Just when I was getting used to the idea that a euro should cost $1.20, our dollar plummets 20 percent, and now a euro costs $1.50. Don’t expect our dollar to recover anytime soon because, frankly, we’re not as rich as we think we are.
The euro comes with built-in fiscal discipline: countries in the Euro Zone are not allowed to run deficits. Here in the United States, on the other hand — free from legal constraints or political will — we simply deficit-finance our wars and tax cuts. Logically, there’s no free lunch. It’s paid for by a hidden tax on Americans: less buying power overseas.
I’m not going to tell you that travel to Europe is cheap. It’s not. But 12 million Americans — the vast majority of them normal working people — had a blast in Europe in 2007. So don’t mope. Just get smart and stretch that wimpy little dollar. To help you keep your travel dreams affordable in 2008, here are 20 ways you can take back that 20 percent drop in your dollar’s value … and have a more rewarding trip.
1. A B&B offers double the warmth and cultural intimacy for half the price of a hotel. You’ll find them in most countries if you know the local word: Husrom is Norwegian for sobe, which is Slovenian for , which is German for bed and breakfast. In Haarlem, in the Netherlands, I save 33 percent by sleeping a 10-minute walk from the center with Hans and Marjet at Haus de Kiefte (double with a shower for 55 euros) rather than on the square in the cheapest hotel in town (Hotel Amadeus, double with shower and toilet-85 euros).
2. Europe’s 2,000 hostels have countless cheap dorm beds for half the price of beds in low-end hotels. And it’s not limited to youths. Anyone can hostel. Most of my life I’ve shared hostels with American students and grown-ups from less wealthy countries. Now I’m seeing older Americans hostelling as well. And using the hostel’s kitchen — you can cook for the price of groceries — is a huge savings for traveling families.On Italy’s Cinque Terre, Manarola’s Ostello 5-Terre charges 23 euros per bed in a four-bed dorm, or 90 euros for a four-bed family room. Just down the street, the little Hotel Marina Piccola charges 95 euros for a double. Berlin’s Circus hostel charges 25 euros per bed — 7 euros less if you provide your own sheets and breakfast — or 50 euros for a double (double-room options are becoming more common in hostels everywhere). The nearby Hotel Kastanienhof — a budget hotel by Berlin standards — charges 103 euros for a double.
3. Throughout Europe, budget-chain hotels are driving small hotels and guesthouses out of business by renting efficient, if forgettable, rooms at near B&B prices. The cookie-cutter rooms — which cost the same for singles, couples, or even a family of four — offer the greatest savings for traveling families. In London, where it’s hard to find a regular hotel room for less than 100 pounds, the huge Travel Inn chain rents one-size-fits-all rooms for 80 pounds (a 20 percent savings for couples, even greater savings for a family of four). If your schedule forces you to spend a night near the airport, there’s no need to spend a fortune. Heathrow Ibis charges 70 pounds for a double and the Gatwick Travelodge charges 60 pounds.
4. Save by choosing simpler hotels. A three-star place (with room service and a 24-hour reception desk) is a bad value for a budget traveler who’s satisfied with a one-star place (e.g., no elevator, no restaurant and no shoeshine machines in the hallway). In Paris, getting a 55-euro double in the one-star Hotel de Nevers rather than a 120-euro double in the three-star Hotel St. Louis Bastille — both in the Canal St. Martin neighborhood — shows you can save big by taking a simpler room.Want to save even more? Only the simple one-star hotels still offer some rooms without a private bath. All rooms come with a sink, and walking down the hall to use the toilet and shower saves 20 percent. At Hotel de Nevers, a double room drops from 55 euros to 40 euros. And the dumpiest little time-warp mom-and-pop places, such as Florence’s Soggiorno Magliani, charge only 50 euros and offer no private facilities at all. (via http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/TRAVEL)
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