pittpurple

Hi,

My husband and I are going on a 2-week trip to Andalucia in October and are on a really, really tight budget. We are staying in hostels for a week (1 night Malaga, 1 night Sevilla, 3 nights Cordoba, 2 nights Granada) and then spending a week in an apartment in Nerja so we will be able to do our own cooking, etc. most of the time.

After putting together our budget, I've left us with £45 ($90) a day total for food (after accomodations, entrance fees and transportation). Is this going to be enough? We tend to grab sandwiches/snacks during the day and only go out at night - usually to a cheap cafe. Will our money stretch enough for this? Will we be able to afford to get a couple glasses of wine here and there?

I've been looking at information online, etc. but it's difficult to find information on cafes, etc - it's usually about proper restaurants which I know are out of our budget!

Thanks a lot!
PittPurple

ribeirasacra

To be honest you should eat the main meal during the day as it is then you can get Menu del Dia. This will cost between 7 and 10 € per person and usually includes 3 course and a drink of wine or water, plus sometimes coffee afterwards. Have tapas in the evening. You maybe able to find breakfast for a few € too.

Christina

You can if you are determined, but I spent more than that (in current rates) and I don't really go overboard. When I was there a few years go, I probably spent around 35-40 euro a day for myself, but that's about normal for me as I don't eat a lot or in expensive places. But you know that a cup of coffee or drink is going to get you several euro by itself (coffee is cheaper than in France).

I never found meals as cheap as the above post names in Seville or Cordoba. I don't eat breakfast much, just coffee and maybe a roll, but I know I didn't see entire breakfasts for a few euro nor entire midday hot meals for 7-10 euro.

chapla

I just returned from 5 weeks in Sain and the most I ever spent on my complete lunch,menu al/del dia was 14€,the least 8.95€ Breakfast w/coffee and a roll was 2.10€. By law, the menu has to be posted outside w/choices and includes 2 courses,dessert, drink and bread
No,these were not awful places but delightful, small restaurants-some even with crisp, white tablecloths/napkins and the best part ,filled w/locals not tourists.Madrid,Malaga,Sevilla etc are all doable w/euros left over for a drinks w/tapas!

josele

Besides, you'll find many groceries stores with ready-made salads and stuff to prepare bocadillos, and wine bottles, of course. Tapas bar is another option.

Robert2533

You'll find that in most cases the cheap menu del dia (under €12) to be less than satisfactory. You need to check around to see what you options are since a surprising number of restaurants are now offering a menu at lunch. We just had the lunch menu at Kokocha, a 1-star Michelin restaurant in San Sebastian, for €25 pp, including wine, water, bread and café.

If you don't do a daily menu for lunch, you will quickly find that your budget of $90 will not take you far. The average ala carte meal can easily exceed €40 pp, without adding in the cost of wine, water, bread and cafe.

One thing the Spanish do when not ordering the menu is to share a starter, order a main course, and share a desert, or skip the desert altogether.

kayd

Even if $90 is not enough on restaurant days, you can still hit that as an average over two weeks because you have one week of self-catering. $90 is extravagant for a day's home-prepared meals for two!

isabel

We found the €9-14 menus to be just fine, and we found them at dinner time as well as lunch time. Some people have higher taste requirements than others I guess, but just so you know, lots of people do find those lower priced restaurants to be quite good. And they did usually include two courses plus wine. There were plenty of places for sandwiches for lunches. Do be aware that dinner doesn't start till 8pm at the earliest, and at that time you'll be the only ones in the restaurant.

I do wonder why you are planning 3 nights in Cordoba and only 1 in Sevilla. Sevilla has a lot more to see. A lot of people just do Cordoba as a day trip. We spent two nights there (plus 4 in Sevilla and 3 in Granada) and felt that was a good amount of time.

Graziella5b

In local hotels menu del dia are sometimes excellent and around 12 eur. For me they are a great choice.