Christina, I won't say "you can say that again! I'll just copy paste :)
"People in civilized countries with good water treatment should really stop buying bottled water all the time, it is really an outrageous assault on the environment for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I don't know why people do that, spend so much money on water, not to mention the bottles and what that does to the environment, even if recycled."


Really, unless you're drinking the water with gas, why buy bottled water? Buy 1 if you need to and fill it up.

Most of the apartments I've rented have a drip coffee maker so I don't have to pack my french press (but I wish they would supply one.)

I've refilled my water bottle in Rome from the public fountains and the water is cold and refreshing, no need to buy bottled water!! (Actually used tap water throughout all of the European countries we have travelled in without a problem) The reason I pack granola bars from home is that we have our favorite brands and don't mind carrying them along with us and then we have snacks with us for those first couple days when it's midnight in Paris and your stomach is telling you it's breakfast time at home!!!!

Agree on the bottled water.

I would budget €75/day for food. This assumes eat breakfast in, (ie coffee and croissant), picnic lunch with fab baguette, cheese, ham and jam (and a bottle of inexpensive wine) and an inexpensive, but delicious dinner out.

I have to agree with what a lot of posters have said. Way to busy for us, but it is your trip. We are also Australian and our first trip was for our son's wedding in the UK in 2004. Trip of a lifetime. We will never be able to afford to do that again. On returning home we found it had not cost as much as we had expected, mainly because we did watch what we were spending. If you had told me then that by this time we would have had five trips I would have laughed. We do it by slowing down, staying a week at a time in a rental, buying wonderful food at markets, small shops, supermarkets. We have spent 26 weeks in France alone, as well as a couple of weeks in Italy and more in the UK, and have great memories. Some of our most memorable moments have been small experiences. Of course there are also the big places, but just "being there" is as important to us as being able to say I have been to .....

Click on my name to see my trip report from earlier this year to see how we travel. Nine weeks travelling country France. And no , we are not yet retired [well I am but DH is not ] or wealthy.

I cannot comment on Switzerland, but travelling as we do, we find France reasonable. e.g. lovely salmon on promo at the Intermarche for 8 euro a kilo- perhaps AU$12!! We have also done B&B's in the UK and done picnics from Tesco - a quiche, salad, some yoghurt for dessert.

What ever you do, I hope you have a great trip and I think you will be bitten by the travel bug and you may approach your next trip with some new ideas.

Re the reference to "melitta drip" above, you can of course get those filter paper holders here to put over a cup or jug of your choice, using hot water from a kettle. In London I had to go to a specialist coffee shop for a ceramic one for about £5, but, in Paris, Monoprix had a plastic one for €2. If you want the full machine complete with heater and jug, you could spend anything from £25 upwards, of course.

Christina, I think you may be operating in a different "how to keep your costs down" world than the rest of us :-)

"I don't agree that Switzerland is expensive."
"And Starbucks is not that expensive" just do not compute.

Just to put this in perspective I still buy my coffees at 0.8 to 1 euro a pop and managed it throughout my Sept's Italy trip. I certainly don't drink in grotty places but I would not dream of venturing into Starbucks.

So the point to the OP, is stay away from international brands and just check the places one street back from the main square.