Do people buy lunch and dinner out on holidays?

[user1471554720]

When we go on holidays in e.g. France Spain, Italy, we get our breakfast included with the hotel. We eat dinner out in a restaurant. For lunch, we go to a supermarket and get rolls and ham/cheese.

I see lots of people eating a main course at lunchtime. Do those people eat a dinner in the evening as well? Surely this would cost a lot. Any hot lunch could come to 20 euro by the time people get water, coffee after.

What do people generally do? I know people staying in apartments would get breakfast and lunch in the apartment, and eat out for dinner.

I asked people but they evaded the question irl. Dh would eat enough at breakfast to keep going until dinner but I find this uncomfortable.

Yes we eat out for lunch and dinner but this is all budgeted in to the whole vacation.

We are very much budget travellers, think £1000 budget all in for 10 days (we travel in winter outside of school holidays when it's much cheaper) so eating out three times a day is not affordable at all.

To answer you OP, on day 1 we go to a supermarket and stock up on tea/coffee and snacks. For breakfast we buy bread/pastries, lunch will be a picnic of bread rolls, cheese, olives etc (from supermarket) and we eat out at dinner. My dh often asks for a plate of something to a certain value, rather than ordering individual meals. For example he would say give me a plate of chicken shawarma for 20 Euro and 2 portions of chips and we just share. We always get tap water, we never buy fizzy drinks. A few dinners we will do ourselves on the bbq or in the oven, such as nice sausages or chops. Many continental supermarkets have an excellent range of fresh seafood which is also so much cheaper to cook at home. This isn't everyone's idea of a holiday but it's the only way we can afford it.

Just back from holiday we did the bed and breakfast !
usually if by the pool or beach I’ll just had a bag of crisps or some sweets that will keep me going til we go out to eat for dinner at night if we wandering or doing a trip maybe an ice cream or something ! Nothing massive cus we had a big breakfast !
if we go self catering I eat normal breakfast of fruit by bread and have sarnie at lunch then dinner out in restaurant at night x

It isn't so much the cost rather than the amount. If I eat out at lunch time then I am not that hungry in the evening, especially after a big breakfast. We go to a supermarket and buy a baguette and some paté or sometimes a salad and some bread. Food is so much better in France in my opinion. Even a shop salad comes with a nice dressing.

I’m the same I would not have an appetite!! It’s not a cost thing for us we just feel physically stuffed if we eat too much

You can eat meals as small or large as you want though. No one is saying you have to have 3 huge courses at every meal! I’ll often just have a starter or small salad when going out for lunch/dinner if that’s all I fancy. Usually less filling than a baguette from the supermarket.

We usually self cater in a villa or apartment if it’s not part of a big complex, we are not big breakfast eaters, DS will have toast / cereal and fruit but me and DH are more a coffee and go people.

We then usually have lunch out in a restaurant - which wilL be our main meal, mainly because I don’t agree with seeing or taking (tired and grumpy) children out to restaurant places in the evening, but also we tend to eat like this at home, feels strange to eat the largest amount of calories before bed?

Then we have picky bits of local foods in the evening's, instead of a big dinner, think cheeses, charcuterie, flat breads, dips and fruits etc (and lots of local wine..) - and our own company rather than noisy strangers

I eat out for lunch and dinner, food is a huge part of the culture and I'm not breaking up my day by traipsing back to my accommodation for lunch or for dinner. Nor am I faffing about with a packed lunch and big bag or backpack. Breakfast is 50/50, might eat out, might not. Depends on what I'm doing that day.

We usually go self-catering. So we eat breakfast in our apartment/villa, lunch on occasions the same but it depends on what we're doing, so may eat out and then evenings we eat out. For me, trying local dishes and eating out is part of the holiday. I wouldn't want to go half/full board or all inclusive, simply because I like eating in local restaurants. We have stayed in hotels and gone bed and breakfast but that's my limit.

Usually we have breakfast at hotel and then dinner at hotel or Restaurant.
For lunch we may have a roll or ice cream or cake depending on time of year. Never buy lunch and dinner unless starving.

Yes we eat out as much as possible, we dont stay in hotels so would either buy food at a supermarket for breakfast or eat breakfast out somewhere, or often both if Im honest and dont forget all the coffee stops and snacks along the way, then aperitifs in the evening

I like to try different restaurants and cafes, have a list and itinerary of them and dont like to eat in the same place twice if possible.

Went to Rome recently and we ate out for lunch and dinner, we welcomed the respite from the heat and found the food to be pretty cheap (but good!) I find the US more expensive, we tend to grab fast food for lunch there and sit down for dinner.

We eat out for all meals on holiday. Usually we have breakfast included when we're away and then would eat out for lunch and dinner.

The only time I've ever bought food in a supermarket on holiday is either for snacks in the room or to take back on the plane with us, never for lunch or dinner.

Yes we eat out at lunch (2-3ish) and dinner (10ish) every day. Lunch is usually one course, but dinner will be more. It does cost a lot of money, but dining out with lots of lovely food is on of my favourite parts of holiday.

Ive had WLS so eat very very small portions, you dont have to have a 10 course meal at both lunch and dinner.
Its the experience and the variety I want and the ambiance, you can get a baguette and pate down at Asda!

We usually go half board in hotels, so we are provided with bed, breakfast (extensive buffet) and evening meal (another extensive buffet).

I like a good cooked breakfast with bread or croissants. If we bother with lunch after that it will just be something like a fresh baked bread roll each with a bit of filling to keep us going.

Then the evening meal.

We find that over the course of the fortnight the costs work out really well. Restaurants have become so much more expensive since converting to the Euro so we feel we are quids (euros) in.

Fresh bread fruit ,croissants for breakfast. Either snack on the beach at one of the bars or back to apartment for cold meats,cheese etc and dinner always out somewhere l

We have one main meal then nice bakery stuff. It's not always at the same time. Depends on what we're doing.

If we self cater, generally, we self cater.

We do have the odd meal out.

My idea of hell would be you going to a supermarket so we eat out

Depends where we are. If staying in an apartment we would possibly have some lunches in or make a packed lunch to take out. But we would budget for eating out for most meals, but lunch would be a lighter affair than dinner

I know you can buy a salad and water in a restaurant for lunch but that could be 20 euro per person. We buy from a supermarket for lunch and make a picnic sitting out.

For holidays there are DH, two teens and I. For a half board in Spain it is 4k euro. I don't mind this. I also buy souvenirs go on day trips etc. If we all bought lunch in a restaurant it would add 100 euro a day to the holiday.

We are living in a high cost country, wine is 12 euro a glass, coffee is 5 euro. We already rarely eat out,/go for drinks in our own country in order to afford the holiday.

I prefer to buy drinks than spend 20 euro per person ordering something we could get in the market. We already have the eating out experience for dinner and we budget for that.

I’m more likely to have lunch in a restaurant if out and about exploring. Then possibly eat out again in the evening or have snacks back at the room/villa/hostel.

When it was just the husband and I, we used to eat in a restaurant for both lunch and tea when on holiday, now travelling with kids probably 70% of the time we grab bread and cheese from the supermarket and have a picnic lunch and eat in a restaurant only in the evening. Some of this is more because the older child has some restaurant related anxiety and it just makes it easier, and also because lunch can be done in 30 minutes this way and we can be on to the next bit of sightseeing, whereas a restaurant will usually take at least an hour.

Depends.

On an AI beach holiday we will 3 meals a day in the restaurants.

But on a city break - breakfast in hotel, lunch - light snack or sandwich out and about and then dinner in a restaurant