Which is Cheaper France or Italy
Dec 2nd, 2002, 10:29 AM
#1
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Which is Cheaper France or Italy
I am planning a trip to either Italy or France next fall. I've been to Italy before, but not France. How does France compare to Italy with respect to how expensive hotels are and eating. I travel on a budget and usually stay at 1-2* places. In Italy this fall my average daily budget, not including hotel,or transportation was $50. Can I do this in France? ie., Paris, Provence.
Dec 2nd, 2002, 11:13 AM
#4
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<<my average daily budget, not including hotel, or transportation was $50.>><BR><BR>Even with this information, it seems very difficult to answer the question. <BR><BR>You need to try again and ask your question more clearly. You ask about how expensive hotels are, but don't indicate what you thought were reasonable hotel expenses in Italy. Nor where you stayed. Many hotels in Italy are quite inexpensive as long as you don't stay in Rome, Venice or Florence. Paris falls in the same category.<BR><BR>Whatever your target hotel budget is, you can control it by reducing the number of days you spend in Paris, and increase the time in Provence, staying in smaller towns where less expensive lodging can be found fairly easily. The website www.logis-de-france.com is a good place to start.<BR><BR>If you averaged $50 a day in Italy, was this $25 on food, and $25 on attractions and miscellaneous expenses? Or $45 on food?<BR><BR>Either way, you can certainly follow a similar approach in France. The $25 food plan requires some discipline in either country; the $45 plan much less so. You can't fit in a gondola ride, nor a hot air balloon on $5 a day, nor on $25 - - so it's all about choices.<BR><BR>There are many, many different spins someone could take on this subject. The cheapest destinations in France are as inexpensive as the cheapest destinations in Italy. And you can spend a fortune in either country.<BR><BR>And everywhere between.<BR><BR>None of this was meant to sound critical or condescending. The bottom line should be: don't let cost be a factor in your decision to make your first trip to France, nor your second trip to Italy.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>
Dec 2nd, 2002, 11:48 AM
#5
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Well, unfortunately Rex, cost has to be a big factor in my decision, or I wouldn't be able to travel to Europe once a year. My $50 budget is mainly for food, not tours, etc. It might include admissions to museums and bus/metro fares. I stayed at B&B's and small hotels in Italy - Rome was $75 pn and $50 pn in Sorrento. The year before $50 pn in CT and $75 in Venice and Florence. I had fabulous meals - lunches averaged $15 and dinners maybe $20. I usually had house wines and was never disappointed. I did not feel like my budget stopped me from doing or seeing anything I really wanted to see or do and I am hoping it will be the same in France.
Dec 2nd, 2002, 12:03 PM
#6
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What I was trying to say is that you should go where you want to go - - that cost need not make or break this decision. Knowing the careful way you were able to budget your travel in Italy, you will be able to do something very similar in France.<BR>
Dec 2nd, 2002, 01:08 PM
#7
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You can certainly spend under $50 per day on food and attractions in Paris, and I imagine it is less in the countryside. I found Paris a relatively inexpensive place to visit if you don't need the top restaurants. And there are lots of inexpensive hotels.
Dec 2nd, 2002, 01:16 PM
#9
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I was in both Italy and France last summer and staying in similar hotels and eating similar meals I would say France was cheaper. There were plenty of places to get a three couse meal (usually steak and fries, salad and dessert) for under 10 euro in Paris (obviously you could spend many times that and many people do, but I thought 10 euro bought a pretty decent, if not luxurious, meal). In Italy I had a hard time doing dinner or lunch for that amount unless it was pizza. Both in Paris and rural areas, versus Rome and rural areas I found France to be less expensive.
Dec 2nd, 2002, 03:55 PM
#12
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Hotels is Paris can vary widely in price. We paid around $40 USD per night for a adequate (clean, reasonably quiet, very small room) one or two star hotel in Paris. On my last trip (2000) hotels in Paris were cheaper than any that we stayed at in Italy. (Approximately: Rome $150, Bologna $125, Pisa $50, Florence $125). I thought food and misc. (museums, pocket money) costs in the two countries were about the same. If you did Italy with $50 a day I think you'll have no problem in France. Our budget was about the same, and we probably spent a bit less due to buying museum passes and occasionally making meals from the grocery rather than from a restaurant. Towns outside of Paris were less expensive for lodging, somewhat less costly for restaurants, and about the same cost for museums, etc.
Dec 2nd, 2002, 05:10 PM
#13
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I've been to France about a hundred times, to Italy about 15 - France is cheaper than Italy, by far. Of course it depends on where you base yourself and what you plan to do, but as far as basic things like accommodations and meals go, France is cheaper - by about 10 percent, I'd say, based on the cost of recent vacations.
Dec 2nd, 2002, 05:43 PM
#14
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I don't understand how one country can be 10% cheaper than another for vacations sake. Maybe statistically, cars made by Chrysler are 10% cheaper than cars made by GM. So, carol says she's been able to afford a car made by GM and wants to know if she can afford a car made by Chrysler.<BR><BR>A person might say yes, but it doesn't mean that her next car will be cheaper than her last one. It might, and it might not.<BR><BR>If carol wanted to know if France is more like Chrysler, or more like BMW, then I guess it's more like Chrysler.<BR>
