firmgirl

Hello Fodorites,

I am planning a group trip to Europe for 15-20 people for June of 2007. We will be renting a large villa (of which I have found many - I can post a list here later) that will be under $400 per person for the week.

But, this group being mainly non-profit types, they are already complaining about costs.

I am trying to come up with a budget for us for the week, and I thought I would post it here to see if I am close or totally off. I am trying to overestimate here and give the worst case scenario.

Villa rental: $400 or less
Flight(s) to Faro, Alicante, Gerona, Rome/Alghero (one of the houses is in Sardinia) or Malaga: $800
Car rental for the week: $100/pp (one automatic for every 4 people)
Food and wine/beer- eat in: $200/pp
Food - eat out/go out: $200

Total for week: $1700

Does anyone know how much ferries are to Sardnia or Menorca (one of the potential houses is there as well)?

Thanks.

firmgirl

Forgot to say, most of the flights will be from Washington, DC.

Eloise

$1700 per person per week seems excessive to me, particularly in Spain and Portugal, which are less expensive than, say, France and Italy.

I don't quite understand the $800 for flights in one week for one person... If you are only talking about a one-week villa rental, why would anyone have to take so many flights? And have you looked into the fares of discount airlines at www.whichbudget.com?

Eloise

If the $800. includes the transatlantic flight, then it makes more sense.

firmgirl

Yes, the $800 is for the transatlantic flight. Hopefully most people can find a direct flight to the airport closest to wherever the villa is.

Although I guess it might be cheaper to get a flight into a big airport (like London, etc) and take one of the smaller, cheap European airlines to our destination.

Viajero2

If I were you, I would rent a B&B/Inn/villas that are already setup as small hotels. Plenty of those in France, for example, where there is already a staff and the place is rented for large groups.

I wouldn't even go nowhere near what you are planning to do, specially since you already have indications this group ain't shy when it comes to to complaining about costs...

firmgirl

Yes, I brought that up as an idea, but this group is really into renting a house that is private - no staff, just us.