My husband and I were just tweaking our budget a bit, and got down to about 20,000 for a month in the UK/Ireland. For the naysayers here who say that I we must be spending that money on expensive hotels and $100/person dinners, here's a breakdown on our budget.
8,000 on the flight. That's approximately 4,000/person, and that's in the CHEAP seats without the fear of being bumped. If you're willing to risk getting bumped on a routinely overbooked flight (and yes, airlines routinely overbook), then you can get by perhaps around $600 for your ticket. IF you're lucky, that 4,000 will include the checked luggage fees and the food you have to buy on board, since most airlines don't do free food for their passengers, anymore.
$135/person for passports.
$3,000 for accommodations. This is for staying in a mixture of low-budget hotels and renting flats. If you're not a member of a hosteling association (for which you pay a fee in your home country and then pay yet another fee in the country you're visiting in addition to the nightly rate), then renting a flat is actually cheaper than hostels for long visits of a week or more. (Most hostels I checked were approximately 60 pounds/night, vs 30 pounds/night to rent a flat for two.)
$4,000 for food. Obviously, this will be cut down to about $2,000 for just one person. Again, this is mostly shopping for food at supermarkets and picnicking, but also some restaurants. Whatever the cost in Euros or Pounds, double it for American dollars to get an accurate estimate. Remember, the dollar is WEAK right now.
There's $15,000 right there. You'll also need to add in train fare, souvenirs, public transport, an emergency fund, and (gasp!) luggage essentials. Since you're wanting to travel heavy, obviously, since you said you didn't want to do the backpack thing, you'll have to toss either happy or cheap out the window.
If you want to take a laptop or any other electronics? It looks like you'll also need a plug converter, so there's $4. Then you can spend money on a travel clothesline, a universal plug or half a tennis ball, and detergent, or you can spend a little more money to have your clothes washed professionally at a laundromat, OR you can pack heavy enough that you won't have to wash your clothes at all.
For London? Get a London Pass combined with a 7 day travel card. There's $150, but it gets you into a LOT of sights for free over a six-day period and the travel card is good on train, bus, and tube.
You'll need the ferry between France and the UK and, if you want to hit Ireland, between the UK and Ireland. There's another $150.
Now, of course, our budget also includes bus fair to another state to get the best deal on the flight, a travel clothesline, a travel alarm, two Kindles, two money belts, two TSA travel locks, two travel back packs, travel space bag kits, and a good guide book for each region we're visiting, but they're worthwhile investments. Oh, and don't forget the fees for wi-fi or internet cafes if you want to get online! They do add up. And if you do use hostels, they require that you either rent a sleep-sack or bring your own, another cost that adds up if you choose to rent. And then there's soap and shampoo to keep clean, and many hostels use pay showers.
And, don't forget a phone card or an international cell phone, just in case, as well as taxi fares.
Still think I'm insane? Go ahead. Do the pricing on your own for everything you're wanting to do, and remember: museums come either free or 20 pounds a head, which is about 40 dollars.
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