I'll be departing shortly for a two week vacation that's primarily in Scandinavia with a couple days in Prague at the end. I've checked a few websites, but I haven't been able to find a price breakdown or any solid recommendations for a daily/weekly travel budget.
There will be two us traveling, both in our late 20s. All of our flights, big train trips and hotels have been paid in advance, so we'll be preoccupied with covering the cost of mostly incidentals, meals, souvenirs and in-between travel (e.g., subways, taxis, buses).
The travel breaks down as follows:
Copenhagen, Denmark - 2 Days
Uppsala, Sweden - 3 Days
Oslo, Norway - 1 Day
Bergen, Norway - 1 Day
Alesund, Norway - 2 Days
Fjord Tour - 2 Days
Prague, Czech Republic - 2 Days
Does anyone have any suggestions for a daily or weekly budget for these countries? We'd like to have at least one nice, sit down meal, afford to see a few sites and purchase souvenirs per day. Would the recommendation differ greatly if we also factored in night life?
Thank you!!
Daily/Weekly Budget for Scandinavian Travel??
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Scandinavia is REALLY expensive. I would google some restaurants to get an idea of prices - but meals will probably be 3 times what they are in the US. (The price of a big mac - not the meal, just the sandwich, is about $10 in Stockholm - not that you should eat at Mickey Ds', but just for perspective.) And I would give up the idea of souvenirs unless you have a very generous budget. As for night life - while local beer is fairly reasonable mixed drinks are dreadfully expensive (due to very high local taxes on alcohol).
And one question - why Uppsala for 3 days and ignore Stockholm - which is a fantastic city with a ton to see and do?
I've already been to Stockholm briefly before and we're visiting a close friend, who studies at the university there. Thank you for the insight! It's been several years since I've been in Europe, so my frame of reference for cost is a bit outdated.
Do you think $100-150 per day will suffice in these countries?
It might do per person - I can;t imagine it would be enough for a couple. But people travel with different expectations. We don;t do fast food or picnics or eat a sandwich from a market and we like wine with dinner in a pleasant restaurant. And lunch is a more casuale but still sit down place with beer or water and coffee after.
Is that $100-150 per day for one person or for both of you? If it's for both I'd think it's a bit low. It really depends on what you mean with "one nice, sit down meal".
I think current exchange rate is slightly above 7 SEK for $1. You can get a decent lunch for 100-150 SEK/person, including a soft drink or beer. Dinner can cost anything from 100 SEK/person for a pizza and beer to far above your daily budget. I don't go to expensive restaurants, but I've heard of coworkers paying 400-500 SEK/person for a dinner with some wine. A few drinks on top of that and your budget has exploded.
I haven't been to Norway for many years, but I've heard it's more expensive there than in Sweden.
We had a meal at a Pakistani restaurant (Mehfel) in Oslo which came to NOK 700 for the two for us - but that was with a 20% discount using the Oslo Card.
In Bergen we had a couple of meals which came to NOK 1200- 1300, including a beer or two. We also ate at Peppes Pizza - sharing a large pizza for about NOK 500.
We didn't bother with lunch. Our hotels included breakfast so we filled up at breakfast and just had coffee while out and about.
That's my personal daily budget, so for one person! Our hotels provide breakfast as well, so that is a great way to keep costs down by stocking up that morning. I think we plan to do lunch on the road by checking out cafes, street vendors or picking up picnic items from markets.
I'm starting to understand why people call Norway a "dry" country. Alcohol is super expensive!
I live in Norway, so uh, Ill give you a "quite" breakdown.
I think its NOK 6 for USD 1, so if you are going to eat at McDonalds in Bergen, where I live, it changes in price after 9PM, you'll spend about NOK99 for 2 cheesburgers, with one 500ML softdrink and a McFlurry. But if you'll eat earlier, a cheeseburger will cost you NOK 14 each. You can just buy a bottle of water and refill where you can find a faucet since the water here is clean. You can find lots of restaurants here, but I recommend Thai or Vietnamese, its quite authentic since the staff were Thai or Vetnamese people, for that you'll spend around NOK 350 for 2pax per meal. You just search around the vicintiy and you'll find lots of restaurants.
If you'll go to the Fjords, there is a expressboat that runs weekdays, I think its twice a day. Or you can take the bus which heads to Ålesund as well. Its about 10 hours from Bergen to Ålesund. The best place to visit is Flåm or anything that lies between the Sogn og Fjordane kommune for the fjords.
As for Copenhagen, DKK (Danish Kroner) is higher than NOK. So its quite more expensive there. SEK (Swedish Kroner) is the lowest among the Scandinavian currencies. Its also cheaper there and more fun to shop.
For Prague, Ive been there last August, and its way way cheaper than the Scandinavian countries. I exxhanged EUR 300 for CZK 5000++ and its got me and boyfriend covered for 3 days, eating at good restaurants around the Old Town.
I forgot Oslo. Oslo's more diversed I think. They have more restaurants there, if you are a fastfood fan, you can try the fastfood place called "Max's", its Swedish brand, better than McDonalds. Ther's no KFC or Pizza Hut in Norway, I think we only have McDonalds around and just in major cities or big places.
Souvenirs... You can buy magnets around NOK 30 each. Shirts around NOK 200 to NOK 300. Its quite expensive here.
I hope I helped you. Enjoy Norway