European city break budget

[Drumshambo]

What is your average spend on a three of four night European city break, so flights, accommodation and spends? Supposed to be doing Eurostar to Bruges in January with friend, but accommodation is looking a bit on the pricy side! We can bag really cheap flights to Seville or malaga, and I've found airbnb's that are cheap also.

How much spends for Seville would I need please? Would be a chilled few days, of eating nice food drinking coctails, and a bit of sightseeing would eat breakfast in the apartment, but lunch and dinner out every day. . We would be celebrating friends birthday while there, so one night in a slightly higher end restaurant. Never been to Seville before but have been to Malaga twice, so have more of an idea about there.

For context, going to Berlin end of this month for three nights with dd. I paid for accommodation. £450 for two bed apartment. And we both bought our own flights (80 return) Will take about £300 spends.

I would say £500 each for everything. Flights, reasonably good accommodation, nice meals and if you’re a culture vulture, entrance to museums galleries and sightseeing. Plus a walking tour.

@Dinosaurwoman Thanks. I was thinking along those lines budget wise. Love a walking tour..Tend to do one in every city I visit.

You'd need a hell of a lot more for Belgium than you would for Spain.
I did a city break in Spain and one in Belgium (2019) and would say, give or take, eating out was about twice as expensive in Belgium. Still not Scandinavian prices, obvs, but definitely spent per meal in Belgium what we were spending for lunch AND dinner in Spain.
I spend mainly on that, as try to do free entry days/times for museums. Hotels I book in advance and use price comparison sites. I think the hotel prices in both were about the same (Holiday Inn in Spain, and a boutique independent hotel in Belgium, both 3 star iirc)
Flights were cheap as chips. (that's how I pick my city breaks, find cheapest flights to somewhere I've not been and take it from there)

Love your username @Drumshambo that's what my mums farm was called.

I'd budget a lot more than you think if you don't want to scrimp. We did 2k in Edinburgh for 4 in the summer...

@Geamhradh

You'd need a hell of a lot more for Belgium than you would for Spain. I did a city break in Spain and one in Belgium (2019) and would say, give or take, eating out was about twice as expensive in Belgium. Still not Scandinavian prices, obvs, but definitely spent per meal in Belgium what we were spending for lunch AND dinner in Spain. I spend mainly on that, as try to do free entry days/times for museums. Hotels I book in advance and use price comparison sites. I think the hotel prices in both were about the same (Holiday Inn in Spain, and a boutique independent hotel in Belgium, both 3 star iirc) Flights were cheap as chips. (that's how I pick my city breaks, find cheapest flights to somewhere I've not been and take it from there)

Thanks. Yeah that's why we went for Seville in the end. Flight and overnight hotel and accommodation for Spain is £200 pp. Think I'll budget around £120 per day for spends, but will have more available if needed. Last time I was in Belgium we stayed with friends and only ate out once or twice, so didn't get a sense of costs properly. Amsterdam.a few years ago cost a fortune.

@idontlikealdi

Love your username *@Drumshambo* that's what my mums farm was called.

I'd budget a lot more than you think if you don't want to scrimp. We did 2k in Edinburgh for 4 in the summer...

Wow really!! . I thought it was.a really cool name. I got a present of Drumshambo gin. That's where it comes from. Thanks for the tip. Won't be scrmping, but can't go too mad either as have lots of trips planned for next year. I love Edinburgh. I have a three night trip planned there next spring.

100% do Seville, it’s my favourite city break ever! You can eat very cheaply in tapas bars and the wine is just a few euro. However, there are also a lot of fancy hotels with rooftop pools (which they won’t let you use) where cocktails are on the pricey side. A few recommendations -

There’s a food tour on AirBnB experiences which was the absolute highlight of our trip. We did this on our first night to get our bearings of the city www.airbnb.co.uk/experiences/117464?location=Seville%2C%20Spain&federatedSearchId=96e28b74-107e-412d-83aa-1db1a7ef664f&searchId=23ff4888-6da3-42d1-b7f1-bbe52fbbf246&sectionId=8b76735f-0461-4c74-aade-27851904f22a&source=p2
Sibuya for sushi
A little cafe called Jester for pastries and juices for breakfast
Drinks at the top of the Eme Cathedral hotel for beautiful views of the cathedral
El Pinton for amazing food and a gorgeous restaurant
We also did a couple of rooftop bars which were nice - Hotel Dona Maria, Pura Vida Terraza, Hotel Casa Romana

My top tip for Spain is try and find authentic tapas bars where you get a free tapas with each drink - you can easily have a very cheap lunch for the price of a couple of glasses of wine/small beers.

Love Seville. One of my favourite places. We had tapas for four, and half a dozen alcoholic drinks for about 60 euros at New Year. Sat in the cobbled streets under the orange trees with the horses and carts clattering by.
Stayed in an apartment found on Booking.com opposite the cathedral with a roof top terrace.
Amazing.

@cptartapp what was the temperature like at New Year?

We did 2k in Edinburgh for 4 in the summer
Good grief!
What did you spend that on. I go to Edinburgh ( or Glasgow) every 5 weeks or so for a weekend with DH and only spend a couple of hundred including accommodation, meals and train ticket and still hit the bars and have a great time.

We are planning Seville next year...looks amazing

Dental low to mid 20's iirc.
We ate sat outside every night, although it was cooler then and there were patio heaters.
Sat in the park on NYD in short sleeves with sunglasses drinking wine.
Amazing place.

Blue skies!

Seville is lovely
I was there last week and I’ve been a few times before.
It’s not an incredibly expensive city really

@cptartapp So glad we've booked it now. It's ticking all my boxes. Going mid January. Hope we get lucky with the weather.

@Hoppinggreen Good to hear. Been to lots of Spanish cities. Really looking forward to seeing Seville.

@DentalWorries

100% do Seville, it’s my favourite city break ever! You can eat very cheaply in tapas bars and the wine is just a few euro. However, there are also a lot of fancy hotels with rooftop pools (which they won’t let you use) where cocktails are on the pricey side. A few recommendations -

There’s a food tour on AirBnB experiences which was the absolute highlight of our trip. We did this on our first night to get our bearings of the city www.airbnb.co.uk/experiences/117464?location=Seville%2C%20Spain&federatedSearchId=96e28b74-107e-412d-83aa-1db1a7ef664f&searchId=23ff4888-6da3-42d1-b7f1-bbe52fbbf246&sectionId=8b76735f-0461-4c74-aade-27851904f22a&source=p2
Sibuya for sushi
A little cafe called Jester for pastries and juices for breakfast
Drinks at the top of the Eme Cathedral hotel for beautiful views of the cathedral
El Pinton for amazing food and a gorgeous restaurant
We also did a couple of rooftop bars which were nice - Hotel Dona Maria, Pura Vida Terraza, Hotel Casa Romana

Thanks so much for this. It's great to have personal recommendations. Will check them out.

It is really hard to say nowadays.

A few years ago Rome for 4 of us just before Easter (2 adults and 2 teens) cost very little, about £500 for flights and accommodation. The lovely 2 bedroomed apartment in Trastevere was only €200 for three nights.

I think the whole lot including food and entrance fees was just over £1,000.

Florence for 4 nights in February half term the following year was about the same.

Post Covid I couldn't hazard a guess. I'm assuming flights and insurance cost much more and probably hotels too.

Ooooh. Just clocked that you're going to Seville!

We went there on honeymoon in December and it was glorious weather.

Just be aware that the locals go out VERY late. Restaurants didn't get going till 10 ish and they got home from clubbing about 5am!

Would Seville be good in February?

I have been in Feb
We ate outside and stayed in an apartment with a heated roof top pool, which was lovely