2500$ for a two week trip. Need advice !
 

Hello everyone,

I'm a 23 years old student from Quebec City, Canada and I dream of going to Europe, but my budget is a big tight and I can't save that much. However, if I stick to my weekly budget, I think I'll be able to have about 2500$ by March 2018. Some have told me it's sufficient, others think it's way under what I would need considering the cost of life there.

I dont plan on doing a very long trip, about two weeks at best. The only destination I can fly to from my hometown is Paris, France. In March, a rountrip ticket cost about 750 CAD$. I'm planning maybe to visit Paris (obviously) and maybe take a train to Amsterdam and spend about a day or two in Brussels in between and then come back to Paris to take my return flight.

I have questions:

- First, is 2500$ enough to do such a trip ?

- What can I do to save on money while I'm there, aside from using youth hostels and cheking for free sights and events ?

- Are these destinations good choices for a first-timer in Europe ?

Thank you in advance for your time and answers !

By the way, French is my first language. Therefore, please forgive me if I have done any blattant mistakes.

- Charles C.

Check how much an open jaw ticket would cost arriving in Paris and leaving from Amsterdam. Then check what the train would cost 90 days from today (that's when cheap non-refundable tickets become available) going from Amsterdam to Paris, and then decide if a round trip ticket is preferable to an open jaw one.

-" What can I do to save on money while I'm there, aside from using youth hostels and cheking for free sights and events ?"

Consider finding lodging around the peripherique and "commuting" in via metro. Stay near a hypermarche and buy groceries and pastries there instead of in restaurants. Plan your trip to arrive in Paris on Monday to take advantage of the bargain Navigo Discouverte metro pass. Book an Airbnb (legal then?)

Of course by doing this all or part time, most will say you "lessen" the Parisian experience. But if it is the difference between going and not going, I would do it.

Do you absolutely need to fly out of Quebec? If you could fly out Montreal, you could fly open jaw into Paris and out of Amsterdam for about the same price. That would save you money and time on the train.


So let's say 570 USD in airfare (sorry I can't think in CAD)
40*14= hostel at 560
Train= 50 (I think that's midrange, it could be less or more), let's just say 40 one way

2500- 1170
1, 330
Put back to CAD, 1700

800/13

61 cad is a little less than 50 USD a day. That has to cover transit, food, entertainment.

I couldn't do that in Paris personally. Maybe in Italy and Germany. But Paris is expensive.

So yeah, I think it's low, at least for two weeks. If this is your first time and you really want to do Paris, I'd cut it down to a week to 10 days and JUST do Paris and day trips out of Paris. Paris is wonderful. I was there for a bit more than a week, and found so much to do that I didn't get to many of the day trips I had planned.

The main risk I see is that you HAVE to buy that plane ticket now. Or very soon. So hopefully you have that money in your pocket and you're pretty confident you can save the rest.

To answer your questions, I'm not in the obligation to fly from Quebec City. I can travel from Montreal if the price of the ticket is worth it.

What day trips are the most worth it in Paris ? I certainly know about the Versailles Castle, but what other possibilities are there ?

If I left in september instead with a budget of 3000$, would the two weeks itinerary be possible then ?

Thank you !

I personally think you could do it on $2500, but you wouldn't enjoy the experience as much as if you had a bit more to spend on being a tourist.

Giverny, Chartres, Fontainebleau come to mind for day trips.

Yes, I'd do September over March. It will be warmer for one thing. And the 500 would give you more cushion, provided you can get the same airfare.

Like rs899, I think you could do it with 2500 in March. I certainly know people who have. It's just closer to the wire. Little things would have a big impact- like if you needed painkillers or laundry stuff.

And mostly it's that Montreal gives you more options for destinations. If you buy your train ticket between Amsterdam and Paris far enough in advance, you wouldn't save any money flying open jaw.

You may be able to squeeze a bit more out of the airfare at those times out of Montreal, if you have some schedule flexibility.

My family and I got to Amsterdam from Miami last June for $150 (one way) on Wow. I see that they fly out of Montreal as well and you may get lucky. There may be other options that may take some research, that could work for you. For example, near me in Florida is a small airport that services TUI that flies direct to Brussels for as little as 150 euros, but they don't show up on any of the search engines. I would work that angle very hard.

Yes, wow is the airline I got the price from. The alternatives are all more expensive. And also the price was the cheapest dates I found. So that's why I said book soon for march. If you're a student, you may be constrained by breaks.

"Consider finding lodging around the peripherique and "commuting" in via metro. Stay near a hypermarche and buy groceries and pastries there instead of in restaurants."

No need to go that far out. There are many areas in the double digit arrondissements outside of tourist central that have reasonably priced lodging and hypermarches are not at all suitable for light purchasing of the food you would be looking for. You might start by finding a hostel to your liking and as you are French speaking you might google cantines Paris for reasonably prepared meal choices in the area of your hostel. The Cantine de Pyrenees has a facebook posting and the Cantine de Belleville gets good reviews. This link might give you some ideas.


https://www.timeout.fr/paris/restaur...tine-selection

It's hard to walk even a block in Paris without finding bread and pastry shops. Small grocery stores are also ever present.

Savet lots on Thalys trains between Paris and Belgium and Amsterdam by booking far in advance to score limited in number deep discounted tickets - as low as 29-39 euros vs full fare walk-up of about $100 more Amsterdam-Paris. www.thalys.com.

and Amsterdam is great for young travelers - especially night life and oodles of cheap youth hostels and youth hotels - check Let's Go Europe - book for a rundown on many - great train info at www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

<i>If you buy your train ticket between Amsterdam and Paris far enough in advance, you wouldn't save any money flying open jaw.</i>

Is the time spent traveling from Amsterdam to Paris and the overnight stay before flying back home included?

The op would be spending money to stay the night in Paris or Amsterdam, so it doesn't much matter. It's a time waster, but I can understand the temptation to fly back into their own airport. They can't do Open jaw out of Amsterdam if they want to fly into Quebec, and they'll be spending probably 3 hours on the bus from Montreal to Quebec. So I'm not sure open jaw would help much.

My thoughts on saving money

1) Hostels would be a good base (while going out to the 'burbs might drop prices you still have to get in and out)
2) eat how the locals eat, so avoid or consider vegetarian
3) couch surfing, do you know anyone who lives in Paris and would put you up for a gift/nice meal. The big cost is the room so anything you can do to knock that down will help. Maybe someone you know is going to an appartment for part of the trip could you share (pay half etc)
4) open jaw, yep, plus boo train tickets early, seat61.com is in English but it explains the train options, you might also look at bus travel start with rome2rio to get an idea, but don't trust the quality of the data
5) don't travel when it is cold or wet, nothing depresses like no money and its freezing.

Everything included we spent $1666 per week for two traveling in Denmark and Germany with a stay in Paris. You may want to take a look at the beginning of my trip report on Denmark where I give a breakdown of some of the major costs; click on my name to find it. Your transportation costs would obviously be less than ours.

To save money, for one thing, cut down on the travel you will do while there.
It takes time & money to use the train. Day-trips can also be expensive, with entry fees, as well.

Cut back from two weeks to ten days, or whatever amount of time makes the most sense given your budget.

I assume your $3000 budget includes airfare?

$2,500 in 14 days? If staying in hostels and eating picnics and in room this is very possible - more than possible but yes different countries can cost a lot more.

Keep in mind he's talking about a Canadian dollar that is equal to about two thirds of a Euro, giving him about 1700 Euros for this trip including air fare.

or is he? or does he figure on 3000 dollars Canadian or American?
To make all easier, he needs to start thinking in Euros.