Hello everyone, it’s Nickomleda. As I mentioned in my introduction post I really love traveling but sometimes it’s not that easy because of financial issues. By financial issues I mean spending lots of money on alcoholic beverages and food :)
In circumstances like this we need a good friend which is currency and the countries that use their own currencies are our good, good friends.
I’ll make my own list of the cities which I found very cheap drinking and eatingwise and I really liked. Hope it’ll be helpful and hope you’ll enjoy it! :)
1. Budapest, Hungary
Budapest is a very touristic and nice city to see. It has many historic places and offers lot such as Danube River, Parliament Building, Gellért Baths, House of Terror etc. You can google and find touristic things to do in Budapest. Since I’m not writing a city review I’ll like you to tell you the prices :)
Hungary has its own currency which is Forint.
1 euro is around 322.359 Hungary Forints
1 USD is around 276.576 Hungary Forints
And to compare 1 beer from a normal market is 225 forints and in restaurants between 400 and 450 forints which is nice.
Also transportation is not that expensive either, like one way ticket is around 350 forints.
So Budapest is nice place to go and have fun.
2. Krakow, Poland
Krakow is one of my favorite places that I’ve visited so far. It’s a small and sweet little city which makes you kinda feel like you’re in historical movie set :D
The city has touristic places like Dragons Den and Old Town etc.
But the best part is it’s currency which is called Zloty. Me and my friend we took a road trip from Berlin to Krakow and it was a huge relief in our wallets :)
1 Euro is around 4.28 Zloties
1 USD is around 3.67 Zloties
And to comparison; 1 beer from a market is 2.98 Zloty and in a restaurant between 5 and 7 Zloty . A meal in a restaurant is around 20 Zloty per person.
And the best part is, since it’s a small city you can walk around, you don’t need to use public transport :)
Dragons Den, Krakow.
3. Belgrade, Serbia
In Belgrade you can see many monuments, nice cathedrals and churches if you’re into touristic tours. My favorite were St. Micheal’s Cathedral and
St. Sava Temple. And the city is so historical it’s just enough to see it at night.
But as I mentioned before we’re here to discuss money :D the currency of Serbia is Serbian Dinar.
1 Euro is around 118.127 Serbian Dinars
1 USD is around 101.357 Serbian Dinars
A beer from a market costs around 63- 65 Serbian Dinars and in a restaurant around 150 Serbian Dinars. I think it’s not bad at all :)
And a meal in a regular restaurant is between 550 - 600 Dinars which betweenn 5- 7 dollars and 5 - 6 Euros. Not bad at all :D
4. Istanbul, Turkey
The city itself is so historical and authentic that you can find monuments or sights in each corner.
It has many touristic places from Byzantine and Ottoman Empire. Most famous of them are Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Sultan Ahmet Mosque.
But my favorite was taking a ferry from European side to Asian side as you can see Bosphorus which is a sight to see.
Well, coming to the our subject which is money.
1 Euro is around 5.65 Turkish Liras
1 USD is around 4.85 Turkish Liras.
And a beer from a market in Istanbul costs between 7-8 Turkish liras and in a restaurants it ranges between 13 to 20 liras. A food in a decent restaurant is between 25 - 50 Turkish Liras which is, I think not that bad.
Bosphorus from the plane.
5. St. Petersburg, Russia!
The final one in the list. Although St. Petersburg is a little more expensive than Moscow, in my opinion it has much more to offer. I traveled to St.Petersburg during white nights and it was very special. Though it was a little hard to sleep in a bright light :D
If you go to St. Petersburg you should definitely visit The Hermitage, Peterhof (which is in the rural part and a little far but def. needs a visit) and you should do a night boat tour which is a huge experience. And a friendly tip: wear your thickest coat for the tour. :D
And in Russia the currency is called Ruble.
1 Euro is around 73.176 Rubles
1 USD is around 62.783 Rubles
In currencies like this they give you lots, lots of banknotes in the exchange centers and it makes you feel like you’re a millionaire in that city. :D
A beer from a market in St. Petersburg costs 60 rubles and in a restaurant its between 120 - 150 rubles. A meal in a restaurant is between 500 - 700 rubles.
The Hermitage at night.
I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading it, I appriciate it :)
Much love !