Euros

Elvia, As this is your first time to Europe, you may want to have a look at Europe Through The Back Door, as I believe there's a section there on budgeting. Providing an average of my food expenditures may not be very useful for you, as my dining style and preferences may be quite different. The costs will vary also depending on whether you'll be dining in a restaurant for every meal, which country you're in, etc. You'll typically be provided with a breakfast at the Hotel, which will vary according to country. Which countries will you be visiting? Happy travels!

Difficult to give a dollar amount, but about the same as here in the states If the hostal/hotel has a breakfast included, by all means fill up to a comfortable level (Note: Most breakfasts are actually more inexpensive outside the hotel/hostal.) If purchasing a separate breakfast, I opt for the coffe / pastry route. For lunch snack with apples, other fruit, water (never a soft drink!), maybe a salad even. For dinner I try to go to a good (not necessairly expensive) restaurant and have a good meal. Depending on the country in which you are traveling, the choices may differ, but you will be able to eat healthy in most places for a reasonable price. London has been the most expensive for me thus far. I would think that $50 US would be more than sufficient, even with a somewhat fancy restaurant meal. By watching your selection you will be well under that amount, even with a glass of wine in most places.

It completely depends on your choices - restaurants can be infinitely expensive. Street food and buying from grocery stores can reduce your daily food bill significantly. Where are you going and how much do you want to spend per day?

I spent about $1300 (at $1.40=1€, 220Ft=$1, 17CzK=$1) in 17 days, not counting airfare or trains. Important caveats: I stayed in hostels and ate more meals from the markets than from restaurants. It all depends on where you stay, how you eat, and what you do. You can probably double my figure if you stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, or do a lot of entertainment/sightseeing activities.

This is difficult to answer unless you tell us the cities and countries you are visiting. Prices in a small town in Germany are going to be very different than prices in London or in Oslo. Rule of thumb is that lunch will usually cost less, as many restaurants have lunch specials, so make that your main meal out and do your picnic or have items from the grocery store for your evening meal. Also, ethnic food can often be a lot cheaper, or food from street stands. In Germany, I seldom pay more than 8-12 euro for a meal. If you are drinking wine or beer with your meal, add in a few more euro. If at lunch, lower the price a couple of euro, anything between 6-8 euro for a great, filling lunch. Eating ethnic? Drop the price to around 4-6 euro for lunch.

A good hearty meal choice is a donner kebab. They have meat or vegetarian, usually just 3.50-4 Euro (about).

Kinda hard to give an average too spend on food per day. If you eat mostly by buying food at supermarkets with an occasional splurge at McD the average is going to be significantly less than than if you eat only at restaurants with fine china, table clothes, and tux wearing waiters.

Don't forget to have a couple of "splurge" meals that you'll always remember. This is your first trip to Europe, after all. Have a ball!!!!!!!!!!!

I take as many Pounds or Euros as I would expect to spend Dollars in a similar City in USA. Also remember that you will probably be snacking more in cafes (thats part of the experience) than you would in USA

For a rough guide, compare your average European cafe to a Chili's restaurant - you can order within a wide range of prices, but generally assume in Europe you'll be ordering at the upper range of a Chili's menu...to be safe. Typically (with a few glaring exceptions) beer and wine are cheaper than colas and you can pay dearly for a bottle of water; learn the phrase for 'tap water' (in RS' books). You can do better, both money- and quality-wise sometimes, by gathering things for a picnic (bread, cheese, dessert, wine), or as mentioned some 'street-type' foods and take-outs. Watch the sit-down meals; they have great potential to blow your budget.