Now that the US dollar makes Euros very expensive for Americans, lets brainstorm some ideas for cutting expenses on a Europe trip.

Here are my suggestions. Please post with yours!

- Apply the Slow Travel philosophies. Stay in a vacation rental (less expensive than a hotel, you can cook some of your meals or have deli food) and see what is near you (less driving uses less gas).

- Fly off season. When I have been booking, it seems that flights are less expensive October - May.

- Rent a smaller car. Less expensive to rent, uses less gas, lets you park more easily. Or try a car-less trip - take trains or use the cheap European airlines.

- Step down a star. If you like 4 star hotels, this is the chance to hunt out the good 3 star hotels so you can save some money.

- Find less expensive restaurants. In Italy, have pizza for dinner. Order the house wine! In England, try dinner at an Indian restaurant.

- Don't buy things unless you really need them. Your souvenir of your trip is your memories. Maybe you don't need physical souvenirs.

- Work out a budget. If in the past you did not carefully track your trip expenses and are just assuming it is way more expensive now, figure out exactly what you spent on your last trip and see what the same trip would cost now. Maybe it is not that big of a difference? Maybe there are obvious areas where you can make cuts?

- Live more cheaply at home so you have more travel money. Save your "eating out" money for when you travel. Cut back on some of your extras to leave more in the travel budget.

For Vacation Rentals:
- Go for the simpler vacation rental instead of the one with lots of extras.

- Give up the pool! Staying at a place with a pool is much more expensive than a place without (this only applies in high season when you can use the pool).

- Ask for a discount! It doesn't hurt to ask, especially if you are staying in a place for two weeks instead of just one. Or if you are booking a two bedroom and will only be using one of the bedrooms (because that was all you could find in the location you want).

In a vacation rental, buy food for at least three or four meals on the very first shopping trip.
All that food that will potentially go to waste keeps you from making a spur of the moment decision to eat out.

In a hotel, book one with breakfast included.

If you are touring, consider an impromptu picnic on your dash.

So many good ideas here, Pauline! I think you covered everything already - but here are a couple of thoughts:

Stay off the "beaten track"- just a few blocks in a city or a few kilometers in more rural places can make a world of difference, in restaurants and accommodations. The nice bonus is you will find yourself amoung local people instead of hordes of tourists.

Avoid staying in the biggest cities, especially if you have already seen them. My Italian friend laughed when I complained about hotel costs in Venice, she said the Italians just stay in Padova and take the train....I am sure this is an idea that could be adapted for many locales.

Finding a place with kitchen facilities will save you a ton - we generally have breakfast in our apartment, a nice lunch while we are out for the day and make a simple supper when we return.

Figure out your best cell phone option and then use calling cards! Saved us over 200 dollars the last trip!

We always "go cheap" on accommodations - in Italy we have found agriturismos to be an excellent bargain. I can understand luxury hotels for a "destination resort", but for us the destination is Europe itself, as long as the place is clean and safe, we are happy. Last year in Munich, our cousin suggested a nice hotel that was 300 euro a night, we found one a block away that was 60 - and very nice! To us, it makes the difference between one trip a year and two.

Be creative when searching for airfares, sometimes flying into a different European city and taking a budget airline to your final destination can save a lot. There are schedule and baggage issues to consider, but it is worth looking into. Flying out of an airport that isn't your "home" airport can also help...

Bring travel bottles for your toiletries - yes of course you can buy them there, but you are buying a full size bottle of whatever at a 40% premium, and won't use the whole thing. Same for OTC medications. We love the nalgene bottles, LL Bean sells a great set that never leak, etc. and you bring the stuff you like! Nickels and dimes, I realize, but it does actually make a difference...

Since airfare is a huge proportion of our costs, we bend over backwards to add to our frequent flyer points. We put everything we can on our "points" credit card, my husband carefully plans his business travel flights to add to our main ff account (and I don't grouse about the time he spends away from home!). When we're planning a trip using the ff miles, we get on the phone the hour the seats open up, and call every now and then as the trip gets closer to see if we can get something better. We accept the sometimes inconvenient routing as the necessary evil that makes our trips possible.

Don't forget to ask for a diesel when you make your rental car reservations.

Fly coach! It's uncomfortable, downright miserable sometimes, but it only lasts about 12 hours, even for us west coasters, and you save a LOT of money.

We also put every penny we can on our "points" credit card so that at least every other year, our flights are free.

If you want to eat at an expensive restaurant, go for lunch instead of dinner.

Look out for places where the locals eat.

In Britain check out pub food as an alternative to restaurants.

Don't just order the "house wine", some restaurants are getting wise to that and its no longer guaranteed to be cheaper.

If your hotel has a buffet breakfast - stock up and have a sandwich for lunch.

If you are self-catering go to the fishmongers just before closing on Saturday, they are usually closed until Tuesday and you can get bargain prices to save them putting fish in the bin.

If you are in the countryside find farm shops and farmers markets.

~ Rent a reasonably-priced apartment and look for ones that provide some good freebies, such as a free cell phone and free calls to Canada, US, England or wherever you live.
Find a rental that provides a laptop or computer and complimentary wireless or high-speed internet...saves a bundle on internet spot charges, and you don't have to schlepp your laptop.
Look for a rental that has no add-ons, such as final cleaning, heating costs and so on...saves another 100E +/-.

~ Look for an apartment that is NOT in the center of the city, as Kate says. My huge apartment in Florence was north of San Marco about 3 minutes' walking time and a 9 - 10 minutes' walk from the Du-O-mo. It was a short bus ride for me, when it was raining.
I paid 400E a week for a 3 weeks' stay, a total of 1200E including complimentary museum tickets and train tickets from Florence to Pisa for my flight to Paris. Apartments closer to the Du-O-mo were renting from 700E - 1500E a week and higher. They were usually 1/2 the size and without that luscious huge terrace that I enjoyed.

~ Renting an apartment allows you to eat great food at home and save a bundle! I eat breakfast and dinner in, with delicious fresh food from the market, then I find a great cafe for lunch, when the cost of the meal is less, by up to half. My favorite restaurant in Rome served a wonderful ravioli dish at lunch for 1/3 of the cost if ordered in the evening.

~ If you like hotel living, rent a hotel with complimentary breakfasts, free museum tickets, free parking...get the most bang for your buck.

~ Ditto Pauline's suggestion for taking the train, bus or metro and not renting a car...if you think you can do it, do it! I love not having to deal with finding parking and finding a service station for gas and all that other car-stuff!

~ I carry a small soft-sided collapsible cooler full of my travel food for the flight, then re-freeze my freezer-pack when I arrive and take the cooler with me during the day, full of light snacks. It saves looking for a place to have an afternoon snack. I'm often hungry about 3 - 4 P.M. and this saves me some $$$. If you are renting a car, you can take Deborah's gorgeous roadside picnic in the cooler.

~ Senior's discounts.
If you qualify, and they offer it, take the discount!
If you're not a senior yet, and they offer a discount...take it, on my behalf.

~ Eat where the locals do.
Don't order lunch at some darling little quaint cafe, 1 block from the tourist attraction of the moment...the Trevi fountain, for example.
The cost of 2 terribly-awful dry cheese and ham? sandwiches, 2 glasses of cold something-like-iced-tea beverage and 2 golf-ball sized gelati in cardboard-like cones?
48E.
The look on my grandson's face when he saw the total of the bill, including the charge of 10E for each teensy gelato cone?
Priceless!

"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." ~ Susan Heller
Brenda

Believe it or not I think it is cheaper to stay longer. For us one of the main costs is the flight. Once we get to Europe we can actually stay quite cheaply. A car rental for two weeks works out to be less expensive than one for a week.

We always travel with a collapsible cooler. We also have a kit which contains cutlery, napkins, and a cutting board. When we're on the road we keep the cooler stocked with snacks and water. We'll often have an impromptu picnic for lunch and sometimes dinner. The picture below is our lunch last year while driving up the coast of CA. What we didn't eat for lunch we ate as a snack later.

I think it is less expensive to travel in a group as well - you can share the big costs i.e. car rental or villa rental. Mind you – then you have the dynamic of the group and will everyone get along! LOL

Renting in an area which is not 'trendy' will help save costs as well. Our villa apartment in Montespertoli was 565 euro for the week - split 4 ways it was by far our cheapest accommodation. Had this villa been located elsewhere the cost would have been higher.

Get to know the villa owner (or locals). Gabriel was able to provide all sorts of money saving tips - i.e. where to park for free in Cerebia so we could take the bus to Florence.

Try to locate near a major transportation hub. We lucked out in that we were close to the autostrada as well as a major bus depot.

Buy your bottled water and other drinks at a store rather than on the road. You can pay 3 euro for a small bottle of water in the Vatican or buy a case for 7 euro.

Buy your vino in bulk from one of the bulk wine shops.

When we were staying at the villa we cooked most of our own dinners. We'd eat a nice lunch in whatever hill town we happened to be in for lunch and then toss something together for dinner. We'd buy our groceries at the COOP.

Plan splurges. If you know you have a big dinner or outting coming up you'll have something exciting to look forward to (besides being on vacation )

When searching for rentals, Google the name of the place. (or even "name of town" and "rental") Often the same property is represented by different agencies, but at different prices. Rentals by owners are usually less expensive than those from agencies.

We're working on the one meal out a day - and next summer (even in Vermont), shooting for that meal to be lunch (which is usually less expensive).

Upgrade your normal weekday wardrobe - what do I mean by that? If you're everyday clothes at home are good enough for travel, you won't need to buy new clothes before your trip (yes, guilty as charged).

Review your mode of transportation to/from the airport. I love having someone meet me with my name on a card to take me to the city but taking the Opera bus into Paris worked well and was much less expensive.

If you're renting a car for a long period of time (at least in Italy), look into renting it from an off-airport location rather than picking up at the airport. Even with taking a car to the pick-up location, for a two week rental we saved about $100, plus avoided the airport lines.

When traveling with kids, either have them save money before departure, or give them a set amount at the beginning of the trip for souveniers. This way they know exactly how much is theirs to spend and 1) aren't nagging you to buy them something 2) budget their own money and buy things that are really important to them as opposed to picking up lots of junk along the way.

Again, in Italy, stay away from the cola - Chris loves it there (they use sugar instead of corn syrup) but man, a can of coke is more expensive than water or wine!

In Rome, fill up your water bottles at the fountains instead of buying new bottles every day.

As others have said, off season travel saves a bunch.

Street food is good (crepes, panini, pizza). In Paris, sticking to the formulas (price fixe) can get you some good deals in restaurants.

Seek out the smaller, cheaper, museums or free museum functions. Same with church concerts rather than organized concerts at large venues.

In Italy - silly but sometimes, stand, don't sit to have your morning cappucino/espresso.

Okay - I need to run (we're making a bialy run this morning) but will try to think of more things when I return.

Oh - okay one more - buy your wine for your house/apartment in the local supermarkets rather than the fancy shmancy wine stores - plenty of selection - reasonable prices.

While secretly hoping everyone will feel well to do and spend the money to take cooking lessons from me and therefore be able to fix fabulous meals cheaply forever after going home, I too feel the pinch living on papertowel dollars in Euro world.

Don't overbuy at the grocery. Throwing all those bits and pieces away as you clean out the fridge is wasteful and will not do. At the bread counter, ask for the weight you need and they will cut it for you. Same for everything at service counters. Single people here have to know that.

It is still possible to live without internet or cell phones entirely for most people.

Get lost. Once you can't see anybody who speaks English, you'll find bargains in everything.

Ask locals. They know what's what. (Or their brother in law owns it, can't help that)

Sit still once in a while and see what comes to you. At least here in Italy that's half the enjoyment for me. In Paris I sat in a cafe window and imagined myself a 1930s runaway writer, which never worked for me in New York. It cost the price of a coffee.

Bring less stuff, buy less stuff, don't tip other than a roundup, act like a European.

Another one just came to mind - pay cash for things when possible - often you'll receive a discount for doing so. Just be sure to keep the receipt!

This isn't always feasible, but given a choice, choose a vacation rental priced in dollars. Our apartment for next spring in Paris is owned by Americans, and it's nice to know our price will be the same regardless of what happens with the exchange rate.

We horde our frequent flyer miles and hotel points. Join the frequent stay programs of any hotel chains that you may stay with, it's free and depending on the program and your use of the chain's hotels, you can especially in the major cities, do extremely well, when staying on points. In Europe, if we stay in a hotel we usually prefer cozy, family run hotels, but if it is the difference between staying in e.g.Rome or not, then we will use our points when we have enough saved up.

Here in Canada I do all my banking via President's Choice - no fees for checks, online transactions, ATM withdrawls etc. Plus I get 1% credit to my account whenever I use my PC debit or credit card to pay bills or buy groceries. The credit appears as "points" which I use to buy groceries. As a rough estimate I get about $600-$800 "free" groceries each year, plus my banking fees are non-existent.

I also collect Air Miles (especially at the LCBO, eh Jerry?) but I prefer to use my PC card to pay bills or buy gas. My free groceries pays for a return trip to Paris on ZOOM (discount Canadian airline) each year and I don't have the hassle of trying to get the best points deal.

However, I have some friends running their own small businesses and their Air Miles points add up a lot quicker than mine ever would. So I guess we each have to decide which strategies work best for us as individuals.

Except for the utility companies that charge a processing fee for paying with credit card, we pay for EVERYTHING with our CapitalOne Reward card. Groceries, fuel, clothing, books, etc.

Then when we are ready to book our airline tickets, we go for the best possible price we can find. We cash in our reward points for cash and apply that to the cost of the airline ticket.

This allows us to book tickets that will earn those nice looonnnng miles to Europe. Otherwise we would have cashed in miles to get a ticket that didn't earn any miles.

I'm not sure I'm being very eloquent here. Did that make sense?

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If your hotel has a buffet breakfast - stock up and have a sandwich for lunch.

This is not an uncommon practice but it does not make you very popular with the hotel management.

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- Step down a star. If you like 4 star hotels, this is the chance to hunt out the good 3 star hotels so you can save some money.

If you are prepared to renounce some standard service, e.g. daily change of towels, or night concierge, in each country there is a wealth of accommodation that is significantly cheaper than hotels.

In Italy agriturismo (either with rooms or with apartments), B&Bs, affittacamere are more often than not family run and offer generally better prices than hotels.

If you take a room at a B&B ask if you have the use of a fridge to keep picnic stuff and if there are facilities to make warm drinks. Besides the savings, sometimes it is nice not to have to go out for dinner after a long day of sightseeing and enjoy a glass of wine in the garden.


Another way to save is to make a bit more use of public transport. Taxi are tremendously expensive, keep it for emergencies. Take a train from the airport to to the region where you are having your holiday and then take the car. This will save you some stress and probably a whole day car rental. This is however not worth if you are traveling with more than two people as the price of the train ticket for 3-4 will be equivalent to that of the additional car rental day.

Last but not least, check the prices in the restaurant menus: some dishes are a lot cheaper than others and over many days it will make a difference if you do not order fillet steak everyday!

The big saver for our three months in Paris in 2008 is our apartment rental at $2600 a month in the 9th arro - 950 sq. ft. of living space(normally rents at $1400 per week). I try to rent apartments in U.S. dollars, so that I know in advance what my actual cost will be. But that is usually a secondary matter to us liking the apartment.

Despite our weak U.S. currency, we have plans to be in Victoria BC for two weeks next month and another 9 weeks in Europe starting mid-November (Paris, Brienz Switzerland, Venice).

The flip side to these travels is working hard to make enough to pay for it. Guess where I am at the moment???? Here in the office. But, hey, I don't mind delayed gratification.

There are so many great ideas here....just to follow up one idea from Kate about carrying travel-sized toiletries. I've been shocked at how much more expensive some of these products can be in Europe compared with Canada. I realize many travelers believe it makes sense to not bother packing a lot of these products and instead to buy them locally, but the prices can really add up fast!

For example, I ran out of antiperspirant in Assisi last June, so I checked out a couple of pharmacies and the cheapest I could find was 9 euro. That was about $14 Cdn, quite a bit more than I'm used to paying! (it was a good product, but still.....)

Same with hair spray in Spoleto. I realize prices are likely a bit inflated in tourist centres during summer, but I've had similar experiences with other products in other cities. If I'm going to blow some money shopping in Europe, I'd really rather get something more memorable than Vitamin C. Or shampoo!

I'm also a big fan of the Europa long-distance calling cards, if you're not carrying a cell. Given my Mom's age and declining health, I've gotten in the habit of calling her every few days to check in and these cards, with about 200 minutes for about 7 euro, have been great. Particularly when Mom gets chatty and forgets I'm calling from Italy......

Sandra

One idea I need to implement myself - stop buying so many freeking books. I ALWAYS buy and bring too many books. I think I have a guidebook addiction and I need to break it. You can get guidebooks at the library and read them before you go.

Other than that, I don't have much to add except I always bring various shampoos and lotions that I collect on hotel stays, and also FLOSS that I get from my dentist when I get a cleaning. One time I had to buy floss in Spain and it four euro or something. So I always bring a bunch of little travel sizes of everything that I need; usually I get them for free, which is nice.

Another thing I need to implement - the "do I really need it" question. I don't spend tons of money, but faced with some bag of cookies from a certain area, I always want it. In the Loire Valley I bought a nine euro bag of cookies that I absolutely did not need, or even like that much. But because they were a specialty of the region I bought them. It's so tempting to see all this new stuff and desperately want it. But ask yourself if you really need it.

Hopefully I will adhere to this strategy on my next trip.

quote:

Originally posted by JDeQ:
I think it is less expensive to travel in a group as well - you can share the big costs i.e. car rental or villa rental. Mind you – then you have the dynamic of the group and will everyone get along! LOL

I'd certainly second that. Loie and I have three very-good-friend couples and one single friend with whom we've shared trips abroad, and several more couples and single friends and family members (siblings and parents) with whom we've shared vacation rentals in the US. Sharing is a major cost cutter.

There have been threads here about sharing and touring, some folks like the idea, some don't. It's always worked out for us. I like sharing the travel experience, perhaps a bit more than does Loie. I grew up with three siblings and a Mother for whom sharing was a religion, so to me it seems natural. I also like big noisy parties! Loie's more a fan of the intimate experience; small quiet parties and so forth. But we do a pretty good job of accommodating each other's whims. Our shared-with-others travel experiences have been great.

Of course many expenses are per person no matter what. But when lodging and car can be halved, that's a good whack at costs. We also find meals at home are more congenial with friends than just by ourselves. And we don't really cook while traveling. Meals at home tend to be picnic style: bread, cheese, sausage, salad, fruit, wine. On a two week trip with friends, we're likely to do that every other night, as opposed to only a few times when on our own.

So, save water, shower with a friend!

And finally, you want to be really venal about cost cutting? Cultivate friends who live abroad and stop in for a week at their place! Yikes!

Another money-saving move is to stay in a central location in a town or city. One saves soooo much if one can walk or take public transport everywhere. Besides, what an enjoyable way to cancel all the calories induced by fine dining - walking it off !

Shannon, I sympathize with you on the "Do I really need it" idea. I seem to violate the notion all the time. I remember buying E50.00 worth of macaroons at LaDuree in Paris during my last visit. I shared the box with 6 macaroon virgins and we polished the entire purchase before we reached Arc de Triomphe. I did not really need it but so worth it... Or I may just have convinced myself of that.

Shannon, and Eden...I'm in total sympathy re: trying the local goodies, and am a big cookie lover. My rationalization is this: what's the point of traveling if you CAN'T sample this part of the culture? I'll forgo some regular cookies at home, "saving up" for those only-in-Paris treats from Laduree (or Pierre Herme), maybe just one, but how often do I get to Paris to do it?
After that, I'll also remember to try the regular treats from the grocery stores... for example, there are ordinary brands of Breton butter cookies that cost less than the ones I used to get at Fauchon, just as good, and they are considered
"fancy" here, and are twice as expensive. So, I say to myself, they're a bargian, better get some (and I take some home, too.
This may be more of a rationalization for indulging my sweet tooth than a money saving tip, but the tip is this: try the local normal brands of things you've liked from the "gourmet" places...you might be pleasantly surprised.

Karen
PS: I love the French sort-of Target chain, Auchan, for this sort of thing, plus much else.

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Another money-saving move is to stay in a central location in a town or city

Depends on how your define "central". I see so many requests for cheap hotel rooms near the Pantheon, Or Campo Fiori, or Navona, when this is the most expensive area of Rome. In Rome there is cheap public transport that you can use. If you are near a Metro stop or major bus line, you can get wherever you need to. In my budget conscious trips to Rome I have never stayed in what is considered the "historical center". Instead I have stayed at cheaper apartments in Monti or the Celio. The 6 euros a day you might save by walking everywhere is more than made up by the extra apartment rent in the "historical center".

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When we were staying at the villa we cooked most of our own dinners.

UGHH! All that cooking and cleaning up afterwards makes it hardly a vacation. My idea of eating in for dinner in the apartment is reheating that doggie bag from yesterday's meal.
a great breakfast is reheating the leftover pizza from the night before. I like renting apartments with microwaves.
That riccotta frescha in yogurt sized cups is a great breakfast item also.

quote:

quote:
If your hotel has a buffet breakfast - stock up and have a sandwich for lunch.

This is not an uncommon practice but it does not make you very popular with the hotel management.

I had thought they meant eat until you are very full, not take away food. But I might be mistaken.

quote:

I had thought they meant eat until you are very full, not take away food. But I might be mistaken.

I might have misunderstood what CDT said may be just because I have seen it so many times, mostly in large hotels. I have seen signs specifically forbidding to take away food from the breakfast room.

To my utter disbelief I have heard people actually boasting about how much food they had "prepared" from the breakfast buffet and used it to picnic for the rest of the day.

A few years ago I was in a 5 star hotel in Guatemala and I walked out of the breakfast room with a small pastry in my hand. I was late and I was planning to eat it in the car. They made me bring it back. I was SO embarrassed!

Back to the original subject of the thread:
we locals might be able to help if you tell us what did you find expensive.

For example buying cosmetics in a farmacy is about the most expensive option. A huge variety of inexpensive cosmetics is available in the major supermarkets.

I often see that tourists do not realize that even small towns have large supermarkets so they tend to buy in the small shops in the tourist areas where they might be charged twice as much as the "local" price for perfectly ordinary things. Ask locally where the major supermarket in the area is and go stock there. It will be worth the trip.

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UGHH! All that cooking and cleaning up afterwards makes it hardly a vacation. My idea of eating in for dinner in the apartment is reheating that doggie bag from yesterday's meal.

We prefer cooking "in our apartment" than going out to eat which results to great savings. One of the travel joys for us is being able to shop for wonderful food at the various markets and cooking. Eventho we are not big meat eaters, on our last couple of trips we had chevaline, bizon, ostrich, pigeon, guinea fowl, pheasant, and turkey cutlets which were very tasty (nothing like we get here in SF). We also tried vegetables that were seasonal and not available here at home.

Travel for us are all about adding new experiences as well as plain enjoying what ever culture we are in.

quote:

Originally posted by dragonpat:
UGHH! All that cooking and cleaning up afterwards makes it hardly a vacation.

This is a very personal choice. I can't count the times I have read in vacation rental reviews - why would I use the kitchen? I am on vacation!

I LOVE cooking. It is my meditation, a quiet break in the day. I like to eat simple meals and do not feel my best if I eat restaurant or deli meals every day. For me having the extra time in the day to leisurely shop for food and cook our meals is a vacation!

In addition to the Capital One credit card (no currency transaction fee) that Deborah mentioned above, consider opening a Capital One money market account with ATM card. It is currently paying 5% interest -- which is about as good as you can get on a CD nowadays, but with this account your money isn't tied up for any set length of time. And the ATM card, like the credit card, does not charge you any currency fee (not even the 1% Visa fee) for withdrawals. So you can use this account to save for travel, and then use the ATM card to withdraw while on your trips.

In fact, if you have a Costco Executive account, you can save even more. I'm kind of annoyed because I just opened one of those Capital One accounts and then found out that if I had done it through Costco, I could have gotten a $50.00 bonus, plus a slightly higher interest rate.

- Roz

quote:

UGHH! All that cooking and cleaning up afterwards makes it hardly a vacation. My idea of eating in for dinner in the apartment is reheating that doggie bag from yesterday's meal.
a great breakfast is reheating the leftover pizza from the night before. I like renting apartments with microwaves.

Not for me. I love to cook - it relaxes me and centres me again. I enjoy trying local ingredients and tossing things together. I don't do huge meals like I might at home but I do enjoy dabbling.

There are few things which start a conversation like asking the villa owner if you can 'borrow' a sprig of rosemary from the shrub. Gabriel warmed up to us after that and gave us some great ideas about area wineries to visit!

Maybe it is because I have this pain-in-the-butt gluten/lactose thing to deal with, but making our meals in an apartment is just ducky with me!

I love the whole shopping at the market experience, the corner grocer and supermercato experience...finding new foods, learning about different veggies and fruits, trying the local deli/bakery yummies, watching locals buying what they love best...that is a luscious part of any vacation for me.

I'm like Jerry and Pauline...cooking is a meditation and complete relaxation for me, and I've met the most incredible people when borrowing a cup of whatever when my rental has been lacking! In my apartment in Florence, I made a great picnic-in-the-kitchen meal for everyone, then right before we sat down to eat, I realized there was no CORKSCREW!

I ran downstairs to Ostello Gallo d'Oro, the hostel in the building, and asked the lovely people who managed it if they could help. Not only did they give me a corkscrew to use for the evening, they invited me back for a visit later on in the week. How cool is that?

I have a really good friend who will never travel with me, because she says she doesn't want to cook on a vacation...that's not a holiday for her, because she cooks all the time for her family at home. On the other hand, her husband loves to cook, so they travel well together. He cooks, she doesn't! So, different strokes...

"The two biggest sellers in bookstores are the cookbooks and the diet books. The cookbooks tell you how to prepare the food and the diet books tell you how not to eat any of it."
~ Andy Rooney
Brenda

Honestly, I prefer to save and cut corners more at home rather than when I am on vacation. For the past 3 years, I make plans to buy a new couch and each year I tell myself “but that could pay for a roundtrip ticket to …” That being said, the money that I am able to save each year doesn’t go as far as it used to because of the weakening dollar. But instead of giving it up or not going to a place that I really want to go, I’m adjusting with the times:

- Lodging: Next month will be my first time in a vacation rental. In addition to saving on some of the meals, my rental has a washer, so I won’t have to use an expensive laundry mat.

- Meals: I really like the suggestion of seeking out markets where the locals shop for less expensive goods. I’ll use the apartment advantage to prepare my own breakfast and snacks. But since I missed the talent boat on cooking, I still intend to splurge on at least one good meal out each day. But saving on the other meals (and saving at home) helps me to afford this splurge.

- Transportation: Learning when, where and how to check for great airfares helps. On the ground, I try to use public transportation and only rent a car when it is necessary to visit a particular sight. When taking trains, I always take 2nd Class. For my upcoming trip to Venice, I’ll probably walk a lot and use public transports only when I need or want to.

- Research: I dedicate some time doing research and I try to make the right decisions when I travel. Comparing prices and looking for specials and discounts on lodging can help to stretch those dollars. For my Venice lodging, I actually had a place on hold but before I booked it, Views on Venice advertised a November special and I changed my selection to the one with the deal.

- Travel Dates: I do have the flexibility of traveling during low season. Maybe not the best weather (and I run into reduced operating and daytime hours), but much less expensive.

- Sightseeing/Entertainment: I try not to cut corners here, but I do believe there are ways to save. In London, me and my friend found a discount place to get matinee theatre tickets. It was good, fun entertainment at a not so expensive a price. And we got to see a play in “London, England.”

- Souvenirs: I take tons of photographs for my memories. No cost unless you decide to print them. I do allow myself a couple of luxury splurges and will buy something that is unique to the region. But it doesn’t have to be expensive.

- Once a year: Based on the current value of the dollar I can only afford to save up enough to take one big international trip a year. But once a year is better than none. If the dollar improves, maybe I will be able to do twice a year. Sometimes I think it comes down to personal choices and priorities.

European transport costs vary considerably between countries. Public transport in italy is cheap but expensive in the UK where it pays to book long train journeys in advance.

Some of you might consider driving through some European countries but petrol and diesel vary quite a lot. It pays to know who charges the most for fuel - I have some current prices and a route in my Italian pages below. In most European countries diesel is cheaper than petrol; in the UK it is not (diesel is typically £0.02 a litre more expensive).

Another useful tip in Europe is that the supermarkets/hypermarkets tend to sell the cheapest fuel, whereas services on trunk routes tend to be most expensive. In the UK we have a very useful price comparison site:

http://www.petrolprices.com/

where you can see the latest prices (another useful feature is you can see who sells LRP gas, not too common in the UK).

quote:

Originally posted by Madonna del Piatto:
For example buying cosmetics in a farmacy is about the most expensive option. A huge variety of inexpensive cosmetics is available in the major supermarkets.

Genereally speaking, although Italy (specifically, but this also applies to other European countries) is known for being a "mom and pop store country", shopping at supermarkets is much cheaper than shopping at smaller groceries. Locate the nearest supermarket and buy the bulk of the food you will need there, there are supermarkets about everywhere, including in city centers, where you can buy ot of your staples and treats. Quality and range dipends on the area you are in: I have found that both are highier in the bigger cities than in country places, but still stock up there for all food and nonfood items. And pay attention at special offers! Use groceries only for emergency items.

On the other hand, if you do not like to cook your food, a good alternative to resturants is often "rosticcerie" (most commonly also selling cold cuts and cheeses) which prepare daily a variety of cooked foods: find the nearest and stock with resturant-quality foods for half the price (but beware that often they tend to exceed with portions, most commonly one "portion" will yeald two moderate servings).

Also, don't imitate us Italians: tap water is in average perfectly good. Except in a few areas, mostly located in the dryer south, that have supply problems, Italian tap water is 100% drinkable and safe. And much cheaper than bottled water. Just as well, you don't have to ask for bottled water at the bar or restaurant: if you are ourchasing something else, you can ask for a glass of tap water, which comes free. Beware: it will be served at tap temperature with no ice!

Finally, don't be selfish: if you decide to leave anything behind, ask around if there are any charities that accept food, used clothing, and similar items in the area you are staying in. This will not help you save a penny, but it may help someone that's poorer than us get through the week.

quote:

we locals might be able to help if you tell us what did you find expensive.

I have found that having local friends is the very best way to save money on a trip.

Quite by accident, I found that making friends online in forums and online groups can lead to the best holidays for the cheapest ever. I've subleased rooms from friends (usually with me having to browbeat them into letting me pay them instead of just having me stay, if they let me at all), they tell me the best places to shop, eat, go exploring, find lodging if no one could have me over, and in general live like a local.

In fact, besides the airfare, I've found that taking my friends out to dinner as thank-yous or treating them to a daytrip as a thank-you or whatever tends to be among my biggest expenses on a trip.

They're genuine friends I've made, and I'm certainly not saying one should make friends simply for the sake of using them later for holiday hotel rooms! I've just noticed that truly making friends with locals is a really good way to have a great holiday for a bit cheaper.

Kat

There was an article in the NY Times this week about saving money by booking your air and rental car reservations on non-US web sites when possible. Even the UK Travelocity site can be cheaper.

There have been several threads here about saving money by booking Auto Europe rentals via the UK site. But as I found out (and as the story says), you have to be careful to check the fine print on car rentals, because sometimes the same things aren't covered on non-US sites. I thought we were going to have to forfeit several hundred dollars when we had to return our Auto Europe UK rental early because I broke my arm. Fortunately, Pauline pulled a few strings to get my money back -- but this was a special situation and not something I'd ever count on again! Apparently if you book through the US site you get a refund if you return early, but this is not normally the case with the UK rentals. Next time I will add in the price of trip insurance to cover the car rental when comparing costs between the two sites.

Another point that we all know already -- stay in touch with the Slow Trav forums (not just this topic), and you will almost certainly save much more money on your trips than non-Slow Travelers because of all the savvy and helpful people here!

- Roz

quote:

Originally posted by Roz:
Another point that we all know already -- stay in touch with the Slow Trav forums (not just this topic), and you will almost certainly save much more money on your trips than non-Slow Travelers because of all the savvy and helpful people here!

And, aren't all the "tips" here elaborations, or you might say specifics, on how to be a Slow Traveler? More or less, live with and like the citizens of the place you're visiting? Of course it's easy to say "live like the locals;" the devil is then in the details. Hence the value of threads like these.

Should this one be compiled and edited into a standing page? It's worth beacoup bucks reading this stuff!

Hello everyone,
For us an apartment or a BB with a kitchen is a great way to save. Not only I can cook, which I like to do, but also we just like seating at the balcony or terrace with a glass of good wine (we don't go to discos, but we enjoy staying late and talk). In countries like Spain we use to purchase a 12 bottle of good Cava wine and a big leg of serano jamon, which we can stock in our apartment. This is cheaper than even going to a grocery. There are stores where actually a good bottle of wine can be as cheap as 2-4 Euros, instead of paying the same 20E or more in a restaurant. Seafood, meat, fish, vegetables are fresh from the market and it is not difficult nor too long to prepare a very delicious meal.

We also try to stay in better connected places usually, so we can walk or take public transportation. Save on car rental, and parking.

Another one is eating at a Tavola calda or take a meal to go for some of the meals. This summer in Sicily we ate for as cheap as 6E for 3 of us.

Now I have never done this because I am too much of an advance planner but I have noticed many vacation rentals and hotels give significant discounts for last minute bookings.

Colleen

Colleen, along the same line. If you arrive in a town you would like to spend time in, just go to the tourist information service and ask about available hotels. Here is one we lucked into for 55E.
The inside is more beautiful than the outside.

quote:

Now I have never done this because I am too much of an advance planner but I have noticed many vacation rentals and hotels give significant discounts for last minute bookings.

This mostly happens when booking through large agencies or consolidators and not always you get a true discount, just a reduction on a previously inflated price.
And, of course by booking last minute your restrict your choices to "less than best" sometimes.

I prefer to try to contact directly the hotel or the apartment owner and see if they are willing to reduce the price because of direct reservation.

Great tips... One more thing about the train, we found out that our tickets would have been cheaper if we had bought them 3 days in advance. Instead of just showing up at the train station and buying them on the spot, like we usually do. Yesterday when we bought our tickets from Rudesheim to Amsterdam, we lucked out with the man at the ticket booth. He actually spent the time with us to find a better route - more scenic and saved us $100!

-Krista

If you belong to a group,club or almost anything check for specials. Avis has special deals for non-resident Italians visiting Italy. There is also the Italian governments IT card.

But many groups negotiate special rates for members.

Forgot to mention another one: use public beaches. In Italy you could save up to 25E per day. Plus you have the advantage of making contact with Italians. Usually we stay in the public part with Italian families and our son has always an opportunity to play with local kids, who like a lot small children. Many public beaches are now regularly cleaned and some, like in Cefalu have free showers.

I also aggree with the person who mentionned to buy all you use at home in small format. We always do this not only because it is cheaper, but also because often when we missed something, we couldn't find the same or prices were so big. An example: once we forgot a sun screen and purchased one in the small town. Because of the nice smell it had all the bees came at once.

Deborah, I love your picture.

Just realized how addicted I've become to reading the posts on these forums...I think I'd have to throw that in as one of my money saving ideas: vicarious travel!
Thanks to all your blogs and pix, I'm re-visiting some old haunts, and checking out new places, and getting my travel fix from my home computer.

Many thaks, Slowtrav

Karen

Hey Deborah,

So where is this beautiful and inexpensive hotel and what is the name? Or are you just teasing us and saving it for yourself? (Ha Ha) It's right in my price range.

Denise