We usually go to London every 18 months or so and spend a month. We've been renting the same apartment since 1994. We fly coach and try to leave at the end of March or in mid-October to catch the best fares.
Since we have an apartment, I cook most meals. We prefer a relaxed meal with no need to dress up and pretend to be sophisticated, especially after a day of sightseeing and we find the ready-to-heat aisle at Sainsbury's a constant delight. Add a salad and we're doing as well as we would at home.
Our two biggest extravagances are first-class railpasses and keeping the apartment even when we spend a few days out of London. We usually have one three or four-day excursion to Wales to visit friends and at least a couple of days in one other part of Great Britain.
We also tend to treat ourselves to a taxi home after a big day of sightseeing or an evening performance.

We've never done a budget or really kept track. We know our style (want 4* hotel with lots of amenities at 3* price - but will pay 4 if we have to) so that takes a substantial portion. (Rarely we will do a 5 for a special occasion.)

For meals we do casuale lunches wherever we are and nice dinners - with usually one splurge in each major city. So - that's another major expense.

Cars aren;t very expensive - even with gas and tolls. And we use metro or tube mostly in cities. So that, with walking around money (entrance fees, drinks, gelatos etc) is a smaller part.

And we don;t shop. Or rather don't shop on vacation for things we wouldn;t want anyway - so we don;t really allow money for that in a vacation budget.

I don't really budget. I always have my hotel and airfare paid before I go and then have X amount of dollars in the bank. I kind of keep an eye on things as I go, because I won't go on a trip unless it's 100% paid for, so when the credit card bills come in, I can just pay it. Food isn't important to me really. I mean I want a good meal, but I'm not a foodie. I do like to shop but I use descresion. I like to get some things that I can wear..scarves mostly, and use or display, that reminds me of my trip. I probably spend more on shopping and various sites, museums etc. than on either hotel or food. I do like a nice, well located hotel with a lift and ensuite bath. I usually don't go below three star. I also realize that the stars are not always an indication of what a paricular hotel is like. Last trip the room was 140 euros per night and I split that with my friend.

Accomodation and food: 71%
Ground transport, admissions, etc. 24%,

We move around a lot on our trips, which might explain the relatively high percentage on ground transportation/sightseeing

Incidentals, 5%(includes guidebooks, maps, laundry, photo expenses, small souvenirs)

We don't budget in a quantitative sense, althought we usually do a rough calculation before we go as to how much we think we'll spend, and we're usually pretty close to our estimate.

In a qualitative sense, we do set a budget. In other words, we only book 2 or 3 star hotels and we only eat 1 meal per day in a cafe (rarely a restaurant); the other meal is picnic-style. (This is no hardship as we don't eat 2 'formal' meals per day at home, either.)

Local market conditions fix the actual price of goods and services bought in the categories in which we shop.

I was just wrapping up the family finances so these number were available. Last year we spent about four week in Europe with both sons and one girl friend mostly in and around Italy. We spent about 11% of gross income or about $700/day. We don't really budget but do try to travel very economcially. Never really looked at total numbers but don't consider $700/day for five people too bad. Interesting question.

I was thinking about the shopping thing - we are not big shoppers either and we only bring back gifts for a few people. Actually I asked my husband if we were gift slackers because it seems like other people we know bring back stuff for tons of people - LOL. Shopping has turned out to be around 10% of our budget though - what did I buy? I don't remember doing much shopping - LOL. Then I remembered - yes, my 100 euro beer stein, DH's 250 euro watch... Ok, it adds up quickly ;)

My SO and I put away $240 each per month in our "vacation jar"...truly, is a jar that says "vacation" on it....

On top of that we spend even MORE!

We love to travel. I would say at least 10% of our pay goes to vacations!!!

;;)

I am lucky. I travel and earn Marriott and other hotel point for a "free" room. Airfare is the biggest cost, best I got was $400.00 each round trip to Paris on Lufthansa via Frankfurt. I an fly British Air to London (7 days) and on to Nice (7 days) $2,500 for 2 with trans-atlantic upgrades.

I learned to pick one cc and 1 hotel chain and use them to reduce the cost of vacations.

sherm99

I am with suze and missypie--I do not really budget. I know what I can and cannot afford and then, I kind of eye my travel goal, reserve the best to my liking options available, take some cash and MC, and go and have a great time. I figure if I have to count my pennies, I might as well stay home or travel locally.

Anna Roz

Right, Anna, I have sort of an "inner comfort zone" ... prices I'm willing to pay for things vs. what I'm not.

Another thing is, I just can't THINK about the cost of admissions to things. As a family of 5, even small attractions that "only" cost, say 5 euro, cost 25 euro for us. I tell myself, "You chose to have three kids and you chose to bring them on vacation. This is the price you have to pay." And really, compared to what airfare has been lately, no admission price is truly shocking.

We are a family of six and we usually take at least 7-8 "pleasure" trips a year. I would think most people who frequent this site are "travelers" and are likely to spend a good portion of their income on travel. Your 15% of net income is probably in the range of most Fodorites.

The size of our family may skew things a bit, but we don't do the self-cater thing except for our annual beach week trip with extended family. Obviously that trip, in terms of percentages, is high in lodging costs and very low in food and sightseeing. Aside from the beach, I would guess we average a little more than 1/3 for hotels, a little less than 1/3 for ground transport/sightseeing and around 1/3 for food. We don't really budget, but we do try to use hotel points and frequent flier miles whenever possible. For meals, we always stuff the kids at breakfast, grab a quick, light lunch and all dress up for a nice dinner at the end of the day. This is mostly because my husband and I don't consider it a fun to sit in a hotel room with four kids and two pizza boxes listening to them argue about which cartoons they want to watch.

As Missypie stated, sightseeing can be expensive with six people. Many times, we've passed on visiting sights (less important ones usually), because it was going to cost us $50 or so to walk through one more museum, castle, etc., especially if the children are tired or whining. Other times, we'll split up and those who are truly interested go in. Often however, we will hire a private guide to make the most of our sightseeing. The children are more attentive when they're engaged by someone other than mom or dad exclaiming, "Would ya look at that, son!"

Neither my husband nor I like to shop on vacation. If we do buy anything, it's usually an antique or something particular to the area we are visiting. Children can go wild in souvenir stores so several years ago we started collecting shot glasses for the kids! I know it sounds funny, but everywhere we go, each child knows their souvenir is going to be a shot glass (usually $2 - $5). They'll be well equipped for college! They can also select a t-shirt or sweatshirt. That's it. They get their consumer gratification and It makes for a much more pleasant vacation experience. We don't lug home a bunch of junk only to find credit card bills for hundreds of dollars from every souvenir junk store we passed by.

I think it's a good point raised that traveling with a large-ish family requires a different strategy than if you are single or a couple.

I'm just me solo, or traveling perhaps with another single friend spliting expenses. I do what I want and spend what I need to, but for me it's just not that much since I like staying at more basic hotels, hanging around doing local things, looking for free events and entertainment.