Guest Author - Jill Browne

Away from home, accommodation is a major expense. Maybe you would be happy as a tourist commuter - someone who saves money by staying in the suburbs and commuting to the city's attractions.

Example: A trip to Paris

Mention a trip to Paris, and many people immediately think of the Champs Elysee, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Seine, all the famous attractions and landmarks, the shopping, and the ambience of the Paris of movies and music. Staying in central Paris means less transit time to go and see these various places, but it might be more expensive for a hotel room.

One way to decide what to do is to prepare a base case. You will try to calculate the cost in money and time for the vacation of your dreams, and then see what is affordable.

Let's say you really want to see a lot of things in central Paris and would be happy staying for a week at one hotel. You want one day trip to the Palace of Versailles (Chateau).

You start searching for hotels in the class and location that suits you. The two-star Hotel du Quai-Voltaire is a good example of a centrally-located hotel within easy reach of many attractions.

The posted rate is about 130 Euros a night for a double room. Maybe if you stay for an entire week you can get a discount. I do not know if this particular hotel offers any kind of discount like that, but it's always worth enquiring.

That's your base case accommodation expense. Now let's move on to that day trip to Versailles.

Train fare is about 6 Euros return. Travel time on the train is about 40 minutes each way. Of course you have to get to the train station. However, I don't add that time in. No matter what attraction you are going to it will take you some time. Ignore it.

For comparison, let's look at the same agenda and examine what it would be like if you decided to stay in Versailles instead of Paris.

I have stayed at a comfortable one-star hotel, the Hotel du Palais, close to the Versailles train station. It has one fewer star than the Hotel du Quai-Voltaire and is basic, but serviceable. A double room here would cost about 65 Euros.

The difference in room rate is about 65 Euros per night.

Would it be worth your while to give up an hour (travel time) every day in order to save about 60 Euros a day? You would also be sacrificing some convenience inside the hotel. The one star Hotel du Palais has no elevator. If stairs are a problem for you, don't consider a one star hotel unless you are on ground level.

This example was set up to show how to build a base case and how to compare other options against the base case. If what you really want is the Paris ambience, then maybe you should spend the money and stay right in Paris near those big name attractions.

You can shop for cheaper hotels in Paris, of course. I mentioned the Hotel du Quai Voltaire because its location worked well for me. However, you could look for a well-located one star hotel in Paris and see if meets your needs.

The point is:

build a base case and measure against it; and
don't rule out the suburbs and surrounding regions when visiting a famous tourist city.