Money Matters&#59; Budgeting

As realistic as any suggestion. So much depends on your travel style, eating, sightseeing, etc, that it is difficult to say what you should expect exactly. His is a decent starting point. We follow a lot of his recommends especially regarding hotels but we also spend maybe 15 to 25% more because we don't have to budget as carefully either.

First thing, if you express expenses in USD, they can vary as much due to the exchange rate as due to your style of travel. A little over a year ago, the Euro was $1.60; when I first went over in 2000, it was 89¢. So, give your expenses in Euro; others can convert it at today's exchange rate. Second, don't include airfare. Someone living in Boston, going to Ireland will find airfare much different than a Californian going to Italy. In four trips (52 days) in Europe in the last six years, traveling single in Germany and Austria, mostly in small towns, about 15% cities, my total expenses on the ground have been between €63-€76 per day. That's for overnight accommodations, all meal expenses (food, beverage, tip), and transportation (single country or region). No hostels, no grocery stores.

On the five week trip the two of us just returned from (France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria & Germany) we spent an average of $65 per person, per day for lodging, siteseeing, and food. For lodging, we stay at really nice zimmers/pensions/hotels, no hostels. Siteseeing was limited, this was more of a country side trip. In ref to food, we almost always have breakfast included, eat a picnic lunch, have a coffee in the afternoon, and 3/4 of the time eat out for dinner (avg. of 21 euros for two with drinks). In ref to transportation, we had a rental car for the entire trip that averaged $60/day which included the rental, gas and misc. (tolls, stickers, parking). Hope this helps.

I'm sure Denise's expenses, about €68/day/pers, double occup. were far below what Rick suggests (I think she spent less for everything than he suggests for lodging). She shows it can be done.

If you are spending time in France we found a hotel chain called ETAP they are usually on the outskirts of town. The rooms are minimal but clean and really inexpensive.