craztravel

we are planning a trip beginning middle of September and travelling 6 weeks.
We will visit prague(7 days), Budapaste(4days), croatia,slovania,bosnia,monenegro
(25 days) and some extra days.
Please help us by providing ideas to achive the following:
(1) Average expense per day euro 100 to 120 including accomodation,food,local
wine and travel by bus/train,ferry.
(2) We are in our early sixties and basic needs are private clean rooms with private
bathroom near bus stations and or old town.
(3) My wife is a vagetarian ( no meat, no seafood, cheese,eggs ok) and she loves
pizza,pasta,salads, vegetables,fruits and local dry wines. I will join her half of the
time and enjoy local cuisine and seafood other half of the time. We can cook a few
times to save money.
(4) We can rent car if recommended for some part of travel.

How do we go about planning this trip !! we are open to all ideas. we definately want
to travel these places. if money is tight we will reduce total days of travelling.
eagrly waiting to hear from you. Thanks.
craztravel

WillTravel

Do you mean 100-120 Euros per person? I think this is an OK budget as I have done this at times in Western Europe, traveling solo. What kills my budget, but it's always worth it, are concerts and plays and day tours. I am pretty sure that in many of the places you are visiting (which I have not visited myself) you can get private rooms from the locals for reasonable prices. But I would consider prebooking your accommodation in some places at least, so that you know you will be within your budget.

Consider sites like www.hostelworld.com - it does have hostels, many of which have private ensuite rooms, but also cheaper guesthouses and hotels. From my previous research, I think 60 Euros per day for a double room like you describe should be an obtainable average price.

craztravel

I mean 100 to 120 euro for two per day for all expenses.
craztravel

WillTravel

That means 50-60 Euros per person for everything, which is below the usual amount recommended for backpacking hostellers sleeping in dorms. Even then, the transportation between cities is usually added to the amount.

I wouldn't say it's absolutely impossible, but you had better do a lot of planning beforehand so you know the prices.

nona1

You are at the cheap end there but yes, I think you can do it, especially in Eastern Europe. You need to do plenty of research on accomodation prices and travel prices though before you go, unless you can take an emergeny fund, or come home early if you run out, as it will be pretty tight.

nona1

But I don't think you'll be having a lot of restaurant meals.

ira

Hi CT,
>Average expense per day euro 100 to 120 including accomodation,food,local
wine and travel by bus/train,ferry.<

Not in Prague. That is about the price of a hotel room.

nona1

True...Prague and Budepest are very popular destinations now. You might have to look at hostel dorm level there.

julia_t

I have found in Croatia and Bosnia that a good meal in a moderately priced restaurant will average around 20-25 euros a head including wine. So that one meal will take up half your daily budget.

The rest of the meals can be pastries costing a euro or so, or a slice of pizza, or bread and cheese bought in a supermarket.

I wrote a report about eating in Budapest on a budget, I'll see if I can find it...

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...mendations.cfm

I really do recommend Govinda if you are on a tight budget.

RufusTFirefly

Average price of a goodmeal in Croatia/Bosnia is 20-25 euros per person in a moderate restaurant? Wow, that seems a lot for a moderate restaurant. But I've never been to either country--why is it so expensive there? I didn't think their economies were that strong. Or is that just in the most tourist-impacted areas?

julia_t

That was for 3 courses, and with wine/drinks/coffee. The charge is in kuna in Croatia so I may have got the exchange rate a bit wrong, but last October I thought I was paying the equivalent of around £20 GBP most evenings, which is a very little more in euros.

I have a bar bill for 3 glasses of wine and one beer - for 140 kuna

julia_t

Ooops, hit submit by mistake, but 140 kuna is according to xe.com 16.80 GBP, and 18.83 euros.

I think this was Buza Bar, which is a bit more expensive than some other bars, but gives you an idea of prices.

Other restaurant bills I have are for amounts varying from 67 kuna to 266 kuna, most around 150 kuna, and this is for one person having a good meal.

suze

No I don't think that's near enough money for the trip you describe. Especially in a city like Prague I think it is way too low.

If you rent apartments, and spend more time in the countryside, you might be able to stretch this amount to work.

Dubrovniktravelady

You're going to be hard pressed to find a room and eat on such a low budget in Dubrovnik. You might think seriously about shortening your trip, it can't be done.

Dobrodosli

nancicita

Another idea might be to find an all-inclusive (lodging, food, entertainment all-in) group tour to eastern Europe that would be able to fit your budget. This would solve your planning headache but it probably would limit you to a pre-set itinerary.

CordeliaCH

If you are going to Dubrobnik, try Room Karla for accommodations. It cost us 45 Euro last May and is located right outside of the city walls. There are lots of steps getting down into the city, though, in case that is an issue. The room was clean, we had a private bathroom and the owner was absolutely lovely. Also, we found that we could split a pizza and salad at Mea Culpa for lunch and it would fill us up for not too much money. I agree with the others, though, that dinners might set you back a little bit more (we ate at Konoba Collesuem (sp?) a couple of times-- great food for a reasonable price, maybe 30 Euro or so, but we took it easy on alcohol). You would just need to plan very carefully and eat picnics when possible! Prague would be close to impossible to do on your budget. You may want to spend less time there.

ira

Hi CT,

I just looked up "Europe on $5 a Day". The 2004 edition is $85 pd.

You might find this helpful. The Author claims he toured Europe in 2006 for about $50 pd.
http://noambit.typepad.com/my_weblog...xcited-to.html

Also, take your question to the Thorntree Forum at www.lonelyplanet.com. They are a younger, more financially challenged group.

Good luck.

jrjcolllins

We are going to Central Europe in June. We found that the least expensive rooms for Prague and Budapest are gotten by bidding on Priceline. In Prague we got the 4* Moevenpick for $55(US) a night. In Budapest we got the Marriott Hotel for $65(US) a night; all rooms in that hotel have a view of the Danube. Go to www.biddingfortravel.com to find out how to bid.

annhig

hi craztravel,

if you really ned to stickto this budget, then staying in the countryside or at least awy from the main tourist centres will help.

an example from our up-coming trip to austria:

Bratislava €150 per night
Vienna - €144 per night
St. Wolfgang - €56 per night
Kitzbuhel - €90 per night
Heiligenblut - €60 per night
Graz - €80 per night

all prices are for 2 in a double room with wc/bath and breakfast.

we have deliberately opted for higher priced places in the cities, to make sure that we are as central as possible. in the countryside, we want/need only clean rooms in a nice place which in austria means pretty well everywhere.

I reckon that in austria, with not a great deal more planning, [and avoiding Vienna] we could have easily done it for €25 per night each, including breakfast. I would be surprised if you couldn't do the same in Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia etc.

regards, ann