Untours Skip the hotel and stay in an offbeat location, such as this cottage in Lungern, Switzerland, available through Untours, which helps visitors live like residents in 14 European countries.

At the Hotel Galeno, a two-star in a quiet Rome neighborhood close to the Porta Pia, the double bed filled my room, with about 8 inches to spare on three sides. To get in the shower, I wedged my body around the toilet near a salad-bowl-size pedestal sink.

BOSTON – Dena Feldstein Brody sketched out an $8,000 budget for a 12-day family vacation this summer in England, France and Spain. But those plans were two years ago. Since then, the dollar has plummeted and air fares have soared.