Message Forums

Hello All,

I have Sunday evening brain on and i cant work out how much money i should budget for 10 days in the Loire for food and activities (ie visiting Chateuxs). Not planning out going out for meals much, maybe 2 or three times.

So for a couple how much would you budget?

Thanks people for helping my poor brain out on this sunday evening ;-)

we went to La Baule - Loire atlantique last july 2 of us for 2 weeks.  Cost about 100.00 in tolls  from calais and back.  petrol/diesel is cheaper in France and much cheaper if you use Supermarket stations ie.  Carrefour or Leclerc, about 92c a litre.

We took most of our own food including as lot of meat to barbecue and just bought salad and bread and fruit. we ate out a few times at lunch Plat de jour about 12 euros each and about 8 euros for a bottle of muscadet, and had  a few drinks during the day at several bars, we also had a few trips out as well, we spent total 500 euros for the 2 weeks ( the petrol was extra on the credit card)

Hope this helps

Julie x

You can keep a track on petrol and diesel prices in France here

http://www.prix-carburants.gouv.fr/  You can then filter in this price onto www.viamichelin.com and add a caravan or trailer in "more options "  and get a fairly reliable costing for your journey with Tolls included.

The only food I take are teabags, cereals and things your kids really must have and something for the first night if you dont want to eat out.

Quote: Originally posted by warbis66 on 31/1/2011

---

Buying food in French supermarkets is just like buying foot at home.......look at the prices. Some foods are way more expensive than at home, some are not. But for me i certainly do not want to eat English food whilst in France. The highlight for my kids 12 10 6 is moules and frites and all credit to them they have even tried snails. We survive on smelly cheese, bread, some bbqs from the butcher at intermache and lots of fruits and salad. Oh and of course a litre of wine each day!

---

sounds like the way we eat too but with some nice french cakes thrown in as treats!

the kids, when younger, did get to the stage when they would beg no more french bread though as we had so much of it lol

quite a few of the large supermarkets also have attached restaraunts, which are reasonably priced. dont rule out Lidls for some basic items and if you can find a nice wine in a box, buy it, it works out a lot cheaper!!

supermarkets tend to be in the sainsburys price range - certainly not morrisons/tesco/asda unfortunately! the local markets are normally good for fish etc and i would suggest buying your veg direct from the local farm shop - there are lots around!

last year i also tried driving (with a trailer) from calais to the vendee (and back) without using toll roads, it took about 2 hours longer than normal (maximum) but i saved around £100 easily in tolls but spent an additional £20 on fuel (which was probably due to the trailer as mileage was pretty similar) - i did find the drive much more satisfying though and actually saw alot more of the real france.

dave

We take some basics with us but we shop at a mixture of Lidls, super markets and markets. Our main essentials are 2 packs of perki coffee, wine every day, bread and fresh stuff with bbqs. We actually spend a bit of money on foods that we don't even recognise and give them a try, as it is part of the fun.

Personally I don't see the point in taking tons of foods with you as you just eat up the petrol. There are plenty of shops/markets to find good value food and that's half the fun of holidays trying to find it.

We only spend £25 on tolls each way but we are going to give toll free roads ago this year.

Sueze

Rambling, sorry.