Europe Travel Answers

What do you have in mind by "decent" and what kind of sum would you think reasonable? Many places offer childrens portions or special childrens meals. Wine - even Housewine, which is not always drinkable can really bump up the price of a meal, and soft drinks for children are extortionate . Please give us some idea of what kind of meal you would be looking for in the evening - we don't know where you come from so can't guess what you might be used to at home - and what yout budget would be.

Firstly, why would it be your last question? This site is totally devoted to assisting travellers so ask as many questions as you want. If, as I suspect, you mean last question for this trip, no problem. It is a while since I was in Italy, Germany or France so I will answer in respect of London where I live. To be honest, fast food is not the way to go as you will probably spend more on a MacDonalds, Burger King,, KFC or whatever and eat unhealthy and pretty unappetising food. To answer the end quesion first, a lot of places have kids menus (cheaper) but you need to check in licensed establishments (i.e. those that sell alcohol) which ones are licensed for kids. Some are all day, some only for certain hours and some not at all Many will have designated family areas. There is a chain of pubs (bars) in the UK called Wetherspoons. I have mentioned them many times on here and always add this caveat. Some people like them as being inexpensive decent food and sTme people hate them. I have never had a bad meal there yet. Whilst it is not haute cuisine it is perfectly edible and they do have specials which means that an adult could have a substantial main meal for maybe £5. there are specials depending on the day and time of day. The curry night on Thursday is very popular and is a great feed for a very reasonable price. Here is a link, see what you think. http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/ You mention a decent dinner. Tht is very hard to define and there are some superb resturants in London where you could spend £100's on haute cuisine. However, if you want a midrange option, I can also recommend a range of peri-peri chicken restaurants called Nando's. It is a step up from a greasy spoon cafe but not hugely expensive and I do rather like the food there. Here is a link. They are licensed so you can get a drink and kid-friendly. http://www.nandos.co.uk/ Local ethnic restaurantsin London are also good bets, specifically South Asian (normally called Indian) places where you can get a good value meal. Look for the less ostentatious places with formica tables etc. and you will be OK. Hope this assists, fergy.

Personally, my experiences suggest that you can get good, quality food for just as cheap as the fast food options. You simply need to go a small bit out of your way from the tourist areas. You can also pick up quality ready to eat meals on a much bigger scale than here in Australia from supermarkets.

Descent... like a steak and salad. For London... we'll be checking in at the Radisson Heathrow -any walking distance restaurant? Bonne-Nuit in France. Thank you.

fast food check McDonalds... dinner Flunch kids get happy meal and children rates cheaper prices. cheers

Ah yes, Paris.... home of the10 Big Mac (I'm not kidding). On the other hand, in Milan we happened upon a McDonald's that had a 1 euro menu, so we were able to get a cheeseburger, soft drink, and a salad for 3 euros.

its cheap fast food here, you can a cheeseburger for 1,95€ poster sale all over now.at McDos.

Lallytaly, your problem with Heathrow hotels is that they are totally geared to an airport clientele. Most of your eating options are going to be the hotel restaurants locally or the airport itself, neither of which are cheap options. There are two Radisson owned hotels near Heathrow, the Edwardian and the Park Inn alhough they are fairly well adjacent so it does not alter my advice. There are reasonable bus services in that area (not perhaps later in the evening, so you could consider local centres of population for eating options. Heading back towards London you are close to Southall, a huge area of South Asian (Indian) population whch is renowned for it's curry restaurants. Hounslow is also closeby. If you want to go a little further on a daytrip Richmond is not far and has some decent eating options. Places like Egham and Staines, going away from London direction, also offer some good choices. As for a steak dinner, well that is not cheap in the UK but I would return to my earlier suggestion of the Wetherspoons pub chain who do a relatively inxpensive range of steak meals and even have specialist steak nights (Tuesday if memory serves) when they do very good deals. I don't usually drink wine but I know they have some reasonably priced wine there available by bottle or glass. As I said before, if you have any more questons about your trip, pleaqse don't hesitate to shout out, we'll see what we can do.

In Italy, skip McDonald's and choose pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice) from one of the many shops that display the big trays of them in their windows. These shops also often sell an array of meat/cheese sandwiches as well: good, filling and inexpensive. The sammies are often huge and can easily feed more than one person. Look for a shop that provides a few tables for sitting down as not all of them do. Another option is a tavola calda (hot table). These shops have a case with preprepared foods that are usually charged for by weight and are heated up for you after you make your selections. Again, look for one with a few tables for resting your feet. In France - especially in the cities (not sure where in the country you're traveling to) - look for creperie stands along the streets for an inexpensive but very yummy lunch (heck, we've even done these for dinner.) The kiosks usually provide them in both savory (such as ham and cheese) and sweet (as spread with chocolate and bananas) so you can have both your lunch and dessert from one place! :O) You'll be looking for bench to eat them on or just nibbling away as you walk but they are inexpensive, filling and very good. Dinners can really be all over the place depending on the where you eat, what you eat and how many courses you order. I can't speak for Germany as it has been too long since last I was there, and Fergy has London firmly under control here but I can tell you that many restaurants in Italy and France do post their menus outside so you can review them before committing to a table. House wines in Italy tend be very inexpensive - even less expensive than restaurant sodas. If really needing to trim the budget, stick with water - which you will be charged for if coming from a bottle on the table but not charged much. Oh, and about water in Italy: their tap water is very good and absolutely safe. Many of the cities have very old public fountains that are still in use for rehydrating thirsty visitors so tuck a reusable water bottle into the suitcase. If the kids balk at plain water, pack a box or two of those powdered drink-mix tubes for jazzing up the bottles. Yup, even very good water is not all that tasty when it gets lukewarm.

A good Italian 'fast food' chain is Ciao...they are not at all like MacDs etc (I agree that you would do very well to avoid all such chains), their food is Italian, very pleasant and very good value imo (and their wine is very drinkable indeed, and they will cook your steak whilst you wait). Heathrow airport is a very long way from London, in the middle of what were once villages but now, as Planxty notes, have very limited eating options largely geared to airport travellers. Much better, if you can, to eat your main meal in London before returning to the hotel for the night.

You mentioned London, but not where in Italy, Germany and France you are visiting. The location makes a price difference. Smaller towns are cheaper than larger towns. We eat our big meal of the day at noon because you get the same food but it costs less. Then in the evening, we usually picnic. House wine is usually much less expensive than any bottled soda. In France we always as for "une carafe d'eau" or a carafe of tap water. It's free and tastes great (think Evian from the tap). Italy and France will have menus posted outside so you can check offerings and prices. Most places will have a child's menu that is less expensive. If you are in a tourist area, walk a couple blocks and restaurant prices will go down. I don't know where you are from so I have no idea what you are used to and can't make a comparison. We're from California and find prices in Europe very similar to those at home. Ethnic foods are nearly always less expensive if you enjoy them. Have a good trip.

you can try Quick in France, and also Pizza Hut, Subway, KFC, and now Burger King but really I am being sarcastic,sorry all. The best is to eat at a bakery shop, in any of those countries you will get a good deal of a delicious home meal very cheap less than 7 euros. Cheers

Be sure you confirm your hotel breakfast is included in the price of your room or you may find that you are paying e10 or more for pastries and coffee. Each country is different in practice. If you want to save on lunch you will find that there are many shops that you can buy a sandwich, a roll with sausage or a slice of pizza. In Paris we stopped by a boulangerie and bought a delicious chicken curry sandwich that easily feed both of us for about 4 euro and ate it across the street at the park. The kids meals at restos are less expensive, but not that less expensive. for a decent dinner in France/Italy/Europe I budget 20 euro a person, and that includes a bottled water and wine/beer. Karl