How far would a $5000 budget get us? (best, cost, country)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hey all, my fiancee and I are going to be getting married next July and we've started scoping out possible honeymoon locations. We'd both love to go to Europe but I'm concerned our budget of $5000 isn't going to be enough to do things "properly" so to speak. The $5k is all inclusive so we're talking airfare, hotel, transit, food, etc. etc. We'd love to hit Norway, Sweden, or Finland but I know those are expensive places, as is most of Western Europe. I've also looked at Estonia (Tallinn mainly) due to its close proximity to Helsinki and Stockholm, but anywhere in Europe is honestly fine for us.
Any suggestions are appreciated, as well as any links to travel sites or what-have-you. We have over a year to plan for all this so there's not a huge rush, but I would like to at least try to nail down a location so we can do some preliminary planning, ya know? Thanks!
Hey all, my fiancee and I are going to be getting married next July and we've started scoping out possible honeymoon locations. We'd both love to go to Europe but I'm concerned our budget of $5000 isn't going to be enough to do things "properly" so to speak. The $5k is all inclusive so we're talking airfare, hotel, transit, food, etc. etc. We'd love to hit Norway, Sweden, or Finland but I know those are expensive places, as is most of Western Europe. I've also looked at Estonia (Tallinn mainly) due to its close proximity to Helsinki and Stockholm, but anywhere in Europe is honestly fine for us.
Any suggestions are appreciated, as well as any links to travel sites or what-have-you. We have over a year to plan for all this so there's not a huge rush, but I would like to at least try to nail down a location so we can do some preliminary planning, ya know? Thanks!
Considerations:
Do you want to plan your itinerary yourself [customized] or do some sort of tour package?
What is your level of desire for lodging? (likely your biggest daily expense and total cost)
Budget allocation per day for food / necessities/ sundries/ memorabilia from trip?
As solo traveler on multiple trips to Europe I budgeted the equivalent of 50 USD per day
What you expect to be doing to make memories with your SO? (i.e. is it more important to be out and about soaking in the locales /sights or 'trysting' in delight inside, or out and about on the sly?
Transportation costs can be minimized by traveling on non peak days from point of origin (Tuesday, Wednesday for airfare to Europe). If you have any loyalty points with any domestic carrier you could easily this far in advance redeem them for free round trip ticket (it was 50,000 miles last I did so, I think for that time of year it will be 50-60k miles redemption). There are some gateway cities that are cheaper to fly into. Examine the individual airlines that service those primary cities and their US Airline partners for best rates.
Travel site I found most helpful for lodging was: venere.com. It was good to check out lodging based on my level of interest and importance i.e. I am type of traveler that finds a mid range hotel with full complimentary breakfast in an ideal central location or convenient to public transportation as important to use as jump off point for exploring- I'm not sure what you and SO will determine of most importance - spending time in hotel is low priority for me. This key variable will likely determine how far your $5k would go as will your flexibility on dates and the primary city(s) you choose.
In contrast, for a solo exploring type trip to major cities in Europe of 18 to 21 days of length I was able to do it on about 3200 to 3500 USD inclusive that was in 07 - 09 - exchange rate will also play into this for you. Check exchange rate, and allocate a certain amount of cash for convenience and charge most everything else. Notify your CC company before you go on trip and let them know your destinations to prevent any hiccup in CC charge use. Obviously get your passport(s) if you don't have them already.
Depending on the city(s)/ sites you'd like to visit, transportation between cities may be more romantic with train travel. Check out the Fodor's books. 2-3 day type all transportation passes within major cities are well worth it and often include lots of free or discounted admission to the entertainment and tourist venues. I'm big on walking tours in cities as they can give you good insight into discovering quaint places in cool historic neighborhoods away from main touristy areas to have romantic dinners / walk later in evening.
Go to library and watch some travel CD/ videos of the highlights in your destination cities and note any that you consider as must sees for yourself, also, note which may be difficult to see at peak season or use up your time. Time is of the essence (and HOW you use it) when traveling. As a honeymoon trip I'd imagine pace of things would be slower but more thorough
I'm thinking $5k for two should give you two solid weeks in up to 3-4 cities depending on your level of lodging threshold. Tastes vary. I would definitely recommend Tallinn, gorgeous and romantic with interesting sites like Peter The Great's Summer Palace, and Old Town.
Best.
Last edited by ciceropolo; 04-23-2014 at 10:41 PM..
Reason: clarity
The further east you go, the more the money stretches.
Seasonal factors also play a role. June through August is the prime travel season, along with the two weeks around Christmas. Prices for accommodation goes up. Prices for flights go up substantially. If you want to take a honeymoon right after the wedding (late July or August) you will be paying top dollar for just about everything.
Whether you stay in hostels, off-season university accommodation or proper hotels is also a factor.
There are travelers who will spend $5,000 in a week, per person. There are other travelers who can spend $5,000 for two people across a few months. So you need to clarify what you mean by doing things "properly."
If I wanted to get the most out of my money I'd go to Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. Spain is also another fairly inexpensive option as hotels, particularly in the south of Spain and Granada, are relatively cheap. The tradeoff is that summer in Spain can be exceedingly hot.
I would seriously consider the triangle Stockholm-Helsinki-Tallinn.
As a Helsinki native and been in the other two a dozen times each, I think I can help you out here.
The reason is the cruise ferries, so travel between these 3 cities is dirt-cheap. The ferries between Helsinki and Tallinn are practically commuter ferries, and as the cities are only 60 miles from each other, and if you book carefully, it costs $45-50 per person. 2 hours later you're in a another country's capital.
The cruise ships from Helsinki to Stockholm are quite luxurious with nightclubs, restaurants, pubs, spas and so forth, but the travel prices are affordable. The reason is that you're supposed to spend money there, and not extract money for the ticket. The price for 2 persons is $211 this July, and you both get the voyage and a cabin to spend the night in. Plus of course the cruise experience. You leave at 1700hours and wake up at 900hours in yet another European Capital!
Yes, Helsinki and Stockholm are expensive cities, but they're both 1.3 million metros so you'll find a lot of affordable restaurants and trattorias where you can eat well for a reasonable price. It just requires a bit of exploring. Browse the international hotel-booking sites, and you can find good discounts. At least in Helsinki when the hotels notice that they're running under capacity, they can slash 20% off the fees. But best to do this at least 2 or 3 months before you depart.
Helsinki and Stockholm are very bike-friendly, and even hotels have bikes to rent sometimes - for a couple of $. The weather in July is perfect for a bit of wandering and biking. The temps rarely go above 80F, but don't go below 70F either during the day, so if you're not extremely unlucky, this time of the year is perfect.
Good luck and I'm happy to ask if you have more quiestions.
If you hurry you can get a really good deal on a Viking River Cruise. Booking by Apr. 30 for 2015 you can get 2 for 1 on the cruise fare and up to 2 for 1 on the airfare. (They do something like this every year). Go to Viking River Cruises Promotions
Thank you for all the suggestions guys! I want to respond properly but I'm on my phone right now. Just letting everyone know I'm still here and reading your posts
Hey all, my fiancee and I are going to be getting married next July and we've started scoping out possible honeymoon locations. We'd both love to go to Europe but I'm concerned our budget of $5000 isn't going to be enough to do things "properly" so to speak. The $5k is all inclusive so we're talking airfare, hotel, transit, food, etc. etc. We'd love to hit Norway, Sweden, or Finland but I know those are expensive places, as is most of Western Europe. I've also looked at Estonia (Tallinn mainly) due to its close proximity to Helsinki and Stockholm, but anywhere in Europe is honestly fine for us.
Any suggestions are appreciated, as well as any links to travel sites or what-have-you. We have over a year to plan for all this so there's not a huge rush, but I would like to at least try to nail down a location so we can do some preliminary planning, ya know? Thanks!
I think 5000 US dollar would be enough for taking two persons from United States to any Nordic country. Price wise Norway is by far the most expensive country. Norway is all about skiing, hiking and cruise-ships in the fjords in northern Norway and may not sound costly but living in Norway (when you pay with worthless US currency) it will easy rip a hole in your pockets. You don’t want to live within a budget at your honeymoon. There are no major cities in Norway worth visiting and Oslo is an (in Nordic standards which much higher than in United States) an ugly city. Norway is all about visiting the arctic and not their cities. Finland is for some reason culturally similar to the rest of the Nordic countries but the Finnish people is a Finno-Ugric people with a complete different language from the North Germanic languages (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic) that just happened to be socialized within the Swedish empire. Finland is mostly about Helsinki, modern technology and their many lakes. It is cheaper than the other Nordic countries but is not a very fun country to visit. Sweden is “the empire” within the Nordic culture and the historical enemies of Denmark which is the “second empire”. Sweden has a bit of what all the others have. Sweden has also a few cities worth visiting. Stockholm is an Alpha- city which means that it is a cosmopolitan trade hub. It has massive of “culture” but is also quite expensive for an American with FED printed toy dollars. I think a budget of 5000 US dollar would take you for a week to Stockholm. The closest city to visit would be the Uppsala (55 minutes by commute train) which I can be done within a day. But then again – you have plenty of stuff going on in Stockholm.
Iceland – cheap as hell after the financial crisis – and could be very romantic. A real “make a baby trip”. Iceland is the only Nordic country I have not been too but people tell me it’s a great adventure if you like outside activities. Iceland is what the Nordic countries were before hyper-globalization, multiculturalism, liberalism and hipster culture. Hell, they still believe in Norse paganism and it is incorporated in their cultural and Christian identity - though it slightly incorporated in Norwegian and Swedish culture as well but not as much. It would be the “cheapest adventure”.
Denmark is the smartest alternative. Denmark is a small dense country and fairly cheap and the best part is that Copenhagen is close to Sweden. Copenhagen is similar to Stockholm in size and has pretty much the same things but from a Danish perspective. It is just over “the bridge” and takes 30 minutes by train to Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden. There are plenty of cities in Scania that is worth visiting including the university city of Lund which is similar to Uppsala but not as large. You would get two countries for the price of one – but no Stockholm.
Estonia was once part of the Eastern block and do not share the same cultural bonds to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland but share similarities with Finland. It is basically the same people but the Estonians were never socialized into being Nordic by the Swedish empire. It is a poverty stricken country and outside Tallinn it is not much if you are not planning to go to one of their islands in the Baltic Sea. Estonia is part of the Baltic States and not the Nordic States. You come very far on little money there but there is little to see. A better alternative would be going to Prague - one of the cheapest world cities in Europe. It is almost in the same class as Stockholm and it is an impressive city but it is more like a “weekend” city. The Nordic regions are one of the most expensive regions on earth and most of the major cities in any Nordic country will be costly for an American but if you skip eating everday at the most fancy places (Guide Michelin restaurants) and snort cocaine for breakfast you will do just fine. Most of the museums, parks and whatever is state funded anyway and therefore cheap. There is nothing really that is worth buying in any Nordic country anyway that you cannot find cheaper in United States. Norway sells cool winter-sport wear, Sweden sells trendy street brands (which is filthy expensive in Soho), wooden red horses and street signs portraying elks popular among Germans. It is actually the Swedish government that sells the elk signs because the government is tired of Germans screwing them down along roads. Finland sells cell phones (Nokia), Denmark sells Lego and Iceland sells Viking helmets, swords and Fermented shark meat.
My bet is: Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, and Norway and if you cannot afford any Norse country – Prague because it’s the same thing as Stockholm but no Vikings, french modernist art or Vasa ships.
Last edited by Sconesforme; 05-02-2014 at 11:48 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
