Planning a month long trip to Europe- Basic Questions

[XHitman014]

Hi,

I'll be starting my first year of Law School next September and me and my wife (me 26, wife 23) are planning on going to Europe for about a month before the grind begins. We're planning to go to Paris, London, & Rome at the least while possibly adding Germany/Austria/Switzerland in the mix as well. I haven't really had much experience travelling abroad before and have no clue what type of dollars it's going to cost outside of plane tickets. We're both pretty cheap and can cut corners when need be but I'm sure we'd be stopping at all the major tourist stops. Roughly speaking...what type of budget will I need?

[Kneel B4 Zod]

go buy a recent version of a guide book, like Lonely Planet or Let's Go. it will easily pay for itself, saving you money in various places. it will also give the cost for all the major attractions/sample hotels.

more specifically, Europe is really expensive for Americans right now. London is literally 2x as expensive as Boston, and countries which use the Euro are approx. 35% more expensive.

of course some things are cheaper in certain places (like wine and cheese in France), but in general figure you are going to be spending between 30% and 100% more in a European city than you would in a major US city.

[lennytheduck]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi,

I'll be starting my first year of Law School next September and me and my wife (me 26, wife 23) are planning on going to Europe for about a month before the grind begins. We're planning to go to Paris, London, & Rome at the least while possibly adding Germany/Austria/Switzerland in the mix as well. I haven't really had much experience travelling abroad before and have no clue what type of dollars it's going to cost outside of plane tickets. We're both pretty cheap and can cut corners when need be but I'm sure we'd be stopping at all the major tourist stops. Roughly speaking...what type of budget will I need?

[/ QUOTE ]

Frommer's has a book called Europe for $80/day. I think you can do it cheaper than that but not by much if you are going to see a lot of museums, eat well, etc.

[MarkD]

Try not to do too much (ie. don't try to see too many places - choose a few and focus on them).

[XHitman014]

Thanks for all the advice...$80/day sounds really cheap. If that's true, that would be excellent.

So does a week a city sound about right for 4 cities? (Off the top of my head: London, Paris, Rome, Berlin.) I could easily cut out Berlin and go to more spots in Italy in particular.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

I bought the Frommers "$50/day" book when I backpacked in 1993.

given the strength of the dollar then vs now in the major euro currencies, I would say $80 day is even CHEAPER than $50 day was in 1993, meanwhile inflation has been going on over there. not a good combo.

I mean, it all depends on how cheap you are, and $80 is possible, but don't expect to be eating any decent meals or staying anywhere besides the cheapest hostels, and often times missing out on expensive tourist sites.

also, a week in 4 cities is way too much. I would do London + Paris in 1 week. or given your $ situation, Paris + another city.

edit: my conversion is a bit off.

$50 back then would have bought 71 Swiss Francs or 33 pounds, $80 now buys 94 Francs and 44 Pounds. however, even with low inflation, 94 francs now is worth less than 71 francs was in 1993.

bottom line: Frommers book should really be titled "$85 or $90 a day"

[lennytheduck]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for all the advice...$80/day sounds really cheap. If that's true, that would be excellent.

So does a week a city sound about right for 4 cities? (Off the top of my head: London, Paris, Rome, Berlin.) I could easily cut out Berlin and go to more spots in Italy in particular.

[/ QUOTE ]

You don't need a full week in Berlin at all. 3 or 4 days max there.

If you are really into sightseeing and art then I could see spending a week each in London, Paris, and Rome (you could spend a few days in the Louvre alone) but I would try to add some place like Florence in there as well by paring a few days off each city.

[raju]

Venice is missing off your list.
Its not cheap but neither is anywhere else you mentioned.
Although, having said that, you could save yourself alot by staying on the mainland and getting a bus into the city

Venice is unique and very beautiful. you should definitely go to Venice.

Wives especially love it.

[slickss]

Instead of traveling for a month on a strict budget, I'd suggest cutting it down to two weeks without worrying about the price of every meal.

I will assume you're from USA, in which case most of the wealthier European nations, and particularly their biggest cities, will be more expensive than what you're used to. With the weak US dollar, it is not the perfect time for a budget trip to Europe.

Oh, and dodge Venice unless you just love huge gatherings of American tourists.