How much spending money do we need for this trip?

Sure, there are days when you can easily spend under $100 per person for food, entertainment, sightseeing and the like. But this is your honeymoon so you aren't going to want to eat budget meals every single day or skimp on sights and entertainment because this is why you are going to Europe.

For a rough budget figure at least $6 to $10 per person for breakfast (takeaway from a bakery) if it isn't already included in the price of your hotel. $8 to $20 per person for lunch (either takeaway sandwich and a beverage on the low end, or a really modest sit down lunch in a cafe or restaurant with a glass of house wine or draft beer). You could save more money on food budgets if you choose to eat at a fancier restaurant during lunch for your main meal of the day, and then have a small takeaway meal for dinner. It's typically the same food they serve at dinner, but costs less at lunch time. For dinner budget at least $15 to $50 per person depending on whether you want to do takeaway/cheap ethnic or a nicer 3-course meal in a moderately priced restaurant. Wine and other alcohol is a budget that only you can figure out based on how much you normally drink during a trip.

Entertainment is again dependent on what you like to do - tickets to a play or dance performance could run anywhere between $15 to $75 depending what it is. A nightclub cover charge to see a live band might be about $10 to $20. Some museums are free or will offer reduced admission under certain conditions. A guided tour could be free or it may cost $30 to $50 depending on where you are going and what you are seeing. You have to also budget for public transit or taxis to get around town if you don't like to do a lot of walking. Souvenir budgets are again based on your preferences - you could spend as little as $3 for a fridge magnet if all you want is something with the name of the city you visited - but are you looking for something really special or an antique? Then you could spend hundreds.

MIchelle,

I want to be careful not to mislead you, but I would guess that somewhere around $100/day would be pretty decent. You may have different tastes than me, but I know for me (1 person), it is pretty easy to get by on less than $50/day, and sometimes even $25 (excluding hotel), but I am a college student who is willing to rough it a little bit.

Museums aren't so expensive, so it really comes down to what/where you eat. I would say that a nice dinner would easily run $50 for two, but could easily jump to $100-200 if you have fancy tastes.

Souvenirs are another matter - I can't really help much there, I think you will just be best off budgeting for everything that you need (food, entertainment, transportation) and seeing what you have left over for souvenirs. You will have a better feel for what are reasonable prices (what you're willing to spend..) for trinkets when you get to Europe.

I am interested to hear what others may say, as they may have different experiences in Europe if they are older.

Good luck!

Geoff

It's best to budget more and bring home extra than not budget enough.

Yeah, I forgot to think about bus passes/taxis. I was planning on setting aside $3,500 which would be $250 per day for both of us, does this sound reasonable? We will probably do a few day tours, museums, all the big sights, not really too into fine dining excpet for maybe 1 or 2 meals, like a dinner cruise on the canals in Amsterdam, but will probably frequent bars quite a bit, we are young and like to drink :)

$250 a day for just for food, entertainment, sighteeing, souvenirs is riding high. However if you want to incl lodging, within europe transportation it might be tight.

Most cities have City Cards that will give you reduced entry fees to many sites and also your public transportation. This can help with keeping costs down a lot. Do some research on the things you want to see in each city. Do they have late openings, do they have a free day, stuff like that. Do walking tours to get a good orientation for each city and then ask your guide for good recommendations. They will always know and can point you towards what you will like.

Hello michelle. For the cities that you will be at, I think a budget of $ 125. per person for each day, is correct, but entertainment and buying a souvenir would be extra money. I recommend that you spend money for comforts and conveniences -- rides in Taxi cars, eat in restaurants that you really like being in, buy a bottle of good wine -- because this trip is your honeymoon trip. To spend not more than $ 125. each day (per person) a person must be careful : be certain that you do not spend much money for one Taxi ride. People going on their first trip to Europe discover that spending their money for several little things (buying a Telephone calling card in each country, spending their money for going into a public toilet room at a big train station, spending Five U.S. Dollars for a cup of coffee, buying a bottle of water every day, buying packs of facial tissues, paying a person to wash and dry your clothes, buying postage stamps, buying picture post cards) travelers spend more money than they thought they would spend. And a traveller could loose some money in Europe : at night when a traveller is in a hotel room, counting his/her money, the amount of that money could be 20 Euros less than the amount that the person thought he/she has. Bring your ATM card, and Credit Cards, for you to be prepared for that kind of situation, do not let it ruin your mood. I recommend : bring with you, from home, every health care product that you might possibly need -- for runny nose, nasal congestion, upset stomach, nausea, ...-- in Europe. Those items can be high - priced at pharmacies in Europe. Budgeting for buying souvenirs : I will now give advise that is not applicable to all people. If you are willing to spend more than $ 130. for one art item, reserve money for that. Do not spend any of that money for low priced souvenir items that you will see. Keep the $ 130. (or more) for buying an art item that you will like very much. You will see it, one of your days in Europe.

$250.00 is more than enough per day to have a lovely time. And as you are on your honeymoon you'll enjoy simple pleasures more so you will probably need much less artificial entertainment. My husband and I just returned from London. We ate all three meals out, including a many course meal at an expensive restaurant several nights. We are museum and art types so spend additional money on that. We love our pubs and wine bars too. And yet we averaged with no tightening of the belt on $75.00 each per day. So relax and enjoy, and what you don't spend you can spend on your next vacation.

Hi Michelle,
Congradulations on your forthcoming marriage. I agree with the other posters, $250 is more than enough. My wife, daughter and I budgeted $75.00 per person per day for food and entertainment and we came back with money. However, Italy was twice as much as Germany and Austria, so it does depend where you are. Keep in mind the Euro/pound is down as compared to when we went in Sept. One thing we did to stretch our dollar was staying in B & B's that served breakfast. We would eat a large breakfast, light snack in the afternoon and then a nice dinner in the evening. We also asked the locals where they would eat and avoid the tourist traps with higher prices.
Have fun...your in for an incredible time!
Monte

congratulations, btw.

I go all out when it comes to souvenirs. But since this is more of a special occasion kind of trip I'd say enjoy the fine dinning and sightseeing.

i thnk a 100 a day each is fine , i keep reaing about how expensive the food is , i found it very cheap, i had great pizza for 5 euro that filled me up
(little place around the corner from the C/S Rookies in amsterdam) breakfasts for under 5 euro, jsut dont go to the tourist traps, In Munich i ate for almost 20 euro a day 3 meals no problem (without Beer),
so you will hve a fe wextra bucks to splurge,
enjoy...

Peace Matt