AHansen

My husband and i are heading to Europe for the 1st time in June and doing 30days on a tight budget. We have our accomodation booked in mostly appartments but want to know how much i should allocate per day on Food etc? We are going to travel by train to London-Paris-Switzerland (Montreaux, Lucern & Lugano) -Italy (lake Como, Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome & Sorrento)
Any advise would be super

kybourbon

You can usually snag discount train tickets online, but it's way too early for June tickets.

In Rome, you might want to get the Roma Pass, but will depend on how long you are staying and what sites you plan to visit.
http://www.romapass.it/?l=en

There is a similar pass for the Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi coast area. The 3 day tutta la regione card includes transport.
http://www.campaniartecard.it/

The Florence Card is overpriced and you really don't need transportation in Florence.

AHansen

Thanks for that info. Everyone keeps telling me we are travelling to the most expensive countries, any idea how much to allocate for food?

janisj

Your food budget will have LOTS of variables - how often you cook/eat in, what sorts of food you like, even whether you drink soft drinks or not (Sodas tend to be smaller and very expensive).

Maybe go at it from a different direction . . . What is your budget/how much do you have to spend? Then divide that by your 30 days

Yes - you are visiting some very expensive places.

swandav2000

Hi AHansen,

In general, a normal restaurant meal in Switzerland will cost around 30-50 chf per person, then add on the beverages.

To keep meal costs low in Switzerland, here are some tips --

Eat your main meal at lunchtime, and eat from the fixed-price menu. Those lunch-time entrees can be 10 chf cheaper than the same thing at dinner. Then at dinnertime, get some picnic items from a grocery store -- fresh bread, cheeses, dried ham, German yogurts, Swiss chocolates, and a small bottle of wine or bottles of water. Then enjoy your picnic at a scenic spot.

Eat at the cafeterias at the Manor department stores or the large Coop. There is one in Vevey, near Montreux.

The grocery stores also sell good prepared meals or sandwiches, and you can eat that once or twice a week.

Have fun as you plan!

s

susiedq

When I travel to Italy, my daughter does all of the cooking. We shop at the outdoor food markets and the local grocery.

Florence has a great marketplace (close to the Duomo) with all sorts of precooked foods. I could have eaten there for a week and still not have had my share. Very inexpensive.

We usually eat out twice a week and nothing too expensive. We would rather extend our stay than pay for expensive meals at restaurants.

We have always rented apartments and stayed in one location for a week at a time at four different locations for a total of one month of our beloved Italy.

PatrickLondon

Not sure how tight your budget might be, but if you're looking to economise in London, don't shop at department stores.

For London (if self-catering), look for regular supermarkets and their ready-meal package deals (around £10 for two portions); and for lunch, at sandwich bars and chains like Pret A Manger (roughly, around £8 a head for a sandwich or soup, dessert and drink).

Be careful of all-in tourist passes sold by commercial providers. Look at the regular deals offered by the local public transport operators themselves (in London, NEVER pay cash per ride - all fares are set to encourage you to use the Oyster prepayment card). www.tfl.gov.uk.

jim21

I am echoing those above who recommend picnicking...if not for dinner at least for lunch. We do this all the time. We have had great picnics in some very scenic settings enjoying it more than sitting in a corner of a restaurant.

In Switzerland look for the Migros stores. Migros stores are a cooperative owned predominantly by their customers so the prices are low compared to many other stores and chains...about the sames as in the US.

In Italy you will find alimentari everywhere. They are small, typically family owned, grocery stores. You can pick-up a lunch for two for €10...€15 with wine.

Also, when we are in Switzerland we stay in the least expensive room we can find. They are all nice and clean so we have never been disappointed.

PatrickLondon

Another budgeting point about London: I don't eat out that often, but an average dinner and drinks in a not very swanky neighbourhood restaurant, say, isn't likely to leave you much change out of £25, though there are cheaper options - in central London, for example, you could try the Stockpot, which has a couple of restaurants in the West End.

annhig

items that can really eat up your budget are things like coffee and cold drinks drunk in a cafe.

if you are staying in apartments, minimise this by buying large bottles of your favourites, then decant them into small ones to take with you during the day', and only drink tea and coffee in the apartment.

also, look for prix fixe menus that are more common at lunch-times - sometimes they include drinks which is even better.

Eat breakfast in the apartment - one of you pops out for croissants and bread while the other makes the coffee, and add some cheese/ham/eggs to it if you want to snack at lunch time and have a bigger meal in the evening.

in Italy, look for the deli department of a supermarket or a rosticceria which will often have cheap dishes that you can take out or eat in.

don't buy too much food at once for your apartment - you probably won't eat it and it;ll be a pain to have to take it to the next place or worse still, throw it away. most europeans buy little and often - a good idea for your too.

hope you have a great trip!

bobthenavigator

Nice trip but you have picked expensive venues---as you must know. The best way to save is to eat in at night.

Snowflake25

Here are some things that DH and I do to keep our food costs down when travelling: Packages of oatmeal and granola bars are easy to pack and we always toss some in our suitcase (even when we travel with carryon only). They are great for a quick snack or breakfast. Take along snacks such as nuts, dried fruit etc to snack on when you are on the train or bus. Carry an empty water bottle with you from home and refill as you go. I also carry a few pieces of plastic cutlery in case we buy some bread, cheese etc and have a picnic during our day trips. We try to eat breakfast in our room (unless it is provided), have a light lunch (either pack a picnic or purchase items to make a picnic lunch along the way) and then treat ourselves to dinner out.

greg

As the above poster mentioned, there are expensive venues, especially Switzerland. You have chosen somewhat three similar destinations: Montreux, Lucerne, and Lugano which are all lake and mountain destinations. In order to control cost in the food area, you need to do take away and picnic meals. However, for me it is a pity to do this for all meals at places where food is the venue, such as Paris or Italy.
The transportation require forethought. Booking advance non-refundable tickets helps your budget if you can stick to the dates. The trick is knowing just how long you need to book them and where to book them. Start reading www.seat61.com as it is an extensive site.
For London-Paris by Eurostar, you want to snag tickets as soon as they are available, 120 days before the trip using www.eurostar.com. For example today,the London-Paris, the cheapest ticket for Nov 1 departure is $226, but for March 3 departure it is $63. So you pay several times by procrastinating until the last minutes.
French rail segments also have significant advance ticket savings via www.tgv.com or www.voyages-sncf.com. Italian segments also have savings high speed train. But one last minutes saving is achieved by not using high speed trains - if you have time but not budget.
Swiss rail is a tough one as it is expensive no matter how you do this. Compounding the complexity is that you have do significant computation to determine which pass is worth getting. There is no easy answer like getting advance tickets.

LSky

Like Snowflake, I like to have some instant oatmeal and my immersion heater. It not only saves money but I like to have breakfast handy.

You're staying in apts so you'll be shopping in grocery stores and markets so that's going to save money.

I'm not overly attached to food so I'm not missing out on anything I love by not going for great meals in restaurants. Frankly, sitting in a restaurants bores me.

That said, don't give up something you love because you're trying to save money.

If money is a major concern, cut down your itinerary. I would not want to go anywhere if I were limited in what I could do because I didn’t want to spend money. I never really want to spend money but I don't want to penny pinch my way out of a good time because of money.

It sounds as if you're trying to crowd as much in as possible in the 30 days. It seems sensible but not if it's causing you to tighten your budget so much you won't get to enjoy the place you've traveled so far to see.

nytraveler

You can save substantially by:

1) not going to so many differnt places
2) organizing your train tickets far in advance (except from city to city in Italy)

Sorry I can't help on food - restaurant meals and cafe snack are one of the reasons we travel and it costs what it costs. And while we often do very casuale places (local sandwich shop or small cafe) for lunch (and in Switz even this will be expensive) we're not going to spend our vacation with a premade thermos and bottle of water on a park bench.

However, we each have differnt things we spend on.

LSky

If food is the reason you're going, cut down on your cities or days you'll be gone.

kybourbon

>>>2) organizing your train tickets far in advance (except from city to city in Italy)<<<

There are big discounts for advance purchase tickets on the fast train in Italy if you order online (starting 120 days out).

>>>Swiss rail is a tough one as it is expensive no matter how you do this. Compounding the complexity is that you have do significant computation to determine which pass is worth getting. There is no easy answer like getting advance tickets.<<<

A Swiss Pass may be your best bet, but there are also advance purchase discount tickets between countries. For Switzerland/Italy as little as 25chf (Go fare on Swiss site and Smart fare on Italian site) on the EC trains such as Zurich/Geneva/Basil to Milan/Venice. It would depend on your schedule if any of these will be beneficial. If departing Switzerland, purchase on the Swiss website. You can select a station in Switzerland to pick up the ticket. This link explains the sale fare.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

Cathinjoetown

Essential money saver: A good corkscrew! (probably can't carry-on)

Do research and budget ahead for "sites" which range from free to costly. For example, Tower of London £18, British Museum, free, both wonderful. Top of Eiffel Tower for Paris view, 14€, view from Sacre Coeur de Montmartre, free and no lines.

For many sites and museums, booking ahead online can save usually 1-2£ or € or more and save lots of time.

IMO, depending on your interests, admission prices can really add up.

When staying in apartments, assuming 25-30% more than we would spend at home works for us PLUS 2-3 splurges per week.

kerouac

Ah, but you can buy a corkscrew for 2€!

Cathinjoetown

True, K., no need to bring one.