traveller1959

I have found an interesting worlwide comparison of costs of living which is based on prices for many items, including tourism-related prices like restaurants or transport.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/

The results are displayed in tables and in maps and, despite a few outliers (Caracas?), I find them pretty realistic.

Switzerland, Scandinavia and England are most expensive in Europe, but there are many destinations which are affordable or even cheap.

Actually, I have entered price data for my hometown. You may do the same for further improval of the databank.

janisj

Pretty irrelevant re travel since the scale is primarily based on things like Mortgages, Apartment rentals (residential, not holiday), Name brand shoes, Disposable income after taxes, and things like that.

I can see why England would be high when using those criteria. But none are things I spend money on when visiting.

bilboburgler

I have to ask.... "does it include the hidden cost of tipping".....?

traveller1959

Yes, Bilbo, tipping is included in the restaurant prices. And also taxes.

Directly related to travelling:

restaurants
transportation
sports and leisure

Indirectly related to travelling:

rents and apartment prices (hotel rates depend on real estate prices)
salaries and financing (prices for tourist-related services depend on salaries)

Partly related to travelling:

jeans and shoes (if you go shopping when travelling)
markets (if you buy groceries for picnics)
utilites (if you use mobile phone and internet while travelling)

Be aware that the collected prices are indicators for general price levels because prices are highly intercorrelated.

So, after some consideration, it is not so irrelevant for travelling.

bilboburgler

it does'nt really put a value on not having to hear Fox news though does it?

Dukey1

I can tell you; Venice is EXPENSIVE and it has nothing whatsoever to do with mortgages.

StCirq

The prices for France are way out of line IME. They show almost everything being way more expensive than what we typically pay (whether in Paris or out here in the country).

dwdvagamundo

I can't get the big chart to open.

Q: Is everything priced in dollars, so that if the UK Pound is sinking against the dollar as it appears to be right now, England becomes less expensive?

Is Scotland shown separately from England?

StCirq

For France, prices are in euros.

traveller1959

>>The prices for France are way out of line IME<<

From my personal observations, I must confirm that France belongs to the more expensive countries in Europe.

- Hotel breakfasts are outragingly expensive in France, especially related to that what you get.

- A small bottle of mediocre beer in a French hotel lobby is always a surprise when the check arrives.

- Groceries are extremely expensive in France. I once compared the prices for identical products, even of French origin (like a can of Bonduelle peas), in French and German supermarkets and found that prices in Frances are generally twice as high as in Germany (you cannot explain these differences with taxes). Believe me, I know the French prices, since I usually stay self-catered in vacation rentals in France.

traveller1959

>>Venice is EXPENSIVE and it has nothing whatsoever to do with mortgages<<

Can't it be that you have not studied economics?

Whathello

'A small bottle of mediocre beer in a French hotel'
All french beer are mediocre - just buy belgian ones !


There are several France(s) when it comes to prices :
- Paris is super expensive
- cote d'azur (you'd say the Riviera) is super expensive

Brittany Alsace and ... are normal

North is cheap, as well as most parts in the center of France.

Kathie

Whether you think a place is expensive or not depends a lot on what you are accustomed to paying. I found Paris prices not much different from Seattle prices for restaurants, for instance. And good wines in local stores are much less expensive than in Seattle.

nukesafe

Thank you very much for posting that site, Traveller! Whether or not it is absolutely accurate, it is great fun to play around with, once I figured out how to input the "Sticky Currency" feature so I didn't have to keep doing conversions.

Alec

This is more oriented to UK travellers, but it's specific about holiday costs:
http://www.postofficeholiday.co.uk/t...barometer-2015. It's as at March 2015.

Blueeyedcod

Everywhere in Europe is expensive if you travel on currencies that have a terrible exchange rate - like the New Zealand and Australian dollars. It's all relative.

suze

Switzerland among the most expensive?!? Shocked I tell you. I am shocked by this information (not)!

StCirq

I disagree again. France is not expensive. We can eat like kings and queens here for 50 euros a week here, and feed 2 guests, buying fresh things at market or at one of our local supermarkets. 5 litres of good Bergerac wine at Julien de Sauvignac costs 10.50 euros. Two beautiful pears at market cost .30 cents. A 9-kilo fresh turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner cost 34 euros.18 quail eggs cost 1.50 euros. A great huge loaf of bread is .69 cents. A 2-kilo jarret de porc which will make a fine stew for the four of us this wekkend cost 3.82. euro and came with two sausicces de Toulouses.

It's REALLY cheap, and everything is so much fresher and better than anything you can get in the USA, even at Whole Effing Foods.

Believe what you like, but we actually live here and know what we pay for food.

flpab

I have always said that Paris is cheaper than many American cities.
Saving this, very interesting.

Cowboy1968

The only guess would be the huge number of cars with French plates (from neighboring Alsace) in the parking lots of supermarkets of the German side of the Rhine.
I doubt that many go there for sightseeing.