Rastaguytoday

Oddly enough, Best Westerns in Europe are pretty decent. It's usually a loose affiliation with BW, but independent hotels. The first time I found out the hotel I was staying at was a BW, I couldn't stop laughing.

I've since used them in Switzerland, and several places in France, including Carcassonne. In smaller towns they mey be the best hotel in that town.

justineparis

HEY, I think you can do it with some careful planning and some compromises.

First sorry, I would so dump the car.

Second hotels for some places,, but a smart person on a budget considers an apartment rental

A small apartment that sleeps 3 and has AIR CONDITIONING ( important for Paris in summer most of the time) and is in a great area where you can walk to many sites etc.. can be had for 800 euros a WEEK... that's cheaper then a hotel , AND you can pick up some snacks and have breakfast in the room and make some picnic lunches.. eating out every day will add up..

So , rent apartments in your big stop places like Rome, Paris and London, then just consider hotels for smaller 2-3 day visits to other places.

Also, consider some hostels, they have family rooms in some of them .

Train tickets or inter europeon flights can be VERY cheap if booked well in advance. For example I paid 35 euros for Amsterdam to Paris.. and 40 Euros for Paris to Nice ( 1st class) on trains, and fly from Barcelona to Paris on Easyjet for 97 euros for TWO of us, all taxes and fees in.. cheap.

Parking in cities will run you about 20-30 euros a day. What a waste of money as you won't drive in Rome Paris or London to site see..

PS Apartment in Paris, check out " ParisBestlodge" their Bourg Tibourg Apartment was one I looked at for you.. even if they raise their prices for 2014 it will still be a deal. I have used their company before and they are awesome. no hidden extra fees either!

di2315

When you're budgeting for food, remember that even if you're in a hotel, you can still make a DIY breakfast - we usually have just banana & yoghurt & sometimes a small pack of cereal from the supermarket. We take plastic bowls and spoons, sharp knife & tiny plastic chopping board - not much weight or space, but huge financial savings.

You also don't need to eat in restaurants for other meals - in France, baguettes & cheese, or pannini, or crepes are available for take away at lunch and dinner. You can save the restaurants for special occasions.

You might like to look at www.seat61.com for advice on train travel between cities and countries. Mike is an expert, and gives excellent advice about how to make bookings etc. I've done this several times from Australia with no problems.

If you can manage to travel with minimal luggage, trains are a great option in Europe. Di

Gretchen

Yes, you can "do" that for breakfasts. Ir requires absolute diligence==don't do anything like going to a café for breakfast (be sure if you do to stand at the counter, for example, lest you incur the extra tariff for sitting at a table).

justineparis

Well I often " do " breakfast like that quite easily in hotels ,, most I have stayed at have a mini fridge, and so yes, eat in room, then go out for a coffee.

LSky

There are quite a few chains that have locations in many European countries. Best Western, Holiday Inn, the afore mentioned Ibis. Sometimes you can get a deal by staying more nights with one chain. Check into and see.

To save a little cash, you can always picnic and there's a lot of pretty good street food. Food is not a huge focus for my husband and I.

You may consider staying in one place and renting apartments. You can prepare some meals at home and store other things.

Peter_S_Aus

Train travel in Australia is pretty ordinary, and so there are many Australian posters on here that automatically think “lease a car”.

The thing is that rail travel in Europe is fast and relatively cheap. Also train travel puts you right into the centre of things when you arrive.

Cars can be a real hassle – trying to get parking in larger cities is really hard and expensive.

SusannahT

Leasing used to be a real $ saver. It isn't now.

We use a combination rail to cities, (esp London, Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris) and car hire for sojourns & travels in countryside. Cars were OK in Budapest, Vienna, Lisbon although generally I prefer no car in cities.

ribeirasacra

On the other hand cars does allow one to see all of the wonderful countryside locations and trains tie you down to a regimented schedule. So there are balances one should look at. No doubt there are more.

Bokhara2

Hi GLCM
As a fellow Aussie who's been to the European countries you're planning to visit a few times, I'll take the liberty of making a couple of suggestions & comments.

Budget: I think you're well on the skinny side at AUD 200/ day for 3, if you don't want to spend the whole time concentrating on skimping & saving.

BTW - use Euro as that's the currency you'll be using and the currency the Europeans & others answering your queries will be looking at on their sites. ( I figure if I'm too lazy to do the conversion to the currency of the destination, I can't really expect them to convert it to MY currency)

Transport: I like to drive but don't do it in the major cities. Provided you're not overburdened with luggage, I'd suggest using the excellent Spanish & Italian train system (can't speak for the French- haven't used it) for your long legs, and rent a car for country jaunts that aren't conveniently covered by trains or buses. Or if you just feel like a drive.

Remembering that you'll be there in Summer/ holidays, it may well be quicker to use trains & buses,too. Possibly less stressful if you haven't driven on European roads for 25 years.

You'll need to run the numbers to see how the costs: benefits stack up, factoring in parking, fuel, tolls etc.

I usually use trains & rent from, say, Florence or Milan when I'm staying in villas out of town. There are few lovelier experiences than wandering around the Italian countryside in your own car.

Accommodation: I was very pleasantly surprised at the good deals I got through Booking.com in Germany over Christmas & New Year last year. One was an ensuite double room with breakfast in a small hotel in the Black Forest for less than. Aud 60/ night.

Apartments represent excellent value in terms of price, space, convenience & especially & kitchen laundry facilities ( check that they have washer & dryer).

So do a pensiones, small hotels.

Having said I think you've under budgeted, I was also pleasantly surprised at the reasonable cost of meals and food generally, compared with costs here in Australia, and particularly in our capital cities. I wasn't staying or eating in " tourist alley", so no doubt prices in those areas would be higher.

bilboburgler

Best Western quality standards tend to be all over the place with weird owners and there expectations. The Logis chain (mainly in France) all suffer from variation but generally (apart from the odd line of deer horns or waitresses in odd dresses) seem to temper their quirks and focus on the customer and their need for good simple food.

bilboburgler

http://www.logishotels.com/en.html

Gretchen

I would not count on having a fridge in a budget hotel. Just a thought. But croissant or roll (continental b'fast) would keep without it.

robertcoon

In Spain you could consider the Room Mate chain - http://www.room-matehotels.com We stayed at several of those a few years ago and liked them.

Bokhara2

Good point, Gretchen. Neither refrigerator nor tea & coffee making facilities in many European hotels.

Bokhara2

Take a power board - saves time & number of international plugs you need.

justineparis

Coffee and tea making facilities are common in UK but not on the continent, even in hotels that a step up from budget.

Personally I don't like to use them anyways, god knows the maids just used the rag to wipe down your coffee cup and powdered milk substitute for the coffee or tea is gross.

Mini fridges are not as hard to find,, I usually do, and at budget moderate hotels.. but I look for that feature in particular.