How to Eat Well on a Budget in Europe
Enjoying Traditional European Food on the Cheap
By Kelby Hartson Carr
Updated 5/4/2019 by Transitions Abroad
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For lunch or dinner, pick up
an assortment of tasty sandwiches, quiches, and pastries
in Europe for less than the average lunch at a café/bistro,
and far less than the average dinner at a restaurant.
Picnic at a local
park, square, or where you wish and eat extremely
well. Photo © Transitions Abroad. |
One of the most remarkable aspects of
visiting Europe is the plethora and variety of excellent
cuisines, from hours-long multi-course meals to simple market
and bakery finds. It’s one area in
which even budget-pressed travelers of all ages who are
foodies will not wish to skimp. (Editor's note: Growing
up with foodies for parents, who traveled decades in Europe
with the enjoyment of great food as one of several major motivations, we would
drive far out of our way to be in areas known for their
cooking traditions. Fortunately, you still don’t
have to spend a fortune to sample some of Europe’s
best flavors, especially now that the euro is nearing par
to the U.S. dollar.) Backpackers, students, solo travelers,
families, and mature
travelers have options to eat
like royalty while feeding the local economy, thereby helping
small farmers continue to grow their produce with great
care and pride.
Here are some tips for dining on a budget
in Europe (and enjoying every last morsel while you do it):
Bakeries and Pastry Shops
The cheapest breakfast in Europe is
arguably its best: the stop at the local bakery or pastry
shop. Throughout Europe, you can find delicious tastes from
baguettes and (chocolate) croissants in France to apple
tarts and strudels in Germany. You can even find pretty
hearty fare such as various takes on quiches and
onion tarts. Best of all, these delectable and filling delights
cost just a few euros and will leave you satisfied.
Budget tip: What
you should most certainly not do is get breakfast
at your hotel, unless you happen to be staying at an
inn where breakfast is included, well-made, and inexpensive.
At a typical European hotel, you could spend upwards
of 15-20 euros per person for a breakfast that consists
of nothing but coffee and average croissants and packaged
jam. In fact, it is sometimes automatically included,
so be sure to inquire first. Even if you like your morning
coffee, tea, or fresh-squeeze orange juice before venturing
out, just ask about just getting in-room service.
Still often
better than standard breakfasts at home, but not nearly
as good as what can be found at a good local breakfast
hangout.
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Tomatoes at markets in many parts
of Europe have so much taste they are really an entire
meal (the editor enjoys them with fresh goat cheese,
olive oil, and a baguette, but the regional options
are endless). |
Fresh Produce Markets
Europe’s fresh produce markets
are a downright bacchanalia of tastes, colors, and lively
social interaction. This is a miniature world in which farmers,
tourists, locals, and chefs collide and interact.
Not only can you find delicious and
fresh fruits and vegetables, but you can often find fresh-baked
artisan breads, marinating olives, and farm-fresh cheeses.
This can make a wonderful option for a budget breakfast,
or a satisfying lunch/picnic in a park or in your hotel
to conserve money for a later restaurant dinner.
Budget tip: Rent
a vacation apartment or find an accommodation with even
a small kitchen. That will allow you to prepare your
own meals at a fraction of the price of restaurant meals
with the great fresh ingredients you discover at local
markets and neighborhood grocers. You can't go wrong
with ingredients so good, and prepared foods available
at European versions of outdoor delis, bakeries, dedicated
cheese vendors, olive vendors, butchers, florists, vendors
offering the best local herbs to flavor the produce,
and much more.
And many of the vendors enjoy their work so much they
sing out their daily deals, so the whole experience is
a feast for the senses, with people of all ages buying
and selling.
Editor's
note: An added bonus is learning how
to cook incorporating the local tastes, herbs,
and recipes, which often is something you can bring
home with you. This is how the editor learned to become
a much better cook abroad and at home.
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A rustic
Italian vacation rental far off-the-beaten path
in Tuscany allowed us to drink wine,
relax, and cook using herbs and mushrooms from
their land when we wished at a fraction of the
cost of
most hotels. The editor enjoyed the company and
conversation with incredibly hospitable hosts who
not only offered us delicious treats of all
kinds, but invited us to
fantastic traditional meals with their friends
and encouraged us to join them in
the kitchen to
help. |
Street Food
Even with the food truck fashion sweeping
many big cities in the world, street food sometimes still
gets a bad rap among those older than college students or
recent graduates, because, well, it’s
street food. That doesn’t
always have to mean it is bad, particularly on the streets
of European cities. Buy a crêpe from a street vendor
outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, for instance, and
it will taste delicious and cost a fraction of a similar
quality representation at a café a
few steps away.
Budget tip: Consider
enhancing your meals with tasty small change meals
like those to be had at markets, from street vendors,
at bakeries, and the pastry shops mentioned above. Try
to use most of your money set aside for food in a
single big restaurant meal daily. That is a wonderful
way to avoid feeling cheated out of great food while
on your trip, and you can potentially save hundreds during
your travels in so doing. Also
consider having that big meal at lunch, when you can
hit a popular restaurant but pay a fraction of dinner
prices.
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A street vendor
making cag kebap in Istanbul. Photo by Lies
Ouwerkerk. |
Rural Dining
Fine dining in large European cities
isn’t usually cheap, though there are plenty of inexpensive
spots opened up for local students, young people, and bohemians
who love to eat. Do consider venturing into the European
countryside for some great finds in local cuisine and rich
cultural immersion experiences where you will likely have
more extensive contact with locals. Not only will you feel
the joy of discovering a wonderful restaurant in a
rural setting, but you will likely enjoy a traditional meal
that is much more commonplace outside of the bigger cities.
Take it slow and live in the time of the land you are visiting and
chances are you will stumble onto to some great local fare
— often just by following your nose, looking at menus,
or peeking into the establishment to get a sense of its
authenticity and liveliness. Honestly, when hunger strikes we will often check out the menus and smells emanating from restaurants all across town before making our choice — a way of finding a meal that seldom disappoints and increases anticipation while satisfying our desire for great authentic food.
Budget tip: Consider
staying at an inn featuring its own restaurant, or even
a more intimate bed and breakfast, in which your meals
are included in the stay. The Logis
de France inns, for example, often feature half-board
or full-board meals with a stay, and many of these inns
are as well known for their food as they are for their
accommodations. The editor generally prefers to
consult what he finds to be the very dependable French
Guide Michelin for each country, which highlights
great places to eat and often to stay that are relative deals. The Slow Food movement, which originated in Italy to combat the rise of fast food chains, has branches all over Italy and Europe, with many restaurants who abide by its tenants and offer traditional specialties at budget prices, sometimes located in B&Bs.
Obviously,
sites such as Tripadvisor, Yelp, and other apps are ways
to scrutinize and average out reviews for those who prefer
the crowd-sourcing mode of
referral, though such recommendations have often resulted in far less interesting and enjoyable food experiences in our case at home and abroad. The editor and many traveling foodies with whom he travels or corresponds honestly try to
minimize being electronically connected while enjoying local
traditional food in order to be "in the moment." Great food and taste discoveries off-the-beaten-path
can result in memorable epiphanies.
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Relaxing
and enjoying an inexpensive, casual country meal in
Italy. |
Kelby
Hartson Carr is a travel
writer with than 15 years
of experience. She lived in France for a year, and
traveled extensively around Europe.
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