A Little Help From My European Friends

[hatehabsforever]

I was wondering if some of you could give me your opinion on something. My daughter is getting ready to take a school trip to Europe over Easter, splitting their time between France and Italy. I'm trying to judge how much money I should give her, and in what form.

She is in her early teens, and all school activities will happen as a class. I am planning to give her Euros, and while I know the conversion rate from Canadian dollars to Euros, I have no idea how expensive or inexpensive it is there.

In terms of daily expenses such as meals, snack, souvenirs, etc., how much would you guys estimate, per day, would be enough so that she'll have enough money to not run out, without putting me in the poor house? Do you anticipate difficulties using her debit card overseas? In your experience, do most places tend to accept prepaid visa cards, or is that generally a problem?

I'd appreciate any info you guys can give me.

Thanks.

 

[Lee]

Italy is more expensive than France Euro wise. Both countries use Euros.

I'm British and we don't use them, one of the Irish may be able to help.

 

[MrHashasheen]

Well, my time in Europe was a few years ago, but ignoring room and travel and positing it being a two week trip...

I'd say roughly anything between a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty euroes should be enough for souvenirs and spending comfortably for food and the like. She might be a big shopper though, which is why there's a huge variant.

Also, here's accounts and comparisons of cost of living by European citizens:

http://www.expat-blog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=339

2 and 5 are Italian and make mention of 400 a month for two people on average, so I'd say 200 + for food plus shopping should keep her covered.

So yeah, 300 Canuck Bucks turned Euros should do it, IMO.

 

[Барбоса]

I would imagine that she will be staying in or near the tourist attractions in both France and Italy. In fact, tourist areas do not really matter - anywhere that has the euro is monstrously expensive.

Err on the high side

 

[¡Roján!]

I went to Italy on a school trip about 10 years ago with €200 in the same conditon your daughter will go I had just enough money. So, add in inflation, the fact she's a girl and inevitably will end up buying presents plus just a little extra, as I was skint by the last day, you're looking at €325. It may seem like a lot but, it'll get burnt within nothing. Hope she has fun. Not you, though. You die.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

...one of the Irish may be able to help.

That would be me.

I can actually help here as I went to France two years ago with some friends for a bit of a "we were useless in school, but we'll tell our parents we were awesome and go on a holiday and do nothing but get drunk" holliday. So remembering correctly how much money I brought, I'm sure I could break it down for you.

Food in France is around the same price it is for Ireland, so for food in the span of time she is there, €200 or a bit over should do her, if you're feeling cautious throw in an extra fifty. If you wish to give her money for clothes or shopping in-general, that is really your choice but when I went there I brought around the €200 mark and came back with a lot of stuff, you can find something in a store in France for €60, go down the street and find the exact same thing for €20.

As for overseas debit cards, not sure. Didn't have one at the time cause my parents knew that I'd have my wages put into it and end up blowing it every time I left the house, as my man management in-terms of money is horrid. But I don't see why they wouldn't, I'm also sure there are Bank of America's in France so even if you give her one she should be able to use it there if all else fails.

 

[Chess]

Ok. As everyone has mentioned europe is pretty damn expensive. Obviously it does depend on where in particular she is going. Paris for example is extortionate as are most of the cities. It is around £18 for getting in and around the centre of Paris using the RER (Underground/Subway I think you call it). A Coke will cost around €3.50 which is disgusting.

Personally I would advise that she buys food from the Boulangerie's and buys traditional French food like Croissannts, bagettes and other such products. This way food will be a lot less expensive as this is how the French eat and is nice to.

Italy also is expensive, again especially in the city although coffee is pretty cheap.
As for the form of money, personally I would give her a travel debit card that you load with money, so she can simply withdraw from any cash machine without incurring exchange rate costs like she wouyd if she used a canadian credit card. I am not 100% sure if these exist in Canada but I guess they are pretty universal. The other great thing about these pre loaded cards is that if needed you can deposit extra funds onto the card online. Maybe give her a little cash for emergencies.

Hope this helps!

For info, I am married to a French woman and regularly travel within France. Italy only once so not to helpful there.

 

[¡Roján!]

Don't give her a debit card. Silly idea. Cash in hand, and tell her to keep most of it in the hotel room safe or with a teacher only taking what she needs out every day with her.

 

[Captain Morgan Freeman]

I was on a school trip in Italy about 3 years ago. Debit cards shouldn't be a problem at all. While we were in Rome we were told that the city was notorious for pickpockets and lo and behold one of the guys had his wallet stolen. In Milan there are a lot of Africans hanging around tourist spots who will offer you a wristband tie it to your wrist then demand a tenner. Tourists tend to stick out like sore thumbs to pickpockets so she should carry a small amount of cash and use the debit card whenever possible.
Souveniers aren't very expensive as there's so many shops in competition they all have to keep prices low. The best way to save money is to stick to restaurants when eating and avoid buying snacks. Restaurants tend to get a bit cheaper the further you go from the main tourist attractions while snacks are a complete rip off with small bottles of coke costing over €3.00 in most tourist cities.
Around €200 should be enough to cover expenses.

 

[Burnout]

Realistically, 200/250(250 end of the scale just to make sure she isn't caught out) should be fine, give her much more and she'll look for reasons to spend it. Snackage is pretty expensive alright in some area's, but I've been to france & Italy on trips and had a good time and was financially ok for around 200/250.

I wouldn't bother with a card, speaking from experience being a teenager going to foreign countries on trips, the effort of making sure you don't lose cards is quite pre-occupying, constant wallet checking and the like.