[Closed] Touring budget

Not in Europe, doable if camping, no chance using guest houses and hotels.

We spent that much and more a day on just food in the UK.

I think that would be tight even if you manage to find youth hostels e.t.c well placed on your route.

Any clues to what you would budget then?

🙂

And oops. Wrong forum.

How much did you eat Mr Yeti?

Once in Europe I would say 30-50 a night for guest houses, 20 a day for food and water. Not a clue in Turkey. Remember its not always easy to find the cheapest guest houses when you need them, usually you have to accept the costs of what is where and when its needed.

If you want to keep the budget down, you really need to consider the camping option.

I'd say that £30 is doable but very, very tight. To do that you are eating very cheaply, moving or sleeping, no beers, no trips, nothing other than the basics.

£50 would mean you have a chance of being able to eat a bit better, have a couple of beers and do the odd thing away from the bike if you wanted to.

Cheers MSP- I was thinking £30 may be a bit low.

No interest in camping- not my thing, and it would mean buying a lot of kit.

Looks like I shall have to find some more cash...

:o)

Aaah now... a couple of years ago my wife and I toured from Norway to Greece. I'd budgeted £50 per day for both of us. We camped/hostelled/B&B'd or hoteled as available.

After the event, I totted it up and we actually spent £100 per day for both of us. We did stay in a few fancy places (e.g. 5* hotels when pee'd off) and we ate in a couple of very s****y restaurants which bumped our costs up.

I think you should be able to manage £50 - £60 per day with care and £75 per day allowing for a bit of fun. If you camp (especially wild camp), you'll drop your costs massively but may not enjoy it as much due to a) the load you carry and b) the camping experience... depending on your personal predilections....

A lot. A fried breakfast plus cereal, 2 cake stops and or multiple garage visits, drinks, snacks, 3 course evening meals, energy drinks, lunch time sandwich...

If you're cycling 90miles a day you'll need about 6000 calories. If you're not camping/cooking for yourself...it soon adds up.

Thinking about it again, even camping on sites might be a stretch at £30 p/day. A lot of sites are now £10 - £15 per night and the remaining £15 doesn't easily buy 6000 calories and beer.

On the longer multi day/week/month stuff, you need to both fuel and treat yourself (IME). I'd be inclined to shorten the trip (or fund an increase in budget)rather than compromise the fun by scratching about for cash.

how outgoing are you? and how much pre-planning are you prepared to do?

http://www.couchsurfing.org/

Unless you are wild camping, bike touring isn't all that cheap. As others have said, you need to eat masses of food if your doing reasonable days in the saddle. I usually have base stock on the bike for emergencies/stints between towns, but raid bakeries and the like for constant snacks during the day. Night time, either supermarket if I'm at a hostel, or a take away or similar elsewhere.

If you were very very careful, you poss could do it on £30 a day, but you'd get hacked off with the penny pinching... I'd say £50 is a more practical 'budget' aim.

I budgeted £400 a month to travel across Europe (camping 90% of the time). That was in 1990 though. I came home with enough to by my first mountain bike (I had sold my car to go in the first place though) 🙂

But to keep costs down, plan transport to be travelling overnight so you can get sleeper cars on trains etc. (assumes you are using public transport).

Mrs TJ and I spent £10 000 in 4 months travelling around europe in 1990 including petrol for the motorbike camping mainly.

I would think you will need at least £60 a day and could easily be more

😯

Compared to my £1000-ish for three months (that was for two of us and we DID resort to having to eat some rubbish and steal toilet paper from trains I admit). We had pre-bought our Interrail tickets though.

Just think TJ - our paths may just have crossed 21 years ago...

When Mrs S and I cycled across Spain & France for 3 months we stayed in guest houses in SPain 70% of the time, 30% camping, in France more like 90% camping, 10% guest houses. Budget was €90 a day, but back then (2006) that was closer to £60 a day.

MF - we were in Russia getting ripped off in dollars and in Scandenavia paying ££££ for beer

Didn't go that far - just did France/Italy/Germany/Switzerland/Yugoslavia/Greece.

Don't think I had more than a few beers in three months though as we couldn't afford it. Did get totally wasted once and ended up skinny-dipping in the canals in Venice though 🙂

mastiles_fanylion - Member
<snip>

Did get totally wasted once and ended up skinny-dipping in the canals in Venice though

...and that's when you eyes first locked with TJ's... cue 'Our Tune'
🙂 😆

😯

Cheers chaps- obviously 18 months in Africa have spoilt my perception of money!

I will have to have a think how I will sort this...

P
🙂

wild camping and cooking yer own food yes

restaurants and campsites/hostels - nein ....

did new zealand on 50 quid a day between 2 - in campsites mostly with occasional hostel

Plan your route. Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Poland, you might be able to do it! 🙂

Mrs TJ and I spent £10 000 in 4 months travelling around europe in 1990 including petrol for the motorbike camping mainly

Holy crap on a cracker!

A couple of years ago, I'd have said no problem. Nowadays the UK will push your budget, and the exchange rate will make any of France, Belgium, Holland, Germany harder work. Once you pass any of them, no problem. Consider camping/roughing it a bit/couchsurfing - a lot more flexibility and a bit more disposable cash en route.

[edit- I'm assuming that you're riding the whole way. I'd consider £30 a day adequate]

Remember that hotels etc charge per room, not per person, so you'll be lucky to find somewhere in W Europe for £40-50 a night. Couch surfing sounds like a good idea if you can afford roaming internet on your phone. But you'd be expected to pay for beers instead, of course.

Molgrips is right, if you go the long way round it might work out cheaper overall.

molgrips - thats only £40 a day each. 13 000 miles driving. Eastern Europe / Russia in the days of only being allowed to spend dollars at ruinous rates or compulsory exchange at ruinous rates. Scandenavia as well where everything is expensive

in 2008 around benilux countries I spent around £10 a day

That was bivvying and food - no beers - just ate what my body told me too and I was always full.

I was prepared to spend a lot more and had facility to but just didn't need it

Plum

Molgrips- not my preferred route 🙂 - thinking more like Greece, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, France, traverse Pyrenees, North coast of france, Ferry to Uk...

I will be travelling on my own- I know that doesn't make a difference with hotels that much, but it means smaller food bills.

All my touring now has been in South East Asia- and the budget there was way less than £30 a day...

And after spending the last 18 months living in Ethiopia, the idea of camping really doesn't grab me- i'd like a little luxury.

Thinking now of going with £60 a day for 2 and a bit months- need to work out if the distance is doable. And in that case I may also leave a little later than feb to make the best of the weather.

Cheers all...

P
🙂

I just looked at your dates and realised you were doing it starting in Istanbul and then coming back. February/March in Eastern and Central Europe can be chilly. I'd start out on a minimal budget, aiming to make it to the Alps with 2/3 or more to spare. Then reassess - you can always get more direct as you run out of cash, get extravagant with your spending, or book a cheap flight as you see fit. I still think the UK is the hardest bit to make your money go far though.

[Edit - But a £30 average for the trip should still be doable with hostels if you have any experience touring]

All my touring now has been in South East Asia- and the budget there was way less than £30 a day

You do realise there's a big difference between the Eurozone economy and SE Asia, don't you? 🙂

i drove to cyprus via turkey and the baltic states 2 years ago (took us just under 2 weeks). I recon we probably spent about a grand each, staying cheap as possible (sometimes in the car sometimes in a guesthouse) and going to see various things - so £100 per day each, including petrol (which was probably £15-20 per day each). Keep saving. Turkey is much more western than you'd think - but a lot of the baltic states are very cheap