dgruzew

My wife and I are planning a trip to France and Italy in late May. I was wondering if any recent travelers could comment on how expensive resturants and other daily vacation expensives would be.We would like to eat at causul places mostly, but we may want to go to a few fine dining establishments. <BR><BR>We are going to: <BR>Paris - Nice - Florence(and tuscany) - rome <BR><BR><BR>

rex

Plagiarizing myself from previous posts - - my last travels in France were Sep 2002 and in Italy Sep 2001.<BR><BR>$25 per person per day - getting by<BR><BR>$40 - living good, though still in the range of &quot;eating out&quot;, not &quot;going out for a special dinner&quot;<BR><BR>$75-80 - splurging<BR><BR>and of course, you can spend this much and more on bar and wine, if you so choose.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

capo

You have a tremendous amount of leeway when it comes to food, from buying food at grocery stores to eating in posh restaurants. No different, IMO, than eating in your hometown (assuming your hometown has some posh restaurants.)<BR><BR>As for other daily expenses, it's really hard to say because it all depends on what kinds of things you like to do. You can sometimes save money on transportation by buying multiple-day passes.

Lesli

There have been some recent threads asking how to travel on a budget for both these countries. Among them, for Italy:<BR><BR>http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34410777<BR><BR>And some recent articles/links re France:<BR> http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34411456<BR><BR>For similar threads, try typing &quot;budget AND france&quot; (or italy) into the text box at the top of this page.

Michael

When the dollar was equal to the euro, eating was cheaper in restaurants (comparing France, including Paris, to San Francisco). The price listed in France is the total price, including tax and tip. In the States, assuming a 15% tip, you need to add as much as 25% to your restaurant bill.

Fotopoulos

My wife and I were in Paris at the end of March 2002. Our hotel did not offer breakfast of any kind, so the first few days we ate at cafes. For bread with jam and coffee we spent nearly $20 until we realized it was cheaper and more fun to visit a bakery for bread and jam and pastries. Try more stuff like that if you like missing the tourists and saving money. Our lunches were simple, maybe $20-25 including beer. Dinners, we stayed on the lower end restaurants and paid bet/ $30-60 per night including wine and desserts. All of the restaurants have their menus posted outside so you can check them out ahead of time to know what you are getting into.

lekker

I visited France (Paris and South West) in September 2002, and Rome, Umbria and Tuscany March 2003, and found Italy to be cheaper than France! Although the French countryside was much cheaper than Paris, of course - Rome was cheaper than Paris, and Italian countryside much cheaper than the French countryside! Anyway, you are going to enjoy wonderful food!