One-Month Itinerary in September (Amsterdam, Tanzania/Zanzibar, Istanbul) - Budget Optimization

Hi everyone! I’m planning my dream trip for next September, lasting about a month. Here’s my itinerary:

Amsterdam: 3 days (departing from Montreal) Tanzania: 3-day safari Zanzibar: 6 days Istanbul: 7 days Return to Montreal.

Since my budget is pretty tight, I’m looking for tips and advice to cut costs without sacrificing the experience. Here are my questions:

Multi-destination flights: What’s the best way to book these connections? Is it better to buy a one-way ticket from Montreal to Amsterdam, then a separate internal flight, or use comparison tools for a multi-destination ticket? Budget safari: Do you have recommendations for local agencies or tips to do a 3-day safari (Serengeti/Ngorongoro) at an affordable price (e.g., camping/glamping instead of luxury lodges)? Accommodation in Zanzibar: Which villages or types of lodging are the most budget-friendly and accessible via local transport for these 6 days? Istanbul: Any tips for well-located but cheap accommodation and great food deals?

Hi Alain,

This time, will you respond to the replies you get, or still not?

Yeah, it’s becoming a habit. He comes to ask his questions, we give him answers, and no thank-you at all!

Don’t you ever get tired of playing the walking cliché? Your perpetual negativity isn’t a sign of intelligence—it’s just bitterness. Get over yourself: your opinion isn’t as important as you think, and this constant contempt is honestly getting pathetic.

Your opinion doesn’t carry the weight you think it does, and this constant contempt is frankly pathetic.

I don’t think I’ve ever stepped in like this before... But I agree with Songsam. In your last two posts (Barcelona and Thailand), several members took the time to give you detailed answers, and you never bothered to reply or even thank them—a basic courtesy. That doesn’t exactly motivate us to answer your questions about Zanzibar and Tanzania! 🙁

Here’s the first lucky traveler who got a reply from 123forfun...

Yes, and a really fun answer! 😉

Now that you’ve finally deigned to reply to someone—even if it was pretty inappropriate—I’ll make my own little effort:

Multi-destination flights: What’s the best way to book these connections? Is it better to buy a one-way ticket from Montreal to Amsterdam, then a domestic flight, or use comparison sites for a multi-destination ticket?

I’ve looked into it, and the options for flights from Amsterdam to Tanzania to Istanbul are so numerous, with so many ways to book tickets, that writing a comprehensive answer would take several hours—if not a whole day. I don’t feel like diving into that. But here’s a starting point: KLM offers a daily flight from AMS to JRO, and Turkish Airlines has 1–2 daily flights from ZNZ to IST. Just for flights, your trip is going to cost you a lot no matter which options you choose.

Tanzania (...) Budget safari

That doesn’t exist. Camping will obviously be cheaper than a lodge, but that doesn’t make it a budget option.