A MAN flew to Prague for the day for just £18 – and says it’s cheaper than his commute to work.
Luke Simmonds, 36, has been going on extreme day trips for the last since 2023 – and has completed 30 in two years.
For his most recent trip he jetted off to Prague, Czech Republic on October 11 on a Wizz Air flight at 6am.
Landing at 8.45am, he wandered round the city often nicknamed the Golden City for its beautiful buildings, tried a local chimney cake, and visited Prague castle.
He flew back at 5pm and says the whole trip cost him £52.65 – only £7.65 more than the cost of his commute.
Luke, from Guildford, said: “This is only a few pounds more than what my commute to work would be.
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“The commute to work is about £40 on the train and the tube on top so about £45 and it’s 60 miles to travel.
“A day out in London would have cost more.
“It just shows what’s possible having a look and a mooch about foreign capital in a day.”
Luke said Prague is his cheapest day trip and he visited with seven other travel enthusiasts who he met through Facebook.
Booking £8.99 flights each way 11 months in advance, his 6am Luton flight touched down in the city by 8.45am.
He said: “This one was very much a go and wander around trip, and we there was not really a set plan apart from going to Gediminas castle.
“We bought some local food and walked down to Charles Bridge, a famous part of Prague and then into the old town square.
“We didn’t do any paid activities we just walked around sightseeing which is why it was so cheap.”
“Clearly there’s a lot more in Prague and it was not enough time to tick it off and never go again but nice a introduction to the city.”
Luke also visited Lithuania the weekend before.
His Luton Airport flights with WizzAir took off at 7.55am on October 4, landing in Vilnius, Lithuania at 12.18pm and costing just £38.47 return.
After taking a 20-minute bus into the centre he visited Gediminas castle for free, taking in panoramic views of the city, before having a lunch of local potato pancakes and cherry beer in the old town.
He said: “Vilnius is one of those places you can wander around without really having a plan.
“The old town has got loads to look at. There’s a quirky art district that’s almost declared itself independent – called Užupis.
“It’s quite a famous site in Vilnius but I found it really underwhelming”.
The extreme day trip does come with risks however if your flights into problems.
Luke’s 23.20pm flight with Ryanair back to Stansted was delayed – meaning he was left at the airport all night, only leaving at 8:25am the next morning.
When it comes to his top extreme day trips tips, he said that he bags his cheap flights by booking at least three months in advance.
He said: “Three months ahead tends to be the sweet spot for trips, you can get really good deals.
“There’s no exact science to booking flights as the prices go up all over the place.”
Not only that, but being “flexible with airports” also helps.
He finished by saying: “I’ve gone to places I’ve never even heard of because I’ve seen people write it up on Facebook and thought, I’ll go there then.
“Some places have definitely had a boost in tourism because of it. The price is the driver rather than where you want to go”.
How much do his day trips cost?
Day trip to Prague
National Express coach: £10.62
Flights: £17.98
Transport: £7.00 (CZK 193.69)
Food and drink: £10.67 (CZK 295.24)
Souvenirs: £6.38 (CZK 176.54)
Day trip to Vilnius
National Express coach: £14.45
Flights: £38.47
Transport: £2.13 (Euro 2.50)
Food and drink: £25.93 (Euro 30.50)
Souvenirs: £4.25 (Euro 5.00)