Feb 28, 2008
Sacre bleu! The Dollar has fallen even farther than before! What can we do about it?
On the currency markets yesterday, the Euro hit a high of $1.51. The British Pound rose to $1.99. But that's only the start of our misery. Since all money-changers (banks, currency kiosks, ATM machines) charge at least -- at least -- 5% for changing your dollars into Euros or Pounds, you actually pay nearly $1.60 for a Euro and $2.10 for a Pound. And at those rates, Europe becomes very expensive indeed.
So what's to be done?
First, and for the time being, you may want to consider traveling to alternative destinations where the Dollar remains strong: Central and South America, Mexico, most islands of the Caribbean, most areas of Asia (and especially China).
But if you're hell-bent on Western Europe, you must necessarily opt for alternatives to standard hotel accommodations: apartment rentals, rooms in private homes, hostels, convents and monasteries, student residences. All throughout Britain and Europe, that form of alternative accommodation remains reasonable in price, and brings you not only money savings on your lodgings but considerable convenience: more spacious lodgings and a kitchen or kitchenette in which to prepare meals.
The apartment rental is your best alternative, although renting an apartment usually requires that you stay in one city for at least a week (probably a good thing to do, in any event). By eliminating a faster-moving European itinerary, by making a trip out of one-week stays in successive cities, you can obtain a quite decent apartment almost everywhere for as little as $100 a day (and that's for two-to-four persons).
The apartment-renting agencies to use are: Vacation Rentals by Owner (www.vrbo.com), HomeAway (www.homeaway.com), Zonder (www.zonder.com), Endless Vacation Rentals (www.evrentals.com), Rentalo.com (www.rentalo.com). And as a further alternative, consider the many local agencies that have emerged to rent you a bed in someone's private home or apartment ("hosted" stays while the owners are still in residence). Go to the "Search this blog" box in our upper-right-hand corner, insert the words "rooms in private homes" or "private home accommodations", and you'll find discussion of such lodgings in London, Paris, Rome and other leading European cities.
The use of apartment rentals, or rooms in private homes, is probably the single most effective way to continue visiting Europe affordably. It's the course that a great many Americans will need to follow as long as the dollar remains as weak as it presently is.
Write and read comments about this post.
So what's to be done?
First, and for the time being, you may want to consider traveling to alternative destinations where the Dollar remains strong: Central and South America, Mexico, most islands of the Caribbean, most areas of Asia (and especially China).
But if you're hell-bent on Western Europe, you must necessarily opt for alternatives to standard hotel accommodations: apartment rentals, rooms in private homes, hostels, convents and monasteries, student residences. All throughout Britain and Europe, that form of alternative accommodation remains reasonable in price, and brings you not only money savings on your lodgings but considerable convenience: more spacious lodgings and a kitchen or kitchenette in which to prepare meals.
The apartment rental is your best alternative, although renting an apartment usually requires that you stay in one city for at least a week (probably a good thing to do, in any event). By eliminating a faster-moving European itinerary, by making a trip out of one-week stays in successive cities, you can obtain a quite decent apartment almost everywhere for as little as $100 a day (and that's for two-to-four persons).
The apartment-renting agencies to use are: Vacation Rentals by Owner (www.vrbo.com), HomeAway (www.homeaway.com), Zonder (www.zonder.com), Endless Vacation Rentals (www.evrentals.com), Rentalo.com (www.rentalo.com). And as a further alternative, consider the many local agencies that have emerged to rent you a bed in someone's private home or apartment ("hosted" stays while the owners are still in residence). Go to the "Search this blog" box in our upper-right-hand corner, insert the words "rooms in private homes" or "private home accommodations", and you'll find discussion of such lodgings in London, Paris, Rome and other leading European cities.
The use of apartment rentals, or rooms in private homes, is probably the single most effective way to continue visiting Europe affordably. It's the course that a great many Americans will need to follow as long as the dollar remains as weak as it presently is.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: accommodations, money
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
