november_moon

My husband and I are tossing around ideas for a trip next year and I am looking for ideas. The trip will be in October or November (2012), so plenty of time, but we like to use FF miles for flights if at all possible, so planning ahead is a must. And I am looking for ideas for places that are less expensive for travel than the average for Europe.

Last month we went to southern Germany and to Prague, which was great. We have also gone to Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, and Germany once before. The last couple trips though, with the really lopsided US$-Euro conversion, Europe is really stretching our budget. Prague was pretty good - not as expensive as Germany. Our budget was more confortable there.

IF Europe is going to be on the list of possibilities for next year, then I need to find some places that aren't as expensive for travel as say Germany. Of course we could change our travel style and go super budget and pretty much go anywhere, but this is vacation, and we only have so much time off a year - I'd rather choose less-expensive places and set a reasonable budget that we can easily live within than spend our time counting pennies and worrying about overspending - even if if means not going to Europe for awhile. We don't travel lavishly, but we like to be comfortable.

We are late 30s/early 40s, no kids - we like history, architecture, castles, photography, beer, wine, good food (not really foodies, just like tastey food), big cities, small towns, the outdoors, live music, walking and biking tours, climbing towers. We are pretty low-key people, not really into shopping - except for museum gift shops. I have a serious weakness when it comes to a good museum gift shop. I also like to shop for locally-made things - soaps and lotions, jewerlry, scarves, pottery, etc. We aren't big on high-end restaurants either - we like to splash out once in awhile, but for the most part, we are quite content with small family restaurants that have good food at nice prices. We also prefer to take public transportation rather than renting a car.

So - any ideas you can give for places to travel in Europe that won't break the bank are greatly appreciated.

stevelyon

Bulgaria is very cheap, and in my opinion, often overlooked. Plovdiv is a wonderful City to visit. I suspect that Budapest and Bucharest are similarly not as expensive than many places. I have it in my head to visit Gdansk but I dont know whether it is a cheap destination. I would be interested in others views.

travelgourmet

Frankly, I find Germany to be among the more affordable European countries, so if you can't make your budget there, well... Spain might be worth a look - if you can find reasonable hotels, then it is pretty affordable on the ground.

scatcat

I also consider Germany to be one of the least expensive countries that I have visited.

Michael

Portugal is a possibility. Sicily is cheaper than Tuscany, Naples was cheaper for us than Rome, especially in housing. The French provinces are relatively cheap when it comes to B&Bs--you can have nice B&B's for 50€ to 60€ per night, or less if you are willing to take the basic room; check out Gites de France listings. The lunch specials where the locals eat are often cheap--we had one for 8€ which was a <i>plat du jour</i> plus wine and coffee. Car rental in France is cheaper than Italy if you are willing to have your credit card carry the CDW.

yk

november moon, I must also say that I find Germany to be very affordable compared to most other European countries! What was expensive to you that you find in Germany?

To make our money go further, these are things we find useful:
1) stay in one city for a week and do 1-2 day trips (the less we move around, the cheaper it is)
2) Rent an apt and prepare breakfasts & dinners ourselves

Anyway, I think the French countryside (not the cities) is fairly affordable.

Also, while London/UK is "expensive", most museums in London are free so that will be a huge plus. The ones that are not free - you can get in with the 2-for-1 deal so that helps the wallet too. You'll just have to find a budget rental. There are many hole-in-the-wall eateries in London that you can get lunch fairly cheap, and tons of supermarkets for grocery shopping.

Michel_Paris

Turkey!

nini

We found Lisbon and Budapest to be very affordable cities-on separate trips. Several cities in Spain were inexpensive depending on hotels and food costs.

adrienne

So far in my travels Portugal was the least expensive country to visit for food and lodging. Not counting Lisbon and surrounding area you can eat a large dinner with wine for about $15.

You have just been to Prague but the rest of the Czech Republic is lovely. I spent about 10 days last year in Moravia (in the south) and the prices are dirt cheap. Beautiful scenery, plenty of sightseeing.

I'm in Poland now and find the prices here quite inexpensive, even in cities. However wine tends to be expensive in restaurants. If you are beer drinkers you'll have no problem with your budget. The people are very friendly and helpful and the cities are beautiful.

If you decide on Poland or the Czech Republic you need to be prepared for the cold in October and November. Portugal will be quite warm at that time.

november_moon

Thanks for the suggestions. I really appreciate them. I was tossing around the idea of Budapest - it seems like a fascinating city. Poland has been in the back of my mind too. I hadn't thought of Portugal, but that is a fabulous idea. Turkey is an interesting idea - I saw a documentary about mosques in Istanbul, which really piqued my interest.

As for Germany - I didn't mean to imply that it was expensive. I am just looking for someplace cheaper. I used Germany for my example as a benchmark. For our last trip, we averaged about 95 euro/night for lodging and another 100 euro/day for food, drink, and incidentals. This is more than we personally want to spend on living expenses while traveling.

logos999

>about 95 euro/night for lodging and another 100 euro/day for food, drink, and incidentals

I'm puzzled hearing about people that spend so much money per day just for lodging. 95€ for a room is a bizarre, extreme amount of money that sounds to me like someone lodging in a chain hotel in the UK. I've never spend that much, nor do I know anybody that would spent that much and yes, I know quite a few folks . So what went wrong?
Chain hotels in big cities catering exclusively for overseas visitors? No knoledge of any, even basic German? Expecting dirty rooms just because the rate is low or even a bad breakfast?

Ingo

I agree that you can easily spend much less than 95 Euro per night (incl. breakfast!) for a room in Germany and 100 Euro per day for food, drink and incidentals appears almost like luxury travel to me.

Seriously, and I certainly am not cheap when it comes to travelling and dining.

ira

>...95 Euro per night (incl. breakfast!) for a room in Germany and 100 Euro per day for food, drink and incidentals appears almost like luxury travel to me.<

The US State Department Per Diem rates for Munich are $240 for lodging and $145 for Meals & Incidentals per person.

zoecat

Consider staying in an apartment to lower costs. It's usually cheaper than a hotel, provides more space and you can cook some of your meals at "home".

logos999

>US State Department Per Diem rates
spoiled brats, no wonder the US is broke. 5 stars and some personal butler/escort service. You'll never see them at Ingolstädter street.

pavot

If it was me, I would rather think about where I wanted to go, and make arrangements based on a budget than choose a destination for its price.

(For example: London's expensive, but I love London. On a budget -- which I guess I always am -- I'd Priceline a hotel room, and plan to eat from take-out places and grocery stores rather than every meal in a restaurant. I'd walk a lot. I'd go to the free museums.)

qwovadis

eurocheapo.com a nice site for great budget deals all over.

My wife and I did 2 weeks in Italy in by Air with FF miles

mostly cheap hotels and regional trains from 2 euro per hour

hoteldelfino.com Otel.com $60

www.hotelpausania.it Otel.com 59euro

Sheraton Roma hotwire.com $69

We managed to come in around $1k pp

Had a wonderful time...

Portugal would be my #2

Greece and the East cheaper but lots dodgier...

Italy is truly amazing for us though our fav...

Happy Travels,

qwovadis

www.pensaomarazul.com many other similar places like this

in Portugal scenic with great price points cheap trains...

november_moon

Logos - glad to know that like everybody else in the world, I am doing things wrong in your opinion

I didn't actually come here to have my travel style picked apart, but such is life. As I said originally, I am interested in less expensive places to visit in Europe. But ask a question, get picked at. This IS Fodors, afterall.

So since Logos asked so nicely, here is a list of the hotels were I have stayed in Germany:

Hotel Laimerhof - Munich
Kings First Class - Munich
Motel One Sendlinger Tor - Munich
Hotel Victoria - Nuremburg
Hotel Am Josephsplatz - Nuremburg
Gasthof Reichold - Hochstahl
Barock Hotel Am Dom - Bamberg

The only chain hotel in the bunch was the Motel One - oh wait, the Hotel Am Josephsplatz is a Romantik Hotel, but I don't think that qualifies as a big international chain. I don't need a list of cheaper, equally good places to stay though since I am not planning a trip to Germany in the near future. The above list is provided for informational purposes only.

100 euro/day for 2 people doesn't seem extreme to me. We don't spend that everyday, but it is the limit we like to stay under. Beer alone can be a quarter of that budget. Read my trip report from last month's trip and you will understand.

So anyway, it is a big, big world out there. This isn't a case of "Oh, I wish I could go to London, but poor me, I can't afford it because I don't have a clue about how to travel cheaply, so I will take Lisbon as a consolation prize." If I had a burning desire to go to London above all else, I'd go to London. Now, if my husband's Godson makes the 2012 Olympic baseball team, then yeah - London here we come.

Budapest, Portugal, the Czech countryside, and Turkey - all seem to have great potential. I am leaving Spain off the list for now for a couple reasons - we are planning a trip there in a few years to walk the Camino and I have some pretty large business projects going on with some Spanish clients, which will likely result in several work trips over the next couple years.

Russ

You averaged 200 Euros/day in Germany? That's a lot. You will find nice apartments in Germany for around 50 Euros/night (and less) in the Rhine/Mosel region, a nice place to be in October.

This 2-BR apt. in St. Goar with view of the town and river gorge is 45/night for 3 nights, 43 for 4, 41 for 5:

http://www.st-goar.de/586-1-fewos.ht...d=586&clang=1#

4 of us stayed here in the Rheinblick (Rhine View) apt., which is similarly priced:

http://www.loreley-apartments.de/unsere_region_en.php