[lynclarke]

When traveling in Europe, consider renting an apartment for a week or two rather than staying at hotels which tend to be VERY expensive. Apartments are great to control food costs, laundry expenses, and you have a slice of home in that country. One example:We stayed in Venice for a week. The cost was approx $110/night. We ate 3 meals out in "mom & pop" type restaurants and all the other meals we ate at home. Our costs for the 18 meals in our apartment was the same as the 3 restaurant meals. Now I know some people hate to cook or do not want household chores on vacation but we love shopping in European grocery stores and we love the privacy one has in an apartment. Any more one can easily find rentals on the internet. We have rented in England - London, Midlands, Cotswold; Scotland, Italy, and Belgium in the past couple of years.