Average cost of a trip
 

Okay, since many of you are travel experts and have it all down to a science, I have a very general question that I nevertheless submit for your consideration: for THREE people (2 adults and child), how much would it cost for a two week trip in the winter to Paris? Take into account a reasonable sale on airfare from say Boston to Paris; an apartment rental of a fairly nice sized (i.e., 60 sq meters plus) 1-2 bedrooms in a nice (though not chi chi) area, eating out 1 meal a day at a reasonable place (pizzeria) with the rest of the meals either purchased at the market or a crepe type place, some money for transportation around and seeing places, but lots of walking -- and say about 200 E for flipping out (e.g., books and DVDs).

Ok, so we said the winter -- how about the summer?

What say you? Has anyone come up with a budget that you try to meet in order to maximize travel?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts....

Summer stays will be more expensive because you will likely want air conditioning and airfare costs a lot more. Most apartments have no air conditioning, and airfare is likely to be double the price.

So for winter:
Suppose you could get an apartment at 80 Euros per night, which is not at all unlikely, but 120-150 is probably better for a perfect location and place.
Suppose airfare was $450 per person.
Suppose you spend about 10 Euros per day total on transportation (probably doable with the proper passes).
Say a pizzeria lunch is 25 Euros for three.
Suppose you spent 30 Euros per day total on food otherwise.

I always have in mind to economize, but usually I spend more than I hope. Not that I regret doing so.

This is for a winter 2 week trip (return to Boston by March 31).

Offhand, I would say $2000USD for the apt., $1500 for airfare, $700 for one meal out per day, and another $400 for groceries, $100 for public transportation (think 2 week passes - assuming you got a centrally located apt.) and $300 for misc. shopping. GRAND TOTAL - an even $5000.

For summer, add another $1500 (for airfare).

You could spend a little less for the apt. if you are in the boonies or in a postage stamp sized studio - resist the temptation.

I think for the size appt that you want with the ammenities you want you might have to go up to $1500/wk...depends on what you consider a minimum.

My family of four did a two week trip - one week in Paris, one week in Rome. Here is exactly what it cost us:

All prices have been converted to US dollars and are for the four of us.

Flights:
Jet Blue (Rochester, NY to NYC and back) $467.60
Delta (NYC to Paris and Rome to NYC) $3369.41
Ryan Air (Paris to Rome) $236.08
Total flights $4073.09

Apartments:
Paris $1708.00
Rome $1531.68

Trip Insurance $237.00

Tours:
Segway (Paris) $380.00
Context Rome (Rome - two tours) $614.40

All other total daily expenses (excludes all the above stuff): $3565.05


TOTAL TRIP $12,109.41


Paris averaged $268.39/ day and Rome averaged $227.23/day (excludes accommodations/airfare/airport transfers)

Excluding only flights we averaged $574 per day for the four of us, or $144 per person.

I forgot to mention that we are average travelers. We always ate a nice dinner (most expensive was 200€ for 4), cafe lunches, breakfast mostly coffee and crousant, snacks such as crepes, cheese, gelato and we drink wine everyday (usually bought a bottle). We saw all museums (included in expenses). We rode the subway in Paris, a couple of cabs in Rome, but mostly walked. Our apts were nice, 2 bedroom, but not fancy. We aren't shoppers, so didn't buy any stuff to bring home.

If the price seems steep, another way to control it is duration because two weeks is a long time. People have their own styles, but mine is to take shorter duration trips more often.

Actually taking shorter length trips increases the per day cost of your trip as transportation to/from is a significant part of the budget. This concept also applies for time of tranportation as well.
wlilw's budget illustrates this well. Cost of a two week trip was 12.1 K. Cost to add one week in Rome was $227 x 7 = $1589 + additional airfare of $236 + apartment cost of $1532 = $3357. Adding a second week onto a one week vacation like this example adds 28% to the cost of a 1 week trip. The further bonus here in extending the vacation is that you have more usable time in Europe as the additional length of trip only costs you another 1/2 day of travel to get from Paris to Rome in this example. If you are staying in Paris for the whole two weeks you would save the additional airfare and not lose any further travel time.
We travel with a somewhat larger budget than you have for four from the westcoast but I can guesstimate some costs for you anyway. (I think our costs of travel are very similar to ciwil's) Airfare in the winter BOS to CDG Rt will be about $1500/3 in winter and double that in summer. Apartment would be $1000 to $1500/week in winter and perhaps 25% more in the summer. Food, local transportation etc cost can vary alot but my best budget guess would be $50/ person per day to $100/person per day. Comes out to about $5000+ although I would probably add $1000 for other costs that always seem to crop up. Could do it for significantly less but with a significant drop in living quality.

Yes, shorter trips mean that the transatlantic transportation cost is spread over less days, but I would be VERY hard-pressed to say that adding a second week can be accomplished at only a 28 percent premium over a one-week trip. (Personally, I'm a big fan of taking long weekends and we do it for around $700 per person in low season for air/hotel. Net out the FF miles at elite levels and it's actually much lower.)

Don't forget to add admission fees to your budget, even with museum passes it can creep on you over two weeks.

Very helpful. It does boil down to individual philosophies.

On my end, I have come to realize a couple of things about our travel style: a) Where I get slammed is not in the planning - I always look for great deals on airlines, find the best value in apartments, buy the SCNF at the PREMs price, etc. b) BUT Once I am there, I become completely price insensitive -I end up wasting money on silly things and it really adds up fast. I am very bad at trade-offs - until recently, had the financial wherewithall to do what we wanted when we wanted. But now, on one income, we must make the choice: either become value travelers or travel less/not at all! So value traveling it is!

Also for the summer, there are many "hidden" costs that go away: we tend to be able to use public transportation instead of taxis because of lighter packing. We also get a lot of joy out of simply walking around and running in the park (with my son) whereas when it's cold, we need more inside (ie costly) activities. We also sit in cafes a lot more in the winter, whereas in the summer, a park bench is great. On the higher hand, the higher air tickets (and air conditioned places) are killers.

I think that my goal will be $5,000 for 2 weeks, all inclusive. That sounds like a good deal.

It is so ironic - when one has the luxury of time to travel, there is no money. When one works, there is no time to travel even with money. Ach...the conundrum of the American way of life!

Courtesy itasoftware.com $1246 for the three of you at the very end of the winter season (includes all taxes/fees):

$415.33 average cost per passenger in US Dollars
$1246.00 total for all passengers
2 adults @ $424.00 each and 1 child @ $398.00

This ticket is non-refundable.

Changes to this ticket will incur a penalty fee.

Airport legend:
BOS: Boston Logan
KEF: Reykjavik Keflavik Int'l
CDG: Paris Charles de Gaulle
Boston, MA to Paris, France: 3797 miles 9 hrs 45 min

Icelandair Flight FI 630 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
(dinner, movie)
Departs Boston, MA (BOS) Tue, Mar 14 8:35p 5 hrs 5 min
Arrives Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF) Wed, Mar 15 6:40a
Layover in Reykjavik 1 hr 15 min
Icelandair Flight FI 542 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
(breakfast)
Departs Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF) Wed, Mar 15 7:55a 3 hrs 25 min
Arrives Paris, France (CDG) 12:20p
Note: The flight from Boston (BOS) to Reykjavik (KEF) is overnight.


Paris, France to Boston, MA: 3797 miles 10 hrs 5 min

Icelandair Flight FI 543 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
(lunch)
Departs Paris, France (CDG) Wed, Mar 29 2:15p 3 hrs 30 min
Arrives Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF) 3:45p
Layover in Reykjavik 1 hr 0 min
Icelandair Flight FI 631 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
(dinner, movie)
Departs Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF) Wed, Mar 29 4:45p 5 hrs 35 min
Arrives Boston, MA (BOS)

I used to plan on 5K for 2 weeks at a 3 star level but not now---it is more like 6.8K since the Euro and airfare changes. You can see my budget for 3 levels of travel at slowtrav.com---you may be able to do a 2 star level trip for 5K if you watch your variables.

Wow, bardo1 thanks for all the work there. It's good to know one can get cheap tickets in mid-March too...that's about what we paid for mid December.

Bon, I will go to slowtravel. Haven't been to that site in a while. I'd like to see your breakdown. My two weeks may have to include family stays.

Also, does anyone do home swaps on this site? If so, what site do you use and how effective is it? I live in Philly (not sure how desirable that is, but it's in the heart of Philly) -- and would love to do something like that.

I always remind my husband that we should subtract from the trip the cost of food and transportation we would otherwise pay just by being home. I figure we save $250 on groceries and at-work coffee/lunch, $80 on gas and parking, $120 on dining out, and a tiny bit on utilities by being away.

The original post is 6 years old.

Thanks grandmere, I was wondering where folks were getting these great deals on airfare :)

what LSky said....the best I could get has been $850 pp
more in the summer.

YOW! Glad I found out that this post is from 2006. Was wondering where the incredible air fees mentioned in the above, were. I haven't heard of a $400 r/t to Paris in years.