|
on less than $200 per day for Two People Nov. 16, 2007 If you're an average American living in the States, for the most part, you won't see any difference in your day-to-day life as a result of the ever-dropping exchange rate. On the other hand, if you plan on visiting the EU (any country that uses the Euro as currency), you should be aware of the exchange rate - very aware of it these days. Nothing is dollar for dollar over here. If you spend 35 euros on dinner, then you are actually spending $51.31 US dollars. Sure, it's okay for a dinner, but if your travel plans include staying in an EU country for more than a long weekend and your an average person of average means then you'll need to be keenly aware of the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar. The dollar has been on a steady decline for several years now. The euro is also getting stronger in it's own right. This makes the decreased value of the dollar even stronger. Let's say you are going to take a two-week vacation in France. You've put aside $1400 US for the trip, excluding airfare (which is purchased in dollars, not euros). It's important to realize that $1400 US Dollars is equal to 955.04 Euros. So when you are planning your budget and determining how much money you will have to spend each day on hotel, food, transportation and entertainment you'll want to convert from dollars to euros to get an accurate reflection of your actual available funds. $1400 US divided by 14 days gives you $100 US per day or 68.22 euro per day. There was a time when one could scrape by traveling in Europe on $100 per day. If this is your goal, fine. If you haven't done it before, don't forget to consider the exchange rate because if you travel on limited funds you will be very aware of the difference between the euro and the dollar as a direct result of today's exchange rate. This doesn't mean you can't travel on the cheap to Europe. Although it might mean you'll really be traveling on the cheap and you'll want to take it into account before your trip begins. We've always planned our trips far in advance mostly because I've always saved for the trips in advance and paid cash (or debit) for everything. So, when we went back home, we were just home, there were no lingering bills. The trip was just a fond memory rather than an interest accruing weight on my shoulders. As far as cash goes, I strongly suggest using your debit card while traveling. It's harder to receive the wrong change from an unscrupulous vendor and you don't have to worry about running around with a load of cash. In case you do need or want cash, ATMs are everywhere. You don't need to load up on euros before arriving in a foriegn country. I also recommend not going to money exchange booths as they will charge an additional fee. I believe the average percentage my bank takes when I pull euro out of the ATM in Europe is 1%. Traveling on the Cheap My daughter and I have done a lot of traveling in France. We can usually get by on 125 euro per day ($183.24 US) for the both of us, excluding transportation. A good way to find cheap rooms is to book it on-line before you go. We generally use hostelworld.com. I'm sure there are plenty of good booking options on-line and I'm not particularly attached to hostelworld. That being said, I've always found the website easy to navigate. We found a hostel in Paris for 10 euro a piece. Where we stay is pretty much based on how we are traveling. A couple years ago, we decided to take a month long trip to France. Our goal was to stay long enough to decide if we wanted to move here. We rented a car through Budget for a month. At the time, it cost about $500. I think the price of the rental is about the same in today's money but the rate of exchange is much higher. We rented the car at the airport in Nice where we flew in. We ended up driving to Italy immediately where we spent some time driving down the western coastline, visiting Pisa, Florence and Venice. Then we went back to Nice for a few days and drove along the coastline past St. Tropez. Then up to Paris, over to Belgium, then to Den Haag, then back down to Nice. We spent so much time driving that we would often just sleep at auto routes. This saved a ton on hotels that helped to compensate for the abundance of gas we were using. We found that having a car gave us absolute freedom to do as we want when we wanted. We weren't bothered by train schedules or buses or having to deal with lugging our baggage around or dealing with people on the trains. We traveled at our own pace. Another benefit to renting a car is that you can visit small towns that you would not otherwise be able to see. The first time we traveled to Paris we had booked a hotel room online. Sophie was younger then (9-years-old) so I only had to pay for one person. Now she is older so I'm always paying for two people. We've started staying at hostels. Sophie loves hosteling. She's always meeting really cool people from all over the world. More and more nowadays, families and adults stay can be found in hostels. It's not just for college students on vacation anymore. Many hostels have communal kitchens while others often offer a cheap breakfast. As far as food goes... it depends. We like a variety. We love picnics in our hotel room with cheese, wine for me, orange juice for Sophie and a baguette. The store bought food is delicious and fun to discover. That being said, we also love to find cool restaurants that become experiences in and of themselves. Oh, and by the way, if you run into one of those awful waiters... just move on. There are plenty of great, friendly waiters in France. No need to waste your time with someone who has more distain then good service. Things Worth Spending Your Money On Good food, whether store bought or restaurant style can be a wonderful adventure and well worth the ticket price. Restaurants don't have to be expensive to be good. The French like good food, but most French people are average income earners. So you can deduct that you can find good food at a decent price. Just look around and don't expect to find it on the priciest or most touristy streets. Expect to find it a block or two from there. Museums and other attractions you really want to experience are worth the price of admission. If you have always wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower then it's fair to say the ticket is worth the price. If you've always wanted to take a boat ride on the Seine, then spend your money there. If you've always wanted to go to the Louvre or the D'Orsay, then by all means, spend away. Sometimes I can be overly miserly and that's when I need to remember the importance of balance. Other times, I can spend way too much and then again, I need to find balance. For me, balance seems to find itself rather comfortably at 125 euro per day for two. Whether I travel by car, stay in Paris the entire time, eat out or go to attractions, my budget seems to dictate the need for 125 euro a day for the two of us. Yes, we could spend more, but who couldn't? On the other hand, we probably couldn't travel comfortably on less. We like our little luxuries and don't like to deprive ourselves. On 125 euro a day, we're happy! | 
Home *My Articles* *My Blog* *My Blogspot* Family Film Stuff European Travel France Antibes, France Nice, France Cannes, France Disneyland Paris, France Strasbourg, France Basel, Switzerland Berlin, Germany Kreuzberg, Germany Kehl, Germany Civitavecchia, Italy Edinburgh, Scotland Stirling, Scotland Barcelona, Spain Healthy Recipes Frugal Living Living Green Make Money Online Jobs for Teens Sophie's Space Dreadlocks About Me Contact Us 
|
