I've been reading these boards alot in anticipation of a trip to France later this month. Alot of discussions concern moneybelts. I've been convinced to wear one. My question concerns cash. Often people say they put such and such in the money belt and only keep one days cash in their pocket. Just wondering, ballpark figure, how much walking around money is reasonable in say Paris? Not counting attrations just misc purchases. Thanks in advance
Nancy
How could anyone know that? You are the only one who knows what kind of places you want to eat in, how much shopping you want to do, what kind of transportation you want to use. Even the minimum suggestion of $100/day is subject to change because of how the exchange rate might continue to change.
Nancy (Bloomington) is correct. It does depend on your planned activities for the day -- some days more, some days less. Both of us on average will start with about $50 in local currency each day (total of about a hundred). The assumption is that sometimes during the day we will use a restroom and that will provide the opportunity to reload if necessary.
Very smart move to use a moneybelt. I would say that about 40-50 euros should be plenty, per person. Remember that you can always reload your wallet from your moneybelt in a bathroom stall, in the middle of the day.
Nancy,
It's up to each individual on planet Earth.
How would I know what you want to spend your money on? Some people spend hundreds of Euros/day, some much less.
I agree with everyone else, but you did ask for a ballpark figure so here goes:
In Rome, I kept most of my money in the moneybelt (actually a neckpouch). I had a small zipper pocket on the chest of my jacket and I usually kept a 10 euro bill plus all of my loose change (which typically amounted to about another 8-10 euro). This is plenty to buy a snack or a few postcards, metro tickets, the small incidentials.
I put large purchases on my credit card, so never needed to carry more than about 25 euros out of the money belt at a time. If you expect to be buying more expensive items with cash, or are travelling with more than one person, you will need to adjust accordingly.
Assume 20 euros for museums, another 10 for coffee, 5 more a snack and postcard. a lite lunch another 15-20 - so if you have 35-50 euros handy youre probably ok. A hand full of coins a 5, 10 and 20 notes will do fine im sure - as you can always dig into that money belt for more. Its not like it will be pinned to your jacket - use whats comfortable. If you walk around with 40$ at home do the same there!
Don't look at it as a day's worth of cash, you will have plenty of opportunities in a day to access your money belt. I figure on putting a 50 Euro note in my pocket plus leftover change as I start out for the day, plenty to get by if you sit down for a meal or for incidentals along the way. Key is, don't put more in your pocket than you can afford to lose, so if you are on a very tight budget, maybe 20 Euro instead.
Thanks for the replys all. I wasn't looking for a hard and fast number or someone to tell me how much to keep in a pocket. Just a ballpark amount that other people have found adequete. Great information, these boards always come through wonderfully.
Merci!
Nancy
