Europe: What it actually cost

[agnes]

My OP here: pandce.proboards.com/thread/300223/europe-budget

I didn't keep the best track for the breakdown, but we came in $342.48 under budget. The orange is the actual amount spent. 


TRANSPORTATION

Round Trip Flights: $3,100.00 $3,119.78
Train (Paris to Stuttgart): $150.00 $216.90
Paris Metro/RER: $65.00 $73.74 (2 RER tickets from CDG to Paris, 2 carnets, and 2 tickets from Versailles to Paris)
Prague Metro?: $50.00 $10.91 (2 day passes - didn't really use much)  
Germany S-Bahn/U-Bahn: $50.00 ?? (2 day passes it was way less than $50)
Cab: $50.00 $39.69 (Transfer to Prague airport.  Metro/trams/buses were not running that early)
Night Train (Stuttgart to Manheim to Prague): $285.00 $231.81


HOTELS
Paris - 5 nights: $1,000.00 $1,048.05
Stuttgart - 3 nights: $350.00 $348.91
Prague - 4 nights: $750.00 $687.66


SIGHT-SEEING
Speedway: $250.00 $243.16
Paris Museum Pass - 4days: $160.00 $152.51 
Catacombs de Paris: $21.00 $21.79
Mercedes Museum: $21.00 $0 (free admission for the museum's birthday)
Prague Castle: $36.00 ??
Paris Bateaux: $0.00 $41.17 
Kutna Hora: $0.00 ??(spontaneous day trip)
Versailles golf cart hour rental: $0.00 ??
Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Garden: $0


Food - $75/DAY: $1,500.00 ??
Shopping: $500.00 ??
Bank/International Fees: $50.00 $19.37 

Ordered Euros & ATM withdrawals: $1,790.47 

Grand Total: $8,388.00 $8,045.52


Not bad.  

[sicilygirl]

Great post! I did a similar one when we got back from Italy. It's so helpful to see these kinds of budget posts!

Hope you had a great time!

[Pom]

It sounds like an amazing trip! Worth every penny I hope

[agnes]

I had an amazing time! Although, we def could have spent less time in Stuttgart.

I'll be posting a PIP heavy thread later this week when I have time.

[dreamcrisp1]

My trip cost about the same or just under! It's nice to see a breakdown. I should do one but I was there for 4.5 weeks.

[aurora]

I am impressed at how much research you did into costs ahead of time. A lot of your line items are nearly spot on!

I hope it was a fun trip.

[agnes]

Jun 3, 2014 22:55:00 GMT -5 aurora said:

I am impressed at how much research you did into costs ahead of time. A lot of your line items are nearly spot on!

I hope it was a fun trip.

it's also nice to see that I added in extra activities too and we were still under budget.

And I find it amusing that MM was telling me that I should up our food budget. I know for most of Paris we were at $50/day but then I stopped keeping track.

[aurora]

Jun 3, 2014 23:20:39 GMT -5 agnes said:

Jun 3, 2014 22:55:00 GMT -5 aurora said:

I am impressed at how much research you did into costs ahead of time. A lot of your line items are nearly spot on!

I hope it was a fun trip.

it's also nice to see that I added in extra activities too and we were still under budget.

And I find it amusing that MM was telling me that I should up our food budget. I know for most of Paris we were at $50/day but then I stopped keeping track.

Did you see the post about expensive restaurant meals?  I think a lot of MM appreciates very nice restaurants. 

[agnes]

Jun 3, 2014 23:23:33 GMT -5 aurora said:

Jun 3, 2014 23:20:39 GMT -5 agnes said:

it's also nice to see that I added in extra activities too and we were still under budget.

And I find it amusing that MM was telling me that I should up our food budget. I know for most of Paris we were at $50/day but then I stopped keeping track.

Did you see the post about expensive restaurant meals?  I think a lot of MM appreciates very nice restaurants. 

i did not. My nice birthday dinner was very inexpensive. I think only $30 including tip? I think our most expensive meal was over $40 and least expensive was 7 euro.

Also, we don't really do fancy dining. Or fancy anything really.

[flatlan]

Thanks for the recap of the budget! I can't wait to see the pics!

[Deleted]

Here are details of our expenditures for 10 days in Spain (everything is for 2 people) -- not bad!

Flights (JFK --> MAD there; SVQ --> MAD --> JFK back)
Fare: $2568.12
Fee to book redeye seats ahead of time: $108
TOTAL: 2676.12

Hotels: 
4 nights in Madrid: $612.48
2 nights in Granada: $397.77
4 nights in Seville: $822.79
TOTAL: $1833.04

Trains:
Madrid to Toledo round-trip (day trip): $55.27
Madrid to Granada one-way: $274
Granada to Seville one-way: $92
Seville to Cordoba round-trip (day trip): $130
TOTAL: $551.27

Pre-booked attractions:
Madrid bike tour: $84.40
Alhambra admission: $47.39
Alcazar admission: $28.59
Seville walking tour: $40.84
Seville Alcazar tour: $13.62
TOTAL: $214.84

Transport to/from JFK: $50 (subway/Airtrain there; Airtrain/LIRR/cab from Penn Station home)

Spending money while in Spain:  $1277
(Includes: food/drink; attractions that weren't pre-booked; cabs to/from airports and train stations; about 50 euros of drugstore/grocery/miscellaneous purchases)

Cat sitter for 10 days: $300

TOTAL: $6902.27

[sicilygirl]

v and agnes

It's interesting to see how close your two numbers are! v came in at $690.23 per day and agnes came in at $670.46 per day. The numbers I posted for my trip back in December (pandce.proboards.com/thread/271948/italy-spent-on-week-trip) came out to $492.40 per day, but our flights were much cheaper at only $1,684 (off-season?) and we had free accommodations for 3 nights which affected our overall budget.

[protozoa]

Thanks for posting, I love these!

[Deleted]

Thanks! I love these posts.

[Deleted]

Lets do more of these,this is awesome!

[spunkarella]

These are so helpful!

v can you tell me about your cat sitter? How often and how long were the visits? We are going to Italy and Spain for 10 nights in September. Our three cats do fine for 4 night trips but I'm worried they will get lonely and go crazy when we are gone for so long.

Our sitter normally comes once a day for 15-30 minutes. He tries to play laser with them but they mostly hide under the bed while he's there. I thought about asking him to come sit on the couch and watch tv or something 1-2 hrs/day just so they have someone around more. Is that crazy?

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2014 12:00:13 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

These are so helpful!

v can you tell me about your cat sitter? How often and how long were the visits? We are going to Italy and Spain for 10 nights in September. Our three cats do fine for 4 night trips but I'm worried they will get lonely and go crazy when we are gone for so long.

Our sitter normally comes once a day for 15-30 minutes. He tries to play laser with them but they mostly hide under the bed while he's there. I thought about asking him to come sit on the couch and watch tv or something 1-2 hrs/day just so they have someone around more. Is that crazy?

He comes once a day and I'm not sure how long he's there for -- he feeds and waters them, cleans the litter box, and then they get social time.  The playful cat is shy with strangers and the ridiculously outgoing cat doesn't like to play, so I'm guessing play time goes over like a lead balloon.

I think our guys do fine, though they've been obscenely purry and clingy since we got back.

I don't think your request is crazy!!!  I'd do that if I thought our kitties would appreciate it.  I figure since they have each other (and they love each other), they can't be THAT starved for socialization.

[agnes]

Jun 4, 2014 8:56:19 GMT -5 sicilygirl said:

v and agnes

It's interesting to see how close your two numbers are! v came in at $690.23 per day and agnes came in at $670.46 per day. The numbers I posted for my trip back in December (pandce.proboards.com/thread/271948/italy-spent-on-week-trip) came out to $492.40 per day, but our flights were much cheaper at only $1,684 (off-season?) and we had free accommodations for 3 nights which affected our overall budget.

fligts are a big chunk of change when coming from California. I am surprised, though, that v's are not THAT much less than mine.

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2014 13:03:34 GMT -5 agnes said:

Jun 4, 2014 8:56:19 GMT -5 sicilygirl said:

v and agnes

It's interesting to see how close your two numbers are! v came in at $690.23 per day and agnes came in at $670.46 per day. The numbers I posted for my trip back in December (pandce.proboards.com/thread/271948/italy-spent-on-week-trip) came out to $492.40 per day, but our flights were much cheaper at only $1,684 (off-season?) and we had free accommodations for 3 nights which affected our overall budget.

fligts are a big chunk of change when coming from California. I am surprised, though, that v's are not THAT much less than mine.

What we paid is about the going rate from New York to major European cities nowadays it seems.  I stalked those fares for a long time (before and after we booked, because I'm neurotic), and we got the best price I saw -- and it was in line with what we've paid for airfare on similar trips over the past years.  

On the plus side, Spain is a very MM country so our trip (particularly our hotels and food/drink) was considerably more MM than comparable trips we've taken to other places in Europe.

[teatimefor2]

That is very interesting, thanks for sharing both! Hope you had a great time!