Expenses

You're going to visit four countries in 10 days? That's a bit much. You can cut some costs by doing less long distance traveling.

As for food expenses, it really depends where/what you eat. Your family will spend a lot less on food if you have accommadations with a kitchen because you will be able cook instead of eating out all the time. Food prices generally relate to the population: food in cities will be more expensive. If your family is a fan of ethnic food (meals not native to the area), that food will cost less. If your family prefers upscale native dining, you'll spend more.

In other words, it's a complicated question with no definite answer.

You will lose a day when traveling between each country so there goes 3 days so that leaves 7 days for 4 countries - too few days for too many countries. You should cut the number of countries in half and plan on coming back another time.

I agree with the posters suggesting you cut down the number of countries drastically. How much can you see of four countries in 10 days allowing a day of travel between each one? Skip the UK and either Italy or France and do two adjacent countries. However, I'll bet you already made airline reservations. In that case, skip the countries you are not flying in/out of.

As to food, a rough guide is that the amount you spend in euros or pounds will probably be the same as you would spend in comparable restaurants in a comparable city (New York, e.g. when comparing to Rome or Paris) here as you are likely to go to the same level of restaurant. They add service and we add tax and tip. So look at your total. Next, multiple euros by 1.5 and pounds by 2 to get a decent estimate. For example, you go out here an the 5 of you drop 15 each plus tax and tip which is about $110. figure on 110 euros or $165 as an estimate.

Don't bring cash. Use ATMs there or credit cards (best).

Food in Europe is very expensive compared to here. I would count on double what you normally spend eating out & then factoring in the Euro/Pound. I go to Paris often & eat in cafes & less expensive restaurants & have no trouble spending 30 to 5o Euros for dinner. That does buy 3 courses & a little wine. Lucky for travelers, they post menus outside so you can check menus/prices before you go in or make a reservation. My husband just returned from England. He stayed at a Hilton near the airport where his breakfast was 15 pounds ($30). He told me that fast food prices there were almost double ours - instead of a $3 hamb it would be 6 pounds which was $12 for him. Good luck & have fun. If you're interested in eating cheap, I'm sure you can find lots of info here. To me, the food is a big part of the experience. I just got back from Amsterdam with a cookbook & have recreated 2 items so far.

Hi Gus, I would not skip the UK. England is fantastic at Christmas, especially London. But I would cut your trip down to two or even only one. If you really want to see the country. Trying to see four countries in ten days it will become one big blur. Like the above post mentions, you have to take in consideration travel time between the countries. So if you want truly want this trip to have special memories, reconsider the number on countries you will visit. Whatever you decide have a wonderful Christmas.

If you are looking to save money eliminate England.
The Pound is worth at least double the Dollar.

You should cut the number of places as you have such a short time there

We have taken several multi-month tripsin Europe.Unless England is a substantial part of your trip you should budget at least €1000/week ($1500 at today's xchange)for food.

This assumes that you will buy most of your food and do yoour own cooking. If noot yoour foood expenses will be much greater

It's certainly possible to eat cheaply, especially in major cities. As Rick recommends, eat like the locals do. Crepes in Paris, Indonesian food in Amsterdam, trattorias in Italy, etc. You can eat incredibly well for no more than $10/person (okay, maybe $15 with the weak dollar) in the most expensive cities in the world, if you just look around a bit.

You have a great opportunity. With a group your size, you can take full advantage of markets and the economy of scale. A couple of baguettes give you the start for sandwiches and then you can be as adventurous as you want to try cheeses, pates, sausages, etc.

It's sometimes a little frustrating when traveling with only one other person to end up buying more food than we need.

Kent started a great thread here about how to cope with the rising Euro. There were a lot of good suggestions (and some that explored the extreme reaches of frugality). The common theme is that your own costs will be determined by how many sit down meals you want and how much you can take advantage of markets and ethnic food. Couscous is incredibly cheap and actually as much a part of Paris' culinary heritage as cassoulet or charcroute (none come from Paris).

Grocery stores also have much wider selections of ready to eat food than we have in the US. Monoprix is one great chain in France.

We have traveled with our teen son on 3 trips all over Europe. We stay at pensions/zimmers/hotels that serve b'fast. We eat, our son sleeps--they do require more than us. So, in order to get him charged for the day, we stop at a McD's. I know that doesn't make sense, but it works for him. A meal can cost about 5-6 euro depending on what country and city you're in. In London, my husband & I often get the kid's meal for lunch--includes drink. We also go to TGIF & Hard Rock Cafe. We would order an appetizer plate & get all the cola you want. Again, it's a teen thing. On our trip, I take a small, soft sided cooler, freezer pack, small plastic cutting board and a serrated knife (in check-in luggage). We stop at grocery stores and buy small rolls, salami & cheese & make sandwiches. Also buy water & colas. Now dinner. In Italy, the table setting alone is 2 Euro each. Our dinners ranged 35-45 E. In Italy, we only order a PRIMO--no antipasto, no salad. We get wine/beer & cola. Have fun.

For five persons, eating in restaurants, in those countries that you said you will go to, getting good nutrition, I estimate you will spend a minimum of
$ 270. (U.S. Dollars) each day. That amount of money includes Tax. That total amount of money does not include prices for any beverage or dessert. That total amount of money is for three meals in one day, including a small breakfast.

Just a suggestion but 4 countries in 10 days - I'm tired just thinking about it. Why don't you consider 5 days in London, train over to Paris - 5 days in Paris. Fly home from Paris? Just a thought. :)

I just returned from Italy and found the best way to save money was to eat our big meal at 1-3PM>They are cheaper but good and eating at 7-9PM is not our cup of tea.Most hotels and B&Bs give a good breakfast so a late dinner works well.Most close at 3PM until 7-7:30 so eating early is not a option.

While in Italy, we seemed to never eat during their traditional mealtimes - and we tried!!! But we found that one sitdown meal was enough. If it were a late lunch, we'd eat more. If it were just a sitdown dinner, we'd have only one of the two courses. We usually had either a litre of the house wine or a bottle of something too. For the two of us, we always seemed to average 70 EUR for our sitdown meals (~$100). We'd stop for some take-away pizza in Rome. 100 grams would usually suffice for a couple of hours.
Regarding your 4 countries in 10 days. Depending on the spread, you may want to consider night trains to not only save on hotel costs (since you'd be sleeping somewhere anyhow), and also not chop into your sightseeing time during your waking hours. But if you're planning on more than one city in any of the countries, you're REALLY pushing it. You may want to just pick 2 or 3 and promise a future return.

It depends of where you eat.
For exemple in Zurich 2 of us ate in a nice restaurant by the river there and it cost us almost $100, for 2 steaks , some alchoholic drinks and I think some desert. But if we were have eaten on the other side of the restaurant, it would have been much cheaper.
In Nice, France we ate a large dish of clams for 10 euros and the owner gave us free liqiuor because we ordered 2 dishes.
If you don't care about what you put in your stomach, you can go fastfood-ing, but I personally stay away from that anywhere I go.
it would me much cheaper to buy food and make sandwiches, especially in the morning. Get a neopren cooler, so it doesn't take a lot of room, so you can evern carry it in your backapck while going around towns.
4 countries in 10 days is too much I think. You won't taste much the flavor of these countries, if you don't spend at least 4-5 days in each.
Have a nice Xmas in Europe!