dgassa

Sorry for the delay, but it's USD

MomDDTravel

bozama - I do have my dd and other children save their money for our trips as well.

We are blessed to go to Paris at Christmas with 3 of our 4 children due to a credit we had on AirFrance.

Each of them has been saving 1/2 their allowance - and I got the idea from this board - that their Christmas gift is going to be green this year - MONEY.

suze

I say 150 euro per day for the two of you. You can adjust your activities and spending to stay in this budget. Skimp some days to splurge others.

travelme

150 euro is a lot of dough, Suze Q.

travelbunny

I think budget will depend on your priorities..I like to sight see but I avoid organized tours except London (or Paris Walks)...I would highly recommend LW and they are reasonable (? 5 pounds). I think Ira is right re his estimate of grocery costs..same as US just in euros of pounds (so 1.5 or 2x the cost).I tend to eat breakfast in my apt, and then plan 1 big meal and another small meal per day. I try to avoid tourist trap type resto with mediocre food. I tend to eat out at least every second day at a local place. One often saves considerable by ordering a set menu. I will spend money on an occ coffee in a great cafe but I look at the price as really rental on the seat rather than a cost of the coffee. London will likely be your most expensive stop but as others have pointed out most of the galleries are free so this really saves on money. Many of the churches charge entrance fees except for the services..so I go to a service which I think is a fitting way to see a church anyway. My advice is dont skimp on sightseeing $$ and use the binge and bust strategy for food..Have a great time.

MomDDTravel

Thanks everyone. One thing I think that I have to remember is somedays? We are not going to do a THING... it WAY too long to be "on" the road... we will have days esp. the during the two weeks in Florence where we go to our Italian class and that is it... hang out - nap, read etc...

lerasp

Regadring Venice, I found it surprisingly inexpensive (relative to hype and expectations). Anything on/around St.Marks is breathtakingly expensive, but Venice is small and you only need to walk 10-15 min away to more residential neighborhoods (away from the main shopping street and the path between St.Marks and Rialto bridge) to find reasonable places to eat and buy food. We stayed at a hotel (with no breakfast) and spent €3 for breakfast and €10-15 for dinner (usually with a glass of house wine). Grocery were also not noticeably more expensive than other places in italy. Admissions weren't bad and we mostly walked with a couple vaporetto hops (€1.60, i think). overall, i wouldn't worry about Venice. I think what makes everyone think it's so expensive is that all the really expensive places are concentrated together, while in bigger cities like Paris or London they are more spread out. Also, in venice, you have less need to go to the residential streets (unlike in London or Paris) since most sites are either along the canals or connected by main shopping streets (where everything is really expensive)

lerasp

forgot to add that for lunch we usually grabbed something from a grocery store. either some fruits, or some bread and cheese or occasionally a prepared sandwish and found a place to sit in some quiet square (of which there are plenty). also, gelato was always the main part of lunch (same advice applies - dont' buy it on St.Marks!)

MomDDTravel

Thanks again for the tips. I am staying in a more residental section of Venice. It is a B&B/apartment. I found it through Rick Steves - not in his books but on the website. I have really enjoyed the interaction with the owner and there was a nice write up in a US paper.