Your food budget. Imagine your kitchen is closed (or "The 90" if that's where your student ID works to feed you) and you now have to eat every meal but breakfast "out". How much would that cost? While we are traveling, this is basically what you are doing and it helps to plan and get your head around what it will cost.
Here's a menu for a bistro I recommend in Paris. These are pretty good prices and you can get a sense of what a dinner or lunch "out" in a sit-down restaurant will cost you in Paris. Their burgers are really good...and you can try true French "Steak Tartare" if you are feeling brave. Alternatively, you can look for "street food" in food courts that might be a bit cheaper (but not always). Look up the sandwich place Hot Rocket in Seven Dials Market in London for example (a few blocks from our hotel). And here's a menu for a famous pizzeria in Rome.
Our hotels will provide breakfast. You'll need to budget for lunch and dinner. If you are a coffee snob or need a mid-morning snack, you'll want to budget for that. I'll also point out grocery stores where you can get snack food and perhaps a picnic for later. In Italy, you'll find open-air markets where you can get both sandwiches and pasta dishes. I recommend planning for $15-20 for lunch and $25-30 for dinner each day and $20-30 for portable snacks and drinks every few days. That will add up to $500-770 for a generous food budget (EA estimates over $900).
And what about expenses? Your choice of "bucket list" items will be constrained by what you can afford. National museums in London are all free and your transport pass will pay for a boat trip down the Thames. But private museums and some specialty sites require tickets. France and Italy are more expensive for museums and attractions, but strolling the neighborhood around Sacre Coeur or window shopping in the Marais costs nothing. Our program offers plenty of free time (within our tight city schedule), but it's up to you to decide how to spend it and how spendy those choices will be.
Another expense is the expectations of your friends and family for souvenirs and gifts. Manage those expectations now! You do not need a leather jacket from Florence; nor does your sister. Even if you are not planning expensive purchases, the little items (e.g. a scarf for your mom, a print for your nana, a funny looking fridge magnet for your little brother) add up in weight, in euros, and in the time it takes to shop. Souvenirs are surprisingly expensive (for things so cheaply made) and the places we are going are designed to lure you into spending money. Plan NOT to shop and to take home photos and memories instead.
Finally, all the money in the world will not get you in the door to some places on your bucket list without a reservation. While I strongly discourage you from planning every minute of your time (many of your plans will not work out), I do recommend you identify those places where you need reservations and work with your classmates and our schedule to get those reservations made and/or tickets purchased in advance.
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