How much spending money do I need for a 2 week stay in Munich, BY, Germany?

Question

I'm an American 23 year old girl and next year I will be traveling to Munich to meet my pen pal of 2 years. I may be over cautious because I am supposed to stay at his place, but I saved enough money for a 14 night stay at a hotel and $75 for public transportation just in case this pen pal of mine won't behave himself. But how much more money should I bring if I want to change my trip into a vacation. You know, for eating out, visiting the sights ect.

Answer 1

Well, if you want to eat out every day, see a lot of sights, maybe go out at night to a club or a bar....with public transportation....maybe a little shopping....i would say around Euros.....thats without a hotel in case you can't stay at your friends house

Hope your pen pal won't turn out to be "bad" though....

Have fun in "my" city....lol....

Answer 2

Hi

well it is important to know the exchange rate before you go so you know how much your conversion for dollars to euro will be and you will get LESS EURO then you have in dollars.

I travel there yearly and lived there once and have had two Girl Friends there also. You being an American woman will see things that are culturaly different than what you are used to so depending on the time of year you go be prepared. It is NORMAL to go to a public pool and sauna and both men and woman share locker rooms and sauna's and are nude. They do not have the same prudish views on the human body we do.

I am sure your friend will behave himself in that fashion but do expect it to be normal for them to change in front of one another, or have common locker rooms but the showers are usually seperate but not always.

If you are not from there and esp are male you stand out literally from the crowd for obvious reasons. German men do not do this it is the way they are brought up. So Id not worry about this German male as much as I would an American Male. They MOSTLY not all, are good respectful people with different culutral views. I personally agree with much of their ways which is why i moved there once and travel there every year.

As far as money goes if you stay with your friend will you eat out every day or grocery shop and eat at his house? That can save you a lot of euro cooking at his place and maybe eating out just for lunch as you are both out. The Coffee shops are great places to go to and relax and talk with friends.  Id would say to plan on having about 75+ euro a day for petty cashy for each day you plan to go.

Also look into the cost of a German rail pass or youth pass versus just a train ticket. You can also get SIMM cards at the airports to rent and you can have a HANDI (cell) while there. They call them Handi's.

So to figure your costs out, get the price of the hotel as a back up as you say, that is a good idea. MAKE SURE your family knows WHERE AND WHO you are going to see and how to call them if it were a 911.

After you add up costs for plane, train, buses (again I suggest a pass if you are staying for a month) and phone, food and spending petty cash.

When I go for two weeks I usually take about 2000 Euro extra with me for the trip. YOU NEVER know if you will have to go to a Hospital or Dentist so extra cash is good.  I have found that my ATM card with the MC symbol on it works fine for getting more money from a geldomatic or ATM machine there.

Do you have health insurance while you are there? If you go for a short time you will probably be ok if you are in good health but it never hurts to have insurance just in case.

Now as for packing, they are really strict on what you can and cannot take on the plane with you and it is even more strict getting BACK into the USA.

with passes like a rail pass and bus pass you wont have to worry about $75 a day for travelling expenses they will take you anywhere you want for the days you are covered for on any train or bus. I really suggest them if you are going for more than a week.

If you dont and just buy a bus ticket remember you can use the back side of it on a DIFFERANT bus that same day within the same city but not on the same bus again.

Ask your friend how to be prepared for this. He if not ever being in the USA has no idea the differant world you are about to enter. YOU WILL LOVE it  I am sure I know I do.

Just be prepared for some customs that you are not ready for and always try to speak German when you can they really appreciate it that you try even if they speak english. with your friend that is differant maybe he can help you learn better grammar and more words. It took me about 4 years of traveling there and then living there to finally learn it well enough to talk, write, read and have a small converstation now. I never had a teacher.

Have fun, Viel Spass!!

I hope this helps.