Budget Question

What are the dates for your stays in Paris and London? That's where a lot of the cost is--especially in London. Would you be able to cancel those Airbnb bookings if someone here could suggest less expensive alternatives? I don't know those cities, but many here do. I have a hard time believing there are no decent London hotels for less than $300 a night, though I know you don't get a lot for your hotel money in that city.

There are some days missing if you have 3 weeks (maybe 23 days?) of free time. Where are you spending them? Do you have to pay for lodging there? Best to give us a more detailed itinerary to work with.

As for the remaining budget, we could give you better comments if we knew more precisely what your remaining $3500 must cover.

How many days of food for you husband will be picked up by his company?

What remaining inter-city transportation will you need to pay for?

Are there any remaining nights for which lodging must be purchased?

Have you already paid for the transportation you listed, so you are confident of getting those prices?

My general comment is that I don't think you need to panic, but I suspect you are going to be tight on food money. You will probably need to grab two inexpensive meals each day and not go overboard on the third. (Will you need to accompany your husband to business dinners that first week and pay for your own meals? That could be painfully costly.) If your Airbnb lodgings are full apartments with kitchens, that will help a great deal.

In terms of sightseeing, you're going to need to be smart and go see the things you really care about, not everything on someone else's expensive must-see list. Fortunately, a lot of the major museums in London are free. Walking around and enjoying the beautiful surroundings is free.

You have 16 nights listed -- what about the rest of the three weeks ? Also, the items listed above come up to over $4,000, not the $2,000 you indicated. If this were my trip, I would do a spreadsheet outlining each night's lodging cost, transportation costs, (plug in guesses for anything not already booked) and food/miscellaneous at $100. - $150 per night. Take a look at the total. Take a deep breath. Then figure out whether you can come up with that amount, either before the trip or within a reasonable amount of time to pay down credit cards from the trip ... or whether you need to adjust your plans.

Yes a budget is imp in europe if it is imp to u.
As a seasoned budget traveler to europe forr over a decade i think the london portion can be improved.
Thankfully many of the best museums in the world are in london and free.
So u could consider two hotels that incl brfast with a great location for a gd rate.
Hotel central nr kings cross station and the garden court hotel nr kensington park. Both gd alternates to your 300 per ni Be disciplined about your fd options and refrain from cocktails or have your cocktails in your lodging rm.
Hope this helps a bit.

Using homeaway.com we spent just over $125 per night to sleep four in a mews apartment six blocks from The Tower Bridge in July of this year. We spent $120 per night for two bedrooms in Paris about three blocks from the Cluney. I suspect you can find cheaper accommodations even now.

If you mostly pack lunches, eat dinners in, eat breakfast in an are willing to walk a fair amount and don't take cabs, you can do very well on $3500 for food and entertainment. It's about $130 per day. Just remember that museums are mostly free in London and churches are free in France and Italy unless you want to climb them. The fee to climb is small. Streets and parks are free everywhere.

But pricing it is fairly simple. Add up local transport costs (most places have day passes you can use to guess costs) and the price of the things you want to see (you'll need to do that anyway to decide whether to buy museum passes). Add 10% for safty and see what's left for food. Use a guide book to get a flavor of dining out. We found grocery stores more expensive by about 10% for meat and produce than at home, but cheaper for dairy (especially cheese) and wine. If you cook in you will waste some money on condiments and spices you won't entirely use.

It's hard to chime in without knowing when you'e traveling, exactly, but are you certain you're done and tied to your lodging? Because you can likely do much better in London and Paris, cost-wise, which would free up dollars for other things.

These are well-reviewed for London and I stayed there and like them...they are full apartments...their basic ones start at about $140 per night. They book up so you'd have to check availability...but if you could book one of these, you'd free up $600 AND you'd have a kitchen for cooking meals to save money. http://www.castletownhouse.co.uk

And here's a link for Paris - they have many apartments that would save you money. You could easily save $200 by moving to one of these. We paid $150 per night for one of theirs apartments in April and it was quite nice. http://www.vacationinparis.com/index.php

Sorry If I did not make it clear. Those airbnb's prices are for the whole stay, not per night.

Then you are doing well on lodging. Will you have kitchens?

Yes, they are all apartments for ourselves, except London, which is a room in an apartment. But we have kitchen access in all of them except Florence. We are planning on eating from markets and cooking. Except for maybe a few meals my husband would like to try, given that he is a chef.
And I just showed what I have so far, is not the whole trip. That's already paid for. And including what we have to pay still, i'm guessing we'll have between 3500 and 4000 for spendings related to food, attractions, local transport, etc. For both of us.

$130 a day for two is doable if you mostly cook for your selves. We ate for about $100 per day for four in London including ice cream and coffee out. We treated two young adults to dinner in our apartment twice as well over the course of three nights. That wasn't skimping either. We had lamb leg twice and duck breasts once. The girls had pastries for breakfast and hubby and I had eggs and bacon. Packed lunches were rolls stuffed with cheese and dry salami. That doesn't mean two of you could eat that way for $50 because cooking in doesn't scale exactly, but it would be close.

Where you are staying in each city will affect how much staying in each city will cost because transport isn't free.

Transport is cheaper in Paris, more expensive in London.

I'd be interested to understand where exactly you are staying in each of these cities. For a private apartment (private room in London) in these locations, you really can't beat the $40 to $60 per night you are going to pay if it is, indeed, a central location.

Now if you are staying in a neighborhood that is far outside the areas you will be exploring/sightseeing, and it will require you to take a lot of public transit, then you will want to take that cost into account and understand what portion of your budget is going to be spent on local subway and bus rides.

Also, are there cleaning fees or security deposits that you need to come up with in advance for any of these apartment rentals? If so, how does that fit into your budget? Sometimes those additional costs can make the apartment rental less desirable if you are tight on funding. In those instances, a more centrally located hostel with a private room might prove to be a better bargain. While the hostel may not be able to provide you with 100% total privacy (you'll share kitchen and communal lounge facilities), it may offer you a few other perks you are unlikely to get with a $40/night Airbnb apartment rental - such as assistance/recommendations from the hostel front desk staff (helpful for 1st time visitors to Europe) and on-site laundry facilities. Many private hostel rooms now feature en-suite bathrooms/showers right in the room so you don't have to share with other guests. And if you can find a hostel that offers breakfast for free, you can save some money by taking advantage of that perk to save on your daily food costs.

The budget typically evens out as the trip progresses. I have spent far less than $50/day on food, public transit and sightseeing on some days, and then spent a whole lot more on other days. Be aware of some additional charges you can avoid when you are out and about. For instance, in some cities, stopping to drink your morning coffee while standing up at the counter is much cheaper than if you plunk yourself down at an outdoor table and drink the same cup of coffee. Ordering a Coca Cola in a restaurant is often as much, if not more, than having a glass of wine or beer.

Yes, you can comfortably manage on $3500.00 for the balance spending money as you indicate. You could even manage and enjoy yourself on less. My husband and I usually have such a budget. You might want to keep track of how much you spend each day as some days will cost less and some more. This way you will know if you are on track or not. My husband and I don't do apartments so this includes buying all meals on the run for us, so breakfast at home, if you want, might save you some money although I just like eating out, even if it is from a food truck in a park. We do what ever we want and do stay on budget. We do not buy souvenirs or do extraneous shopping. We usually take public transportation, but will take taxis on occasion. We do go to museums, but we also love walking, watching people, taking photographs, and enjoying the history and architecture of the places we visit. We also enjoy lovely fancier meals as well. We often come in under-budget, not for trying, but it just happens. I'm not sure on what other people spend money, for us your budget would be just fine. You'll have a great time. No worries. Wray