Prices in Europe
 

Is there anyone who can tell me please some ball park figures on prices for buying say a cup of coffee, can of coke, sandwich etc in Europe. I've just spoken to a friend who has returned from 5 weeks in Europe - she said the prices are horrific - she spent 7 Euro on a tube of toothpaste from a supermarket and when sitting down at a restaurant to eat, the meal would cost say 20 euro, but a glass of coke would be another 15 euro. Surely this isn't the case!! There must be a cheaper way to eat. Anyone know how to survive a month in Europe without going bankrupt?

I have never paid 15 Euro for a glass of coke or 7 for a tube of toothpaste...the friend either got ripped off, was mistaken, or was eating somewhere that definitely overcharges IMO.

I cannot give you any exact figures but am sure others can.

Be aware that the venues people buy and eat in can make a BIG difference just as they do in the US. A hamburger at the Ritz Carlton will never be as cheap as the one at Burger King..of course, the Ritz one MIGHT be better.

This post should bring some interesting answers and perhaps some horror stories.

She is exaggerating. Prices are higher for the Americans just b/c they are, but also due to the exchange rates.

Prices depend entirely on what country you are speaking about. A cola in Ljubljana will run you 300 SIT, which is a bit less than $2. In Switzerland, it will be more.

>>This post should bring some interesting answers and perhaps some horror stories.

Or some personal attacks as seems to be the case far too often here.

I remember from our trip certain things seemed high but as Dukey points out, the selling venue was the primary factor in those cases. I found most things in Germany, Austria, and Italy to be reasonable. Switzerland was another matter as I found it to be quite costly.

MvK

I think it would be possible to get a 7 Euro tube of toothpaste if you went to something like a 7-11 on a main tourist strip. I remember some enormously expensive water purchased in Copenhagen on the main drag. But at a discount grocery store in Copenhagen, the price was literally less than 1/10 as much.

Where on earth was she? Those prices are daft unless she was in a five star hotel! (and even then they don't make sense as anywhere with the nerve to charge 15e for a coke would charge a lot more than 20e for a meal!).
I think she is
a)pulling your leg
b)shopping/eating only in places like the Ritz and Harrods
c)suffering from a bad memory

Anyway, prices vary from country to country (Switzerland is famously costly, Greec is famously cheap) as well as from venue to venue. But she is talking stupid prices here.
You won't spend even a fraction of that. I'd be interested in finding out how she managed to#1

In my area of France, a cup of coffee normally about 1.30-1.50 euros. That would be an express. For a Grande Creme (cafe au lait)it's normally around 2.50 euros. Remember, these prices are in a terrace cafe.

A good lunch can be had for about 12 euros, with a small amount of wine included.

I get a very nice fish menu for 13 euros which includes starters like mussels followed by a nice meal of salmon finished a couple of ice cream scoops. Coffee and the wine is extra but the service and tax included. The starter of Mussels is a big bowl full. It's almost enough for a whole meal.

I'm not sure how much costs for a glass of coke but it's certainly not 15 euros. A small bottle of water usually charges for 1.50 euros at a terrace cafe.

I find it's hard for me to compare American prices but the quality of the meals for 12 euros is very good.

I think that the prices on amandab's post which his friend mentioned was giving us a porky.

Blackduff

I know, it doesn't seem believable to me either - but she wasn't lying. She was in Paris, Germany and Switzerland and returned just two weeks ago. I reckon she must have shopped at a 5 star supermarket or something and heavens only knows where she was when she paid 15 euro for a coke. It is outrageous and I'm very much relieved to hear from fodorites that this isn't normal pricing, otherwise I think my husband would want to cancel our trip, or we would come home afterwards looking rather skinny indeed. I'm meeting my friend for lunch this week, so will question her some more about it.

blackduff, stop it immediately!

You are making hungry.

MvK

ooopps! meant to say "You are making ME hungry."

Sure wish I had the ability to edit my silly mistakes after posting.

MvK

Like we said, Switzerland is very expensive, so it's possible those prices were from there. But the other countries should have been much more reasonable unless she fell for 5 stars and tourist traps only.

When walking past a restaurant in Paris I quickly looked at the menu and noticed a Coke (330ml) was €5. That's why they call it American champagne! In the supermarkets there you could buy a 4 or 6 pack for that. Same applies back home though, I guess.

Hi

It depends a lot where you eat and which city you are in. I went to Rome last year and I found out that a cup of espresso was quite cheap if I took it the way locals do...in other words at the "bar". But if you sit down and get a waiter to serve it to you it is a lot more expensive. The price also varies to which place you go to...we went into a cafe in Paris and it turned out that it was an old and renowned cafe...and it was 10 € for a glass of beer there.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Personally, I wouldn't question your friend too much now that you know her experience isn't typical.

However, what I WOULD wonder about is this:

did she KNOW about the price of that coke BEFORE she paid it? (did she see prices listed on a menu beforehand?)..or was this a "big surprise?"

If she KNEW and paid anyway I'm not sure I'd rely on her at all for ANY information about "where to go" and "what to do." But you know her and I don't so would leave that to you.

In London (okay the UK is not in Europe, but close enough for purposes of illustration) one will pay, at a hotel catering to business people on expense accounts, three times for breakfast what one will at the local greasy spoon or McD. However, you will be served on upholstered, not plastic, chairs, and your bill will be added to your tab, you will not have to wait for a cheque or order in the first place after lining up at the cash register. You will not have to leave the hotel and walk, possibly in the rain, to a competitor. Fresh fruit, cut in attractive shapes, will garnish your plate, and the cuisine in general will be of higher quality.

I know this because I checked the prices and stuck my nose in the dining room on my way to aforesaid greasy spoon. :)

When considering prices, consider the whole package, the venue, the area, the service rendered, etc., not just the item itself. This explains 'a' high price, but does not necessarily serve as a true index of what people pay in general. Bon voyage.

By the way, this is not to denigrate paying high prices per se. Sometimes it can be worth paying crazy prices, in order to sit in a quiet, air conditioned upscale bar, far from the madding crowd, and collect one's sanity.

UK not in Europe?? Where have I been living all my life. Of course the UK is in Europe. It´s even in the European Union which not every European country is. We don´t use the Euro as currency though.

just guessing but are you from australia? perhaps your friend is quoting prices in AUD, not €. even so, the prices are rather high...so the explanation might be a combination of mixup in currencies and a bit of exaggeration.

that said, i am confident that given a little time, i would quite easily be able to find a €7 tube of toothpaste on the continent. i would have more difficulty finding a €15 glass of coke, however. that one sounds like a major exaggeration unless it was at a jazz/strip club or something like that.

I know what happened to the OP's ominous friend:

The real price for the toothpaste was not 7.00 €, but 0.70 €, and the Coke was not 15.00 €, but 1.50 €. Maybe the mistake came because European write "1,50 €" when they mean "1.50 €" in American writing.

Other possibilities to explain your friend's experiences are:

She didn't buy toothpaste, but a facial cream containing gold dust.

She bought the glass of coke in a bar with a red lantern over the door. Good, that she didn't order room service (very expensive in Europe, at least in certain hotels where you pay for room not per night but per hour).

Traveller1959:

The misplaced decimal points sounds pretty plausible and i wouldn;t be surprised that a glass of Coke was 1.50 Euro.