I'd like to take my 2 daughters (will then be 22 and 12) to Europe in 2009. I thought Prague would be a good place because of the exchange rate, but it seemed when I was there last year, prices were high. Things cost as much as anywhere else in Europe. So, it got me thinking, where can I get the best bang for my dollar?

We'd like to see at least 2 different cities or at least one major city and/or countryside. We like art, museums, shopping.

I'd rather rely on public transportation (no rental cars). We'd have to fly out of Omaha, Ne, or consider driving to Kansas City or Minneapolis if necessary.

Can we do flights, lodging, eating and a modest shopping budget for $5000? How many days do you think we can get out of this? What are your recommendations?

Today, yes you could. Two years, who knows. So much could change. Airfare alone could make it harder. My wife and I will go to Paris for one week on less than $2K in a few months, but we are fkying for free (FF). However, to answer the questions, you could go. Where would depend on your interests. Time would depend on where you go, how much it costs to get there, and what happens to the dollar.

With high airfares, I'd say no more than a week. Actually, if you went with a tour company off season, you could probably do well for $5,000.00
Sometimes travelzoo.com has Prague specials advertised for very low prices, including airfare.


Otherwise, maybe stay in Prague for only 4 nights, and stay in a place like Kutna Hora (near the bone ossuary)for a night or two, where hotels are much cheaper. Not sure about rates in Cesky Krumlov, but it is a bit cheaper there, also.

Prague is not cheap these days, but there are ways around it. Eat where the locals eat. Check out Hotel Salvator (http://www.hotels-of-prague.com/salvator/index.htm) They have a set up where you can book 2 bedrooms, but share the bathroom. It is cheaper than 2 regular rooms, and might be a strategy for you to save $$s.

cammci, it might be tough. But you could get a week out of it, maybe 10 days, with good (and early) planning.

If you stay out of the EU, it will be cheaper. i.e.Croatia is a lot cheaper than Italy, though they border each other. Croatia has applied for EU status, though, so I don't know what 2009 will look like.

Try eastern Europe. Plan early and you should be able to swing it. Especially if you stay in one place for at least a week, as renting an apt is always cheaper than hotel, and especially with 3 travellers instead of 2. "Off" season will also be much less expensive (Oct-March, best rates Dec-Feb)

Good luck! Using this Fodors chat group and TripAdvisor, I was able to sucessfully plan a great trip!

Have fun!

Hi

Take them to Istanbul. There is so much history and culture and oodles to do including museums and architecture. And shopping is cheap, cheap, cheap

I looked up the price for go-today's London/Paris package for Sept. 4 2008, leaving from Chicago (they didn't have anything closer.)

It includes breakfast, 3 nights in London, 3 nights in Paris and airfare. (I'm not sure if it includes the train b/w the 2 cities.)

The cheapest hotel category was sold out, so I picked the second cheapest.

The Total: $5,062.62

That was for three people.

Of course, London and Paris are expensive.

But for three people, I'd budget it for more than 5K, I think.

I checked out the Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna trip from Omaha for Sept. 8. 2 nights in each city, breakfast, and rail between them. The price: 4,827.00.

Of course, you could go cheap, hosteling and such. But I'd probably budget for more, unless you're looking at South America or Romania or some off the beaten path place in Europe (but even then, you have to worry about airfare and the price of gas).

I think your budget would be a challenge in most parts of Western Europe in 2 years unless the exchange rate improves a lot!
My husband, teenage son and I spent 8 days in Rome this past February/early March and spent about $4500 including transportation to Boston and a good deal on airfare from Boston to Rome. No shopping.

We rented a fairly modest 2 BR apartment which was much cheaper than a lot of hotels. We used public transportation. We did not take any guided tours. We could have saved more by buying more food and cooking more at the apt or renting a 1 BR apartment with a pull out sofa but other than that it would have been hard to cut down on costs.

As others have said eastern Europe would be cheaper, and some package deals on transportation and hotels could also save you money.

You would probably get better fares out of Minneapolis, as it is the NWA hub, but check the additional cost before you plan to do the drive - sometimes it only adds a little to the cost, especially if you would be driving in and staying overnight at a hotel. Between exchange rates and oil prices it is anyone's guess what the situation will be in two years, but use something like http://matrix.itasoftware.com to compare options. And as the time gets closer, keep an eye out for fare sales. NWA used to issue coupons for international travel but it seems these days they cover only domestic. Sometimes you can get a good price on airline vacation packages that include a couple nights' hotel and change your return date without adding hotel nights if you want to move to a different hotel or apartment (see below.)
As noted, many package tours will come close to your budget, and that does not include money for shopping, souvenirs, snacks, etc. Plus you would be somewhat locked into the tour schedule which may not match your own wishes. If you do find a package that offers a great price check out the daily itinerary. You can always skip a planned activity if the group will be staying in the same city that day.
We have done a couple of trips to Paris for three and we found a couple ways to stretch funds:
- apartment instead of hotel. More comfortable, usually more space, and save by eating in for breakfast, maybe even some dinners. Many also have washers/dryers so you can reduce the amount you have to pack. Do a google for "vacation rentals" for the city you want, or check out www.vrbo.bom or even craigslist.
- public transportation passes often make sense (in Paris, highly recommend using buses to see things as you travel from point to point)
- have a loose itinerary in the form of lists of things you want to see/do but don't try to schedule every last minute of every day. We usually spent a few minutes sitting around the table in the evening deciding the schedule for the next day and that worked well.

In terms of destinations, large cities do tend to be more expensive - London is especially dear. At the same time, such places do offer a concentration of attractions. My own favorite is Paris. Istanbul is also a great place to visit though getting there will cost more.
Happy planning!

3 persons' airfare will eat up $3,000 at shoulder season, more if it's peak summer.

Say you stay at a 3* hotel with triple room, you still need to budget about $150/night with the current exchange rate. 10 nights that's $1,500 and your whole budget is almost gone.

So, no, $5,000 is not realistic unless you do it really budget - staying at hostels and counting every pennies.

Thanks for the advice--all good. I hadn't thought of Istanbul. I though that would be too exotic for my girls, but they just told me they'd be up for it. I just checked Expedia and a flight from Paris to Istanbul is around $236. I like that city combination. But an open jaw ticket from Omaha is almost $1500 in May. Clearly $5000 might not be enough, but that's ok because that's part of the planning process.

The London/Paris package seems simple and doable.
If I do an eastern Europe deal, then maybe a Paris-Budapest angle. I'm ignorant when it comes to hostels, I'm sure they're fine, but I don't like the idea of having to share a room with anyone else, or not having a dedicated bathroom. Apts seem a good alternative.

Another trick I heard was using FF miles to get to a larger city like Boston or New York, then catching cheaper open jaw flights from there.

So far, thanks for all the advice. I'm starting my travel planner now.

You don't say what time of year and that makes a huge difference with airfare. Middle of winter might also get you lower hotel prices, but the weather in most of Europe will not be that pleasant for outside activities and hours of daylight are short.

I do have one suggestion - go to Edinburgh and London in July. Airfares to London are often cheaper than anywhere else in Europe. London is very expensive so only stay a few days and then go to Edinburgh. You can stay at the Edinburgh Metro Youth Hostal for £18 pounds a night each - in single rooms that share a bathroom and kitchen (so you can eat in and save alot doing that). I spent 6 days there last July and it was the cheapest 6 days I've ever had in Europe.

If you want to go in winter I'd go to Paris and rent an apartment. Between cooking in and the cheap restaurant possibilities in Paris it would be fairly economical. We rented apartment number 1 from rentparis.com for €85 a night. Easily accomodated three people.

Of course you can rent an apartment anywhere, but airfares are usually cheapest to London and Paris versus the rest of Europe and Paris is quite economical if you want it to be. And there are many day trip possibilities to see some countryside.

If you are willing to go with a 7-day tour package that would be easy easiest and sounds like it might meet your budget.

If you want to go on your own and are willing to put time into the planning no reason you can't go that route. But I think you'd need to up your budget because the initial cost of 3 RT plane tickets eats up too much of $5000USD to be a realistic budget remaining for the rest of the trip including triple room in hotels, public transportation, meals, and shopping for 3 people.

Off-season airfares and hotel rates (especially November and March) have worked well for us. In November 2005 we flew to Paris for a week, stayed at a nice 2-star hotel, then did a mid-week Ryanair getaway to Venice for 2 days/one night. Overall It was an outstanding budget trip!!

A friend and her mother went for a week each to London and Paris via Travelocity or Expedia (sorry, I can't remember which). Flights, hotels, taxes, all transfers, city transportation and a book full of discount coupons came in at CAD $1300 each. They travelled the last week of April, first week of May this year.

Berlin tends to be quite cheap, in my experience, although who knows by 2009. It has everything you are seeking in a city, and it's easy to get to from numerous other major cities.

As for your budget, it's obviously going to make a great difference to your budget whether you get plane tickets for $500 each or for $1200 each (both of which are possible, at today's prices). What months would you want to go?

My vote goes to Germany. We go regularly and are always able to find good deals on hotels. And there are many beautiful areas and towns you could visit using public transportation.

Since your destination is flexible, I'd look around the internet to see where you can get the best airfare. Sometimes really good deals pop up, but it's hard to predict when and where. Your airfare will be the largest part of your budget, so if you can find a particularly good deal, you'll have much more freedom with the rest of your planning.

Another suggestion is to go to a city that is a hub for one of the budget European airlines (ie, RyanAir or EasyJet). These airlines offer some amazingly cheap deals to other European cities (often less than 50 euro.) So if you could get a decently priced flight to one European city, then a super cheap flight to another, you might be able to put together a really great trip.

Timeframe would be sometime in late May (after DD graduates from college) up till middle of August. I know this is the most expensive time to fly.

I probably should budget at least $1000 for each ticket; good point WillTravel. I need someone in my family to work for an airline!

Bavaria Ben did 13 days solo for around $1500.

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/twoweek...ghtbudget.html

Read his report and see if you could work it the way he does.

2009 is a LONG way off. Any chance for the summer of 2008? Still in the distance but somewhat more predictable.

MvK