Hi Gretchen, please read my follow up post above yours. I am new at this and only in the early stage

Hi - Have not been to Europe in 25 years and am taking husband and 11 year old daughter there in July/August 2014. Am looking at leasing through thrifty car rental coupons Renault Eurodrive but need to find affordable accommodation in France / Spain and Italy to make it a viable option. Our other thought thrifty car rental coupons was a Motorhome but that means camping everywhere.
In Italy, you can't drive in many of the cities (ZTL) so maybe you won't need a car there much, but depends on where you are going. There aren't any cheap chains in the central parts of the cities which are mainly historical areas.
Some countries are much cheaper than others. thrifty car rental coupons Scandinavia is expensive. Eastern Europe thrifty car rental coupons countries eg Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia are much more affordable with lots of wonderful things to see.
France is awash with cheap chains, thrifty car rental coupons like Formule 1, ibis budget, Campanile and Etap. They generally represent terrific value, though some might find their locations inconvenient for some kinds of tourism: they're typically close-ish to autoroute turnoffs, making them easy to get to, but a nuisance to get into the centre from. French public transport is, by European standards, mediocre. It's all very well having trains thrifty car rental coupons from Paris to Marseilles that take only three times as long as planes. thrifty car rental coupons But that's not going to help you get from an industrial thrifty car rental coupons estate off the A6 into central thrifty car rental coupons Beaune, which is the only place near the Etap there's anything to eat. These chains do have outlets in what might pass for centralish thrifty car rental coupons Paris (and Lyons etc), but you need to review this location thrifty car rental coupons by location.
Such chains scarcely exist in Italy. In any case, for many people cars don't make sense at all in Italy: so much is concentrated in Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples, trains between them are frequent and fast (and compete with each other) and most towns aggressively discourage car-borne travel, so most visitors don't drive, and simply live with the fact that hotels in Italy are relatively pricey.
Do you have your itinerary planned? What is best for you depends on where you plan to go and the length of your trip. Are you going mostly to cities, or more to countryside? Are you going for the whole two months thrifty car rental coupons or only sometime during thrifty car rental coupons that time frame? Do you plan on multi-city tickets, to land in one country and depart from another? That is more efficient, but you do incur a drop fee for the car.
Chain hotels in Europe are not always thrifty car rental coupons better cost-wise thrifty car rental coupons than other hotels. Susannah's suggestion of apartment rentals can be a good deal. The cost of gas, tolls and rental for a car as well as cost of parking even on days you are not using it may come up to the cost of hotels.
It depends on your budget, but we found Ibis to be generally OK, especially in Spain, less so in France. Kyriad were better value for money in France. As previous posters have said, chains seem to be less evident in Italy. We sought advice from the local Officino di Tourismo or simply thrifty car rental coupons parked thrifty car rental coupons somewhere central and door-knocked, and those methods generally thrifty car rental coupons worked well for us. I disagree with those posters who discourage driving in Italy - Veneto and Tuscany are among the easiest and most pleasant regions I've ever driven in, and a car gives access to so many wonderful smaller places other than the "big 3" of Rome, Venice Florence. Places like Montepulciano, Assissi, Cortona....
thrifty car rental coupons We have travelled very economically in France using the Logis Hotels. They are individually owned, full of character and vary from reasonably priced to luxury. Take a look at www.logishotels.com for details.
We are in the very early stages of planning a 6 week adventure in Europe and are seeking your advice, experiences and recommendations for family friendly accommodation. Hotel or Apartment, Tent or cabins etcnand any other tips or advice that would help us.
Your question really makes little sense. You don't say how long you are going for. What is your total budget--you say you can't afford to stay in a hotel every night but you don't even know what a hotel might cost per night-- maybe you need to go for a shorter time.
If this is your "planning" so far, there would seem to be a real need for more complete planning. How much will you have to spend on food/day/per person. If you rent a car, what about parking? Renting in one country and dropping in another will be very expensive.
Since you have chosen to spend 6 weeks in Europe, you must have already assembled a wih lidt of places to see. Give us your top priorities of cities/sites so we can suggest the best options in those locations. Also, the most helpful information you could offer us is to tell us your budget for your accommodations per night for your family of 3. Everyone is ready to make suggestions, but want to offer options that are realistic for your budget. I'm hoping we can make your dream a reality.
Hi Gretchen, please read my follow up post above yours. I am new at this and only in the early stages of planning so do not have a budget as yet, I am TRYING to get valuable information to allow to me to do so. Thank you for being so kind,
Hi Ellenem thrifty car rental coupons - Thank you for your response. Most helpful. My husband like to refer the highlites as "The Big Ticket Items" Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Provence, Venice and of course Eurodisney for the 11yo. We have been told by various people who have been recently that we should budget for about AUD$2000 per week including travel thrifty car rental coupons and accommodation and expenses. Does this sound reasonable?
At today's rates, AUD$2000 is about 1400 per week, or 200 per day. That is indeed a very tight budget for a family of three for travel, accommodation, and expenses. Hopefully with these numbers in mind others can chime in with suggestions.
Big cities like the ones you listed will cost you 30-40 per day parking plus you usually aren't using the car while staying in those cities so you are wasting the cost of the car. Cars are a hindrance in cities.
The OP is planning to lease. The leases (have to be at least 17 days) usually don't have the same conditions as rental cars. Most of the time you can only pick up/return a lease at airport locations.
I'm not sure even E240 will be enough including car/train, hotel, admissions, food for 3 people. As pointed out you might not spend as much one place as you might another, but it will require CLOSE attention, thrifty car rental coupons and not allowing for unexpected emergencies.
Oddly enough, Best Westerns in Europe are pretty decent. It's usually a loose affiliation with BW, but independent hotels. The first time I found out the hotel I was staying at was a BW, I couldn't stop laughing.
A small apartment that sleeps 3 and has AIR CONDITIONING ( important for Paris in summer most of the time) and is in a great area where you can walk to many sites etc.. can be had for 800 euros a WEEK... that's cheaper then a hotel , AND you can pick up some snacks and have breakfast in the room and make some picnic lunches.. eating thrifty car rental coupons out every day will add up..
Train tickets or inter europeon flights can be VERY cheap if booked well in advance. For example I paid 35 euros for Amsterdam to Paris.. and 40 Euros for Paris to Nice ( 1st class) on trains, and fly from Barcelona to Paris on Easyjet for 97 euros for TWO of us, all taxes and fees in.. cheap.
thrifty car rental coupons PS Apartment in Paris, check out " ParisBestlodge" their Bourg Tibourg Apartment was one I looked at for you.. even if they raise their prices for 2014 it will still be a deal. I have used their company before and they are awesome. no hidden extra fees either!
When you're budgeting for food, remember that even if you're in a hotel, you can still make a DIY breakfast - we usually have just banana yoghurt sometimes a small pack of cereal from the supermarket. We take plastic bowls and spoons, sharp knife tiny plastic chopping board - not much weight or space, but huge financial savings.
You also don't need to eat in restaurants for other meals - in France, baguettes cheese, or pannini, or crepes are available for take away at lunch and dinner. You can save the restaurants for special occasions.
You might like to look at www.seat61.com for advice on train travel between cities and countries. Mike is an expert, and gives excellent advice about how to make bookings etc. I've done this several times from Australia with no problems.
thrifty car rental coupons Yes, you can "do" that for breakfasts. Ir requires absolute diligence==don't do anything like going to a caf for breakfast (be sure if you do to stand at the counter, thrifty car rental coupons for example, lest you incur the extra tariff for sitting at a table).
There are quite a few chains that have locations in many European countries. Best Western, Holiday Inn, the afore mentioned Ibis. Sometimes you can get a deal by staying more nights with one chain. Check into and see.
We use a combination rail to cities, (esp London, Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris) and car hire for sojourns travels in countryside. thrifty car rental coupons Cars were OK in Budapest, Vienna, Lisbon although generally I prefer no car in cities.
On the other hand cars does allow one to see all of the wonderful countryside locations and trains tie you down to a regimented schedule. So there are balances one should look at. No doubt there are more.
BTW - use Euro as that's the currency you'll be using and the currency the Europeans others answering your queries thrifty car rental coupons will be looking at on their sites. ( I figure if I'm too lazy to do the conversion to the currency of the destination, I can't really expect them to convert it to MY currency)
Transport: I like to drive but don't do it in the major cities. Provided you're not overburdened with luggage, I'd suggest using the excellent Spanish Italian train system (can't speak for the French- haven't used it) for your long legs, and rent a car for country jaunts that aren't conveniently covered by trains or buses. Or if you just feel like a drive.
thrifty car rental coupons Accommodation: I was very pleasantly thrifty car rental coupons surprised at the good deals I got through thrifty car rental coupons Booking.com in Germany over Christmas New Year last year. One was an ensuite double room with breakfast in a small hotel in the Black Fores