Average dailey budget for hotels and meals?

My daughter and I traveled for 8 weeks in 8 countries.

The majority of our lodging was in hostels which save you a lot of money to spend elsewhere.

The Hostels in Switzerland (Lauterbrunnen Valley), Austria and Germany were VERY clean.

In Paris we stayed in a budget hotel with a small shower.

In Bayeaux we stayed in a B & B with a small shower.

Our hotel in Amsterdam had a small shower.

We did not see a bathtub anywhere.

The "down the hall" showers were fine with me. Just take shower shoes...the flip flop kind and you will be ok.

You must remember you are only in your rooms to shower and sleep.

the question: Anyone kept track of daily lodging and meals on a moderate budget?

Yes, Rick Steves has. In his Europe Through the Back Door 2009 he gives a rough rule of thumb of $185 per day per person for total trips costs, not just hotels and meals, but that does not include airfare.

The $185 per person per day includes (you asked about hotels and meals):

a couple sharing a $150/night hotel room (thus $75/person)

breakfast included with the hotel rate

lunch $15/person

dinner $25/person

$5 misc snacks/person

That's $120 per person per day for hotel and food.

The $185 per person per day does not include airfare and assumes a couple staying in middle of the road hotels, eating one sit down meal per day, and traveling generally middle of the road. Many here have admitted their costs are equal to or more than Rick's budget figures.

Rick's figures include trip costs for "student or rock bottom budget travelers": about $100 to $110 per person per day total cost, compared to the $185--again this includes everything except airfare.

Tips for $ saving in Germany:

There are actually very few "down the hall" accommodations anymore in Germany, even in hostels. Most official German hostels have remodeled their dorms into en suite rooms for 2-6 people.

Hostels can be a good choice but are often stuffed with noisy, rowdy school groups. B&B's offer much more more peace and privacy and a chance to see what life is like in a German home.

Outside of big cities, you'll find B&B's at around 20-25 Euros/night per person; you can often rent apartments for about the same amount. It's often a good strategy, when visiting big cities like Munich, to stay in a village outside town and shuttle in for a day's sightseeing by train or other public transport, which adds only a little to the cost and can let you see a bit of the countryside.

In the Black Forest, many villages participate in the Konus program; the B&B, vacation apartment, and hotel hosts there issue you a Konus card for free travel on all trains and buses in the region during your stay. It's hard to beat free. You can overnight for a few days in a mountain village like Hinterzarten and daytrip at whim to Freiburg, Titisee or other towns that interest you.

I agree with the previous poster. Our hostels in Germany had baths and showers in the room. The hostel in Salzburg, Austria has 1-1/2 bath in room. This one is a business college during the school term and we were staying in a dorm room.

From our experience you cannot go wrong staying in a hostel in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. They were immaculate!

I am in my 60's and felt very comfortable.

Oh and they served breakfast.

Our (combined) average was less that $100 USD per day during the 8 weeks. That did not include Eurail Passes or Airfare.

It can be done.

First, any price comparison cannot include the cost of airfare.

That depend so much on where you start and where you are going. Obviously, costs will differ substantially depending on if you are flying from California to Italy or Boston to Ireland.

Second, cost should be in Euro, not Dollars. I have been going to Europe for almost 10 years, and when I first went, it was $0.86/€. I didn't spend very many $$ then. The cost of traveling over there has not changed much, in Euro, but now it is $1.40/€. I will travel the same way, but spend a lot more $$.

On my last two trips, for accommodations (only once with a WC/shower down the hall, always B&B type, never hostels), meals (at least one sit-down meal per day), transportation, entrances, misc, I have spent about €73 per day. Depending on today's exchage rate, your $/day will vary.

In my mind, $150 gets you a pretty nice room.

Plenty of space to line-dry your hand-washed items in a room like that!

Therefore, that makes it worth the occasional splurge.

Even though I'd drop $100 on dinner without batting an eye, I like to complain whenever I spend more than that on an average room.

Everything, including souvenirs, car rental, boat ferry and the flights, cost us just under $200 PP a day for our last trip.

That means, even with a $30 a day wine & spirits budget, I came right in, or even under, Rick's daily expenditure estimate.

I commend JB on not being the lush I am when I'm on vacation.

P.S. - That last trip was at $1.52 to the Euro.

Based on current FX rates,

Lodging at $150/night = EUR 107

Lunch/dinner at $40/person = EUR 30

LODGING: EUR 107 is is reasonable

FOOD: Without proper planning/discipline, it is soooo easy to go over that EUR 30/per person. Especially if you are a first time traveler to these areas.

Plan your day around where you want to eat as identified in the RS guides - and stick to that plan. If each meal ends up being a spur of the moment decision, I guarantee you will bust the budget.

If you do more than 1 sit down meal per day, it is very unlikely you won't make the EUR 30/person. This is doubly true if you like to enjoy alcoholic beverages with your meal. Two sit down meals with alcoholic beverages = 1% chance of EUR/30 person for food.

Most of my experience is in Germany Austria and Switzerland (three trips) with one trip to France and England. We stayed in decent hotels in the middle of the action most of the time for around 75-90 Euro p/night. B and B is even cheaper but must add a very small bus fare into town. Most of the hotels have a very nice breakfast which means we only needed a snack for lunch at a local market or small cafe which really helps the budget. We have a nice sit down dinner at nice little restaurants (the ones where locals eat which makes for great food and non tourist prices). All but one hotel have had showers in the room. We dont buy lots of trinkets but usually get one nice item per trip (ie a beautiful hand carved music box in the black forest on one trip). We usually make short city hops from one location to another so we go on local trains and once in a while rent a car for a day trip. Except in Paris and London we have always stayed at or under 100 dollars a day per person and even in Paris and London it was at about 115 dollars per person per day. Of course that was not including airfare. Good planning makes for a great trip within budget and a once in a while splurge when you see something really fun or nice and you casn still stay within budget. Have a great trip