After much thought I believe we will be cancelling our trip to Greece. I want to have money to spend once we get there. We might now go to Prague or somewhere in Hungary instead as the dollar is still worth something there. Are there any other European countries not of the euro that we should consider? Thanks for any or all input.
The traveler
Posted by
Powell River, Canada
359 posts
Colleen, try www.gocurrency.com, you can check out the currency of any country in the world. Consider Croatia/Slovenia(euro,but.../Slovak Republic; for the latter, Bratislava is worth an overnite & reasonably priced.
Posted by
nolongeravailable
102 posts
Actually Colleen...
In Prague and Budapest...pretty expensive
because even though they are not on the Euro they are pricing thier currency because they will be soon.
We are finding Croatia, just as expensive as anywhere else.
If you go to say Olomouc in the Czech Republic your money will go much further.
More value would be in Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria.
Stay out of the high tourist zones and especially capitol cities.
Posted by
Northern, Italy
208 posts
My sister was just in Turkey for her honeymoon and said money wise, it was like going to Spain or Italy before the Euro came in. She loved it.
I also was talking to a friend from Turkey and he was doing a good job as selling his country to us.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Also, England, Switzerland and Sweden are not on the Euro. Switzerland is not even in the EU. I'm betting that none of these are any less expensive.
Posted by
Grafton, Mass, USA
23 posts
The only scandanavian country that uses the Euro is Finland. The others retained their national kroner. None of these places are very cheap, even with a strong dollar and weak euro.
Fun, yes. Cheap? Nope.
Rick
Posted by
San Diego
552 posts
Your problem Colleen, lies in your original premise: "...as the dollar is still worth something there."
The Euro is stable yes, and it's holding up all the currencies in the area too.
But the bottom line is - the US dollar is plummeting.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
84 posts
I am going to the Czech Republic this summer and am finding Prague to be VERY expensive...at least for lodgings. If you get out into the Czech countryside you can find lodgings that are much more affordable.
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
I've just returned from a 5 days business trip to Berlin. It always amazes me how cheap that great metropolis actually is. Whereas in Frankfurt it's hard to find a pint of beer for less than €4 in Berlin €2.something seems to be the standard. At restaurants you can get great entrées for around €8. Public transport also feels like half the price of Frankfurt. A 15 minutes S-Bahn ride was €1.20 (single fare, there are also very cheap day tickets) and taxi half way across the entire city was just €12 (more than 30mins journey).
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
And again... don't look for countries in Europe that are not on the €uro because they're all on a tie with the Deutsche Mark for historical reasons and since the DM has become part of the €uro even the currencies of Bulgaria, Romania and others are tied to the €uro. It may not be called €uro there but it IS expensive for you anyway - unfortunately. So spend your time on finding out about places that are cheaper than others instead of focusing on currency names that all are just another local version of the strong €uro.