Food per deims in 3 different locations (England, Germany, Switzerland)

I have visited England, Germany and Switzerland. Although I cannot provide a per diem, I can tell you that our food and drink costs in Switzerland were substantially, maybe 2x, greater than in England or Germany. Perhaps others can provide specific numbers, but be prepared for price shock.

Concur, Switzerland is more expensive for lodging and meals.

For the UK, if you have a BnB and free breakfast, then snack for lunch, you only have one meal and can get by for about 75 Pound a day.

A friend who is a counselor recently signed a two-year contract to support the U.S. Army at Grafenwoehr, Germany. She gets a free apartment, utilities, car, and gas. Her per diem is $115/day. We were joking about how she was going to eat $115 per day worth of food, but of course that's just extra money for fun stuff. Also, a nice salary. I'm happy for her.

I'm with geovagriffith as we do the same thing.

75 pounds (about $90) per person per day? Just for dinner and maybe lunch?
Do you folks all eat a lot fancier than me? The only time I hit that kind of cost is if I am intentionally going out to a fancier place.

douglas, I'd think if you had an included hotel/B&B breakfast, a light lunch or snacking, and then a proper dinner it shouldn't be $90/day. It really depends on where you go for dinner.

I remember paying around 32CHF for a burger & beer at an Irish pub in Switzerland in 2018.

Hi douglas, what do you suggest?

if you need to ask the price of food in Switzerland then you shouldn't go!

Roger - fair enough, but we are applying for a sabbatical grant and need to provide a budget.

I find the website www.numbeo.com very useful for estimating costs. According to them a meal for two people in a mid range restaurant with three courses would average:
United Kingdom 55£ or $65.66
Germany 52 € or $55.13
Switzerland 100 chf or $106.09

I was in Germany a few months ago and would concur with their average. It’s been a year or two since visiting the UK and Switzerland but it sounds about right. Enjoy your trip!

thenosbigs - thank you! That is super helpful.

Some of the pub chains offer good value meals. These can vary between each establishment within the chain and time of day. Here is one such chain to give you an idea of what you can get for your bucks in Britain.

Are you trying to keep the budget as low as possible or do you want a mid range price point? I’d say there’s been considerable inflation since that £55 for 2 figure was calculated. My local pub which is known for decent food but is not a gastro pub or in a tourist/central location charges £14-£20 for mains, £6ish for starters and the same for puddings. So 3 courses would be a minimum of £26 a head without drinks or service.

Hi Helen - we are looking for a mid to just above mid-range point. If we go it will be because we have been awarded a grant for a sabbatical. In other words, the Foundation will be paying for it! That said, we're not the fine dining type. Some fresh food to purchase for a picnic lunch and a good dinner at a gastropub is what we're after.

Where about a will you be in the country? If you’re in very touristy areas you’ll probably find eating out is more expensive. I’d definitely aim at £75 a day to be comfortable. If it’s raining you won’t be able to manage a picnic, for example.

I agree that 55 GBP sounds on the low side for two 3-course meals in the UK--at least in the more touristy cities. It might do at a chain like Cote Brasserie, but on the all-too-rare occasions when I've managed to stumble upon an independent restaurant at meal time, I'm not sure my cost has been that low. (This comment brought to you by someone who never orders an alcoholic beverage.)

For grant-writing purposes, I always use the US Dept of State per diem rates. Choose your country from the drop-down menu and use the M&IE:

https://aoprals.state.gov/Web920/per_diem.asp

All the best - I hope your sabbatical gets funded!

Agree with using the State Department rates. Also, most universities have per diem calculators for their faculty and staff travel. If this isn't a sabbatical from a university, perhaps a local university has their per diem calculator available without needing a password to access it (check for a travel page or a grants page).

The Numbeo.com averages I gave were for the average for the respective country. You can drill down the average to city for more accurate costs. That mid range meal in London is 70 £; Bristol is 60£. I’d agree inflation may have pushed things up a tad. It’s crowd sourced so there is a delay.

My 75 pounds per day was for two of us.

Thanks again everybody!

Per diem just means per day.

£75 between 2 won’t be enough. US government gives employees $135 each for food and incidentals as a per diem. I’d go with their recommendations rather than what random people on here think to be honest!