Coda

My wife and I going for our first trip to Europe. (2 April 2007 - 12 April 2007)
Going to London first, Then 3 nights in Rome 5 - 8 April and then Paris 8 - 12 April.
We are from South Africa and need some advice on a low Budget trip. The ZAR is not doing that well against the Euro (1E to R9.20)
1. Accomadation in Rome (Double ensuit) near Termini is it save. Any suggestions.
2. How much to budget for per day.
3. How hectic is Rome over Easter?
4. Accomadation in Paris.
5. How much to budget for.
I have done research on venere and fodors.
Hope to get some good advice.
Thank you so much.

gard

Hi and greetings from Norway. I have been to SA a few times as my wife comes from Joburg

I'm sure that you will have a wonderful trip. Paris and Rome are my two favorite cities in Europe. I have posted a couple of trip reports that might be of some help to you. Here is the Paris trip report http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris_France.htm and I have also made an interactive Google map that shows you where attractions are located.
And here is my Rome trip report http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm with a Google map on http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy_map.htm .

I hope that there reports help. get in touch if you have any questions.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Kate_W

3. How hectic is Rome at Easter? Gee. Spiritual centre for the Roman Catholic Church. Most important holiday in the Roman Catholic calendar. I'm guessing jam-packed.

Regarding your request for budget advice, it would help if you could provide an idea of what you mean by low budget. For some people, low budget means hostels (or camping) and a 10 euro per day meal allowance. For other people, it means hotels in the 50-100 euro range and for some people it means something less than 5*.

Sandra Gustafson has a good series of travel guides, called "Cheap Sleeps" (newer editions might be called "Great Sleeps". There is one for Italy and one for Paris. She gives very detailed reviews of various hotels and alternative accommodations. You could probably order the books on Amazon.

If a hotel is just a place to sleep and you're not too fussy about exactly which hotel to stay in, you might consider bidding on priceline.com for hotels in London, Paris and possibly Rome. On Pricline, you name a price you're willing to pay for an area in a city and quality level (e.g. 3* hotel in Mayfair, London). If a hotel that participates in Priceline accepts your bid, your credit card is charged immediately and the reservation can't be changed or cancelled. You find out after the bid is accepted which hotel you're staying at. It is a great way to get a deeply discounted room, but there are some risks involved. Do some research on www.betterbidding.com (which I find is a friendlier discussion forum than www.biddingfortravel.com) before trying Priceline. Some general tips for Priceline: 1) Don't use Priceline if there's a chance that your trip or travel dates will change, since reservations made through priceline are non-refundable and non-changeable. 2) Don't use Priceline if you or your wife have very particular needs or wishes about the hotel you stay in. 3) Bid for a quality level that is at least one level higher than the quality of hotel you'd normally stay at. (For example, I normally stay in 3* hotels. On Priceline, I only bid for 4* or higher hotels. I figure that, even if I get a 4* hotel that doesn't meet my needs or desires exactly, it's still going to be better quality than the 3* I'd normally pay for.)

For your budget, you need to think about: (a) different categories of costs you'll incur during your trip; (b) what you and your wife want to splurge on; and (c) and what you're willing to skimp on. I usually make up a spreadsheet in Excel for each day in the holiday (starting with the departure day), to track: 1) flight and train details (and costs); 2) cost of transfers to and from the airport or train station etc; 3) accommodation costs (don't forget to include taxes); 4) meals; 5) entrance fees to museums or other activities; 6) local transportation costs (e.g. metro tickets, taxis); 7) spending money for souvenirs, gifts, clothes, etc; and 8) other costs. Also, don't forget to include in your budget the cost of some pre-trip expenditures (guidebooks, new clothes, etc).

ira

Hi C,

In Paris, we always stay at the Hotel Bonaparte, 61 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th. From 124E dbl w/bkfst. It is located near 3 metro stops. Has AC and an elevator.

Tel 33 1 43 26 97 37
FAX 33 1 46 33 57 67
www.hotelbonaparte.fr

For more info, enter "Hotel Bonaparte" in the "search this forum" box.

Photos are at http://tinyurl.com/ludgd

A less expensive, but not as well located hotel that has been recommended on the board is the
www.france-hotel-guide.com/h75012lux.htm

hausfrau

Coda,
If you stay near the train station in Rome you are going to be a long ways from many of the popular sites. Better to find a centrally-located hotel and walk everywhere from there (this is quite possible if you stay in the Piazza Navona / Pantheon area). Do a search on www.tripadvisor.com for hotels in your price range. Same goes for Paris.

I was in Rome over Christmas and I expect Easter will be similar in terms of crowds - busy, but certainly not a deterrent for your trip. I would imagine that everything associated with the Vatican and St. Peter's will have longer than normal lines.

How much you want to budget per day is entirely up to you. You can find good restaurants in every price range. You should be able to find hotels that include breakfast, so you need to think about lunch, dinner, and entrance fees for the attractions you want to see.

For two people, you can do restaurant lunches for less than 50 Euro and high-quality dinners for less than 100 Euro in these cities quite easily (check out my thread about Paris restaurants: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34862586). You can save a lot of money by buying sandwiches for lunch or going to a grocery store, buying bread, cheese, meat, etc. and having picnics. And you could probably go as low as 50 Euro for dinner if you are a bargain hunter!

gard

Hi

"If you stay near the train station in Rome you are going to be a long ways from many of the popular sites. Better to find a centrally-located hotel and walk everywhere from there (this is quite possible if you stay in the Piazza Navona / Pantheon area). "

I'm not sure I totally agree with this statement. The inner city of Rome is not huge and if you stay at Termini it is just 1-2 stops to Colosseum. Use http://mapfrappe.com/ to compare the size of Rome city center with Joburg or Cape Town and you will see how small it is. Or use http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ to measure distances. You will see that the distance from Termini to e.g. Piazza Venezia is not very different than it is from Spanish steps to Piazza Venezia.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

daveesl

I'm going to agree with Gard. We stayed at the Monte Carlo, about 6 blocks from the Metro and 3 blocks from a large bus stop. A few minutes walk and we were on the subway popping around to all the places.

Coda

Thank you so much for everyone's input. The links are most usefull.
We made a booking at the Hotel Flavia in the Via Veneto area.
Need to do more recearch on Paris.
Ira i will check out your site and Gard thank you for the info.
Kate, low budget is difficult because of the conversion. 100 Eur will be a R1000.00 per day, which are a lot in SA. Will have to make an appointment with the bank manager on Monday. ;-)

Than you again to every one !!!!
Anny more tips are always welcome.

Thank you to every one!!!

hausfrau

I guess I should have said you will be a long "walk" from many of the sites if you stay near Termini. My point was that by staying in a more central location, you don't have to take any public transportation at all. I just prefer walking over taking the subway or bus because I like to do things slowly and walk the narrow streets that have so much character!

LucieV

Anch'io, hausfrau!