alanfox

With the dollar so weak, I know that travel in Europe is expensive for us Americans, particularly if we are going to Great Britain. Are all European countries extremely expensive, too?? Spain?? Portugal?? Scandanavia??
Advice for the American traveler who wants to travel to Europe reasonably???

rach

Switzerland is atrociously expensive!
Germany more reasonable.
Stay in vacation apartments or B&Bs and travel with the train or bus to cut costs. Check out www.untours.com for a variety of two-week vacations in several European countries or Home-at-First for stays in ?England/Scotland.

sandi_travelnut

You can greatly impact your travel budget by staying at B&Bs or 2 star, taking the train instead of renting a car, eating picnic-style lunches or at small bistos instead of expensive restaurants. I think if you decide how much you can comfortably spend, you can easily tailor a vacation that will allow you to stay in your budget. We do it almost every year.

PalQ

the ole adage: Take twice as much money and twice as few clothes as you initially plan. With the euro coming to Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, these countries have suddenly become more expensive. But lots of expenses are discretionary - do you really want to pay $1 for a postcard and then over $1 to mail it? $4 cups of coffee are nice at cafes but you can do without. Shop at grocery stores instead of paying minimum $20 for meals in many places. Bring essentials from home. Stay in B&Bs - in amsterdam I had a nice B&B for 32 euros including copious Dutch breakfast - cheapest decent hotels are twice as much at least. (Lots of B&B websites). Bring food on trains rather than having to pay extortionary rates from the snack wagons.

Surfergirl

The value of the dollar to the currency of the specific country changes from year to year, so you really should be looking at the current value of the dollar to the currency, then look at it historically, say in the past year. In the L.A. Sunday Times (travel section), there is a weekly list of currency conversions.

Although it's a bit of a gamble, you can sort of determine which country is going to cost more in currency exchanges.

We were in Spain & Portugal in 2000, and the exchange rate was really good. We were in Scandinavia in 2002 and again, the exchange rate was really good (the dollar has since declined drastically). Great Britain -- the pound is always pretty whacky against the dollar (or the other way around)and hard to predict. We had good luck with the Euro in 2003 in Ireland, but the dollar was quickly sinking in the sunset for this summer's trip to Italy.

Do factor other stuff in: the price quoted for a hotel generally includes service and taxes, plus breakfast, unlike the U.S. where the price they quote for the room is never the price you actually pay.

mikemo

We were in the UK, NW PT and Galicia, SP in July.
The UK is over the top, but Spain and PT are still OK albeit high due to the weak USD - just got my (no fee) CC statement from the trip:
GW EXP Train to London 24GBP/$44.89US for 2 for a 25 min "subway car" ride to Victoria Station.
Lunch @ Manicomio $64.17 with 1 glass of wine for moi (great food)
Inexpensive Indian dinner @ Kahns in SK with bottle of wine $97.26 (great also).
Two absolutely world class nights at Hambleton Hall $868. incl B'F, but nothing else.
Most all better Hot in the UK incl "full English" B'Fast.
The above prices incl the VAT which is 17.5% for Hot (tax the visitors - they don't vote - except with their $$$'s and feet - I'll not be back until maybe something above parity - 1.25 - 1.3 - naaahhhh, not in my lifetime unless JFK produces a long term economic depression - a real possibility).
The Pousadas and Paradors are wonderful and include amazing Breakfasts too.
That area is really spectacular! We flew into Oporto and drove a rental VW golf 5 sp all over the place (a bit of a bow wow with a 1.2L motor, but...very fuel efficient).
We stayed 2 nights in each of four in the NW: Euro 87- Euro 150 (roughly $109. - $187.50) per night.
The Parador in Baiona was the best and most expensive as we got senior 35% discounts in the Pousadas.
Most of the extravagant meals with a bottle of wine (yea, wine with lunch @ 3:00PM and dinner at 10:00PM) were less than $40.
Lady "L" did treat us to a huge (3+ kg)local lobster dinner with wine one night for about $80. in Baiona - amazing.
Certainly a bit different than having the USD @ 0.84 -0.86 vs the Euro.
Sorry for the diatribe, but recent factual data is often lacking.
M
PS I would have done nothing differently - we had a wonderful time and would return to Baiona and Galicia any time.

BTilke

If you want the silver lining in this $$ cloud, make a commitment to skip the capital cities and explore a secondary city or somewhere in the countryside. In France, for example, the cities of Bourges and Angers are both MUCH cheaper than Paris (perfectly nice hotels with private bath, breakfast, etc., can be found for $60 a night, you can get a delicious three course meal WITH wine and coffee for $15 a person) with plenty of things to see (Bourges has a world class cathedral and several excellent museums; Angers has an outstanding castle) and do on their own. Do Paris for one night or as a day trip. The German and Austrian countrysides, especially in the less touristy regions like Muensterland or Styria, are wonderful places to explore for a lot less money.

suze

Of the places you mention Spain and Portugal are know to be cheaper than Scandanavia certainly. Finland and Ireland are the most expensive countries (I read recently in a travel magazine).

Advice? It's easy, really... Stay in less expensive hotels, don't eat at fancy restaurants, shop at grocery stores, do your site-seeing on foot, don't move around every so often to save on transportation, etc.

nytraveler

As others have mentioned there are areas that are less expensive - smaller cities or countryside vs largest cities - and many countries in central europe (Czech republic, Poland, Hungary, the Baltics etc) are considerable less than the UK or France. Also, don't discount car rental - for two or more it can be very reasonable - allowing you the freedom to tour the countryside at will.

travelbunny

....agree with the above re car! if you are considering a car, the price can be quite reasonable for a week IF you book ahead..I recently booked a mid size european car (which is not equiv to a mid size am car) for about 330 us for 1 week unlimited milage (but i payed the gas)..it was a standard (which i can drive). as we were 4 people this translated to $100/wk with gas and taxes per person which on a daily basis worked out to less than $15 per day....i would never book a car for a major europian city but is ideal for rural areas...i could have rented a compact for about $240 but was too small..

walkinaround

sorry mikemo, but your "factual" post is not so factual. VAT is the same in the UK for hotels as for everything else. I live here and pay the same rate on my clothing, books, etc as you pay for your hotel. What is factual is that it is just about every US state and/or city which charges a higher tax rate on hotels and rental cars to screw the visitors. so i think you have it all wrong.

maybe now with the weak dollar, americans will at least not insult us by calling our money "monopoly money" as it's yours which is just about worthless . so you can vote with your $ but sorry it doesn't carry much weight anymore. when i spend money in the states, its like i'm spending rupies!!!

ilovetulips

walkinaround- Has anyone ever told you if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it all? You could have stopped after the first paragraph.

m_kingdom2

"walkinaround" without a g my dear, I'm British too, you're so nationalistic, I wish the dollar was like a "rupie" or rupee even, I'd buy my Prada over there, it's not so get your facts right.

rj007

The exchange rate has been irrelevant to me. In 9 trips to Europe, the $ has been all over the place yet all 9 trips have been great. I see I am not the only one who shos at grocery stores to save money. As others have noted, use public transportation, stay in B&B's. London has several world class museums - free. I love to wander the neighborhoods of wherever I travel - free. BTilke's comment on visiting the smaller cities is absolutely correct. They are cheaper than the capital cities. As nytraveler mentioned Central Europe is definitely cheaper than the West.

walkinaround, it is obvious that Will Rogers never met you. Instead of bad mouthing the $ why don't you take advantage of the pound's strength like so many of your countrymen and take a holiday in the US.

elina

"Finland and Ireland are the most expensive countries"

That was a comparison of countries that use euro, not a comparison of European countries. And that was living expenses for locals, including housing, bank loans, cars etc. In Finland cars cost almost triple they cost in Germany, but a tourist is not likely to buy a car here.

Finland is the only Scandinavian country that uses euro, so the other four were not included. About Scandivian countries and prices: Iceland and Norway are the most expensive, Sweden comes next, then Denmark, and Finland is the cheapest.

What I have travelled in western Europe recently, Portugal and Spain seem to be cheaper. And in eastern Europe Slovakia.

GSteed

Good, Better or Best?? All Europe is a great travel/tourist baazar. How much can you afford? Camping? Hostel? 1 - 5 star hotels. TimeShare, Apartments, B&Bs, private homes...Best values may be in University housing empty of students for the summer. Youthful travelers use trains and busses to sleep in as they travel about. Polish youth hitch-hike! There are some really pertinent ideas in the above posts! Try some International organizations. Rotary or Kiwanis. Are you a professional? Arrange visits with their venues. Sports? Today beds are probably the days most expensive item. How about a van and sleeping bags. Question? Are dollar prices rising in the US as the dollar value declines? Buy a tour after you arrive in Europe...local prices this year are astoundingly low.

mikemo

walkinaround,
"The above prices include the VAT which is 17.5% for Hot..."
Not factual??
You obviously read more into this for whatever reason than I intended.
Yes, many cities/counties in the US have use taxes on hotels and rental cars, etc. - often to fund projects government has no business involved in - like professional football and baseball stadiums.
I always vote against those, but the average American "always votes to tax the other guy" - a variant of the politics of "envy" which is central to "all" Democrats' economic policies.
I think it's great the GBP is so strong and I certainly would like the USD to be even stronger.
Please, by all means, come spend and invest in the US. I have been investing my ever weakening USDs in MX as the MXP is weaker yet and the returns far greater.
M

Gardyloo

Americans should just be grateful that they have so many more dollars to spend on fewer £s and €s nowadays, thanks to the generous tax cuts provided by their elected leaders.

What? You say you don't have that many more dollars? And that not all the leaders were elected? Clearly you run with the wrong crowd...

mikemo

Gardyloo,
Another (actually pretty clever) Bush-basher recognized.
Last year's federal capital gains tax cut "paid" for my recent trip.
My vote "always" goes to the candidate whose economic policies benefit me directly - all other issues are "inconsequential" imho - color me a dinosaur, lol.
M

walkinaround

mikemo,

what is your complain then if you accept that the UK does not tax the visitor at a different rate than the resident. i guess i misunderstood but i took it to mean that the UK tax those who can't vote more than those who can. sorry but that's what your post implies.

not trying to pick an argument just interested in what your beef is if it is not what i thought.