Good, Cheap food in Europe

[winodj]

Anyone have any ideas? I leave for Europe tomorrow. :-) THanks

[KatieLoeb]

Where are you going? That might help...

[winodj]

Pretty much everywhere, but I will be spending early afternoon in Amsterdam. I will be spending time in Berlin, Bavaria, France, Switzerland and Czech Republic over the next two months. As for afterwords, I haven't planned that far ahead yet.

[Pan]

In France and Italy, your best bet at those prices would be to go to stores of various kinds, whether supermarkets, smaller markets, bakeries, or butcher shops. Bars also can be a good resource for you in Italy, and I often had breakfast (and sometimes, another meal) there when I was on a student's budget. My budget was always well over $15 U.S. for food for the day, though, and that was mostly over a decade ago.

Basically, what I'd do is get some kind of croissant/cornetto or pain au chocolat or chausson aux pommes for breakfast with your preferred drink (you could do this for less than 5 Euros in France), go to someplace that looks like a butcher shop/deli (a Charcuterie in France) to get a nice sandwich and such-like for lunch (depending on how much you eat, could be some 7 Euros or perhaps less), and get stuff like yogurt in a supermarket or small market for dinner. And no gelato for you?

I gotta tell you, 5 Euros ain't much. Figuring you're going to Europe from the U.S. or Canada, how easy would it be for you to eat 3 meals a day for $15 hereabouts without going to McDonalds twice and having yogurt once? But do what you gotta do. I hear that Switzerland is really expensive, but you may be able to save some money in the Czech Republic; I don't know. In any case, have a safe trip!

[anil]

I'm sure you have Europe on the CHeap and Europe to Go guides ? The latter essentially written by Harvard students on vacations - The only way you can come lose to 5EUR per meal is staying in pensiones and asking other residents for tips - Trying college /university cafeterias.

Many a times local university based usenet groups have useful info too.....

[alithea]

I just got home from a 7 month stay in Berlin. It is a unique town in that you get much better value for money overall at the cheap joints than just about anywhere else.

A good bet is eating a big breakfast, as many cafes offer generous breakfast plates under 10 euros. As for specific places, Habibi's had absolutely transcendent falafel, and Monsieur Vuong is famous for really fantastic, fresh Vietnamese food. All over town and especially in the Turkish neighborhood of Kreuzberg you can buy a Doener Kebab for 3 Euros or so, but look around for a good Imbiss (you'll see the word everywhere; it just means it's a snack/sandwich place) to buy your sandwich at.

I agree that you should stop by supermarkets and bakeries if you really are low on cash. A loaf of German bread costs 2 or 3 euros and is more than filling enough to sustain you for an entire day.

[Louisa Chu]

5 euros a day for lunch in France? Easy. Most baguette sandwiches from a boulangerie's only about 3 euros. A loaded crepe 3 to 5. A panini about the same. A sandwich grecque avec frites about 4 to 5. An Asian traiteur's basic menu - rice and main - about 5. A liter of Cristalline's only about 20 or 30 centimes. And go to Leader Price grocery stores if you can for the cheapest prices and best basic quality. Bon voyage.

[elyse]

Is he gone? I asked him to find the name of a place I went to in Prague in '96. It was damn tasty, filing and CHEAP. Well, what in Prague isn't?

In France, eat at the bars in cafes or it'll be more expensive!

I have a sneaking suspicion he's gone.

[fresh_a]

Why would you want to?

[anil]

.....  I asked him to find the name of a place I went to in Prague in '96.  It was damn tasty, filing and CHEAP.  Well, what in Prague isn't?

.....

Praha in '93 was different than one in '98 was much different from one in '02. Every one out to make a quick buck. Relative to the USD it will be more expensive now that it was oon 11/02 - Reason - prices are pegged to the EUR.