 was a great year for me in terms of travel. I kicked off the new year in Dublin, Ireland, and ended it in London, England. Between those, I enjoyed stops in Copenhagen, Denmark; Hamburg, Germany; Fortaleza, Brazil; Rincón, Puerto Rico; various cities in Ireland, and both Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland. Of course, to visit so many places in the span of a year, we had to be very smart with our travel budgets.
Fortunately, we had gotten much better at logging our travel expenses in 2018, so we could see exactly what we spent for each trip. We didn’t want to miss out on key experiences, like eating at Marchal, a Michelin star restaurant in Copenhagen, but that meant we had to be very strategic in other areas of our spending. At the end of our 9-day trip to Copenhagen and Hamburg, Tyler and I were pleasantly surprised that we had spent less than $3k total for the two of us. Here’s how we did it:
Transportation: $996 Total
We decided to take this trip when I found $375 roundtrip tickets to Copenhagen using Google Flights’ Explore function. We decided we had to book these, and at $750 total, they were our largest cost of the trip. Part of the reason they were so cheap is that they had an overnight layover in London on the way back, but we had no problem trading a night in Hamburg or Copenhagen for a night in London.
Our other transportation costs included $156 for our train tickets to Hamburg from Copenhagen and back; $52 for our Lyft to and from Tampa International Airport; and $38 in metro tickets to get around Copenhagen and London.
Food and Drink: $865 Total
Yes, we spent more on eating and drinking than we did on our accommodations – priorities. 😉 We did average less than $100 a day for food and drink, and since Copenhagen is known for having some rather pricey dining, we felt okay about this. Plus, we had some amazing meals, like that lunch at Marchal. It cost us $181, but it was worth it for the experience.
Other food and drink highlights include Altes Mädchen (Hamburg), which offered great beer and burgers for $38, and Ruby (Copenhagen), a super cool speakeasy where we spent $36 on two drinks.
Ruby 
Marchal 
St. Pauli Night Market
Accommodations: $743 Total
After some research, we found that hotels were cheaper than Airbnbs in both Copenhagen and Hamburg, especially when accounting for some of the perks that hotels offer – like the free bike rental in Copenhagen. We generally try to budget ~$100 per night, though we will increase that for a place that really entices us (or if there is nothing in the area that cheap, as we found when booking a hotel in Seattle).
We stayed in the Hotel Kong Arthur in Copenhagen, which has a great location and “hygge hour” every day, for $450 for four nights. It was absolutely adorable, and I’d highly recommend it. In Hamburg, we stayed in Novum Hotel Belmondo; it wasn’t as impressive as the Copenhagen hotel, but it was a steal at $180 for three nights. Our one night in London was spent at the Marlin Waterloo, for $113.
We also saved money on these trips by going through Orbitz. There are downsides to booking through an online travel agency (also known as an OTA), but there are also perks. We earned Orbucks on each of these reservations, which could then be applied to future hotel stays.
Miscellaneous: $13 Total
We generally prioritize attractions that are free, like Copenhagen’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and Hamburg’s Planten un Blomen, or ones where we can pay as we participate, like the Hamburger DOM carnival in Hamburg. That being said, we did end up spending $8 to visit the Rundetaarn (round tower) in Copenhagen; it was worth it. 🙂
I also spent $3 on ibuprofen, while Tyler bought a hat for $2. We find that our notes and pictures offer the best memories, so we generally don’t bother with souvenirs.
Planten un Blomen 
View from the Rundetaarn 
Inside the Rundetaarn
And finally…
Dog Sitting: $250 Total
This past year we learned how to travel with dogs, taking them with us to both Blue Ridge and Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Asheville, North Carolina. However, outside of domestic trips, we find it easiest to leave them at home. While the doggy daycare place we like to use is wonderful, my sister is a much more cost-effective dog-sitter.