budgeting for france tour

[jags]

would anyone who's been to france, care to take a guess at how much i would need for three weeks touring, camping all the way.
i have along with two friends booked the ferry for june ,but i find myself short of cash for the trip,simply because the work has slowed up big time.
roughly how much per day would you reckon i need ,we wont be eating at any flash resturant's,basic cooking i hope.

 

[aqaleigh]

camping 8 - 16 euros a night approx

eating out in a flash resteraunt = second mortgage, stay away unless you win the lottery

 

[jags]

thank's aqaleigh for that,that's a good figure to go on.

 

[vernon]

camping 8 - 16 euros a night approx

eating out in a flash resteraunt = second mortgage, stay away unless you win the lottery

Municipal camp sites can be as cheap as 3 euros per person. I rarely paid more than 10 euros.

 

[vernon]

OPn the food front.

I found fresh fruit and veg to be a little cheaper than the UK.

Fresh bread and croissants were also cheap. Don't skimp on the pain au chocolat if your camp site is lucky enough to have a bakers' van visit in the mornings.

During the day I could eat cheaply by buying a baguette, some cheese, tomatoes and a few slices of cooked meat.

Evening meals were sometimes tinned stews plus cous cous or fresh veg made into ratatouille. There's a bewildering range of tasty and cheap tinned meaty tasty things that can be combined with pasta or cous cous.

Cheap gluggable wine is around 2-3 euros per litre.

It's much cheaper to buy beer in the supermarkets than from cafe/restaurants/bars.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

depends where yu go and what you need. I went down to the med in 9 days on 140 euros camping. The camping started off at 2-3 euros a night (one was free) in the north and went up to a mega rip off 22 euros a night in Montpellier on the coast.
You could do it cheaper if you wild camped I reckon...perhps do that every othe rnight and take a shower on a campsite the othe rnights?

Have to say though I was on my own, very few daytime stops and I ate just one proper meal each day. Hardly luxury, but like I said I was alone.

 

[jags]

thanks lads i like the sound of campsites at 3 euro a night that could work.
and i could live on one good meal in the evening .dont think i'll be doing any wild camping on this tour,thanks again chaps great advice much appreciated.
ps
bigonabianchi nice acoustic music.

 

[aqaleigh]

Municipal camp sites can be as cheap as 3 euros per person. I rarely paid more than 10 euros.

thats just the camping price - the op asked for a figure to tour whilst camping, I assume you must have eaten

 

[jags]

would i get away with 800euro for this tour ,i'll be gone for 19 day's, but 2 of them i'll be on the ferry one out one home. .so 17 days cycling and camping.that's 800 euro spending money, the ferry is paid for.aqaleigh you 'll be glad to know we are doing this to raise money for hospice.we intend to buy an expensive bot of wine take it home ,then the people at the hospice will auction it off at one of there fun raisen event's.

 

[vernon]

would i get away with 800euro for this tour ,i'll be gone for 19 day's, but 2 of them i'll be on the ferry one out one home. .so 17 days cycling and camping.that's 800 euro spending money, the ferry is paid for.aqaleigh you 'll be glad to know we are doing this to raise money for hospice.we intend to buy an expensive bot of wine take it home ,then the people at the hospice will auction it off at one of there fun raisen event's.

I'd be living very well on 800euros.

It works out at about 40euros per day which will allow you to eat the occasional restaurant meal and not skimp on decent food.

When it comes to eating in a restaurant - many of them have fixed price options and great value for money. You might choose to save some money for a slap up meal at the end of the ride.

 

[jags]

thanks vernon,i could hopefully scrape together 800 between now and june.

 

[aqaleigh]

if you are going to try resteraunts - they are taxed according to location - the more prominent the location the more they tend to cost

there will usually be 2 prices and sometimes 3

its cheapest to eat at the bar and normally most expensive on a terrace / outside

vernons correct they often have set meals at reasonable price but if you add say a 3rd course or a bottle of wine thats not included this tends to revert the price to menu costs instead of just adding the additional item and can greatly increase the cost

by law in france now all resteraunts have to display the costs clearly inside and out

 

[aqaleigh]

on the beer front - bottled beer in a resteraunt is a lot more expensive than draught

un demi (draught) needs to be ordered otherwise it will be assumed you want bottled

 

[andym]

un demi (draught) needs to be ordered otherwise it will be assumed you want bottled

Strictly speaking, a 'demi' is the size of the glass - roughly 'a half'. The French for a draught beer is 'une pression - so a 'demi pression' is a half of draught beer and a 'pression' gets you a pint. and if you really just want to wet your throat ask for a 'galopin'.

Other useful expressions are 'un carafe d'eau' if you want plain water rather than expensive and environmentally unfriendly bottled water - if you want to really make the point you could say 'un carafe d'eau du robinet' (tap water). A pichet or carafe of vin is usually cheaper than bottled.

they often have set meals at reasonable price but if you add say a 3rd course or a bottle of wine thats not included this tends to revert the price to menu

I've never heard of this before - in my experience this isn't normal practice.

(There's something wrong with your keyboard by the way).

 

[jags]

hope i diden't give the impression that i would be dining in flash resteraunt, or any resteraunt for that matter.it will be budget all the way ,as a matter of fact im kind of looking forward to doing thing, 's on the cheap (not that i live like a millionaire i don't).yeah im going to live the campers life for three week's like it or not.