What are the more budget friendly Europe destinations for an anniversary? Currently got an AI booked in Mexico, but wife has mentioned she's would like to do Europe possibly. We've never been so we are pretty open to all suggestions.

With remodeling our home, and other expenses we would like to keep it somewhat affordable.

For arguments sake lets say a budget under $8K for 7-10 nights including flights.

Look at Costco Travel (membership not needed) for a package for the area you are interested in. I am sure they have something that fits the dollar budget. The time budget is more of a constraint - hard to do much there in a "week" due to the travel time.

Croatia is budget friendly.

tamc93 said:

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Look at Costco Travel (membership not needed) for a package for the area you are interested in. I am sure they have something that fits the dollar budget. The time budget is more of a constraint - hard to do much there in a "week" due to the travel time.

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1 day there, 1 day back. that's still a lot of time, minus travel days. Its not like its a long weekend.

Spain, Italy, Portugal are all relatively affordable. Honestly, most all places are affordable if you do them right. Obviously London, Paris, etc. are going to be more pricey, but there is value there as well. $7-$8K is plenty to have a really nice trip.

We prefer AirBnB or STRs since you will typically have a kitchen/laundry and generally more space for equal or less money than a hotel. We don't cook on vacation, but that is another way to save some $$. Metro is cheaper than Uber, but walking is the best and cheapest of all.

Easiest way to save a ton of money is to go in the offseason aka October/November and April/early May.

What time of year?

June preferably

What do y'all like to do? Outdoors stuff, history, architecture, touristy stuff?

we are pretty easy going. strolling the city and eating/drinking/shopping we enjoy. Hiking, relaxing on beach/mountain, etc.

Since it is an anniversary trip I want to keep travel to a minimum. I don't want to spend our entire time catching trains, rental cars, etc. Seeing as much as possible is not the goal. I'd like to visit a couple places and really soak it in. More quality vs quantity.

In the past I've always thought of Croatia, and Tuscany in Italy.....Big major cities with traffic, and tons of people elbows to *******s don't interest me.

Italy can be very affordable if you do it right. Try Umbria, Abruzzo, or Puglia. Pick a town that's not on the typical tourist trail as a base for day trips. There are some real deals to be had on accomodation in these regions and beautiful towns to explore.

Barcelona and Dublin come to mind.

your largest expense will probably be the hotel. I would put that first. Also try to limit the number of times you move around (change cities/hotels)....

with that said, there are some places you can eliminate as you want to do it on a budget.... all of the nordic countries (norway, sweden, etc) come to mind....

From a romantic standpoint (if you get my drift here), get to Positano, Italy.
I didn't think it was overly $$$ but boy did my wife love that vibe.

You could easily do Paris for that budget, but I feel like Paris is an acquired taste so it might not be best for first time European travelers.

Eastern Europe is cheaper than western Europe.

Croatia & Hungary (specifically Budapest) are great budget-friendly options. Very historic, beautiful, and romantic. And they are some of my favorite places in Europe.

Greece is very affordable, although the islands can get a little more pricey. But mainland Greece is wonderful its own.

Spain can be another very affordable, yet historic & romantic option.

With your budget, you should have lots of options.

TXCityAggie said:

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Italy can be very affordable if you do it right. Try Umbria, Abruzzo, or Puglia. Pick a town that's not on the typical tourist trail as a base for day trips. There are some real deals to be had on accomodation in these regions and beautiful towns to explore.

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briefly looking into Umbria, it seems like Tuscany without the crowds. I like that.

We did Prague for about 8 days, staying in an AirBnb just off the old town square. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was certainly within your budget. However, it was early October, not summer. That worked for us because the weather was awesome and crowds weren't bad. It was a great trip, and not expensive.

You could do a Mediterranean cruise through Spain, France and Italy for that budget amount you're talking about.

wildcat08 said:

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We did Prague for about 8 days, staying in an AirBnb just off the old town square. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was certainly within your budget. However, it was early October, not summer. That worked for us because the weather was awesome and crowds weren't bad. It was a great trip, and not expensive.

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can you expand on your trip for me? Prague has recently caught my attention looking online. Seems like it has great history, food, beer, and easy to navigate by foot which we like.

What was yalls itinerary ? Curious if 8 days was too long, etc? I'm thinking our trip would probably be a Friday to Friday type of deal.

Bump for the comments about Prague. Would five or six nights there be too much?

I think 5-6 nights in Prague is fine if you enjoy really getting into cities. I think we did 6 nights but 3 different air bnbs. There are also short day trips you can take from there or even 1 or 2 night side trips. We did Karlovy Vary for 2 days which is a short trip from Prague on a nice bus and loved it.

I posted about our trip here on page 2, you can skip past the Vienna part at first.

https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3025672/2

Yacht trip in Croatia or Italy.

Google it. Lots of companies out there. 6/7 days. Probably $4k for both of you. Breakfast and lunch included.

Most unique trip you'll ever do. We did it in Croatia for our honeymoon and it was the best trip we've ever done.

Looks amazing. Any links to companies you suggest?

My wife and I just got back from a Viking river cruise in the Danube. It was an 8 day cruise and we got the free airfare special. We had five stops on the Danube including Vienna and Budapest. Best vacation ever. Total cost was $8,000.

AustinCountyAg said:

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Looks amazing. Any links to companies you suggest?

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here's the trip we did.

Croatia Sailing | Sail Split to Dubrovnik | Yacht Getaways

keep in mind, we potlocked and got paired with 3 Aussie couples. One of which was also on their honeymoon. You have your own bedroom and bathroom so it's not a hostel or anything.

Skipper and first mate were an English couple. It was a blast and we were all about the same age. Some great conversations talking about culture, travels, experiences, growing up in US vs England vs Australia (two of the guys were actually born in South Afrika). They were thoroughly impressed with my ability to make sangria out of a bunch of random fruit, wine, liquor, and sprite. I was aptly named "the mixin' texan" on about day 4.

Dinner every night after mooring on the boat. Vineyard on Stari Grad was great.

A trip we'll never forget.

Another vote for Budapest. Loved it and so cheap. Slovenia and Slovakia are gorgeous. And I feel like Spain gives you the Roman architecture for a better price than Italy.