We spent September in France--loved it--and primarily stayed in Rick's $$ places. We are thinking Italy for next September and my impression is that Italy is maybe 50% more expensive than France based on the Italy 2010 book. Anyone have experience in both coutries lately and can verify/negate my impression?
Thanks, Kathleen
Italy is same as France- I was in Nice this September and I found my food and hotel cost the most for my trip compared to Rome, Florence, Venice or Milan.
kathleen,
In my experience, most of the western European countries are about the same in terms of cost. I was in France, Italy & Switzerland this May & June and that's what I found (last year it was Italy, Germany & Austria).
There are always variables of course, but I tend to choose the same "class" of Hotels or other lodgings in each country (usually from Rick's books) and the same dining habits also, so that should provide a fairly accurate cost comparison.
Cheers!
Kathleen,
I haven't been to France lately, but I was in Germany last summer and Italy this summer. Comparing euros to euros it cost the same for two people in Italy as it did for 4 people in Germany. Food and lodging was much more expensive in Italy.
I think you will find the big city vs small town price differences than the France vs Italy differences.
My wife and I spent the month of September in both France and Italy. We found that the prices were very comparable in both countries. Nothing seemed to be too to far out of line until we got home and received our Capital One visa bill and reality set in, that's when you realize everything is so expensive.
We just spent time in England, France, Germany and Italy. We found France and Italy to be comparable and Germany the least expensive. Of course, this will all be determined upon where you go, what type of accomodations you choose and what type of eating you do.
One example I'll give though is we paid approximately the same amount per night for hotels during our entire trip. We had the largest room in Germany, the smallest in Paris and the worst location in Rome. We found food to be the most expensive in Rome as well.
