****ty exchange rate, any place in europe worth visiting?

My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in Arizona US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being ripped
of on everything. I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on the
cheap? Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in Arizona
US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being ripped
of on everything. I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on
the
cheap? Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

Can you really not work this sort of thing out for yourself?

Whilst it is not common in Europe to get rooms with kitchen equipment, it is
possible to save money on dining by buying pre-cooked food in supermarkets
for pic-nic lunches and by eating in cheaper establishments or local
takeaways (i.e not McDonalds).

TBH, after you have paid 6-700 dollars (or perhaps more) for a flight, is
the cost of eating in a snack bar or small restaurant really going to be a
problem?

Why are you travelling this 8000 mile trip? Is it to see a tourist location
or experience the culture? If it just the former, then eat supermarket
lunches, they do exist in Europe.

And if the hotel breakfast is extra, just don't go. You don't need an all
you can eat breakfast and buying your cofee&croissant in a local cafe will
cost half (or less) the hotel price.

HTH

HAND

tim

(tim.....) wrote in
:

Can you really not work this sort of thing out for yourself?

Time to shut down the newsgroup then?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

tim..... wrote:
"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in Arizona
US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being ripped
of on everything. I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on
the
cheap? Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

Can you really not work this sort of thing out for yourself?

Whilst it is not common in Europe to get rooms with kitchen equipment,

Far from it. I commonly do this in various countries, recently France,
Netherlands and Denmark.

"Mike O'Sullivan" wrote in message
...
tim..... wrote:
"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in
Arizona US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being
ripped
of on everything. I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on
the
cheap? Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

Can you really not work this sort of thing out for yourself?

Whilst it is not common in Europe to get rooms with kitchen equipment,

Far from it. I commonly do this in various countries, recently France,
Netherlands and Denmark.

And what percentage of rooms have a kitchem 1%, 0,5% that to me is not
common

tim..... wrote:
"Mike O'Sullivan" wrote in message
...
tim..... wrote:
"AZ Nomad" wrote in message
...
My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in
Arizona US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being
ripped
of on everything. I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on
the
cheap? Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.
Can you really not work this sort of thing out for yourself?

Whilst it is not common in Europe to get rooms with kitchen equipment,
Far from it. I commonly do this in various countries, recently France,
Netherlands and Denmark.

And what percentage of rooms have a kitchen


I wouldn't know. Seek and you will find.

Am Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:56:57 +0100 schrieb tim.....:

"Mike O'Sullivan" wrote in message
...

Far from it. I commonly do this in various countries, recently France,
Netherlands and Denmark.

And what percentage of rooms have a kitchem 1%, 0,5% that to me is not
common

If you look for an "Appartment" or "holidy flat" they will have a
(basic)kitchen. Here in Germany the term would be "Ferienwohnung" (=
Holiday flat). They always come with kitchen, as people like to cook their
own meals.

It's really not hard to find such a place. Just ask beforehand how the
kitchen is equipped - some have coffee-cookers, microvawes and dishwashers,
others only two cooking plates and a sink.

Regards,

Frank

On 7/20/2008 2:39 PM AZ Nomad ignored two million years of human
evolution to write:

[...] I really got tired of being ripped
of on everything. I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

Depends on where you go in Europe really. And when.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on the
cheap? Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

Well, I can tell you what I've done, and will do again, in Germany. The
missus and I rented a "vacation apartment" ("Ferienwohnung" or, in
German vernacular, "FeWo") in the village of Erlau, west of Bamberg,
back in October 2006. Rates haven't changed much in the last couple of
years; right now, a comfortable little apartment there (the one we
rented) will set you back €38.00 per night. However, that has to be
paid in cash. Even at today's exchange rate, that's about US$60 per
night. That sum gets you a comfortable, no-frills place to stay
for two people. You'll need a car to get there, and the very pleasant
lady who runs the place will offer you breakfast if you want, for a few
euros, or you have your choice of some nearby supermarkets where you can
provision yourself very reasonably. The apartment's kitchenette was
fitted with stove, microwave oven, and coffemaker, along with the
comfortable bed for two and a bathroom with shower and toilet. There's
another apartment in the place, somewhat smaller, that runs €33.00 per
night, and there are bigger apartments; the most expensive runs €56.00
per night.

I liked the place and the owner, but I also like variety, so I booked a
different place for an upcoming trip, in a village just outside of the
wonderful old city of Bamberg. I booked a FeWo for three for €46.00
per night, and for three adults, we can cope with the equivalent of
US$73 total just fine.

If you do choose to go out to eat, the local guesthouses tend to be on
the reasonable side as well. But, this is Germany, not Spain or Italy.
Somehow, though, I'd think similar such lodgings might be available in
those countries as well.

The other money-saving option is to go east. If it's the Mediterranean
you want, think Croatia with Adriatic coastal towns like Split or
historic Dubrovnik. Similar options might be Bulgaria's Black Sea coast
or western Turkey, all of which can still be relative bargains, even in
these days of the weak American dollar.

The other money-saving option is to go east. If it's the Mediterranean
you want, think Croatia with Adriatic coastal towns like Split or
historic Dubrovnik. Similar options might be Bulgaria's Black Sea coast
or western Turkey, all of which can still be relative bargains, even in
these days of the weak American dollar.


Agreed. I spent some time in Bulgaria last fall, and the prices were
amazingly low. Can't speak to the beaches, but there are beautiful towns
throughout the country.

On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:39:32 -0500, AZ Nomad
wrote:

My wife and I wanted to visit possibly Spain or Italy from here in Arizona US,
but have been hearing horror stories about the current exchange rate.
A while back we visited California, and I really got tired of being ripped
of on everything. I can't imagine how Europe would be right now.

I was wondering if anybody might have some advice on visiting europe on the
cheap? Stuff like renting a room with kitchen access and getting local
groceries instead of paying for restaurant meals, etc.

Do some simple research and planning. For Spain, start he
www.madridman.com
For exchange rates start he www.xe.com or for a table
comparing the US$ to every other rate in the world he
http://www.xe.com/ict/

In your case the logical answer would be to go to Eastern
non-euro Europe where your US$ will still buy a lot of
forints, zloty or korunas. You can have a wonderful time in
Hungary or Poland for less than half the costs of Spain or
Italy.


Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_s/
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com
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