1. If you're taking a cab from the airport, always go to the taxi stand.
2. Take public transit.
3. Walk everywhere that you can.
4. You probably shouldn't tip anyone most of the time.
5. Eat lunch from carts.
6. Eat Middle Eastern.
I have a knack for unintentionally renting flats above Pakistani restaurants in neighborhoods with a high number of Middle Eastern restaurants.
Most notably, in Barcelona, Las Ramblas del Raval is lined with with them, and it's also true for many major European cities thanks to the influx of immigrants from Eastern Mediterranean countries in recent years.
All of them are cheap since the prices haven't been jacked up for paella-crazed tourists, and by and large completely blow away the shwarma we get in the United States.
7. Enjoy the wine.
8. Always drink at bar instead of at a table.
9. Linger over dinner.
10. Rent a flat ...
11. ... and use the kitchen to make your own breakfast.
12. Look for the "free" walking tours.
13. Google "Free things to do in [your vacation city]."
14. Take lots of photos with a really good camera.
14. Take lots of photos with a really good camera.
15. Spring for the international data plan.
16. Never shop or eat anywhere you can shop or eat at home.
17. Don't feel obligated to buy gifts for people back home.
18. When shopping for clothes, head straight for the clearance racks.
19. Add 20% to any price given in Euros to see how much it's really costing you.
As of the date of this post, it takes $1.16 to buy €1. Though the number fluctuates a bit, it lately tends to hover somewhere around $1.20/€1.
Knowing this, converting Euros to U.S. dollars in your head is easy if you think of it like adding a 20% tip to everything you buy — and since we've already established that Americans are crazy tippers, it follows that we all already know how to do that. (If you don't, here's a pretty good tutorial.)
So for example a 20€ bottle of wine costs $24. The €15,50 ticket to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower is about $18.60. That €700 handbag you fell in love with on Champs-Élysées? $840 (ouch).
It may not be a precise trick given foreign exchange rate fluctuations, but it will get you in the ballpark so you're not completely shocked to discover you've blown through your budget faster than you thought.
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