Trip to Europe
May 2nd, 2006, 07:13 AM
#1
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Trip to Europe
Is my first trip to Europe with my wife. Will be visiting Spain, France and Italy. Could any one tell me what is the average spending $$$'s (meals and excursions) for two persons excluding the airfare and hotel which is aleady paid for? Any help will be appreciated.
May 2nd, 2006, 07:17 AM
#3
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You don't say whether you will be visiting cities or the countryside, visiting museums a lot or not at all, renting a car or using trains -- and whether you want to eat casually or top of the line.
May 2nd, 2006, 07:20 AM
#5
Totally unanswerable. Which cities? How long? How are you traveling? What do you mean by "excursions" - museum passes. guided tours, day trips???
Give us something to work with.
But even then, there really is no standard. Can be done on a tight budget or on a big splurge.
Give us something to work with.
But even then, there really is no standard. Can be done on a tight budget or on a big splurge.
May 2nd, 2006, 07:26 AM
#6
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Adapted from a reply I gave here before...
Spartan:
Meals - $30 per day per person
Attractions and "pocket money" $15-30 per day
Comfortable:
Meals - $50 per day per person
Attractions and "pocket money" $25-50 per day
Princely:
Meals - $60-90 per day per person
Attractions and "pocket money" - the sky's the limit
Best wishes,
Rex
Spartan:
Meals - $30 per day per person
Attractions and "pocket money" $15-30 per day
Comfortable:
Meals - $50 per day per person
Attractions and "pocket money" $25-50 per day
Princely:
Meals - $60-90 per day per person
Attractions and "pocket money" - the sky's the limit
Best wishes,
Rex
May 2nd, 2006, 07:32 AM
#7
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Rex, your idea of "princely" eating and most people's must be vastly different. There are dozens of posts here constantly about the 200 to 500 euro dinners at nice restaurants, and the 300 euro lunches in Paris. Your daily budget for "princely" dining doesn't allow a single splurge meal like that, yet alone a whole itinerary of them as some posts here suggest are relatively common with discerning diners.
Frankly we never do those Michelin starred places and still often have a fairly rough time keeping our dining budget under $180 a day for two of us for three meals. I would say we eat and drink very nicely, but it is hardly "princely" or "sky's the limit" by a long shot!
Frankly we never do those Michelin starred places and still often have a fairly rough time keeping our dining budget under $180 a day for two of us for three meals. I would say we eat and drink very nicely, but it is hardly "princely" or "sky's the limit" by a long shot!
May 2nd, 2006, 07:36 AM
#8
I think Rex's budgets are wildly out of whack. The $30 for spartan meals is close - but all the rest seem waaaaay too low.
An upscale dinner anywhere in western Europe will cost more than $90, so $60-$90 for a day certainly isn't in the "splurge" range.
An upscale dinner anywhere in western Europe will cost more than $90, so $60-$90 for a day certainly isn't in the "splurge" range.
May 2nd, 2006, 07:37 AM
#9
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We will be sleeping at Madrid(3), Barcelona (1),Niza(1), Venecia (1), Florence(1), Rome(3), Torino(1), Paris(3),Angouleme(1)then the places to visit are Toledo, Zaragoza, Monaco, Vatican, Pisa, Chamonix, Versailles, Blois and San Sebastian. Thanks for your interest and will appreciate any information on the spending $$$'s on this places.
May 2nd, 2006, 07:50 AM
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I know that I am in the small minority of this board, but I seriously will get by for food with:
Breakfast - probably free (even hostels often include breakfast)
Lunch - buy bread, wine, cheese, meat from the store so 8 E
Dinner - normally 15 E and that includes a beer or two
Snacks - cheap
I don't find eating in Europe that much more expensive than eating in NYC, Vegas, Chicago, etc. The price range can be from very low (self-catering) to very high.
Breakfast - probably free (even hostels often include breakfast)
Lunch - buy bread, wine, cheese, meat from the store so 8 E
Dinner - normally 15 E and that includes a beer or two
Snacks - cheap
I don't find eating in Europe that much more expensive than eating in NYC, Vegas, Chicago, etc. The price range can be from very low (self-catering) to very high.
May 2nd, 2006, 07:55 AM
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Thanks Everyone... since all the hotels, transportation and breakfasts are already paid for so it is a matter of lunch, dinner, sightseeing and visiting museums and entrance to shows like Moulin Rouge, visiting the Vatican, a trip in Venice etc. I already spent 5,756.00 so I guess taking another 2,500.00 would be sufficient. Any Ideas
May 2nd, 2006, 08:00 AM
#14
Is this a guided tour? If so w/ such short stays in each place you would be better off just paying the tour company for most of your excursions. This will be more expensive, but you simply don't have time to be messing around finding your own transport etc.
Also I don't see where you have time for several of the other cities you want to visit.
Also I don't see where you have time for several of the other cities you want to visit.
May 2nd, 2006, 08:01 AM
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I think Rex list of meal prices is more reasonable than Ira's ( 2 or 3 euros for breakfast, that's a small bottle of water in Italy or France!)Also, if the person who wrote the post asking had money enough ( or was willing )to spend on a 300 euros lunch or dinner, he wouldn't be asking and wouldn't be concerned on how much he would spend!!!
May 2nd, 2006, 08:48 AM
#17
If you estimated 250 euro/day to cover two people, I believe you can adjust as you go along to make that work very comfortably. Eat more modestly for a few days for a splurge dinner, same idea for lesser or more expensive excursions, museum admissions aren't what'll break the bank.
May 2nd, 2006, 09:14 AM
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Perhaps it is my adjectives that are the problem for you, neo...
How about percentiles? This is going to sound way more scientific than it should - - truth is, I have no idea how many Americans travel in Europe under these fairly specific circumstances which probably void all my notions of what meals will typically cost:
a. travel there as part of a US military mission
b. travel there and stay predominantly or exclusively with family or friends
c. travel there with large tour groups which provide some or most of the meals
d. travel there on "high-roller" business, with expense accounts
Although jrm is traveling with a tour group, the question implies that the purchase of meals will be a separate expense. Breakfast may or may not be a separate expense; for most of my Europe travels, it has not been, about 90% of the time, and my estimates are based on rare, if any, separate breakfast expenditures.
I'll concede that the top 10% of meals, consumed in Europe by Americans (not in groups a, b, c or d), cost more than $90. Since it is just a guess on my part, I won't claim much accuracy on this estimate - - is it 11%? or 9% or 7% that cost more than $90? or 90 euro?
I don't know sufficiently well to characterize that top 10%, so let me focus instead on the <i><u>other</u> 90% of meals, consumed by Americans in Europe...
For those living in the upper third - - that is, from the 60th to 90th percentile, $60 to $90 seems likely a fairly accurate estimate.
At the middle percentile, I'll stick with $50 per day (perhaps I should stipulate $39 to $59?). As with each estimate, note that I am trying to give a 7-day <i><u>average</u></i>; thus, a week that goes $28, $46, $48, $52, $54, $56, $82 (average = $52) is representative of "$50 days" to me.
And the one-third who are the most frugal (seems demeaning to say the bottom 30%) can certainly do it for $30 a day. It might require any or all of the following creative approaches: one or more low(er)-cost "fast-food meals, grocery store meal selection, the "house selection" of a demi-pension plan, picnic lunches or eating leftovers (works especially if you are staying at a villa and cook in, for example) - - but it need not mean eating less than nutritious, nor calorie-deprived "dieting".
I'll remind you that I made a specific attempt, in 2005, to see how I liked a more-budget approach to traveling in France and Spain (probably at the fringe between the middle and most-frugal percentile brackets as described above) - - we never felt like we ate poorly, and we succeeded in making our target of lodging <i><u>and</u></i> (ALL) meals under 50 euro per day (combined).
For what it's worth, our most expensive meal - - about 30 euro per person, in Biarritz - - was not our best.
</i>
How about percentiles? This is going to sound way more scientific than it should - - truth is, I have no idea how many Americans travel in Europe under these fairly specific circumstances which probably void all my notions of what meals will typically cost:
a. travel there as part of a US military mission
b. travel there and stay predominantly or exclusively with family or friends
c. travel there with large tour groups which provide some or most of the meals
d. travel there on "high-roller" business, with expense accounts
Although jrm is traveling with a tour group, the question implies that the purchase of meals will be a separate expense. Breakfast may or may not be a separate expense; for most of my Europe travels, it has not been, about 90% of the time, and my estimates are based on rare, if any, separate breakfast expenditures.
I'll concede that the top 10% of meals, consumed in Europe by Americans (not in groups a, b, c or d), cost more than $90. Since it is just a guess on my part, I won't claim much accuracy on this estimate - - is it 11%? or 9% or 7% that cost more than $90? or 90 euro?
I don't know sufficiently well to characterize that top 10%, so let me focus instead on the <i><u>other</u> 90% of meals, consumed by Americans in Europe...
For those living in the upper third - - that is, from the 60th to 90th percentile, $60 to $90 seems likely a fairly accurate estimate.
At the middle percentile, I'll stick with $50 per day (perhaps I should stipulate $39 to $59?). As with each estimate, note that I am trying to give a 7-day <i><u>average</u></i>; thus, a week that goes $28, $46, $48, $52, $54, $56, $82 (average = $52) is representative of "$50 days" to me.
And the one-third who are the most frugal (seems demeaning to say the bottom 30%) can certainly do it for $30 a day. It might require any or all of the following creative approaches: one or more low(er)-cost "fast-food meals, grocery store meal selection, the "house selection" of a demi-pension plan, picnic lunches or eating leftovers (works especially if you are staying at a villa and cook in, for example) - - but it need not mean eating less than nutritious, nor calorie-deprived "dieting".
I'll remind you that I made a specific attempt, in 2005, to see how I liked a more-budget approach to traveling in France and Spain (probably at the fringe between the middle and most-frugal percentile brackets as described above) - - we never felt like we ate poorly, and we succeeded in making our target of lodging <i><u>and</u></i> (ALL) meals under 50 euro per day (combined).
For what it's worth, our most expensive meal - - about 30 euro per person, in Biarritz - - was not our best.
</i>
May 2nd, 2006, 09:27 AM
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Ira's probably closest to the mark...
Breakfast is a moot point, as you said it's already included.
We prefer the market/grocery route, too, picnicking with cheese and bread and wine -- European cities have plenty of green spaces. Barring that, small restos are easy to find and generally very inexpensive. (Tip: if you're really trying to pinch, eat a big lunch -- then you can get a pizza or a quick bistro dinner)
Dinner is whatever you want it to be -- and the sky's the limit. I've had fabulous five-star food in mom-and-pop places for a pittance, so judge by the crowd (or lack thereof) -- not by the appearance.
And oh yes -- remember especially in Spain that the restaurants don't even open for dinner until half-eight or later...but tapas can be an awesome dinner!
Breakfast is a moot point, as you said it's already included.
We prefer the market/grocery route, too, picnicking with cheese and bread and wine -- European cities have plenty of green spaces. Barring that, small restos are easy to find and generally very inexpensive. (Tip: if you're really trying to pinch, eat a big lunch -- then you can get a pizza or a quick bistro dinner)
Dinner is whatever you want it to be -- and the sky's the limit. I've had fabulous five-star food in mom-and-pop places for a pittance, so judge by the crowd (or lack thereof) -- not by the appearance.
And oh yes -- remember especially in Spain that the restaurants don't even open for dinner until half-eight or later...but tapas can be an awesome dinner!
