Lizzie2

One way to save much money on trips to Europe (I've done it from Sydney to London) is to swap homes so that you don't have any accommodation costs. For Europe (especially the UK) I suggest you check out http://www.homebase-hols.com This site also has a blog for information if you aren't familiar with home exchanging: http://homeexchangetravel.blogs.com When first looking into this, I did find lots of 'free' home swapping sites but my instinct was to go for an established agency that charged a small membership fee as I felt people who joined were more likely to be genuine and really want to do exchanges. Some of the money we saved, we did splurge on great meals out but we also had some 'cheap' days when we cooked at our exchange home.

Dukey

"You folks in the US are so fortunate to be able to travel to Europe so inexpensively. Imagine what it is like coming from Oz with our dollar worth 74cents to the US dollar - I think about 58c to the Euro! I am very envious!"

Please do <b>not waste your time</b> on envy. Strong US dollar or not, do you realize how much it can costs just to fly <b>to Australia</b> from the US (not to mention the time involved).

And then there are all those Asian places which are close to you.

I wish I lived as close to Australia/NZ etc. as you do!

BillT

We usually spend about $5,000- $5500 for our vacations. I know this is the Europe board, but we have been focusing on Asia because the $US goes a lot farther in Asia and of course the service is outstanding! Our vacation usually last about 12 days which includes days of travel and return day.
We stay in 5/4 star properties and fly coach or somtimes in premium economy. Here is how it breaks down- this is for 2 people traveling from Houston, Texas:

1) Airfare- $1800
2) Hotels- 1500
3) Food 600
4) Shopping 800
5) Transp./misc- 300

We love Europe but it would cost us a lot more to do a similar trip to Europe.

JAGIRL

EmBee

<i>&quot;You folks in the US are so fortunate to be able to travel to Europe so inexpensively. Imagine what it is like coming from Oz with our dollar worth 74cents to the US dollar - I think about 58c to the Euro! I am very envious!</i>

I travelled from Jamaica...at JA$65:US$1 it most definitely is <i><u><b>not</b></u></i> inexpensive.

plafield

I took my 2 adult daughters to Paris in May for a week. Airfare from JFK to CDG bought 8 months in advance was $1500 for all three of us. A fabulous full servcie apartment style hotel in the latin quarter was 1100 euros ($1350)then another 1000 euros or so on food (including a few fairly extragavent meals)and another 400 euros on museums/sites and incedentals. I had budgeted $5000 for the trip and made it with a few pennies to spare. (my trip report: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34814693

Next May my husband and I are planning 2 weeks in Italy, 4-5 days in Rome, 2 days Florence and 5 days Amalfi coast area. We're budgeting $10,000 for the trip, inlcuding everything. As folks have pointed out, so much depends on choices. We could easily cut the budget by $2000 or more if we wanted to stay in B&amp;Bs or city outskirts, but we like a little cushiness and want excellent locations. We'll likely choose mostly 3 star places and a few good 2 stars. And, of course, we could easily spend an additional $2,000 if we stayed where we really wanted to (Hotel Nazionale, Rome and Bellvue Sirene, Sorrento!)We also will likely spend more than many on food as we are gourmet lovers and will seek out top notch places for dinners. Fortunately, in Italy, there seems to be amazing food for much more reasonable prices than in Paris if one does their homework!

equitraveler

We normally go to Italy for two weeks each summer (never in August!) The two major expenses are airfare and car rental. We have had good luck with EuropeCar. We rent a small flat in each town where we will be staying and cook most meals ourselves rather than going to restaurants 2 or 3 times a day. Often the flats have a washing machine, which is helpful when traveling with kids. A two bedrom flat with fully equiped kitchen ranges in price from 500 euro to 1000 euro for a full week. For example, I will be staying in a 1 bedroom flat in downtown Torino in September for 700 Euro, which is way less than it would cost to stay in a comparable quality hotel in the same part of the city (a block from Giardino Reali). The upside of this approach is that we meet wonderful families, many of whom have become our friends over the years. We get to experience everyday life in the town; stopping by the cafe for a morning cappucino, marketing, strolling, going to the municipal swimming pool and park. The downsides are multiple as well. First, that this type of travel requires lots of up front research, much of it online. A travel agent cant set this up. Negotiating the local territory can be a challenge if you speak none of the local language. In every case so far we have had to pay in advance by bank transfer - the now infamous SWIFT system - which can be complicated and does add a $50 fee to the cost. The flat may not be so nice in person as it was in the pictures. This happened to us in Puerto Rico, but the beach directly outside the back door made up for the rusty appliances and flaking paint. And if you are going on holiday to get away from cooking, this is clearly not for you. All that said, our 2 week trips run about $3000 plus airfare.

Anciana

I used to have assignments in Europe - medium long term: from a month to half a year and traveled on weekends using &quot;fun money&quot; my employer allowed as an appreciation of staying so far away from my family. &quot;Fun money&quot; was a tab employer picked up for weekend travel, air travel or gtas to my business car, extra hotels. I had per diems anyway. I lived life: Paris one weekend, Venice another, a trip to an opera, wine tasting, wandering on foot through nice deep forests. All of it to ease the pain of seperation with my family: my two cats, well cared for by my (married) daughter: I was already a widow. Now, when I am early retired, I try to live well in Europe by making longer trips, up to 9 months. The budget varies, depending if I share an abode and a car with a friend, or if I go totally solo. A two bedroom, reasonably well furnished condo on a tenth floor, on the front line of the beach, overlooking the Mediterranean, 2000-3000 year old ruins of a moorish castle and mountains behind it all in a very pittoresque Andalusian town costs around 2000 euro a month in August (still a bargain), but only 450 euro (with a long rental rebate) a month from October through May. The town has a lot of European retirees ( and a handful of American and Canadian) and buzzes with all sorts of social life: hiking clubs that lead weekly walking tours in the mountains, history/sightseeing tours, that lead monthly 3 days to a week excursions to great cities in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, etc., bridge clubs, book clubs, gourmet fusion clubs (what about a Danish-Spanish fusion?). Lunch is a main meal of the day in Spain and it usually cost around 10 euro (ranges from 6-20). I rarely eat dinner in Spain, since it never starts before 8 pm - I prefer a few tapas here an there.
The cost of it all: averages 1500 euro a month, including eating out and excursions - both group and individual: air travel in Europe is so inexpensive during low season: I did fly for 19 euro one way from Spain to Berlin, and 29 euro from Spain to Munich, 59 euro to Napoli etc.
So, if you cant afford doing many trips to Europe in the $ 5700-$10000 range, wait till you retire, and you can have fun in Europe for $ 1800 a months. ;-)

dbaker

We are visiting Scotland this August and the total bill will be about $8000 for 10 days for 3 adults (including airfare, tickets to the Tatoo and one other Fringe event, passes with Historic Scotland, all food, lodging at 3-4 star bed &amp; breakfasts, a rental car and budgeted $500 in gas due to the amount of miles we are going to cover). The biggest expense was the airfare at $1300/person. We had to pay it though as we had very specific dates we had to travel. We could have gotten a much better fare had we the luxury of choosing different dates when the fares were cheaper. I don't know if this trip budget of $8,000 is average or not as we have never traveled abroad.

ephelan

I just finished the budget for 18 day trip to Paris and Great Britian. The exchange rate for Great Britian is insane you pay 80% more. FF for airline travel and free night stay at hotels except 4 nights. This is cost in USD for 2 people.

Travel Books/Map $50.00
First Class Rail $890.00
Rental Car $320.00
Hotel 4 star $735.00
Meals/Attractions/Gas $3500.00
Day Bag/Money Belt $35.00
International Phone Card $50.00
Travel Medical Insurance $84.00
Flight Fees $162.00

TOTAL TRIP COST $5800.00

kswl

I am really impressed with all the calculations I've read in the various posts. Some of you know exactly how much you've spent down to the amortized internet-service cost to make online reservations!

Our trips vary so widely in length and purpose that there is no &quot;usual&quot; cost. We've spent as little as $50 per day in Costa Rica (yes, including air, hotel, whitewater rafting, canopy zipline, etc.) and as much as $4500 on a recent four-day trip to Paris to celebrate New Year's Eve 2006.

I'd say there's just no way to get an average cost when the differences are that profound. We bargain hunt the fares when possible ($437 pp inclusive Atlanta/Nagoya, JP is our all-time best fare EVER) and use priceline when possible. But when it isn't---well, it isn't!

Brahmama

We just returned from a 2 week stay in Italy. Our entire budget, including air (coach) and car rental, fuel, insurance, food, gifts, wine, rent was $4400 for the 2 of us. We shared an apartment (in a castle) and car rental (4 door Fiat) with another couple.

But we are definitely budget travelers - only way we can travel.

I firmly believe that everyone should travel the way they feel good about - there isn't any good or bad or right or wrong.

Just go and have a wonderful time!

MissZiegfeld

I don't even want to THINK about it LOL.

My two week Italy/Budapest trip in October will likely cost me $3500, and that's only because i KNOW i'm going to do a lot of shopping.

London tends to be fairly cheap for me because I go often and don't tend to load up on purchases or eat out very much, but I do like going to the theatre there. My last trip in April I probably spent 1500, and I was there for 5 days (that includes air, hotel, theatre, etc..)

MauiMaui

Our trip to Italy 08/24/05 to 09/11/05 cost us $7,400. We are not budget travelers. We rented a car for the whole time, stayed 2 nights in Venice, 7 nights in a villa in Tuscany, 4 nights in Rome and 4 nights in Almalfi.
This price included the rental car to and from the airport from Tequesta to Miami and the rental car in Milan from 08/25/06 until turned in at Rome on 09/10/06, gas, hotels, all food and entertainment and the cash and credit card charges we made. We flew Business Alitalia with FF miles.