seafox

This is a somewhat tounge in cheek post, but with the $ in such terrible shape I am wondering what food items a traveller could bring to Europe in the coming year to reduce food costs while in the country. I admit it reduces the experiance, but perhaps breakfast bars for some of the mornings??? What elese could we bring that would travel well and be managed in an apartment or hotel. Are there things we can not bring into the EU???

Michael

I know of someone who traveled through Europe on peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.

Dayle

seafox,

Have you checked food prices in the US lately??? No point in bringing any along with you to Europe.

bettyk

We always take a few breakfast bars, granola bars, nuts, peanut butter crackers, etc. Jif now has a 6-pack of lunchbox size PB containers that would be good. Restaurant hours can be erratic in Europe so we like to have a few snacks on hand.

flanneruk

You wouldn't be alone.

The CEO of a company I worked for a decade or so back had a huge aversion to foreign food, a retinue of gophers and a need to visit ministries in large developing countries.

For a trip to China (CHINA!!!) the gopher checked two crates of Mars Bars onto the plane and the CEO lived on them. By huge fluke, Our Man in Beijing got wind of this just in time to make sure he'd cocked up a face-saving excuse for not eating at official banquets.

dawnnoelm

I packed snacks that were quickly gone on our trip last summer. I will be bringing a little more for this 10 day trip.

One thing that happened was our 10 hour flight over there turned into a 36-48 hour deal. We left our house Thursday morning (LAX) and arrived in Paris Sat. morning. Not good. We needed a lot of snacks to get through the 9 hours in Chile ;-)

I will bring Splenda (I like it in my coffee), snack bars, nuts, maybe peanut butter and jelly like someone else said ;-)

goddesstogo

My SO wakes up earlier than I do and is a breakfast eater whereas I'm not, so we always keep a little stash of nuts, dried fruit, granola bars, etc, in the hotel room. It often comes in handy in the rental car as well -- we've been detoured, stuck in traffic, pulled over to the side of the road in an enormous thunderstorm, and it was nice having some nibbles and a bottle of water during the delay. It's also handy if you have to check into your hotel late or on a day when local shops and restaurants are closed.

traveller1959

Forget it.

But buy your supplies at local supermarkets (the bigger, the cheaper). Make yourself sandwiches on the hotel room or in a public park. Enjoy a beer or wine (or something else) together with your meal. In Europe, it is perfectly acceptable to drink beer, wine or spirits on a parkbench.

But bring some plastic glasses, plastic plates, cutlery, corkscrew and bottle-opener from home. It helps!

kerouac

You can have a pleasant trip to Europe without eating in a restaurant a single time (well, maybe not if you are a foodie). There are lots of fabulous cheap items for sale in markets, supermarkets, delis, street stalls and other random places.

Getting provisions this way and eating them when and where you want (on a bench, having a picnic in a park, in your hotel room, alking down the street...) also frees up a hell of a lot of time when you could be waiting for waiters (who is the 'waiter' -- the customer or the server, anyway?). It is a totally different experience from having to deal with restaurants, if you are a wise planner. And it is also much easier when you are in a country where you (or the locals) have deficient language skills.

yorkshire

Fortunately breakfast in included on my next trip, but I do pack a few Kashi bars and bags of nuts because I get hungrier more than DH and we will be doing some hiking.
Most airport choices are inedible, so it's for transit too.
I don't think you can do much more than snacks. It's more about what and how you choose to eat.

shormk2

I don't have children, but often, before I travel, I stock up on the lunch-size individual packs of things (crackers, cookies, cheese and crackers, etc). I find it's good to have a store of these things in my carry on and in my purse. My SO- albeit he's a grown man- gets cranky if he goes too long without food, so I always make sure I have granola, mixed nuts, or the snack packs mentioned above on hand. Also, in the past when I was studying abroad and I had access to a kitchenette, I packed macaroni and cheese and ramen and had my mom ship more when I ran out (I just like the stuff and was living on a budget!).

suze

Mixed nuts, dried fruit both travel well. Also protein or granola bars.

Mostly I do not take things from home, but I DO immediately stock my own hotel room upon arrival, definitely with a couple bottles of wine, but also a few snacks to keep expenses down and not feel tied to finding a restaurant as often.

wtm003

I have two boys & I always travel with a jar of peanut butter. We are headed to Europe this summer & I'm bringing 2 jars of peanut butter, nuts, granola bars, maybe dried fruit, along with sandwich baggies and plastic utensils. Our breakfast is included so I won't be bringing instant packages of oatmeal as I've brought on previous trips.

hypatia

We do all the stuff above(trail mix)and we take the leftovers from the plane..but we also take packets of teas,coffee,hot chocolate,sugar,creamer,dijon ,vinegar,hot sauce, ketchup,mayo,crackers,and jelly(you can even find some peanut butter in jelly packs).We also keep uor little plasticwear packs with the salt,pepper etc...
As soon as you get there buy juice singles,cheese,cured dry sliced meat bread, fruit and cookies.I take a soft collapsible cooler.I always get a room with a fridge if I can.Otherwise get some ice and put it in two plastic bags.
We also scout out and collect pastries along the way as well as olives, and chocolates...( we even snitch a piece of fruit from from our breakfast at the hotel..
Last time we were in Paris we ate at Chez Marianne/deli and I had chopped liver left so we asked for the take out container.It made for the best dijon pate on rye sandwich the next day...In London we had a lunch of cheese, stuff from the famous Borough Market (olives,dried fruit, etc.)on the waterfront near the Millinium Bridge
this has saved us on many a blitz trip..for a missed lunch or snack..Then we don't feel so bad about dinner but still try to get the best quality for a reasonable price..We also foraged for blackberries in Stow,UK and told locals we were having to survive because of the exchange...hahha
.Also pack a multipurpose knife in your checked luggage.Thats bout all you can do other than begging for taste of gelato ,cheese,meat etc. in shops...of foraging in the bins for leftovers outside places like Tour Argent(NO I never did that)

kgh8m

I'm amazed that people carry food with them. For as much food as you could carry with you, the differential cost in Europe is probably no more than $30. And you've had to take up luggage space and drag it all over the airport and hotels with you. It doesn't seem worth it.

Just go to the supermarket when you are there and buy some snacks or staples for enjoying in your hotel or apartment. My husband and I have to have Diet Coke, so we always stock up on a few liters of Coca Light and keep them in the minibar. It's part of the fun to go to the supermarket - discovering (and eating!) the junkfood of other countries is a lot of fun.

goddesstogo

We don't bring nuts and dried fruit from home but we do carry it with us as we travel for the reasons I noted above. A bag of almonds and a bit of dried fruit don't take up much room in a suitcase (which gets wheeled anyway) and can be very handy when you need it. We don't have kids but I can't imagine how you'd travel with teens and littler kids without bringing food along.

On another note, we've had some of our best meals in France and Italy at markets or in inexpensive cafes surrounding markets. Neither of us is an 'expensive foodie' so we don't seek out the more famous restaurants. We're very experimentive at markets and we often have a 'sandwich-in-a-park' kind of lunch, which I find more restful in a day of sight-seeing than eating in a restaurant.

StCirq

Taking leftovers from the plane???!!!

I don't even know what to say about that.

And if anyone ever wanted proof Americans are a nation of between-meal snackers, this thread sure provides it.

I've never taken food of any kind to Europe, except for formula when I was feeding infants. All my food items go in the opposite direction.

floydvic

I have taken a few packets of the soft packaged tuna and some granola bars.

rogeruktm

If you eat a proper meal you have no need to snack. Makes absolutely no sense. Second, perhaps you should save a bit more money before your trip allowing for you to purchase fresh fruit in the event you just have to a snack.

hypatia

Sure Ive taken a piece of fruit, bags of nuts ,the little cookies, the pretzels, even the wrapped rolls I didnt eat....the cheese in a container as well! I'm not the only one who has I'm sure...I can afford to buy it but maybe I just want a few nuts and don't want to carry a can.
No,no ,no Ive never asked to wrap up the meal leftovers...but if you've paid for granola bar why ditch it?

Those salmon cups are great but we prefer the macheral they have in tins over there...They do stink up the room