What is the cheapest country in Europe

I'm a budget/backpacker type traveler, and I'd love to go to Europe for a couple of months, but the costs are outrageous.  Much as I'd like to visit England again, with the British pound at $1.99 it's never going to happen.  Portugal and Greece used to be reasonable, but I've heard that isn't true anymore.  Which of the eastern countries would be the cheapest?

I just read somewhere that people are going to Albania because it is still cheap.  I thought they were practically in a state of anarchy and nothing worked.  But then I haven't even thought about Albania in years.  I could do Albania, Bulgaria, then Turkey maybe?

 As you may have noticed, I always have multiple plans for travel.  Eventually I execute some version of one of them.

It sounds like your friend only patronized the big expensive hotel coffee shops in Turkey. 

The last time I went to Europe (1999?), I spent a few days at each end in Germany, and went to Prague and Budapest.  I flew into Frankfurt, bought a ticket to Prague, then got off in Wurzberg to get over the jet lag.  No rooms available at all at any price due to a convention.  So I got on the next train and went to Nuremburg.  I got a really good deal on a room, with a huge German breakfast included.  I copied the German guests and pocketed a couple of rolls and pieces of fruit for lunch.  Later I met two American women who were staying at the hostel, and they were paying more for their dorm beds than I was for my room.

 However, I have been known to live on cake in Germany, as kaffe and kuchen (sp?) is usually one of the best deals around.  Nothing like a big slice of cake for a balanced lunch.

My room was so tiny, I had to climb into the bed over the end.  It was an odd pie-shape, with the bed wedged in the small end, and a sink and chair shoved into the other.  Shower on the floor below, toilet a couple of doors down, and the immense breakfast, all for $17 US.  That was pre-Euro, when they were doing tracking and the Euro was worth $.98.  So now that same room would be $23, assuming no inflation.  Unfortunately I have spent so much time in really cheap places that $23 sounds like a fortune to me.  It's always hard when I go back to the States.

Of course it was clean.  It was German.

 This was in 1999, I think, so before the Euro.

I did what I always do in Germany.  I went to the information place in the railroad station.  They charge you a very small booking fee.  They called a place that was a little more expensive.  When I got there and the owner saw I was an older woman, he decided I was sufficiently respectable to stay in the hotel his wife runs, so he sent me over there.  I asked for the cheapest room, and got this tiny thing.  It was the first week in May, so the season hadn't started yet.

Some places just don't have options without two queen sized beds, private bathroom, hair dryer, coffeemake, and wifi, so you are pretty much stuck with paying more.  Some places have options that most people don't find acceptable.

I stayed in a hostel in Key West, in 1997, on a long weekend when there were signs out offering rooms for only $70 plus tax.  I paid $17.  I didn't have my own room, but everything else in Key West was pretty much the same.   I also stayed in hostels in Hawaii, with varying degrees of success.  One had bed bugs, so I had to change dorms twice.

Turkey and Greece are all not cheap. The prices of seafood on menu of a common restaurant make you have illusion that you were in a desert country.

I have been in Portugal a while ago (1999 I think). I visited the Algarve (southern Portugal).

It's quite touristy over there and there was a lot of high class development.

Back when I visited the country it was quite affordable though, and many areas weren't as developed yet (cheap family style hotels).

I guess if you stay off the beaten path you should be o.k. but I don't know for sure.

Andre

http://www.aguntherphotography.com

Hi,

I’m getting you very well, and also I understood that what’s your planning. Your planning is good, I will also suggest for turkey. It's very good and cheapest place to visit.

Good Luck!!

 gumbet.org.uk

I recommed Poland, infrastructure is as good as in any western country (except for roads maybe), single hotel room from 15 dollars, 0.5l beer in pub $1.5, train ticket to cover half of the country $15, dinner in resturant $4-6

Recently I was in Madrid, and to my surprise I could get a private room in a hostel right in the city center for about 25 Euro per night. Many restaurants offer a "menu del dia" for lunch at a price of about 12 Euro. Dinner would be much more expensive, so better go to the supermarket in the evening. The metro is 1 Euro per ride, which is okay.

Not everything is cheap though. When I bough a beer at a street festival they charged me 8 Euro...

Benco, 25 euro per night is expensive, about $36 per night.  Right now I'm paying $4.50 US for a private room, shared bath in Penang.  The last time I was in Europe, the most I paid was less than $18 for a private room with shared bath, in Nuremburg and Wurzburg, Germany.

 mehrsa -  You could go to one of the eastern European countries, which tend to be cheaper.  Or maybe Egypt.  You'll have to weigh the lower cost of accomodation and food against what you will have to pay for airfare, I think.  A lot of the cheaper countries can cost more to reach.

I really don't know much about Bulgaria except there is a big boom there with people from the UK buying investment property.  They have good wrestlers, you see them in the Olympics.  Recently admitted to the EU.  Beaches.

One of my plans (I always have several in the works) is to travel through the southern countries in Eastern Europe, starting, I think, with Croatia.  I'll need more money, though.

Good point.  There are a lot of places I planned on visiting 'later' that I can no longer afford.  Putting a one year time limit on your plans seems like a good idea.

Okay, well in most large tourist atraction areas, things are expensive. But there are some that are cheap... I dont know lol

Probably there is no European country as cheap as the cheapest destinations in Asia or South America. But one should not only look at prices for food and hostels, since especially for shorter trips the cost of getting there can be the most important cost factor. With so many low-cost airlines in Europe, a trip to a country in eastern Europe could therefore be a good solution for a tight budget.

Hehe...someone said that Croatia is the cheapest, well i don't know about that. Yes, it's a beautiful country with amazing cost and beaches but it's not that cheap, at least isn't to us, Croatians.

I know that Bosnia and Herzegovina is very cheap country and Serbia too.

Turkey is very expensive for tourists. A cup of tea can cost you $10. I would go somewhere else as a frugal traveler.

There are many nations such as Latvia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Albania etc that will easily fulfill your desire for a cheap vacation. These will offer you inexpensive foods and accommodation and the sights will definitely be worth it.

If you want relatively inexpensive luxury then you should try places on the Mediterranean east of Italy.

Albania is the cheapest

I started dreaming of Europe since I watched this movie (forgot the title) about an engaged woman who followed another man, which she thought was her destiny, to Europe. I really fell in love the the scenic & romantic places they showed in the movie. I am Hopeful that someday I can go there and so i want to know other more cheaper places in Europe with the same scenery with that expensive ones. Who knows? I might have the chance to go there.

And guys have any of you here ever watched the movie Euro Trip? Its really a funny movie and what part I like most is when they came to a place where things are really really cheap to a point that a nickel can already own you a hotel. Hmmnn..Wondering if that place really exist or existed :)

God bless!

Last two years I went to the Czech Republic. There are very big differences in the prices there. Prague is much more expensive than the rest of the country. We stayed in a village just outside Prague and the price range for dinner was about 10$/6 euro including drinks. In Prague you will pay the normal "big city" prices.

My parents went to Croatia and it looked like a beautiful country, the people were very nice and it is even cheaper than the Czech Republic, they told me.

Ireland seems to be a good choice. I wouldn't consider any place in Europe as cheap though. Whenever I need to travel to Europe, checking my budget seems to be the first thing I do without thinking.