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I don't know what Paris costs in the summer as an adult. I have been in a mediocre Paris hotel in the fall, it was not too bad. Around $80/night. A similar hotel in Chicago would be $200-$300 per night if I went next week. However, it would probably only cost $80/night in the winter. Summer hotel prices in Chicago are shocking, if you ask me.
In fact, I find lodging in the USA depressingly expensive no matter where you go. Even a hotel in the middle of nowhere can cost $150/night. The only exception I have found is in South Dakota, but who wants to go there?
That's what I keep saying.
People often have this misunderstanding that "Europe is expensive". It is NOT. Hotels in European cities are far cheaper than in America. I spent about $40-60 a night in Lisbon, Barcelona, Rome, Vienna and Prague (single occupancy), $100 in Paris and slightly more in London (for two persons). I always stay in central areas with own room and bath.
Any American city that's worth seeing, let it be Boston, DC, Chicago or New Orleans, not to mention SF and NYC, is far more expensive than that. We went to Upper state NY in the winter and there was nothing decent for less than $150 a night. Eventually we booked on airbnb. $150 is able to give a somewhat upscale hotel in Madrid or Rome, and a great one in Paris.
For Christ's sake, I stayed at a small hotel in central Tokyo for $60 a night. Small room, but clean and nice. Try that in any American cities with more than 1M people.
Compared with Europe and Asia, America seriously lack in affordable lodging options. Most of the chain hotels are way too expensive. How many times you travel alone but have no option but to book a large room with two queen beds?
People often have this misunderstanding that "Europe is expensive". It is NOT. Hotels in European cities are far cheaper than in America. I spent about $40-60 a night in Lisbon, Barcelona, Rome, Vienna and Prague (single occupancy), $100 in Paris and slightly more in London (for two persons). I always stay in central areas with own room and bath.
Any American city that's worth seeing, let it be Boston, DC, Chicago or New Orleans, not to mention SF and NYC, is far more expensive than that. We went to Upper state NY in the winter and there was nothing decent for less than $150 a night. Eventually we booked on airbnb. $150 is able to give a somewhat upscale hotel in Madrid or Rome, and a great one in Paris.
For Christ's sake, I stayed at a small hotel in central Tokyo for $60 a night. Small room, but clean and nice. Try that in any American cities with more than 1M people.
Compared with Europe and Asia, America seriously lack in affordable lodging options. Most of the chain hotels are way too expensive. How many times you travel alone but have no option but to book a large room with two queen beds?
I kindoff agree with that, I've been in 80 - 90 euro a night hotels in Paris and London and they were decent to nice even. In the San Fransisco area and San Diego I've been staying in regular hotel rooms for 220 - 250$ a night. (Those were paid for by the company I went there for otherwise I would never have stayed there.) All of this is a few years ago, I don't know what the rates are now as I don't travel anymore.
But in the US the hotel rooms are generally larger and the service is much better. In the end, you get what you pay for. The US is the only country I have seen so far that understands customer service.
Rental cars and fuel are cheaper in the US as well, although they always try to sell you additional insurance to increase the rate. I found (fast) food and souvenirs in Disney World to be much cheaper than Disneyland Paris although all that is a few years ago as well and the US has become much more expensive because the US dollar is stronger now.
I kindoff agree with that, I've been in 80 - 90 euro a night hotels in Paris and London and they were decent to nice even. In the San Fransisco area and San Diego I've been staying in regular hotel rooms for 220 - 250$ a night. (Those were paid for by the company I went there for otherwise I would never have stayed there.) All of this is a few years ago, I don't know what the rates are now as I don't travel anymore.
But in the US the hotel rooms are generally larger and the service is much better. In the end, you get what you pay for. The US is the only country I have seen so far that understands customer service.
Rental cars and fuel are cheaper in the US as well, although they always try to sell you additional insurance to increase the rate. I found (fast) food and souvenirs in Disney World to be much cheaper than Disneyland Paris although all that is a few years ago as well and the US has become much more expensive because the US dollar is stronger now.
Well its cool that those options are available. just simple lodging for a small price, no fancy crap.
And i'm sure if you do want a nice room with good service, its not hard to find.
The rates on this website are honestly just as much if not a little higher than the rates here where i live.
Gas is cheaper yes but when you rent a car on vacation you usually don't go through a whole tank of gas, if you are renting a car to explore the countryside i guess i can see where that would be a problem.
Train tickets certainly aren't cheap in pretty much any of the countries you listed. I always hitchhike or take the bus in Europe. The trains are far too expensive, unless they are very old regional lines, or subsidized when you can find four people to get a multi-person ticket which works out to being cheap for an individual.
Even hostels are pretty expensive in my eyes, because approaching 30 euro isn't cheap to me. That being said, I once saw a 40 euro Ibis Express in Leipzig. That's pretty cheap for a full blown hotel. Location was awful, though. Right off the Autobahn exit many, many KMs from the centre.
what are fares for TGV and ICE?
I hear TGV has fares from Paris to random french cities for under 30 euros.
I kindoff agree with that, I've been in 80 - 90 euro a night hotels in Paris and London and they were decent to nice even. In the San Fransisco area and San Diego I've been staying in regular hotel rooms for 220 - 250$ a night. (Those were paid for by the company I went there for otherwise I would never have stayed there.) All of this is a few years ago, I don't know what the rates are now as I don't travel anymore.
Hmm. Helsinki has the reputation of being expensive, even more so with hotels, but you can easily get a room for 70-90 euro a night.
The advertise with prices like €19 to Brüssel or €35 to Paris. Such connections exists for a few specifi days, but normally the prices for most days are about €60 to Paris. Train needs about 4 hours.
Many Germans use "Pauschalreisen" = travel packages. Prices for a couch trip to Paris with a overnight stay in a cheap hotel starts at €80.
In Germany it is in most cases cheaper to use the intercity bus instead of the ICE.
The advertise with prices like €19 to Brüssel or €35 to Paris. Such connections exists for a few specifi days, but normally the prices for most days are about €60 to Paris. Train needs about 4 hours.
Many Germans use "Pauschalreisen" = travel packages. Prices for a couch trip to Paris with a overnight stay in a cheap hotel starts at €80.
In Germany it is in most cases cheaper to use the intercity bus instead of the ICE.
I would bet, high speed rail is something we don't have on this side of the world so its something i really wanna experience though
one thing i am worried about is the language barrier, i speak english and some spanish. i realize a good chunk of Northern Europeans speak English but i always here its always important to learn local languages (just some basic phrases) out of respect. but idk if that is really necessary or not, here i work in a restaurant and we always get people who don't speak a word of english and no one is really offended, they usually approach us with their smartphone and they have their order typed into a translator app on their phones....
one thing i am worried about is the language barrier, i speak english and some spanish. ...
If you expect people to speak English I would not recommend France lol. Even if they do speak English they usually refuse to do so. You should be fine in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and obviously the UK and Ireland.
If you expect people to speak English I would not recommend France lol. Even if they do speak English they usually refuse to do so. You should be fine in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and obviously the UK and Ireland.
We speak English if the people who come to us try to speak a little French. Don't believe that stereotype.
Perhaps I would go as a tourist but I would only live in Western Europe if the only job opportunity for what I want was to be found there...
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