Establishing a Realistic Food Budget

when you say 2 or 3 star are you talkin Michelin or the restaurants of 2 to 3 star hotels. \\makes a big difference.

I would do this may.

assume eat out for all meals.

Breakfast about euro 8
Lunch either meal of the day euro 12 or upgrade to tourist and go in at euro 20
Evening meal cheap but chearful euro 20.

Coffees and coke say two sets euro 5

Now this assumes you have a small european woman's diet and there for evening meal would be starter and pudding or just main meal with good wines. If you eat like my experience of Americans then you may want starter, first course, main course and pudding could hit you at euro 30 before wine.

now you can knock of some costs. Eating in appartments will halve these costs and breakfasts included will help

Hm... I didn't really think too long or hard about my "star" ratings. I suppose I just mean that I'd like to eat in medium quality places most of the time, and a nicer quality place a few times.

As for my appetite, I tend not to supersize anything. I don't drink soda but I imagine I will be having one or two coffees a day. Other than though, I'm all about the water. Food wise, I think I'll eat small to normal portions depending upon how much walking I do throughout the day.

Thank you so far!

When you say 2* or 3* restaurants what do you mean?

If you mean Michelin starred restaurants - you will need to multiply your daily budget several times. (Expect basic lunches over $100 to start, with decent wines extra.)

Your budget will cover casuale cafes, sandwhich places, perhaps a good deal at an inexpensive tavola calda.

I get the impression from Smile's second post that her 2-3* is based on a total of 5* (not Michelin 2-3*). Much more doable, of course.

Two particular comments - if possible, carry a water bottle, so you don't have to buy bottled water in tourist locations. And when you want a cup of coffee, head down a side street (meaning it'll be less expensive, although not INexpensive, where "regular people" go, as oppposed to, say, an outdoor cafe on the Champs Elysee).

If you are eating in any restaurant with "stars" you will be spending a fortune, even a 1 star restaurant is very expensive.

It sounds like I actually eat similar to you, I don't eat that much, only about two meals a day and in moderate places. But I don't intentionally scrimp (which to me, just means I will buy wine, not the cheapest house always, and I will eat steak and spend 40 euro for dinner without worrying), and I will have several drinks throughout a day which add up (coffee, wine, beer, even mineral water costs in a cafe).

I probably spend around 60-70 euro a day.

Allow a few Euros a day for gelato.

Yes, SF is right. I wasn't really thinking of Michelin ratings when I composed my entry and threw in the stars. I should have been more specific. I was just thinking in general and based on a 5 star rating.

And yes, Christina, I like you don't really eat that much per sitting but I don't like to pinch pennies either. I like quality food but I don't need that much of it.

It sounds like the general consensus is that I'll be spending around 60-70 euro a day which is getting up there after 20 days...

I'm so excited!

Thanks everyone.

I think 60-70 Euros is reasonable for what you describe, but you could certainly choose to have some cheaper days in there, particularly with a 20-day trip. For example, maybe one day out of three you could stick to food you can buy from grocery stores or delis or cafeterias.

If your breakfast is included in a hotel or B&B or if you are staying in an apartment and fix breakfast in your apartment, then this will help your overall food budget. On days when you are in an apartment, you may want to eat dinner in as well. This helps your food budget considerably - and there is plenty of take out food either in the pastry shops or grocery stores. In fact, we enjoy eating in after so much dining out. Or sometimes, just wine, cheese & bread is enough after a long day of sightseeing. Especially if you have had a nice lunch somewhere. You can mix it up and conserve some days so that you can splurge on others. I think that 40-50E would be plenty if you don't eat 3 meals a day out for the 20 days.