See all of it.
Spend none of it.
Real weekend trip guides, actual prices, and the insider stuff nobody posts about — written by people who've done the semester.
Featured guides
Where do you want to go?
Every budget airline covered
ISIC card — discounts on buses, trains & museums across 130 countries
Eurail Youth Pass (under 28) — up to 35% off unlimited rail travel across Europe
Renfe Tarjeta Joven (Spain) — 30% off all AVE trains, €15/year
SNCF Carte Avantage Jeune (France) — 30% off TGV trains, €49/year
FlixBus Student Beans — 10% off all bookings
We scan Ryanair, EasyJet, Vueling, Wizz Air, Transavia, Norwegian, Iberia Express, TAP, and ITA Airways — plus trains for short routes. Prices listed are indicative; search Skyscanner or Google Flights in real time and set alerts 3–4 weeks out for the best deals.
How we actually do this
Ryanair, EasyJet, Vueling, Wizz Air, Transavia, Norwegian, Iberia Express — every week, for routes under €40 return.
Student rail passes, under-26 discounts, ISIC perks, museum free days — built into every itinerary.
Where to get coffee at 8am. Which line to take. Which queue to skip. The full day so you don't figure it out on arrival.
Every guide is built around a Friday afternoon departure and Sunday evening return. Your Monday 9am isn't going anywhere.
Fresh guides
You're not going to have access to €30 Ryanair flights to a different country again after this. Here's how to use them.
The trick is knowing which of the 400 things to see are worth your 48 hours — and which ones are just there because they've always been there.
Your money goes further here than almost anywhere else in Europe and the city is one of the most visually stunning you'll see all semester.
Tips that actually save you money
Budget airlines release their cheapest seats mid-week. Booking a Tuesday departure instead of Friday can drop the price by €20–40 on the same route. Always check both the departure and return day before committing.
Ryanair's free personal item allowance is 40x20x25cm. The Cabin Max Metz backpack (22L) fits this exactly and holds a full weekend's worth of clothes if you pack right. Roll everything, use packing cubes, wear your bulkiest outfit to the airport.
The International Student Identity Card costs €15 and gets you discounts at over 150,000 places worldwide — museums, transport, hostels, restaurants. The Vatican Museums alone save you €8. It pays for itself on your first trip.
For any route under 3 hours, run the train vs. flight comparison including airport transfers. Barcelona to Valencia by AVE is 1.5hrs from €15. Milan to Florence by Frecciarossa is 1.75hrs from €19. The math almost always favors the train.
Skyscanner and Google Flights both let you set alerts for a specific route and date range. Budget airline prices drop unpredictably — sometimes by €30+ in a single day. The alert catches it. Set it and forget it until it pings you.
In Spain, France, and Italy most restaurants offer a fixed lunch menu (menú del día, plat du jour, menu fisso) for €10–15 that includes starter, main, dessert, and a drink. It's the best-value meal in any of these cities, and almost nobody who doesn't know to ask for it gets it.
Written by students
who actually went
Every guide on this site came out of a real semester abroad — the trips we took, the mistakes we made, and the things we wish someone had told us before we booked. We are not a travel agency. We don't get paid to recommend things. We just did the semester and wrote down what we learned.
New guide every Friday. Free, forever.
"You have a finite number of semesters abroad. An infinite number of weekends at home."— Abroad on a Budget
One destination.
Every Friday morning.
A fully planned weekend trip in your inbox every Friday — flights, hotels, itinerary, and all the student discounts worth knowing. Land it before your afternoon class and you could be booked by dinner.
Free forever. Joining thousands of study abroad students.
Google AdSense — add after approval