We (my girlfriend and I) are planning a trip, after going through SE Asia in the winter, we are going to head to Europe for the spring/summer/autumn. Ideally it would be great to start in Morocco and make our way to Turkey through Europe. From what I have heard and seen, it is expensive to fly into Morocco. So we will probably fly into Spain, cycle down to Morocco, then double back to Spain and make our way to Turkey.

My question is, how much would it cost a couple to spend 4-6 months in Europe? We will camp most of the time and make most of our meals, enjoy a bottle of wine often and see some of the “sights.”

We are just trying to get a hold of how much it is going to cost us to go through Europe.
Thanks.

when i was biking through france and spain a couple years ago, i was camping every night, and getting by with about $10 a day on food. depends on what your comfort level is.

A couple of years ago the dollar was one for one with the Euro.
Now the dollar is worth only about 2/3s of a Euro - i.e. it costs 50% more.

From my (not on a bicycle or camping) trips in Europe, I can tell you that:

- Food can be pretty cheap (similar to north america) if you stick with the basics and make it yourself. As for restaurants, you should be able to find local restaurants (out of tourist trap areas) that'll offer deliciously divine meals for the same price that you'd pay for crap in North America.
- Wine is really cheap. You can get a bottle of wine for about the price of a bottle of water. Granted, it won't be a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but a decent wine won't put a dent in your budget.
- Sights can be really expensive. Depends on the area, but a lot of places, they figure that if you got there you won't turn around for a few bucks more than it should be.
- Camping: I don't know.
Sights in touristic areas can be pretty expensive.

yea so the price of lentils in a can goes from 60 cents to a dollar. big deal. i still say it depends on your comfort level.

FWIW lentils (non-organic) in Europe are about USD2 for 500g. Food here is much more expensive than in the US.

Yes, but it means that the price of everything goes up, not just lentils, which are probably a small percentage of anyone's total expenses.

I would estimate €20 per person per day.

This seems like a much more reasonable number.

spain is not too bad, france is extortionate
italy can be expensive in places, greece is getting worse since they took the euro

touring in europe should cost the same as in the US if you camp and cook your own food.

but check out lunch time menu prix fixe , you can get some great food quite cheap. But you have to be in towns at the right times, between 12 and 2 pm roughly

have fun

george

If one chooses to stay in B and B's, I find accommodations in the EU generally cheaper. More so in the south. Campsites on our bike tour several years ago. Tent camping, less than 15 euros a night, should you use municipal campsites.

I'd be concerned about safety issues starting in Morocco. What about flying into Istanbul and starting there? You could then loop Europe; going N through the
former Soviet countries, then across the Nordic ones, down the coast (sidetrip to England) and then across France to spain and Italy.

Spend a couple days in Vienna. They practically invented Old World charm. and
it's a great place to pig out. It's also the only place in the world where I want to listen to classical music. The museums are punk compared to the other major cities, but check out the little shops. All kinds of neat stuff. Btw, their rum is much stronger than ours, so Tea Mit Rum doesn't sound risky, but packs quite the wallop.

Oh, my vote for the best beer in the world goes to the Augustinerkeller in Salzburg.

Thanks for all the input. We were thinking of having $1500/month for Europe. I know that we could do that in Canada no problem (we spend less then that with our rent, food and utilities), however if that is only 1000 euros it may not be enough. Maybe the Canadian dollar will rise in value...
A question to Late (previous post): what do you mean by "I'd be concerned about safety issues starting in Morocco."

We were thinking of going from the west to the the east because of the prevailing winds. Head winds put such a damper on cycling (as we all know) and we want to have tail winds as much as possible. Does anyone have any ideas on how to maximize the tail winds on this route, we will sticking close the Mediterranean Sea (as a rough guide no more then 400km north of it, most of time will be spent closer then that).

Thanks

I agree with the recommendation of Vienna (although the museums are certainly not punk compared to other European museums. I'm thinking of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Belvedere...). I'd suggest spending more time in other parts of Austria. Vienna's ok for cycling but not so enjoyable. The Danube is beautiful in the Wachau region (Melk to Krems) and the alps are beautiful if you have the stamina.

IMHO 20-25€ per day sounds about right at first, but I'm sure with so much experience it would work out cheaper. Obviously depends a lot on whether you're paying for accommodation or stealthing. It's not hard to get a good meal out for 12-15€. You can easily make a delicious lunch of baguette, cheese and tomato for €1 per head. The sights, as noted, do tend to be expensive, but I found it was frequently unnecessary to actually go inside - I've been to the Palais des Papes in Avignon twice, but never been inside They do also charge more for non Europeans - you'd save aabout half on most admission by conjuring up some kind of fake European pass.

Oh, and yes, Vienna is lervly. Innsbruck is gorgeous. But then, most of Europe is lovely.

Steve

Hi,

a camping place will cost between 10-15 EUR. I think for food you need 10-15 EUR per day. (prices for 2 persons). Normal restaurants will cost 15 Eur per meal (incl. 1 drink)
In remote area the camping places are cheaper the food more expensive. With stealth camping and buying the cheapest food you can save more money.

The rest is for sights. Turkey is the cheapest country in cost of living and the most expansive in sights.

In 3 hours in istanbul I spent more than 50 EUR (in total 150 EUR - only entrance fees).

Very cheap you can travel on the pilgrim paths in Spain: 5 EUR per bed and 5 EUR per pilgrim menu.

In big cities check for backpacker hostels (they are normally cheaper than outside camping place + fare of public transportation to downtown).

In general the Mediterrian coast is 100-200% more expansive than travelling 100 km away from it.

Thomas

When we toured Italy and Austria five years ago we paid 15 to 22 Euros for camping.

Oh, crappest camping experience: Lucerne, I paid something like 20 swiss francs for a campsite, only to discover the next morning that I could have slept in a bunk room for 15 swiss francs. Then again, that would be the country that charged me 15 swiss francs to remove a chain link

Steve