Want a deal in Europe? Get out of the city
“Dollar hits record low against euro,” says the newspaper headline — again. From a point of parity in 2002, the U.S. dollar has slipped continually in relation to the European currency, sinking to 1.20, then 1.30 and then dropping to 1.42 at the end of September. It now takes $1.42 to buy one euro, making everything 42 percent more expensive than it was a few years ago.
What this means is that an already-expensive continent is now even pricier. It’s not uncommon in Western European capitals these days to find $500 hotel rooms, $100 cab rides and $40 plates of pasta.
There are several ways to ease the pain, however, if you can’t put off that trip across the Atlantic. Avoiding summer helps a lot, especially in terms of hotel rates and airfare. Heading east or south can make a big difference too: Spain, Portugal and most of the former Iron Curtain countries are significantly cheaper than perennial favorites Italy, France and England.
Head to the countryside
The best thing to do is to head out of town. Just as a vacation in New York City will cost you far more than a vacation in the Catskills, Europe’s capital cities will drain your budget far more quickly than the burgs and hamlets of the countryside. Big-city real estate values, taxes, and labor costs are all higher than in the country, and this means higher end costs for everything. Once you venture to more rural areas, your costs will go down.
I just got back from two weeks in Hungary and the Czech Republic. These are relatively inexpensive countries, but prices in Prague and Budapest are sometimes shockingly high. Though neither city uses the euro as its currency yet, rooms in international chain hotels in both cities are routinely listed at 250 euros or more for a standard double, which will tap your wallet or credit card for at least $355 - too much, if you ask me.
The scary thing is, plenty of people are paying those prices. Some 90 percent of visitors to the Czech Republic never sleep outside of Prague, so demand is high. Supply is tight too, now that an increasing number of budget flights among European cities are bringing more European visitors into Prague and Budapest. It doesn’t take an economist to see the result: The city hotels can pretty much charge as they please.
Small-town prices
Be part of the 10 percent that ventures outside of the capitals, however, and it’s a different story. Granted, your hotel in a small town may be more like a family-run B & B, but if you want to see the real Europe, this is a better bet anyway. In Mikulov, a historic town in the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, I stayed at the best place in town, Hotel Templ. Rooms in this lovingly restored building range from $68 to $125 a night, with a nice breakfast buffet included. In the Lake Balaton region of Hungary, rates for a simple inn start at only $30 a night for a double and the dozens of larger hotels mostly go for $50 to $150 per night. In the prime red wine region of Villany, pension suites with a kitchen rent for $40 to $60 a night (corkscrew and wine glasses included, of course).
It’s not just the room rates that become more affordable in the rural areas. Restaurant meals are often half what you just paid in the big city. That $2 draft beer in the tourist district of Prague will be less than a buck elsewhere. The $8 bowl of goulash in Budapest drops to $4 outside the capital, and bottles of wine list at prices that encourage wide sampling.
Prices will be higher across the board in England, Italy or Holland, of course, but the same principle applies. Once outside the urban areas, you’ll find lower prices for everything from bike rentals to local guides.
One caveat: All bets are off in any beach resort town marketed heavily to tourists. Less populated regions of France and Spain may offer deals, but when you get to the sea, expect to pay inflated prices for everything. As in much of the world, business owners in these parts use the laws of supply and demand to their best advantage and there are only so many choice beach spots where you can gaze out at the sea.
So, if you are contemplating a trip to Europe but are worried about the cost, head inland to the countryside and find the charm of a slower paced, better priced, old Europe. You’ll go through fewer battered Ben Franklins and probably have a more interesting vacation to boot.
Tim Leffel is author of the books Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. He also edits the award-winning narrative Web ‘zine Perceptive Travel.
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