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There are some major expenses when traveling to Europe, the first one is your Airfare, if you travel from the American continent you can expect fares as low as US$300 or as expensive as US$1200 dollars, see how to get a cheap airplane ticket. The next major expense would be your Europass which can be in the range of US$250 to US$700 depending for how long you wish to travel and how many days, in the train ticket expense you should consider paying supplements for some trains.

Next you should consider individual daily expenses, in my last trip (my honeymoon) we made a relaxed backpacking travel, we stayed in hotels with a bathroom inside of our room and the trip was very relaxed in general. At the end, we ended up spending a total of US$47 per person per day (excluding airfares, Europass and souvenirs). Here is what we spent in average:

Expense
Hotel	$23.62
Food	$10.91
Sights & Museums	$7.73
Local transportation	$3.14
Telephone	$1.83
Laundry	$0.52
Internet access	$0.08
Total	$47.84

Please note that this is an average, some cities are more expensive than others.

Lodging.

As you can see, lodging is the highest expense, The cost of a Hotel changes from country to country and city to city. Here's a table that can give you an idea of how much does it cost to sleep in a hotel with double bed (2 persons) and bathroom inside of it.

	London	Amsterdam	Paris	Barcelona	Florence	Assisi	Roma
Double Room	$104.17	$65.96	$35.46	$42.02	$66.67	$33.33	$76.19
Per person	$52.08	$32.98	$17.73	$21.01	$33.33	$16.67	$38.10

When you choose not to have the bathroom and stay in a Hostel the price drops.

	London	Amsterdam	Paris	Barcelona	Florence	Assisi	Roma
Double Room	$58.63	$30.21	$35.00	$28.01	$34.29	$27.62	$61.90
Per person	$29.32	$15.11	$17.50	$14.01	$17.14	$13.81	$30.95

Be prepared to pay something between US$15 to US$25 per person per night.

Food.

Your next biggest expense if food. You'll be amazed on how cheap is to buy food in a supermarket or in the local market instead of a restaurant, unfortunately supermarkets are not easy to find where the tourist are, so you can always look for the "fast food" that the locals eat, don't be surprised to en up eating a delicious Chinese food in Rome.

Sights and Museums.

You must visit the Louvre and the Ufizzy, but you do not have to enter every single gallery in Europe. If you do not to go to the celling of the Arc de Triomphe you will not die and will save a lot of money. In Florence there are many museums that you can spend a fortune there, so you must choose.

Not necessary expenses:

There are some expenses that you can limit to a minimum and still enjoy the trip; these are:

• Telephone. The telephone expense that is described was made mostly by my wife, for personal reasons she called home almost on a daily basis for about 10 to 15 minutes each time.


• Souvenirs. Do not buy too much stuff if you are on a budget. You must consider buying them at the end of your trip, so you do not have to carry it all around Europe, and if you end your trip in an inexpensive country like Spain or Greece will be even better, since you don't have to carry all the souvenirs around Europe.

Non frequent expenses:

Laundry needs to be done every 5 days or so. You can expect to pay about US$4.00 per load in the washing machine and 20 minutes in the drier. You can pay three or four times this money if you pay for the service of having someone else that doing it for you.

Exchange rates

Since in 2002 the European Union uses the Euro as the common coin. You can find the exchange rates at The Universal Currency Converter.

Tipping.

Very often you'll find that the tip is already included in the price of the food, but you must check in your guidebook to be sure what is used on every country. Once, in Italy in a bilingual menu we read in English: "Your tip is appreciated", and in Italian: "The tip is included in the prices". So, be aware and you can save money. But hey! If you really enjoyed the service is not a bad idea to show a little gratitude.

How to Carry your Money.

Split your money. Never thrust in a single source. If you use only your ATM card you will certainly get good exchange rates and no commission, but if it gets lost, stolen or stuck in the ATM you cannot get a replacement as easy as you could do with traveler checks.

If you carry traveler checks, consider American Express, if you change them in an American Express office (which are everywhere) you will get good exchange rates and no commission charge. Some cash might take you out of trouble in an emergency. U.S. Dollars are well accepted in all Europe. Also, a credit card with some cash in advance is a great help.

The point is: Do not put all your eggs in a single basket! Split your money and do not trust a single source. Always carry them on your money belt.