GLCM

Hi - Have not been to Europe in 25 years and am taking husband and 11 year old daughter there in July/August 2014. Am looking at leasing through Renault Eurodrive but need to find affordable accommodation in France / Spain and Italy to make it a viable option. Our other thought was a Motorhome but that means camping everywhere.

Am seeking guidance and / or advice on our options. We don't want to backpack but cannot afford to stay in hotels every night.

LSky

You want a chain hotel?

What is reasonable to you? In terms of money?

There's Ibis hotels, they are generally no frills but clean and cheap.

kybourbon

In Italy, you can't drive in many of the cities (ZTL) so maybe you won't need a car there much, but depends on where you are going. There aren't any cheap chains in the central parts of the cities which are mainly historical areas.

On the outskirts of many towns, you can find campgrounds. Many of the campgrounds in Italy have bungalows and cabins so you wouldn't need a motorhome or tent.

http://www.ecvacanze.it/en/camping/c...-michelangelo/

There are also lots of convents/monasteries at budget prices. You would need to list your itinerary before I could make suggestions for those.

janisj

What is your actual budget per night. There is a lot of budget accommodations in most parts of Europe.

SusannahT

There are some chains in some city centres eg Travelodge & Premier Inns in London; Ibis in Amsterdam.

Formula 1 provide cheap accommodation for 3 in many parts of Europe.

Many years ago, we camped in Europe with a leased car. We took the camping gear with us. It was lots of fun. Many camp sites had inexpensive cabins.

Accommodation in flats or houses can also be good for budgets. eg in January stayed in a flat in Budapest for $200/week right on river

Some countries are much cheaper than others. Scandinavia is expensive. Eastern Europe countries eg Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia are much more affordable with lots of wonderful things to see.

flanneruk

There's no such country as Europe, and "chains" are a solution to your problem only in some countries.

France is awash with cheap chains, like Formule 1, ibis budget, Campanile and Etap. They generally represent terrific value, though some might find their locations inconvenient for some kinds of tourism: they're typically close-ish to autoroute turnoffs, making them easy to get to, but a nuisance to get into the centre from. French public transport is, by European standards, mediocre. It's all very well having trains from Paris to Marseilles that take only three times as long as planes. But that's not going to help you get from an industrial estate off the A6 into central Beaune, which is the only place near the Etap there's anything to eat. These chains do have outlets in what might pass for centralish Paris (and Lyons etc), but you need to review this location by location.

Such chains scarcely exist in Italy. In any case, for many people cars don't make sense at all in Italy: so much is concentrated in Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples, trains between them are frequent and fast (and compete with each other) and most towns aggressively discourage car-borne travel, so most visitors don't drive, and simply live with the fact that hotels in Italy are relatively pricey.

Spain has a similar density of low-price chain hotels to France, with much the same brands.

Sassafrass

Do you have your itinerary planned? What is best for you depends on where you plan to go and the length of your trip. Are you going mostly to cities, or more to countryside? Are you going for the whole two months or only sometime during that time frame? Do you plan on multi-city tickets, to land in one country and depart from another? That is more efficient, but you do incur a drop fee for the car.

Chain hotels in Europe are not always better cost-wise than other hotels. Susannah's suggestion of apartment rentals can be a good deal. The cost of gas, tolls and rental for a car as well as cost of parking even on days you are not using it may come up to the cost of hotels.

With more info about your plans, you will get more specific advice. It is wonderful to be taking your DH and DD on a trip to Europe and I hope you have a great time with all the planning.

twoflower

It depends on your budget, but we found Ibis to be generally OK, especially in Spain, less so in France. Kyriad were better value for money in France. As previous posters have said, chains seem to be less evident in Italy. We sought advice from the local Officino di Tourismo or simply parked somewhere central and door-knocked, and those methods generally worked well for us. I disagree with those posters who discourage driving in Italy - Veneto and Tuscany are among the easiest and most pleasant regions I've ever driven in, and a car gives access to so many wonderful smaller places other than the "big 3" of Rome, Venice & Florence. Places like Montepulciano, Assissi, Cortona....

ribeirasacra

For accommodation use http://www.booking.com
Pick location, pick budget, pick whatever.

But if you do your research you can find lots of information in Wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hotels_in_France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hotels_in_Italy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hotels_in_Spain
Usually chain hotels, in Spain, are not the cheapest.

di2315

Hi GLCM

We have travelled very economically in France using the Logis Hotels. They are individually owned, full of character and vary from reasonably priced to luxury. Take a look at www.logishotels.com for details.

My only word of warning would be to make sure you read the customer reviews; we have only once struck a bad one, and if I had read their reviews, we would have avoided that problem! Di

GLCM

Thanks everyone or your responses. Being a first post, I realise I was not very clear.

We are in the very early stages of planning a 6 week adventure in Europe and are seeking your advice, experiences and recommendations for family friendly accommodation. Hotel or Apartment, Tent or cabins etcnand any other tips or advice that would help us.

Thank you

Gretchen

Your question really makes little sense. You don't say how long you are going for. What is your total budget--you say you can't afford to stay in a hotel every night but you don't even know what a hotel might cost per night-- maybe you need to go for a shorter time.
You say you are going to rent a car--is that the best way for you to travel for the money--and your itinerary?
If this is your "planning" so far, there would seem to be a real need for more complete planning. How much will you have to spend on food/day/per person. If you rent a car, what about parking? Renting in one country and dropping in another will be very expensive.

ellenem

GLCM,

Since you have chosen to spend 6 weeks in Europe, you must have already assembled a wih lidt of places to see. Give us your top priorities of cities/sites so we can suggest the best options in those locations. Also, the most helpful information you could offer us is to tell us your budget for your accommodations per night for your family of 3. Everyone is ready to make suggestions, but want to offer options that are realistic for your budget. I'm hoping we can make your dream a reality.

GLCM

Hi Gretchen, please read my follow up post above yours. I am new at this and only in the early stages of planning so do not have a budget as yet, I am TRYING to get valuable information to allow to me to do so. Thank you for being so kind,

GLCM

Hi Ellenem - Thank you for your response. Most helpful. My husband like to refer the highlites as "The Big Ticket Items" Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Provence, Venice and of course Eurodisney for the 11yo. We have been told by various people who have been recently that we should budget for about AUD$2000 per week including travel and accommodation and expenses. Does this sound reasonable?

ellenem

GLCM,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm assuming your budget does not include your flights to and from Europe.

At today's rates, AUD$2000 is about €1400 per week, or €200 per day. That is indeed a very tight budget for a family of three for travel, accommodation, and expenses. Hopefully with these numbers in mind others can chime in with suggestions.

Also wondering, if your budget is immovable. You stated 6 weeks. If you used the same budget for just 5 weeks, you would have €240 per day.

kybourbon

Big cities like the ones you listed will cost you 30-40€ per day parking plus you usually aren't using the car while staying in those cities so you are wasting the cost of the car. Cars are a hindrance in cities.

>>>Renting in one country and dropping in another will be very expensive.<<<

The OP is planning to lease. The leases (have to be at least 17 days) usually don't have the same conditions as rental cars. Most of the time you can only pick up/return a lease at airport locations.

Based on your list, I would forget the car except for Provence. You can rent a car while on that part of the trip. Rent apartments in the cities and use public transport.

janisj

A car is absolutely useless in most European cities. There are areas where a car is helpful or even necessary. But you can justbrentva cer for a few days in thoe areas.

Aus$ 200 is vey little - especially in major cities. Your accommodation plus one meal could easily cost that much. Local transport plus admission charges/ sightseeing would be on top of that.

And Disney will cost more than your daily budget, so you'd really have to economize other places.

Stayiing in the outskirts in a budget motel/hotel won't help that much since you then have extra transport costs.

For three I'd think $300 would be doable. You won't spend that much everywhere, but will spend more in some places.

Gretchen

I'm not sure even E240 will be enough including car/train, hotel, admissions, food for 3 people. As pointed out you might not spend as much one place as you might another, but it will require CLOSE attention, and not allowing for unexpected emergencies.
Why not do a month (a great trip length, I'd think) and give yourself some breathing room.
Have you added in your flight cost, or is that in that amount also?

janisj

Gretchen - I agree. I meant $300aus /€240 would be much more doable but still quite tight. More doable than $200 for sure.

I also agree - cutting back to 4-ish weeks would help a lot budget wise.