I thought this would be interesting to somebody in this forum.... A recent study showed the following cost comparison of the following items:<BR><BR>A cup of Cofee<BR>1. Italy 0.83 ?<BR>2. Spain 1.20 ?<BR>3. France 1.60 ?<BR>4. Austria 2.11 ?<BR>5. Greece 2.40 ?<BR>6. Germany 2.50 ?<BR><BR>One night in a double room (3-star hotel)<BR><BR>1. Greece 29 ?<BR>2. Italy 44 ?<BR>3. Austria 56 ?<BR>4. Spain 61 ?<BR>5. France 110 ?<BR>6. Germany 130 ? <BR><BR>One Coca-Cola<BR><BR>1. Spain 1.60 ?<BR>2. Austria 1.74 ?<BR>3. Italy 1.90 ?<BR>4. France 2 ?<BR>5. Greece 2.20 ?<BR>6. Germany 3 ?<BR><BR>Beer (0.33 l)<BR><BR>1. Spain 1.60 ?<BR>2. Austria 2.03 ?<BR>3. France 2.10 ?<BR>4. Greece 2.65 ?<BR>5. Germany 2.70 ?<BR>6. Italy 3 ?<BR><BR>Museum entrance <BR><BR>1. Greece 3.23 ?<BR>2. Spain 4.19 ?<BR>3. Italy 4.71 ?<BR>4. Germany 5.16 ?<BR>5. Austria 6.10 ?<BR>6. France 6.12 ?<BR><BR>Car rental (compact w/full CDW; cost/day)<BR><BR>1. Greece 49.97 ?<BR>2. Spain 53.15 ?<BR>3. Italy 61.27 ?<BR>4. France 68.20 ?<BR>5. Germany 80.59 ?<BR>6. Austria 81.69 ?

Apparently the Euro symbol does not "translate". Substitute "Euro" for "?"

What town in Italy do you suppose it is where you can get a double room in a 3 star hotel for 44 E?

Holly, I hear you <BR><BR>I actually think that Spain and Italy's room prices could be switched and be more accurate.

At outside cafe's in Venice, I recently paid from 1.8 to 7 euros for a beer, depending on location!<BR>It is very easy to bias a "study" to show whatever you want the alleged comparative results to be.

The craziest item on the list is the comparison of auto rental costs. All you have to do is rent a car in each of those countries, and you quickly find out that Italy is always highest in real out-of-pocket costs.

The data for Greece, relative to the other countries, seems askew, also; always seemed less expensive to me in all ways.

I was in France in November, April and June and July and I never found a cup of coffee for under 2.10 euros. The price varied from region to region (Provence, Dordogne, Paris), but was always above 2.00 euros, which is a bit more than we were paying with the franc.<BR><BR>It's a lot to pay for a cup of java.