Here are The Traveling Professor's Top Ten Tips on saving money on travel without sacrificing luxury or comfort:

Off-Season Hotels:  For instance, stay in Venice at a top 3-star hotel anytime in April for 170 euros per night.  Begin your stay on May 1 and pay an extra 100 euros per night.   In Europe, off-season roughly runs October 20 through May 20.  The weather can be great and crowds have yet to arrive.

Off-City Hotels:  Big cities mean big prices on hotels.   But there are charming cities outside of big cities where hotels are a fraction of the cost.  For instance, we find beautiful hotels in Padua (Italy) and Bayeux (France), 4-star quality, for under 100 euros.

Buy the Museum Pass:  It gets you into museums, often with no wait in line admission.  For instance, in Paris, buy the Paris Museum Pass for 69 euros for 6 days.   Just go to 2 museums a day and not only do you save money, you are treated like a king (or queen, if you prefer).

Buy the Menu:  Oftentimes, better deals are given when you buy the menu (appetizer, entree, dessert) all at once.

In Italy, try an Enoteca:  For the cost of a glass of wine, get the full buffet spread.   It's great for meeting other travelers too.

Travel to Off-Cities:  Whenever going to Italy, I fly into Milan or Bologna to save hundreds off my ticket.  I then buy the first-class train ticket to my destination and ride in style while saving money.

Share a Guide:  In London, we go on London Walks, www.walks.com with other travelers with an entertaining professional guide for 9 pounds per person.

Fly Off-Season:  Same concept as off-season hotels.  Save as much as 40%.

Fly IcelandAir or Norwegian Air Business or Economy Plus:  If the itinerary works out, you can fly in comfort for LESS than the coach fares on other major airlines like AA, Delta, and United. 

Buy Train Tickets in Advance:  In Italy for instance, a train ticket from Milan to Rome is 19 euros if purchased 3 months ahead of time.  On travel day, it will cost about 75 euros.  Look carefully when booking, sometimes premier class is cheaper than budget class.