Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondaracer
From what I've heard from people who have gone Eastern Europe really isn't the "affordable" destination it used to be. The prices are moreso like "acceptable" now or slightly lower than your typical Western Europe destinations.
Also my GF's mom and aunt had quite unpleasant experiences in Budapest last month. A lot of the old timers and shop owners they found to be super pushy and if they were not with a man they were borderline threatening. One shop owner asked "what would happen if you didn't make it back to the ship?" To them when they refused to by a carpet.
I think a lot of the old timers and ones who do not accept the new change coming have much more of a middle-eastern outlook on society than European
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On my last trip, I spent a month in Turkey, and this trip spent some time in several prominent touristy cities in Europe with the girlfriend - London, Paris, Lyon, Munich, Budapest, and Vienna. Budapest was shockingly cheaper than everywhere else, but that's mostly because everywhere else is pretty spendy.
Food is what we used as the most common gauge of how expensive cities were, and we basically ate in every city at the top rated Tripadvisor restaurants, so they are all a bit more expensive than the average from just walking into a random place on the corner.
Budapest was noticeably cheaper than eating in Vancouver. Tasting menus, typically 4-6 courses were $25-30cdn (all inclusive, unlike Canada + tax, + tip) and mains were very seldom over $12-15cdn. You could buy a beer for around $2.50 in a restaurant and a VERY expensive bottle of wine is around $25cdn with many options at half that price or less.
Vienna, Paris, London figure on 3 times this amount for a top rated casual restaurant (not Michelin starred or anything like this).
I found Hungary and Turkey to be the only places that were cheaper than Vancouver, with everything else ranging from comparable (Munich, Lyon) to more expensive (Paris, London, Vienna).
Hope that helps,
Mark