Europe First-timers Need Your Help!
 

My husband and I are hoping to head to Europe for 2-1/2 weeks this September. What are the great and AFFORDABLE destinations there? I've heard suggestions of Estonia, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg.

My husband and I are in our 30s. We live in San Francisco. We went to Peru and Buenos Aires last year and LOVED both places.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

You don't give us any idea of what "affordable" means to you. The best way to go about deciding is to sit down together and make a list:

what kind of vacation are we looking for? Romantic, adventure, "touristy" whatever

What type of climate are we wanting? Beach, snowing, mountains..

What time of year will we be traveling?

What to do when we arrive? Stroll, museums, cafe-sitting, operas, see many cities (on the move)

What launguage and culture are we interested in experiencing?

What is the dollar amount we are comfortable spending?

Then start trying to match destinations to your wishes and expectations. Once you've done that, there's always ways to make most any destination affordable by the hotels you choose, time you go and the places you eat.

"Affordable" is so subjective. Perhaps you could make a list of places that appeal to you, and people here could tell you which are more affordable than others.

I think traveling to St. Petersburg or Estonia would be very difficult for first timers in Europe. You are not likely to find a lot of English spoken or tourist ameneties, and you'll have difficulty even deciphering street signs. Californians feel at ease in Spanish-speaking countries even if they don't speak the language, for obvious reasons.

I don't know how affordable Stockholm or any place in Sweden in, but I understand the country has beautiful areas, and the majority of Swedes have learned English in school. You might get a good air fare by flying with IcelandAir and get a connecting flight.

You should check out the cost of renting a car rather then staying in Stockholm exlusively for two weeks or more. Or it maybe that many of the places that are exceptionally lovely are reachable by public transport. Sweden is not a large country.

You need to find out what the weather is likely to be during the time you are planning your visit -- and whether it's true Sweden is affordable. Check out the range of prices of recommended hotels in Stockholm on Fodor's and Tripadvisor.

Here's a website for the Swedish Tourist office:

http://www.visitsweden.com/VSTemplat...____19706.aspx

Sorry, but your post is too vague: "affordable" you've already heard about; "great"?????? in terms of what? And you've already been "classified" as someone who will feel comfortable in Spanish-speaking destinations (LOL)...

There is an absolute WEALTH of information here but you need to be more precise in order to tap into it.

i don't know why everyone always gets uptight about requests that say things like "affordable" or "cheap". i think sometimes the posters don't know exactly what things cost so asking for an "inexpensive" hotel in paris, for example, is best interpreted as "a simple hotel with good value for money". in other words, a hotel on the cheaper end of the scale...then they start to learn what that scale is.

anyway, the cities/country that you mention are some of the most expensive in europe. the baltics are cheaper than scandinavia but not cheap - estonia is actually not much cheaper than london, but it really depends how you travel. st petersburg is expensive, esp for hotels. stockholm, of course, is one of the more expensive cities in europe.

if you want to go to these places, there are ways to travel to maximise value but it is not clear if you want to select truly affordable places or whether you want to maximise affordability in the places you mention.

"I think traveling to St. Petersburg or Estonia would be very difficult for first timers in Europe."

??? Why? There is some difficulty in travelling to St.Petersburg because you need a Visa, and you have to get it beforehand from the Russian consulate. And it takes a week to process. Plus St.P (and Stockholm) are expensive cities also by European standards.

But what difficulty would there be with Estonia? It is an EU-country, and they certaily don´t use Cyrillic letters. And the younger people speak good English. And also older ones who deal with tourists. And they get lots of tourists. As expensive as London? London happens to be in the group "three most expensive cities in Europe". Tallinn is more expensive now compared to what it was 10 years ago, but never in the group of "expensive cities".

Jenhong, you really have to think what you like, and what you want to see and experience, and go there. And don´t listen to those people who have said that St.P and Stockholm are some cheap destinations. They obviously don´t know.

I find Paris to be considered a reasonably affordable destination. It offers a full range of options in the area of dining and lodging. It is also an extremely impressive city and it is a good place to base from for excursions farther afield because of its great transportation connections. Your best bet might well be an apartment rental.

That said, two and a half weeks is a long time to be covering expenses in most places you could choose and it's longer than I think I would want to stay in one place. I'll put in a plug for Lisbon, Portugal as an interesting city with a noticeably lower cost structure and a great climate at that time of year.

Stockholm is one of the most expensive cities in Europe. Same for the other Scandanavian capitals. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are very cheap except it is hard to find cheap hotels. The hostels are good.

Spain and Portugal are reasonable and should have pleasant weather in September. The food and wine are cheap and good. Same for Greece, Slovenia, and Croatia.

To save even more go to Romania and Bulgaria. Interesting and very affordable.

I saved an itinerary I had planned for a 17-day trip (2 travel days + 15 days in Italy). Here's a summary of what I estimated---assumes 1.20 conversion dollar to Euro:

4 nights Rome: hotel $156/day
5 in Pienza (Tuscany): hotel $120/day
3 in Florence: hotel $144/day
3 in Venice: hotel $156/day

Assumed double rooms, basic hotels with breakfast incl. Fairly well located but no view rooms or other added costs.

I allowed $60 per person per day for meals, museums, bus/train, etc. Also included $250 for 5 day car rental in Tuscany.

The total for 2 people came to about $4500, not including airfare. I don't know if you consider that "affordable", but it should give you an idea of what a nice trip to Italy will cost. You could probably shave a good bit off that with less expensive meals, hotels.

Jenhong: Our first travel to Europe (as adults...I lived in France for six weeks when I was 13) came about 12 years ago. We visited Stockholm and St. Petersburg and planned to visit Tallinn, although we didn't fit that in to the final itinerary. To date Stockholm remains my favorite major city in the world, and we've been back four times in the last decade. We haven't yet travelled to Tallinn, but that's on the agenda for this summer. Sweden is, indeed, one of the more expensive places to visit in Europe, although I'd say Norway has it beat. Food and drink are the major reasons why. Hotels are not such a problem. During the summer in Sweden it's not hard to get a good hotel in a rural area for $125 to $150 USD. In Stockholm it would be a bit more, but not particularly different from your home town of San Francisco. One perk is that the hotels in Sweden generally offer huge breakfast buffets, and that can keep you going much of the day. Until recently such breakfasts were also some of the best food you'd find in Scandinavia, but the recent growth of fine dining (particularly in Denmark and Sweden) has been amazing. Stockholm is a lovely city built on islands, and there's a lot to explore nearby. If you're there in early September, you'll usually get good weather, and you can find quaint old towns, castles, etc. within a relatively short drive from Stockholm, You may, however, be beyond the low rates of summer for hotel stays (I think those typically run from Midsummer's Day until September 1). A few days on the island of Gotland, in the town of Visby, formerly a major port of the Hanseatic league, would also be fun.

Our travels in Europe have typically centered on Italy or Sweden. Costwise renting an apartment in a small Tuscan town and exploring the area has probably been a bit less expensive than basing ourselves in Sweden. I'd agree with other posters that eastern Europe would probably be cheaper than anywhere else in Europe, but you really need to decide what you'd like to see.

It's perfectly reasonable to ask someone what affordable means to them. If I save up $3000. for 2.5 weeks then everyone would know what I could or could not do and the types of hotels I should look for. Simple question that could mean the difference in getting help here or not.

Where do you want to go? How did you decide on Peru and BA? Are those 3 you mention ones that interest you, or because someone said they were affordable (which I question the accuracy of that, by the way).

I think most places can be visited at a reasonable price. By what lodging you choose, where you eat, what you do. For me, for a first trip to Europe, I'd suggest Paris and Venice.

If your budget can handle $6,000 for 2&1/2 weeks, then you can go to any cities you want (pretty much) (if you watch your money). One thing to consider is that airfare to say Paris or Rome is significantly less than say St Petersburg.

Typical gateway cities to Europe are: Paris, Rome, Frankfurt and London. Other cities are also possible (for us Delta now flies direct to Venice and Nice.)

So what would be your list of cities you want to visit (four or five is the resonable limit for 2 & 1/2 wks)?

What are your interests?
Any special destinations (the Swiss alps, a magnificent villa, a real castle, etc.) ?

In my limited experience, the cheapest places I've been to so far are Berlin and Madrid. Cheap 4* hotels (and cheaper places too), inexpensive food, reasonable admission prices, cheap transport. I think you can extrapolate and say that Germany and Spain will tend to be on the cheap side. I've also heard that Portugal is cheap.

There's often a significant difference in price between large urban destinations and rural places, but I've mostly stuck to large urban places, so I can't advise too much on the smaller places.

For 1st timers in Europe you should consider the big three (Actually pick 2 from the list) London, Paris, & Rome (or Venice). Decide which of those would interest you can do a little reading. A London/Paris trip is a great first trip to whet your taste for Europe. Both cities have a lot to offer and you can do the trip at several budget levels.

Hotels are the expensive part for both cities but you can usually get apretty good deal from Priceline for London and the board here will be glad to recommend any level Paris hotel you are looking for.

One of the most fun parts of the trip for me is the planning or "dreaming" part of the trip. Enjoy.

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As expensive as London? London happens to be in the group "three most expensive cities in Europe". Tallinn is more expensive now compared to what it was 10 years ago, but never in the group of "expensive cities".
>>>>>>

elina... i never said that tallinn was as expensive as london...please re-read my post. i am well aware that the official rankings rate london as much more expensive. however, having traveled there last year from my home in london, it did not notice a significant decrease in the cost of living. yes, it was cheaper but not by much. and i would say it was more expensive than paris or rome. hotel was at least what someone would pay in london, budget restaurants were a bit less but good restaurants were about the same as london.

anyway, my point was that tallinn is up there in expense with all the major capitals of europe (give or take...) ...it is certainly no cheaper.

Too many choices in all of Europe! Where have you always dreamed of going? I guess I'd say skip London, because it's relatively expensive. Otherwise, spend some time at the library, get some travel books and DVDs to review, think about what topography you want and cities vs. countryside, etc.

A very basic recommendation would be for two cities that I've loved: Paris and Amsterdam. Easy to get from one to the other, beautiful cities, different from each other so make a nice contrast.

Have fun planning. Do you research and then ask more questions.

Gosh, yes MaureenB. How could I have forgotten Amsterdam? I lived in Holland for a few years.

There are plenty of bargains if you do some research. You can start with doing a google.com search for "B&B Holland" and/or use the Fodor's search box at the top of this page.

I touched on this above, you can manage expenses in any city you visit by how expensive a hotel/hostel you stay at, where you eat, what kind of money you spend on entertainment, shopping, etc.

I think you should concentrate on finding the GREAT destination you seek, and budget affordable as a secondary factor.