Nine Days in Europe—for Less Than $999
The challenge: to spend roughly $100 a day in London, Milan, and Paris.
See how our expat writer pulled it off By Judith Reitman
I AM SITTING in Alla
without an Oprah-like bank
account—and as an Ameri-
can who lives in France, I
can show you how.
SAVING WITHOUT
SCRIMPING
In Milan, fromtop:
Castello Sforzesco, the
Navigli district,
and a local hostel (a
good way to save—this
one is $50 a night).
In London: St Martin-in-the-Fields church,
Hyde Park, and the city’s
East End. Money tip:
Try Indian food for
inexpensive takeout.
PHOTO CREDITS ON PAGE 75
M Y GOAL: three cities, nine
days, $999. This doesn’t
include the flight from the
United States, but bargains
abound. In mid-June I
found roundtrip flights
from New York City to
London for about $450.
(Sign up with sites such as
airfarewatchdog.com,
which e-mails news about
sales.) For my stay—four
days in London, two in
Milan, three in Paris—I flew
with Ryanair and easyJet,
Europe-based “secondary”
airlines that offer cheap
tickets, even with handling
and gas-tax charges (learn
more at euroflights.info).
Ryanair flies mainly to
small alternative airports;
easyJet tends to go through
major ones. I paid $68 to
fly Ryanair from London
to Bergamo Airport (about
28 miles from Milan); and
$69 on easyJet, from Milan
to Paris (with fees). It was
cheaper than rail: Euro
Railways (954-323-8389;
eurorailways.com) can cost
$133 from Paris to Milan.
