The recent thread here about budgeting for trip to Paris got me thinking: So what would be a reasonable good one person budget for a day NOT including hotel for Paris, Rome, London, etc. -- ie, what does the average person on a budget spend while in Europe?

It's encouraging to see that no one is responding to this kind of inquiry. It is too general to give an answer, and in fact it seems to have been written just out of curiosity rather than for any useful purpose. <BR><BR>An "average person on a budget" is already too difficult to define. Add to that the request for "while in Europe" with no hint of any area, and it is totally impossible to provide any kind of meaningful information. Costs vary too much across Europe to allow some kind of guess at averages; and also no one knows what the "average person" does on a trip. Does the <BR>"average person" eat 3 meals a day? Does the "average person" go to one museum a day or one a week, or not at all? Does the "average person" rent a car or ride a train or bus, or just stay put somewhere and take taxis/subways? Besides, what is spendwise going to do with this information after he/she gets an answer? And even if there are any answers, what good will they be?<BR><BR>I really don't like to see this kind of inquiry taking time and space on this forum. So, you ask, why did I respond to it? I guess it just got to me, seeing people with nothing to do except ask these sorts of questions.

<BR>There are different "average people." For example, Fodors forum people seem to be older and fairly upscale overall, so I would guess the average Fodors forum person spends more per day than the average Lonely Planet person, and much more per day than the average Let's Go person.

I agree with Steve--there is no average.<BR>It depends on WHEN--WHERE--TRAVEL STYLE.<BR>However, if you want to see an article that breaks down 3 levels of travel then go to www.slowtrav.com and find my article on budget. It ignores one star and 5 star travel, but is a good start.

In western Europe I usually spend about ?30 a day. Slightly less in eastern E. That suits a non-alcoholic backpacker life, and does include accommodation.