Europe on $85 a Day* - Good Eats for Cheap

David and I are planning a five-week trip to Italy, Spain, and (maybe) Morocco for $85 a day per person based on shared accommodations. This is the fifth in a series of articles telling you how to travel as cheaply--and comfortably--as we do.

This is my 12 euro Coke. After walking at least 18 miles one day in Paris, David still wanted to see the Arc de Triomphe, a half mile further up the Champs d'Elysee. Since my feet refused to take another step, I decided to wait for him at one of those charming sidewalk cafes, ordering the cheapest thing on the menu--a $17 Coke! Since it was the most expensive Coke I ever plan to drink, I had to take its picture.

Ordering $17 Cokes is not part of our budget strategy, but if you follow our approach to food costs while traveling, you won't miss expensive drinks and you'll whittle your travel budget down to the bone.

And, believe me, you will not suffer. In fact, I think you'll enjoy more authentic food, learn more about the country, and interact more with the people than you would if you ate in restaurants every day of your vacation.

Tightwad Travel Tip - Europe on $85 a Day -- Or Less!

I've stumbled on a wonderful website called Price of Travel which does exactly what its name implies.  This site tracks travel prices for cities around the world and posts the results in an easy-to-read-and-compare format.  Additional information about the city, its attractions, and museum costs are also just a click away.

In the Price of Travel's own words, here are the items they price for each city.  Note that all costs are based on two travelers sharing a hotel room and taxis.
                                                     ****
One night in the cheapest 3-star hotel available with a good location and mostly positive reviews. Hotel prices are per person based on double occupancy, so the full nightly rate is double what is listed for each city here.

Two 3-kilometer taxi rides per day (one ride paid per person)

One cultural attraction, such as a popular museum, per day

Three meals per day using the top end of the range of our “budget meals” for each city

Three beers (or wine) each day as an “entertainment fund.” Non-drinkers might have dessert and coffee or attend a local music performance instead, so this is a general benchmark that should be proportional for each city.
                                                      ****
David and I will be traveling  in Italy for $85 a day which is $30 less than the price listed on the site because we're staying in apartments, not hotels.  But, still, this is an invaluable site for getting a general idea of daily costs.  

Europe on $85 a Day - A Convenient but Costly Vacation Rental Apartment Service

David and I are planning a five-week trip to Italy, Spain, and (maybe) Morocco for $85 a day per person based on shared accommodations. This is the fourth in a series of articles telling you how to travel as cheaply--and comfortably--as we do.

Our private terrace and villa rental in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

In Monday's article, I noted that finding a luxurious apartment at a hostel price is not difficult, but it can be time-consuming. David and I spent almost two weeks locating our apartments in Rome, Florence, and Sorrento although our Torremolinos, Spain, choice was made within a couple hours.

Most tightwad travelers have more time than money and won't mind a time-consuming search, but if you are in a hurry, worrying about making a mistake, or simply need someone to walk you through first-time-jitters, there is an alternative.

Untours, a company that has been providing independent travel accommodations and support services for 36 years, shares my travel philosophy. Their 2011 brochure states that they want to meet people's travel needs, "...in a way that would allow people to unpack their bags, absorb the local culture, and actually live in Europe....Untours provides curious travelers with virtually everything necessary to enjoy a new culture as an insider."

To accomplish this, Untours provides trip-planning information; ground transportation in the form of a city transit pass; an orientation session with the on-site expert who is also available, via telephone, to help with any problems that arise; a dinner or special event with the other Untours visitors in the neighborhood; and, of course, an apartment.

You will undoubtedly find it comforting to have someone meet you at the airport and provide you with some basic groceries for your first breakfast in Europe, but the apartment where you will, "...enjoy a new culture as an insider," is expensive. When someone else does the legwork finding you an apartment, such convenience is costly.

I checked the "sampler" prices for a two-week package: one week in Florence and another week in Rome. The base price is $2349 but the Rome apartment I chose had a $91 surcharge (I noticed other surcharges for other apartments of $400-600 per person.) so the total price was $2440. Per person. That means two weeks of an Untours trip costs $4880 for two people or $349 dollars per day!

The Untours apartment rental costs each person $174 per day as opposed to the apartments David and I are renting in those two cities for 44 euros* ($63 at 70 cents to the euro) per person per day.

Europe on $85 a Day - The Way to Meaningful, Interactive Travel

(In a March 21 blog post this year, travel guru Arthur Frommer expressed his dissatisfaction with the traditional approach to vacations.  Instead of visiting an area where he ricocheted from one tourist attraction to another only to collapse from exhaustion in his hotel room every night, he wanted a more meaningful interaction with the people and the terrain he encountered during his international travel.  Here's an excerpt from Mr. Frommer's blog.  Read the entire post here. )

     "Rather, I began to understand that the travel I enjoyed was associated with people and ideas, the travel that enabled you to experience other lifestyles and ideologies, new and different cultures, totally different ways of dealing with urban and social problems, provocative assumptions and opinions that contradict everything you normally believe. To look upon what was different from your own life, I concluded, was part of the adventure of life."

(Mr. Frommer goes on to suggest ways to find appropriate lodging to facilitate this philosophy.)

Europe on $85 a Day - Luxurious Lodging at Hostel Prices

David and I are planning a five-week trip to Italy, Spain, and (maybe) Morocco for $85 a day per person based on shared accommodations. This is the third in a series of articles telling you how to travel as cheaply--and comfortably--as we do.

Entry to our Paris apartment

David and I have filet mignon tastes but a peanut butter budget, so we have to find lovely lodgings at low prices. Luckily we know how to do that.

On this trip, we will spend 33 nights in Italy and Spain for 2,574 euros, or an average of 78 euros per night. That translates to 39 euros per person, less than what most hostels charge. But we will get so much more than any hostel can provide for almost the same price. Our "hostel budget" will get us an entire apartment with our own kitchen, living room, TV, wi-fi, and laundry facilities. And even more remarkably, if we reserved a hotel with the same amenities, we would be spending three or four times the 39 euro daily rate.

Finding the perfect place at the right price isn't always easy. Actually, for a week or so, it's a full-time job. We make no appointments and even friends are forewarned that we won't have time to answer e-mails! But the concentrated effort always pays off with great accommodations at cheap, cheap prices, so the pain is worth it.

Once you're convinced that an apartment is the best way to have a home away from home, you'll find that there are many resources to help you.

Tightwad Travel Tip - Advice About Rome

Don't leave home for Rome without checking these two blogs. 

You can visit Ron in Rome's website or sign up for free delivery of such timely tips as where to find public bathrooms in the city, how to use the bus system, and what passes should be booked ahead of time.  David and I have found his information invaluable.

Revealed Rome, written by an expat American woman in her 20s, is also chock full of helpful information.  Amanda Ruggeri says her site will help you discover, "Tips, tricks and things not to miss," about Rome.  I now know never to ask for Parmesan cheese in a restaurant!

Europe on $85 a Day - Lodging

A corner of the kitchen in our Paris apartment.



David and I are planning a five-week trip to Italy, Spain, and (maybe) Morocco for $85 a day per person based on shared accommodations. This is the second in a series of articles telling you how to travel as cheaply--and comfortably--as we do.
Expedia.com, Trip Advisor.com, Hotels.com and Booking.com list the IQ Hotel among their top five, one of the best hotels in Rome.

And it does sound lovely. The hotel, located close to Termini Train Station near central Rome, boasts a 15-meter double room with a king size bed, wi-fi, satellite TV, a mini-fridge, desk, telephone and in-room safe. There's a large communal terrace available day or night where you can get a snack or simply relax with a drink from the self-service bar. Should it be too chilly to sit on the terrace, the bar in the lobby, which overlooks the square of the Opera House, is staffed at all times. If you have any energy left after a day of sightseeing, there's a gym and sauna available free for your use. Sounds great, doesn't it? What more could you want?

But, as good as it sounds, David and I won't be staying there.

We found a place five times the size for less than half the price!

Europe on $85 a Day - Flight

David and I are planning a five-week trip to Italy, Spain, and (maybe) Morocco for $85 a day per person based on shared accommodations. This is the first in a series of articles telling you how to travel as cheaply--and comfortably--as we do.

I usually do not include airline ticket costs in my price calculations because there is one uncontrollable variable that no amount of frugality can overcome. If you live in New York City, rather than San Diego, your fare to Europe will undoubtedly be cheaper than mine no matter what cost-cutting measures I use. Location is the key to flight cost.

Still, having said that, I c a n make sure that my cost is the lowest possible by tracking my flight over a period of several months and buying when the price is right. If you use a tracking service like Kayak, you can receive a daily or weekly e-mail notifying you of the day's price for your flight.  (When you reach the website, click on "More" in the left-hand column to reach the "Flight Alert" or tracking tool.)

I used Kayak for the flight David and I will be taking this spring to Rome. Kayak sent us daily e-mails for three months until we discovered a $750 flight ($850 with tax) one morning in January.

Using ITA software, I just checked the same flight and discovered that our flight, today, would cost us $1384 plus tax. We saved at least $600 by planning ahead and taking advantage of a tracking system.

Of course, today, with the turmoil in the world raising the price of gasoline on a daily basis, it's difficult to know when to buy an airline ticket. It seems as though prices may never come down. While my advice about planning far ahead and using a tracking service to find the cheapest flight works under normal circumstances, if you are in quandary right now about whether to buy your ticket to Rome now or in June, here's the latest advice from the New York Times writer Michelle Higgins.

Italy, Spain and (maybe) Morocco on $85 a Day

Duomo in Florence, Italy

I've been sitting here adding numbers and shaking my head in disbelief. Surely I must be wrong. Math and I have never gotten along very well, despite my best efforts at conviviality, so perhaps I simply miscalculated.

But no. I've checked five times now, and I'm confident I'm correct. The numbers are accurate. As astonishing as it sounds, some people are evidently willing to pay two, three, or even five times the amount David and I pay for a vacation.

Safeguard Against Pickpockets

(This article by Sean O'Neill appeared this morning in Frommer's newsletter.  Since nothing ruins a vacation like being pickpocketed, here are the ways to foil a thief.) 
How to Avoid Being Pickpocketed  by Sean O'Neill

Think You Won't Be Pickpocketed? Think again. You may be in more danger while traveling abroad than you suspect. In a typical major city, more than 100 people may be pickpocketed on any given day.

We've interviewed law enforcement officials and other experts about common fleecing techniques. If you watch out for these five scenarios while traveling, you may be able to beat a pickpocket at his own game.

Where: Front pocket of your pants

Pickability: Low

What to Watch Out For: The human eye has a weakness in how it perceives motion; it has trouble watching an object that arcs rather than moves straight. This means a talented thief can easily distract you by arcing one of his hands in the air. Looking away, you won't notice his free hand robbing you. Even a man who knows he's about to be robbed can be fooled with this technique, according to a 2008 article in the prestigious scientific publication Nature Reviews.

What the Experts Say: Having your wallet in your front pocket is a good defense. It's a relatively difficult spot for someone else to fish objects out of.

Tip: Dunhill has invented a "virtually indestructible" wallet. To open it, you need to press a finger against a digital reader to recognize your fingerprint. The cost? About $825, give or take a few bucks. But putting your wallet in the front pocket of your pants is a good enough security measure. And free.