Berlin, Paris, London: 2 weeks, 3 people

Old Jul 10th, 2014, 01:19 PM
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Berlin, Paris, London: 2 weeks, 3 people

I'd like to thank you in advance for replying and helping me.

We (3 of us) are looking to go to Europe (Berlin, Paris, London) for 2 weeks flying from Los Angeles to Berlin, taking a train to Paris and London, then flying back to Los Angeles from London (or going back to Paris just to fly from there, depending on if it's cheaper or not). We enjoy eating out, but not for every meal, so we are looking to rent houses/condos/town homes/apartments or hotel suites that have at least 1 bedroom and a full kitchen (at least 3-4 stars rating) - we don't want to stay in hostels. This will probably be our only time to go to Europe in a long time, so we want to have a decently luxurious stay.

My first question is, how much would it cost with airfares, train fares, accommodations (12-11 nights), eating out, souvenirs, metro fares, taxis, pocket money, and sight seeing for 3 adults?

My next question is, how log should we stay in each location?

Thank you!
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Old Jul 10th, 2014, 05:27 PM
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Your budget can be all over the places depending on where the apartments are located (hotels VERY rarely have kitchen facilities more than a mini-fridge), how often you eat out and where, how much night life you want and what type.

You really need to start to build a zero base budget by:

Checking out airfares for your dates

Looking at sample apts in each city - Berlin is cheap and London quite expensive - at a distance from the center you would be comfortable with (walking distance, 15 minutes on transit or ?)

Checking out train fares (Paris to London fares work like air tickets, the cheapest fares go first - starting 90 days out - and the highest can be double or triple the lowest)

Decide what percentage meals you will eat out - and assume prices for similar types of meals will be 1/3 to 1/2 more than in the US

For sights you can just google each one and see the price (in the UK many museums are free) but other sights can be $20 to $25 each.

I would assume miscellaneous of $25 at least per person per day for an ice cream, a drink in a cafe, and local trams or whatever

People can pull a number out of the air - but without your doing this that number can be off by 50% or more
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Old Jul 10th, 2014, 05:37 PM
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And 11 days for 3 major cities will be expensive. Travel time between Berlin and Paris will eat up a day.
Your cost can be huge or moderate. We know nothing about your travel habits o even desires.
Your question is equivalent to asking "how long is a string".
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Old Jul 10th, 2014, 05:59 PM
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You can easily look up most of this information yourself and only you can answer most of these questions as you know when you're going.

Go to United or Lufthansa and check fares. For trains to and from Germany use bahn.de

For trains from Paris to London use the Eurostar site. Check pricing 60 to 90 days ahead for discounted rates.

Food prices depend on how much and what you like to eat. It can be as little as E20 per person for dinner or E100 per person.

Sightseeing prices are listed on the particular sight web site. For example, ticket prices for the Eiffel Tower are listed on their web site. Only you know what sights you want to see.

I can no more tell you how much pocket money and souvenir money you'll need than you can tell me how much I'll need. This is so subjective.

How much time in each location? 5 days in each city plus you'll need travel time between cities.
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Old Jul 10th, 2014, 06:15 PM
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For accommodation in Germany, use the websites www.hrs.de or www.booking.com . Both will have aparthotels or serviced apartments, or you can just google (for example) 'Berlin holiday apartments' or 'Berlin Ferienwohnungen'. That will give you a good idea of base price per night, and then you will have to make enquiries promptly to see if the properties are available when you want to travel - it may be hard to get your first choice.

Lavandula
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Old Jul 11th, 2014, 07:33 AM
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>>My first question is, how much would it cost with airfares, train fares, accommodations (12-11 nights), eating out, souvenirs, metro fares, taxis, pocket money, and sight seeing for 3 adults?some idea of how much you want to/can spend. Then we can tell you if your numbers are realistic. Everyone has a different travel style. From our histories posting here on Fodors I know that nytraveler generally spends more/stays at posher places than I do -- but we both travel on 'reasonable budgets' . . . for the types of places we stay/where we go.

>>(at least 3-4 stars rating)
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Old Jul 11th, 2014, 01:30 PM
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Thank you for all the replies.

I was just looking to find some information of an average price range based on the never of people (3) and hotel rating (3-4 stars) or home rental (1-2 bedrooms). I'd say we would probably eat out 2 times a day. We will likely always eat lunch out and then maybe eat breakfast or dinner split an equal amount of times during our trip. We would eat at place like cafés and restaurants - not places like McDonalds. We would likely be going in July, August, or early September of 2015.

I understand a price range can very greatly, but I was hoping that based on the time of year we would like to go, the hotel room star rating or amount of bedrooms in a home of some sort, going to the typical attractions, eating out twice a day, average metro ticket prices, etc. someone could at least give me an average price range.

I have no idea what things cost over there, so what a meant by "pocket money" was money for things we didn't think about that we would want/need to pay for.
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Old Jul 11th, 2014, 01:40 PM
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Also, we are unable to determine a price range. This trip is being gifted to us for our honeymoon. Family and friends are donating to a honeymoon registry rather than giving us gifts. Once we know how much our family and friends have given, we then will figure out how much we can add to it. But if even then we cannot afford to get the 3 of us there we will wait another year to continue saving. Hence, why I am asking of an average price range. I am unsure of a number we should go by. I'd like to say $10,000, but I have no idea if that would get us nice hotels, good food, souvenirs, train tickets, plane tickets, and enough spending money for 3 people.
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Old Jul 11th, 2014, 02:26 PM
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OK, I have to ask...three people on a honeymoon? Can we then assume that one of the three is a child?

The previous suggestions were spot on. You need to do a little research and then come back with a basic plan. It is easy enough to look up the airfare and hotel costs. That along with what you find you want to see will determine for you how many days you should stay in each city. Having been to all three I would at this point tell you to divide your time equally as each of the cities you choose have tons of interesting sights.

Planning is half the fun. Enjoy!
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Old Jul 11th, 2014, 02:38 PM
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Let me try to explain this again.

You can look up accurate prices on the internet. For instance, you can look up metro/underground ticket prices for London, Paris, and Berlin on line. About E1.5 to E2.5 per trip. There are also transportation passes you can buy.

Hotels - I just booked a double room in Berlin for $100 a night including breakfast. I have no idea if this hotel would suit you but it suits me fine as I'm on a budget.

Good food is subjective. Budget E50 per person for dinner. You can spend more or less but it's up to you to determine what good food means and how much you want to spend.

If you read some guide books and do some preliminary research you will have a more definite idea of what the trip will cost. It seems that you are reluctant to even look up airfare prices. That would be a starting point.
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Old Jul 11th, 2014, 03:52 PM
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>>I just booked a double room in Berlin for $100 a night including breakfast.
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Old Jul 11th, 2014, 10:44 PM
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You might also need to factor in the ease/difficulty of getting apartments for a small number of nights at a time.
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Old Jul 12th, 2014, 11:34 AM
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"Budget E50 per person for dinner."

"FYI For London - 3 adults or teenagers you'd need spend about $300 for a nice-ish but not posh place. Or around $200 double it for a down market triple."

This is the type of info I'm looking for. This helps be figure out how much I may need to budget for.

It will be my fiancé and I plus his teen.

I understand I can look things up, which I have, but most things I keep seeing are for people on a tight budget, for 1 person, or for 2 people also on a tight budget.

So the info others have given me are the type of quotes I'm looking for. If dinner is about €50, what is a safe/average number to go by for lunch? Breakfast?

If we (2 adults, 1 teen) will need to look at spending $300 for a nice-ish place in London, what about Paris and Berlin?

Thank you everyone. I really do appreciate it.
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Old Jul 12th, 2014, 03:20 PM
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>

I really don't understand how this is possible if you go to the sights where you buy tickets or book hotel rooms as you were directed, above. Sightseeing web sites do not have any reference to one's budget. They give actual prices.

Lunch is E10 to E15; breakfast is about E10.
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Old Jul 12th, 2014, 03:23 PM
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If your teen starts ordering cokes or other soft drinks you'll need to up that budget by E10 to E30 per day.
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Old Jul 12th, 2014, 03:37 PM
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Just a quick suggestion, take a look at easyjet.com for cheap flights but look carefully as there are many restrictions and add ons. I flew Berlin to Paris in February for around $100usd round-trip but I also booked at least 6 months out.
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Old Jul 12th, 2014, 04:26 PM
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OK, I can't help myself...leave the teen at home. People are gifting for your honeymoon not a family vacation.
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Old Jul 12th, 2014, 04:56 PM
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Teen boy or girl and how big an appetite? when my B was in his teens he could empty the fridge in about half an hour and portions are typically smaller in europe than in the US. Soft drinks are about $3 and up for a tiny can - so for a teen drinking a lot of soda - and wanting ice which is hard to get - you probably need to allocate $20 just for soft drinks - unless they are old enough for wine or beer (16).

We hae breakfast at the hotel - whether included or not. For a casual sit down lunch we figure 20 euros and up. For dinner we figure 50 euros per person at an actual restaurant - basic meal with modest wine. We generally do one "special" dinner in each country - and figure $250 to $300 for that for the 2 of us - but can be more for a special restaurant - Jules Verne at eiffel Tower - that is good food and a special site.

Can;t help with apts since we do only hotels. But with a teen you may want to look at a 2 BR, 2 bath (fairly rare) and not inexpensive. Just go to some of the websites and see what the prices are.

As for airfare - look at Kayak now - next year won't be any cheaper. (A quick look shows flights to be about $1800 per person LAX to Berlin and London to LAX - expect next summer to be similar - so $5500 just for airfare for 3. If you figure $4K for lodging and $4k for food and sights - that is a total of $15,500 - and I think that is cutting it close - if you are asking for any level of "luxury".

I would not rely on that as a number for anything - but since you seem not to want to research anything yourself it's a place to start.

And note - this is not "luxury" except the special dinners - this is pleasant neighborhood places (similar prices to NYC).
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Old Jul 12th, 2014, 07:53 PM
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"OK, I can't help myself...leave the teen at home. People are gifting for your honeymoon not a family vacation."

Since my fiancé was "2-for-1" we are taking his teen girl with us. Not to mention she would be devastated if we went without her. I would also feel guilty. This opportunity won't get again soon, so we want her to experience Europe as well.

She has a decent appetite and we would be getting sodas or coffee with our meals. So, I guess it would be more like an additional €30/day.
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Old Jul 12th, 2014, 08:04 PM
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"I would not rely on that as a number for anything - but since you seem not to want to research anything yourself it's a place to start." =)

It's not that I don't want to research, I was just hoping for some info from people who have actually been there and give me some numbers to be able to guesstimate the amount we would need for all 3 of us to go. It's also good to know $15K gets some luxury but not much. So we may need to save closer to $20K for some more luxury. THAT is what I wanted to know as well as the Brasov break down that was also given. Thank you!
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