Going to London, Paris, Rome, & Prague for 8 days... what should we budget?
 

My husband and I leave in a month for Europe (we have never been) and I am wondering what to expect to spend a day. We have already paid for our rooms and all of our traveling between countries. A few people have told me horror stories of quickly blowing through their budget and I am worried what I thought would be enough is too low. We definitely plan on sampling lots of local food (probably not too many "sit down, full" meals) as we go and doing all the touristy things (Eiffel Tower, Vatican City, etc).

I know we are doing a lot in one trip, but 8 days was the most we could do, so I just am looking for advice and/or estimations.

Thank you!

8 days? You're kidding right? You'll have one good day in each country. This is not a vacation. Good luck!

Ok that is not helpful. All of our traveling (mostly by plane) is either early in the morning or late at night. We have 1 full day in London, 2 full days in Paris, 2.5 days in Rome, and 1.5 days in Prague.

I don't mean to sound cynical but have you accounted for travel time to each city? You will be spending at least 6 to 8 hours traveling to and from each airport. After check in to your hotel you will be lucky if you have enough time to find a nice restaurant eat dinner and maybe stroll around for a couple hours.

So your 1 day in London turns out to be maybe 1/2 day, your 2 days in Paris maybe 1 1/2 days, your 2.5 days in Rome maybe 2 days and your 1 1/2 day in Prague turns out to be 1 day at best.

Have you done anything like this in the past? I think you are doing way too much on your trip here. Traveling can be exhausting and I hope you report back with your trip report. Regards!

You need to pick up a good guide book (or 2) that will give you some info on the entrance fees and and dates/times of the exhibits and sights you're interested in.
You can get a City Pass in some cities that gives you access to museums and also public transport but will you see enough (or be there long enough) to get your money's worth?
Some sights require advance reservations.

Doing some planning will save you time and money.
Your trip is quite a whirlwind and you could easily spend a fortune on cab rides into and out of cities to catch your flights. Do you know how far the airport is from CDG to your hotel? Will you take the bus? Cab? How much?
What you'll spend in Prague for dinnner may only get you a cafe' and croissant in Paris.

Do you want to see as many museums as you can? Entrance fees can add up. A hop on-hop off bus in London will give you an overview but where will you hop on? And where will you hop off?

Make a list of your interests - museums, sights, walking, eating, river tours, etc and try to find what interests you in each city. What is open when you're there? Not every sight is open every day.

Then add up cab fares, bus/metro tickets, entrance tickets, tours, lunch, dinners, snacks. Are you going to do any shopping? Presents for people back home?
I'd get some more info on the cities you're going to visit - get a rough idea of costs - set a budget and then ask about good restaurants, is the Louvre worth it, etc.

Actually we fly into London at 10:40 pm and have all the next day in London and leave London the following morning at 5:30 am. We'll have a few hours on the train to Paris and we arrive at 9:30 am. We have the rest of that day and the next day until we fly out the second night at 9:15 pm. We land in Rome a little after 11:00 pm and have two full days in Rome until we fly out the third day at 3:15 pm. We land in Prague at 5:00 pm and have that night, the next day, and a few hours on the third before we have to head back to the airport to go home.

It'll be tight but we will definitely have time to have a ton of fun. If you see the original post I did specifically say ". . . but 8 days was the most we could do, so I just am looking for advice and/or estimations."

You have designed a very comprehensive tour of the various airports of euopre. All you need is one day of bad weather (fog?) or a pop-up strike - and you will have not time in at least one city.

Frankly, in 8 days I would stay in one place. If you really have to see more- then just do London and Paris - so you will at least have 3 days in each city (IMHO not enough for a first trip - but a start).

As for your budget - assume everything will cost more than in the US - a lot more if you are from an inexpensive area.

Obviously is you are willing to do picnic lunches with a sandwich from a market and grab a quick dinner in a cafe you can spend less - but you won;t be getting any sort of feel for the real life of any of these cities. I suggest looking into 1) cost of getting from airport to your hotel - and vice versa - 2) cost of local transit (since you won;t have time to walk everywhere - my preferred mode of local transit) and 3) cost of entry to the major sights.

I would follow the rule of having access (through CC and your checking account via ATMs) to twice as much money as you think you will need.

Just remember your flights between Paris-Rome, Rome-Prague and Prague-home are all International flights.
You'll need to be at the airport 2-3 hours before departure, not inlcuding the time to get to the airport. I'm assuming you'll be taking cabs or private hire to cut down on travel time.
If you're checking luggage you can wait anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour for it to arrive in baggage claim, then make your way thru customs and the airport to meet your driver.

You'll definitely want to plan all your time to make the most of each city.

If you stick with this plan, the only thing you will discover on this trip is that you can't possibly travel this way and expect to see much of anything except the inside of airports, taxis and planes.

This is just crazy. Choose one or, at most, two cities. London and Paris would be a good pair and take the train from London to Paris. I don't think anyone could travel this way unless they are on "The Amazing Race".

I have already booked a pick up car through most of the hotels so we can go straight from the airport to the hotels. We also are only taking carry on bags to cut down on time.

I specifically wrote "I know we are doing a lot in one trip, but 8 days was the most we could do, so I just am looking for advice and/or estimations." Everything is booked and paid for so telling me to change things will not help.

Well for specific information - and not to reco that you eat here - but to provide a direct comparison:

At TGIF in the US a cheeseburger plate is about $9

At TGIF in London the same platter is about 10 pounds - or $16

Similar prices will apply elsewhere - with more upscale places being much more expensive - and a quick stop for a slive for lunch being much less expensive.

In order to enjoy the short time you have for this trip, it will be essential to plan everything carefully -- budget, scheduling, transportation -- and allow for traffic jams, airline strikes, whatever, and have alternative plans that you can put in place if needed. If you don't already have 1 or 2 travel guides, get them or read them at the library and plan your daily itinerary in each city. From these books you can also get an idea of meal costs, taxis, entrance fees, etc. Then, as a previous poster suggested, plan to spend twice that amount. I assume you will use ATMs for your cash purchases and credit cards for the big stuff. Just be sure you have plenty of cash available in case of emergencies and enough credit on your cards. Oh, and be sure to let your credit card companies know you will be traveling abroad so they don't put a hold on your card. Good luck on your trip and do come back and post your experience.

Have you heard of jet lag? When are you planning to get any sleep in London? If you're taking the Eurostar you have to be at St. Pancras 30 minutes ahead of time at the latest, and you have to get there.

I await the trip report with interest.

If everything else is already paid for your budget for food etc won't be that high. You won't have time for many if any sit down meals as you said in your original post.

Take some granola bars with you as you will be leaving and / or arriving at crazy times and your body clock won't have time to adjust.

Breakfast/ lunch and dinner in London? Budget $100 each or 70 pounds (you can get away with spending less or obviously splash out on Michelin starred meals but this is a very comfortable budget for one restaurant meal plus snacks/cafe treats on the go)
Museums are mostly free.
2 full days in Paris = $200 each (comfortable budget for food). Check online websites for costs of any tourist stuff you intend to to do.
Rome the same = $200 each for food
Prague $100-150 each for food

For 8 days food and activities included I'd estimate you would spend between $500 and $1000 each. If you drink alcohol moderately expect to be closer to the upper limit.
You don't have time to eat or do all the activities available.

Good luck and I hope for your sake there are not any delays in your flights or you might miss a country!

Stop. Rethink. This travel you are describing sounds excruciating! How about London for four days. Eurostar to Paris for the remainder. Don't torture yourself. Travel is supposed to be fun, not a marathon race. Just sayin'. Hopefully, there will be many more opportunities for travel in your future but please don't sell yourself short on your first international experience.

Wow, this is a nightmare. What were you thinking? Next time, come here before you get on a plane. This sounds like torture. I realize you say that "telling me to change things won't help," but you seriously need to change things. Have you ever been to Europe before? Experienced jet lag? Done a trip like this? It's beyond ridiculous and you will pay the price. You're going to spend a bundle of money and "enjoy" a whole lot of airports.

The issue of how much you will spend on food is utterly insignificant in relation to the issue that you are trying to see about four times as much of Europe as one could even hope to see in the really short time you have allotted.

Go to one place and enjoy it. Seriously.

nytraveler sets out a very simple comparison of costs and it will work for you if you estimate what you'd spend in the US for a typical vacation day of meals and activities and then add about 50% to cover increased costs with the pound/euro you won't be far out.

Your budget will completely depend on what you want to do and see. You could spend next to nothing by seeing free parks, or you could spend hundreds by seeing places that charge admission, which can be quite high. Depends solely on you.
Most of the large museums in London are free, but not in Paris.
Same with meals. A ready-made sandwich and bottled water in a convenience store can be as little as the equivalent of $5.00. It is up from there.

Your budget is irrelevant - honest. You will have next to no free time in any of those cities. So you won't be doing anything much but traveling to your hotels, checking in, unpacking, packing, checking out, traveling to the airport, hanging around waiting for your flight, traveling in from the airport in the next city, checking in . . . and repeat.

Sorry -but this is a ridiculous itinerary -- and you have added all that unnecessary extra travel just makes it REALLY expensive to see almost nothing.

"<i>Most of the large museums in London are free, </i>" True, however you won't have time for more than maybe 1.

"<i>We have 1 full day in London, 2 full days in Paris, 2.5 days in Rome, and 1.5 days in Prague.</i>"

No you don't

Look at just this part: >><i>we fly into London at 10:40 pm and have all the next day in London and leave London the following morning at 5:30 am. We'll have a few hours on the train to Paris and we arrive at 9:30 am. We have the rest of that day and the next day until we fly out the second night at 9:15 pm.</i><<

In reality you have one jet lagged day in London. And then have to be up an out the door by about 04:30 AM because the train has an advance check in requirement.

The second day in Paris you will have to be packed and out the door of the hotel by 5 or 5:30 PM (takes an hour to get to the airport and you need to be there by 6:30 or 7PM). You won't have time for dinner in Paris.

Your head will probably be spinning and you will have spent a LOT of money to mainly explore airports and train stations.

Can you change any of this mess?

Hi CWyrick,

Maybe you need the help of a business traveler.

For London, read through this link, but ignore the specific recommendations for places to eat (unless they are near your hotels) and just look for value pubs

http://www.moneysavinglondon.com/Tra...in-London.html

Also, Indian food is very good in London. Try it at a place that isn't expensive.

For Paris, when you go past the windows of the bakeries and food shops, if you see delicious looking food, GRAB IT. That means a croissant stuffed with goodies, or pastries, or a crepe. Get the stuff on your way to sightseeing, even if it means putting some stuff in your pockets or totes to eat later in the park. When you need to sit down in a restaurant, look for a couscous place or a Vietnamese place. If you can afford to spend more, any Parisian restaurant has a menu outside or will show you one.

For Rome, there is an excellent famous pizza-by-the-slice place near the entrance to the Vatican museums called Pizzarium. Look it up before you go. Even if you aren't hungry, grab some food for later. (Pack some plastic bags -- I mean it -- so you can carry food). If you pass open air markets, buy fruit. Otherwise, Roman restaurants have menus outside or they will show you one if you ask before you sit down. Only go in where you can afford the meal (take those extra steps if you must, even if you are tired). BE AWARE that a Roman restaurant will always charge you for service and maybe bread service. And ALWAYS check your bill. Food is good in Italy, so you can get by with cheap places.

I haven't been in Prague but I hear it is very touristy. So try not to eat or drink near the big tourist attractions.

Hope you have a great trip. Don't buy food in train stations or airports if you can avoid it. It's too expensive. Try to walk away from the tourist areas and find simple places to eat where you see ordinary locals eating. Pick up food before you get there. Carry your own empty water bottle.

Don't worry too much if you spend a little extra money. It will be worth the having a few tuna dinners when you get home.

These posters are all correct. You said, "I know we are doing a lot in one trip." The problem is that you are not doing a lot in one trip, but you are doing a lot of going from place to place.

I know this is not the advice you are seeking, but it is the best I can give.

Is there anything at all that you can change? Are you flying home from Prague or back through London? If you can get refunds on the hotels (and you should still be able to do that) and make any airline changes, so you can skip at least one country and add that time to one of the others, it would be wise to do so.

Some possible things to try:
1. Land in London and go straight to Paris if you can change your train times and make the connection. Basically, skip London. Add all the time to Paris.

2. Skip Paris and fly to Rome from London. Add a day to London and a day to Rome. See if you can change the flight from Paris to Rome and make it London to Rome. See if the train can be cancelled.

3. Skip Rome. Add a day to Paris and fly to Prague from Paris if you can change the flight from Rome to Prague and make it Paris to Prague.

4. Skip Prague. See if you can change flights from Rome to Prague and make it Rome to London if that is where you are flying out from or fly home from Rome if you can make that change.

Be creative and see if you can rescue this.

Jesus people leave the poor person alone! They asked for rough estimate on costs, not a rant on how little time they are going to spend in each city or your opinions on which city they should stay in and/or skip. Be thankful THEY ARE GOING AT ALL, since the amount of Americans that have even been out of the country, let alone overseas is dismally low! Ok, with that said, except for Prague, the other three cities are some of the most expensive cities on this planet. With the understanding that your hotels are already covered, and if not, then you are going to figure at least $100 per city per night, I base everything on the Mcdonald's and Beer Price scale. In London, you can get a Big Mac Meal for £4 but then you must figure the exchange rate of at least 1.6 and so all of a sudden that mean is $6.40. However, a beer in London is dare I say it very inexpensive. London also has in its favor the fact that all (cept the very specialized museums) are FREE! The castles and other sites, however are outrageously expensive. Paris, VERY VERY expensive to drink, with an average beer being around €6-7 and of course the exchange rate of at least 1.3 brings that price to close to $8-$9! The Big Mac Meal in Paris is also expensive at close to €6, but WHY would you ever eat at one, when you can get some of the best food you have ever had, and any restaurant in the city and most Plat Du Jours offer three courses, and a bottle of wine for less than €25 per person! All of the Museums in Paris charge, and if you had more time I'd recommend the Paris Card (or whatever it is called) and tell you to go crazy, but the whole experience of Paris is walking around and/or sitting on the Champs Elysees people watching, and that like Notre Dame, and the Tuilleries are FREE! Rome, lets just say its comparable to Paris in respect to prices to drink and eat. But like Paris, some of the best sights are just walking around exploring the city such as Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, and Vatican City. Prague, is by far the cheapest of them all, with both food and beer prices being less than you'd find in most major cities in the US. However, it has been the darling of Europe for a while so prices are/have been increasing every year. I hope this information helps you and good luck on your whirlwind trip!

bravo, Jmanthetravelman.

It's your vacation so I will make no more comments on what your plans are.
as to costs,well all I can offer is a website fro Prague a city I visit frequently (in fact there again in 10 days time)
http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/...ost-of-living/
this link will give you some ideas on cost,hope it is of use to you.

let me know where you are staying in Prague and maybe I can reccommend some places nearby that won't blow the budget but compared to the other cities you are visiting Prague will most likely be the cheapest for food and drink.

Make sure you access some good guidebooks - I have been planning a 3 week trip in December and have had to pay particular attention to the days that various museums and galleries are closed, so that we make sure we use our time well, and don't have the disappointment of walking up to some museum doors to find them bolted, and no further opportunity to visit during our stay - it seems to me that Paris might present this problem, and that Mondays and Tuesdays seem to be the most frequent closures (presumably because weekends are frantic and the catch-up and maintenance work's got to get done sometime!)

Bendigo amkes a good point.I Pargeu many places are closed on Mondays.
http://www.prague.net/itineraries-in-prague
this link should give you a fair bit of info on what you can see and do in the time you have in Prague.

To see lots of touristy things quickly, I would look into Grayline-style bus trips in the various cities -- especially things that will drive you around London or Paris or etc. for two or three hours at night. I often do those on my first night in a new place to get a sense of distances and layout anyway. It's a good way to cover a lot of ground.

I wonder if the OP is arriving in London AT NIGHT, gets a night's sleep, and has the next day how anyone can say they will still be jet-lagged.

One other thought - since you have so little time in each place.

Do check carefully the closing days for the places you want to see. Many sights close one day per week and you don;t want it to be the only day you are there.

Also check opening hours. Some places may have shorter hours since you are no longer in summer high season. Also do realize that you are quite far north and days will tend to be quite short - esp for London and Paris.

I have to agree with everyone who is saying to pare down your trip...honestly, I'm doing a similar trip (that is, 4 main locations) next summer, but it'll be over three weeks, and even that will be cramped.

I honestly think you will find that you won't have enough time to fully enjoy any of the places you are going to if you have only such a short time in each place. Even in the best of circumstances, one or two days is not enough for such big, fascinating cities. You may not realize it, but travel is exhausting, even when you're not constantly on the move, which you will be. You'll be jet-lagged to start with, and low on sleep through the duration of your trip, if you really hop around from place to place so quickly.

I'm not sure if you're taking suggestions, but honestly, if I had only 8 days, I'd just make it a Paris trip this time. Paris is an amazing, beautiful and fascinating city with amazing food and there is tons to do there alone to fill up 8 days.

I'm only saying this to you because I would hate for anyone to be disappointed in their first trip to Europe! Please take my advice and that of other posters here and pick one, MAYBE two cities tops for your eight-day trip.

<<Be thankful THEY ARE GOING AT ALL, since the amount of Americans that have even been out of the country, let alone overseas is dismally low!>>

And how many of that small percentage of Americans plan a completely ridiculous trip to Europe and come back thinking it was a waste of time and money and never go back again because of their own lack of knowledge and insight? Plenty. You can read about their experiences often enough right here on Fodors.

People come here to get the advice of knowledgable, experienced travelers. All of whom are noting that this trip is beyond insane. We have been "on the ground" in Europe countless times and know that a trip like this is a disaster - you really can't argue otherwise. Sugar-coating it isn't going to make it a good trip once they actually land in Europe and realize their plans were way off base. I don't see any value at all in being happy that they are "actually going at all." The chances that they'll be miserable every minute of this forced trek, or simply not get any benefit whatsoever out of it, are too high to give that argument any credence.

you have come here asking for help, but when the seasoned travellers speak to you you combat their answers.

for instance, you say you arrive in prague at 5PM and have that night... ok you land at 5, do customs, immigration, get a taxi, ride to your hotel, check in and bingo its perhaps 8PM or after and you still need to eat..

i realize everything is paid for.. shame

I agree that there is not need to be thankful they are going at all - since I too feel they will probaly come back disappointed, thining europe is too expensive, not worth it and that they have wster their time and money.

But we have no control over what they seem determined to do.

All we can do is try to help them prepare to deal with the problems they will face - by identifying them in advance and preparing work-arounds.

Strongly suggest that the OP have information on alternate travel arrangements in case anything falls though or is seriously delayed. Also suggest they have alternate sights picked out in cased their schedule changes and they don;t get to where they really want to be.

Also suggest they have restaurants picked out in advance - based on their plans - since they won't have a lot of time to look for places. But - be sure NOT to go into tourist places with menus in 14 languages and/or pictures of the food - or worst - some tout hauling you in. These places are typically way overpriced and generally have really awful food. Also do understand that prices in places at major attractions (Piazza Navona in Rome or Old Town Square in Prague) will have prices much higher than the same sort of place in a less touristy area - perhaps only 7 or 8 blocks away.

And, whatever you do, be sure you have complete street maps of the cities you will be going to (not large driving maps, but detailed walking maps) to avoid spending a lot of time finding your way.

At least the ranting has diminished a bit. May I remind people that they still asked only for costs, and from the way they have defended their trip, I doubt they will be unhappy with the amount of time they are going. They have 8 days, and they seem to already have a SET itinerary, so changing it is probably out of the question, so let them get a TASTE of Europe and hope they have the sense to plan another trip to visit just one, two at the most, cities next time and really do them right. I mean, we can all agree, its better than spending a week in Orlando!

What you really need to do is take credit cards that have low foreign exchange rates (credit union cards, some others) and try to get as little cash as possible in London and Prague because the money will be relatively useless anywhere else. At least in Paris you can take out some dough and use it in Rome too because Italy isn't collapsing as fast as Spain so Italy will remain Euroville for awhile.

As for meals, eating well in Italy is easy and does not have to be expensive - roughly equivalent to Outback Steakhouse with beer (but nowhere near the portion sizes). Eating a sit-down at a brasserie in Paris instead of a "ristorante" will also lower costs. NYTrav is completely correct that you will eat less expensively away from tourist hells than in the middle of them. Try U Zlatych Nuzek's restaurant on Kampa Island, not anywhere in Old Town for Prague. Similarly, eating thisclose to St Peters in the Vatican is more expensive than a similar place a few blocks away.

As for the check-in requirements on your flights - investigate that. The Intra-EU flights are not treated as US-Europe international equivalents that need 3 hour advance check-ins but they're also not treated like US domestic 1-hour advance either (I don't think).

And if you're looking to travel around Europe in the future, do NOT under any circumstances plan a similar trip. Your itinerary is completely ridiculous.

<<we can all agree, its better than spending a week in Orlando!>>

Well, I don't agree. Much as I would never plan a trip to Orlando, a week there makes a LOT more sense than this insanity.

The suggestion about being prepared with backup travel plans is a good one. A couple trips ago, we were flying to Italy for 12 days. The flight out of the states (from our home town, happily) had a mechanical issue; we were rebooked the following day, losing a day in Siena. Now, since we were packed, the house was clean and we had plenty of time, we just went back home, went out to dinner and didn't stress. Facing a travel issue will require some flexibility with plans, and with this much moving around in such a short amount of time, there's some likelihood something will come up. Lost luggage? Cancelled flight? Stolen wallet? Who knows - just have a good attitude and be willing to make a quick decision in a way to best save the rest of the vacation.

Seems the OP didn't like it here and their profile has disappeared.

I agree with StCirq, while I don't care for Orlando (yes, I have been, with and without kids) a week there is a sensible amount of time. This trip is insanity. Of course, it's possible it was a troll.