How much moolah? (Sorry, another virgin post...)

[dominique]

Hi!

I'm going to be backpacking in Europe during the summer. I'll be going to France (4 days), Italy (6 days), Netherlands (3-4 days), England (3-4 days) and Ireland (3-4 days). I'll also be hitting Switzerland for 2 days, but that isn't a cost issue (thank God for family!). My mother is generously offering my plane ticket as a birthday present, so I'm concerned about the 'over there' expenses. This will be a 22-25 days trip. Including train passes, how much should I save up? I know people say 75$ a day, but does that include the train fare? And I assume that's 75 American dollars. So my question is, how much Canadian dollars do I need saved up for my trip, excluding the plane fare?

Thanks!

[Eagle]

dominique, the general "rule of thumb" seems to be to allow for US$ 75.00-100.00 per day for expenses (lodging, food & incidentals). This does not include air fare, rail fare, travel insurance, etc.

Based on an exchange rate of 20%, US$ 75.00 would be about Cdn.$ 90.00 per day. Of course how much you spend will depend to some extent on what types of activities you will be doing.

If you're buying a Rail Pass (which can be done from this web site), you will be able to determine an accurate cost for your rail transport. If you're going to be buying point-to-point tickets, you'll have to check the Rail Europe web site or www.bahn.de (click the "International Guests" link at the top) for prices. The bahn site doesn't always include prices, so the RE site is probably better.

I assume you've read other Posts in this section regarding using ATM's, Traveller's Cheques or whatever. I always travel with at least two ATM cards in case one gets "lost" or whatever, and also take credit cards.

Hope this helps?

[me]

it depends what level of comfort you want. if you stay in hostels, cook all your own food, walk more than ride public transport, you can get away with less than US$75/day. of course this excludes plane & train fare.

for cheap flights, i've used www.whichbudget.com for train transport, www.railsaver.com can help you decide which railpass, or no railpass to get.

[dominique]

Thanks for the tips! If anyone has anything to add, feel free!

[kena]

My general rule is to triple the cost of an hostel bed to estimate my total day's expenses. This allows me to adjust to different costs of living, and it generally works well.

Ex:
In London, I paid 22 pounds for my hostel bed, and planned 44 pounds for food and activities. (130$CAN/day)

In Italy, I paid around 20 euros per night, so I planned for 40 euros for other expenses (~80$CAN)