Okay, my husband and I are going to Europe in May. We are gone 3 weeks and will visit Paris (3 nights), Amsterdam (4 nights), Venice (3 nights), Florence (4 nights) and Tuscany (7 nights).

Besides the cost of travel within Europe, HOW MUCH MONEY A DAY would you suggest budgeting for us. We are booked in places that cost around 150 Euro (please include that in the budget) and are not picky eaters.

We would also like to do a little museum and sightseeing. We aren't so concerned with buying things, but a few souveniers would be nice. THANKS!

We usually eat the breakfast in the hotel, so whatever that costs you takes care of that (would have been mentioned when you booked hotels).

We eat baguette sandwiches, salads, fast food, etc for lunch - 4-8€ per person.

We don't go out to expensive restaurants; dinner in a corner cafe/brasserie or small bistro for about 15-30€ per person. In Amsterdam, we like the rijstafel (sp?) at the Indonesian restaurant called "Puri Mas"; 18-20€ per person.

Coffee in a cafe runs about 2-5€ depending on counter/table/terrace seating.

Most museums average about 6-12€ per person; all the city-owned museums in Paris are free.

Local public transportation (metro/bus) will average 5€ per person/per day, if you like to walk a lot.

In Paris you can buy "practical" souvenirs at the Monoprix stores, or in the basement of BHV dept store (scarves 10€, condiments 1-2€, wine stoppers 8-15€, etc). In Amsterdam, I bought a 'cow bell' that we hung over the back door so I can 'call' my husband in for dinner- 15€...

Most museums have websites and will quote their entry fees.

Hi S,

Are you sure that you want to split one of your weeks between Amsterdam and Paris?

Paris is worth a week by itself.

How are you getting from Paris to Venice?

TN has very good estimates for costs.

So much depends on how you choose to travel. Breakfasts should be part of teh room cost. If you are a cappacino person, they add up over time. Luch varies from meat and cheese in your backpack to counter service pizza to sit down. On our trip we did all three. Dinners can vary widely but if you have a bottle of wine and a litre of water with each meal they can run between 50E and 120E depending on your choices. Our rcent trip to Sicily and Malta (see Gil's Trip report) worked about ot about 6E each for every museum. We frequently had 2-3 entrance fees in a day (for example in Agrigento you migfht pay 3E to park, 12E to get in to the site, 12E for the museum and 12E for the audio guide. One visit had almost 40E in fees not counting postcards, cheap souvenier and lunch. Better to overbudget trhan underbudget. Are you renting a car? Will you use a paid private guide at all? Are you using public transportation? Will either of you shop? All these things make a difference. I kept track of every penny on our trip and would be happy to share REAL numbers with you "off line". I can give you our ROome cost, our Sicily cost and our Malta cost...all of which had different styles of touring. contact me at [email protected]. Use "real cost of travel" as your subject.

See my sample budget at slowtrav.com


I agree, why Amsterdam? Spend the time in Paris.

Thanks so much!!

Once I print these out I'll be able to form a budget. We are at the Quai Voltaire in Paris, and that didn't include breakfast. We are both using miles to fly RT San Francisco to Paris nonstop, but really wanted to go to Amsterdam (no really good mileage flights available to AMS unless we wanted to all over the USA to get there....and I want to see Paris). Both my husband and I have always wanted to go to Amsterdam. Just a preference, I guess.

In Amsterdam we are at a bed and breakfast, so that's included. And, after using this lovely web-site, we found that flying from Amsterdam to Treviso (just north of Venice) on the small airline that starts with a 'T', I forget the name off hand....is a bargain.

Our week in Tuscany's accomodations are already paid for (food not included), as 20 of us are there at a Villa for two dear friends' 70th birthdays!!! Happy birthday to them!!!

Florence includes breakfast, but any suggestions for lunch-dinner would be appreciated.

This is sort of my year to travel. I have never been to Europe and don't want to 'cheap out', however, my husband is retired and I don't want him to be in shock ever step we take there. I've dragged him to S.E. Asia in the past where everything is pretty cheap.

So, thanks again, and any other info is appreciated.

Oh ya, I am going to buy the 'I Amsterdam' pass, and the Paris museum card. I figure half a day each at Paris museums is about right for the Hubby.

In Florence: For excellent food at a reasonable price try Trattoria il Giova.

Via Borgo La Croce 73r
phone: 055.248.06.39
From Piazza Salvemini walk east on Via Pietrapiana (which becomes Borgo la Croce)

It's off the beaten path. Their dinner and lunch menus are different. I particularly love the dinner menu. The grilled vege plate is out of this world.

I found this place in a travel book (which is no longer in print) geared for budget travellers. Another good place they recommended for pizza is on the other side of the Arno river called

i Tarocchi

Via de Renai 12R-14R
055/234-3912

cross the river at Ponte alle Grazie and make 2nd left on Via de Renai. Open Tues-Sat noon to 3pm and 7 pm to 1 am. Try the Margherita pizza, Yum!

For me, I'd ballpark it at 150 euro for your hotel as you mentioned, plus 150 euro per day for 2 people for everything else "pocket money".

That would be eating in casual restaurants, walking as primary means of transportation, bakery or grocery store picnics some days, street food rather than sit down meals sometimes, house wine with dinner, etc.

I'm not a big museum goer, so this might be low if you run into costs like Gil mentions for multiple admissions per day with parking, audio guides, etc.

Excellent suggestion above to check grocery stores for souveniers.

A good budget trick if you want to splash out for a fancy meal is to have a couple cheap days to make up for a more expensive one.

Hi seek,

> we found that flying from Amsterdam to Treviso (just north of Venice) <

Treviso is not at all convenient to Venice.

It is much better to fly from Paris Orly to Venice Marco Polo on www.myair.com

If you really must go to Amsterdam, have you considered taking the train from CDG airport to Amsterdam via Brussels?

It will add about 4:30 hr to your travel day, but you could see A, train to Paris Gare du Nord, and fly to Venice Marco Polo from Paris.

>We are both using miles to fly RT San Francisco to Paris ...

How are you getting back to Paris?

Hope this helps.

> Treviso is not at all convenient to Venice.

It is not as convenient as Marco Polo, but quite acceptable if the price is right. If you land at Treviso airport, you can take a shuttle bus into Piazzale Roma in Venice that takes about 70 minutes.

If you land at Marco Polo airport, you can take a public bus into Piazzale Roma in Venice that takes about 30 minutes.

Then in both cases, from Piazzale Roma you would either walk or take the vaporetto to get to where you are staying.

This is assuming that you take the cheapest travel methods, of course.

WOW! So much information! Thank you all so much. Keep it coming!!

Maybe I'll re-think this Treviso thing. I have time.

IRA: We are flying back to SFO via Florence and CDG (it was part of my RT One Pass reward...which by the way was 50K miles each when I booked it in September and I heard has gone up to 70K since then...is that true?).

As far as museum guides...I like the self-guided tape thing. We can only do so much of museums and touring. I have found that just going slow and exploring where you a stay sometimes affords you the best experiences.

Love the souvenir idea at the stores. I do that in Asia. You can really find amazing and reasonable gifts!

I do have a water and latte habit, so I guess I had better buy a water filter to take with me that's small to fill my bottle for daytime use. Is that stupid? Coffee..well there's no turning back on that addiction. Better start having garage sales to support the habit in Europe.

Anyway, I guess I could use more help on the Amsterdam to Venice thing. If anybody wants to give more suggestions than great! More food suggestions too!!

Have a great weekend!!

I forgot...bobthenavigator!! Love the slowtav website. Really love your travel tips. I'll spend some time on that site before I go. Thanks!

Hi S,

>...I guess I had better buy a water filter to take with me that's small to fill my bottle for daytime use.<

We bought 2 small bottles of water (0.30E ea) for carrying around and a large bottle to fill the small bottles (1 E).

After that was gone, we filled our large bottle from the sink in the hotel and kept it in the room fridge.

I think that you can trust the water where you are going.

I would not bother with a water filter. As Ira suggests large sizes from a grocery store work fine, keep them at your hotel room. Or I really don't mind paying a bit extra and stopping in a corner store to pick up a small cold water when I am thirsty, rather than tote a water bottle around all day.

Hey suze,

>I really don't mind paying a bit extra and stopping in a corner store to pick up a small cold water when I am thirsty,..<

Spendthrift.

A 50 cl bottle of cold water is about 1E at the monprix, while a 50 cl bottle of warm water is only 30 cts.

Just as in the USA, you can find plenty of places anywhere in Europe to have dinner in the 10-20 euro per person range. They will not be Michelin-starred establishments. Your dishes will not feature a lot of truffles. You will not have 8 courses. But the food will be good and the service fine.

Umm, on to coffee. Favorite place near the Quai Voltaire to pick up a good coffee? I love all the responses. Maybe I am not being super spontaneous about what I'll be doing in Europe, but with only a few days in each place I am really only getting a sampler and it's better to have a plan. That's why I am figuring half days sightseeing and the other half nosing around the neighborhoods we are lodged at.

Plan on about 190 euro per day, per person:

75 room
50 food
25 museums, tours, etc
15 intracity transportation
25 miscellaneous
= 190 euro.

190 x 17 nights = 3230 euro

Add to this your intercity transportation (trains and/or rental car).

Thanks Edward! Looks realistic!