While rates and prices vary, here’s what I would generally expect to pay in Madrid:

A drink at a bar

Depends on the bar! A very swanky spot in Madrid could sell their cocktails at €15 a piece, or more. Generally though, a beer goes for between €1.50-3.50, and it’s about the same for wine. If you end up in a wine bar look carefully at the prices because they will vary depending on the label. A fine glass of wine from one of Spain’s best cellars can easily go for €5-€6, which is still a pretty good deal!

Normally, a mixed drink in an average bar will go for €7, maybe less if there’s happy hour or the place is a bit of a dive. Locals usually drink beer before dinner if they’re just having a drink with a friend. Wine is had with dinner. Cocktails and mixed drinks are had after dinner.

A bottle of wine at the store

At €1.50-3.50 a glass, you might as well go get a bottle at the grocery store! While you will find bottles of Spanish red, white and rose for as low as €1.50 a bottle, please do not buy these, they are for cooking.

As a rule of thumb, spend more than €3.50 for an acceptable bottle of wine. Spend between €8 and €12 for a darn good bottle, and over €20 for something really special.

Of course it’s possible to spend a lot more, but most of us stick to the €5 range. For example, if I am going to a dinner party, I will spend more on the wine I take than if it’s for me. At home I’ll drink €4 bottles, but to a party I’d bring something in the €8 and €12 range.

I also take care to look at the label and DO, or where the wine is from. Wine is like art, everyone likes something different; but I tend to go with a Priorat or Rioja for red, a Rueda or Penedès for white, and Navarra for rosé.

A cafe con leche, etc.

Again, it depends on where you are, but a coffee with milk or, cafe con leche, really shouldn’t cost more than €2-€2.50. A cortado will cost between €1.20-€1.50. A normal tea should be around €2, but will be much more if it’s some fancy blend served in a french press. A freshly squeezed OJ usually costs just under €3, and soft drinks and water around €1.50-€2.

Aspirin, toothpaste, etc.

You’ll notice that in Spain the pharmacy works a little differently than in North America. The pharmacy is the place to get a box of Aspirin for your sangria headache, but it’s also the place to buy a toothbrush, floss, Q-tips, lotions and sunscreen. While Aspirin and other drugs can only be found in the pharmacy, other items, like a toothbrush, can be found at your local grocery store for much less.

A box of Aspirin costs about €3 and if you buy it in powder form (works faster if you’re really suffering) it costs €6. Sunscreen can go for as low as €6 to €17 for specialty brands like Avene.

Lunch and dinner

The best deal is always the menú del diá, which is usually served Monday – Friday in most restaurants and bars. If the restaurant you’re in does not offer a menú del diá between 1 pm and 4 pm, then you’re probably in a touristy place or a really pricey establishment.

A menú del diá or set three course lunch, can go for as low as €8 and as much as €20 (or more), while the average is about €12. Outside of menú del diá times, the average for a sit-down meal in a restaurant is between €15-€30. Of course you’ll always pay less if you just grab something quick at a cafe or bar (as low as €5 for a sandwich and a drink).

Your top price?

Would you pay more or less for anything Regina has mentioned here? Share with us in our comments section!

Also in our Madrid Guide: If you’re particular about the top price you’d pay for a place to sleep, check out our reviews of hotels in Madrid, all visited and inspected by our editors and chosen because they’re clean, central and cheap. Read more in our Madrid guide.

The post Madrid: The most we’d pay for everyday items appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

The cafeteria conundrum

Without shame, I admit to being a fan of cafeteria food. I find the whole process, from lining up with a tray, to choosing a prepared entree and selecting accompanying vegetables, both fun and weirdly satisfying. (And let’s not even talk about the dessert and drink process.)

Perhaps it’s simple nostalgia for the grade-school cafeteria experience of decades past. Perhaps I like to see my food before I decide on what to eat. Or perhaps it’s a rebellion against “foodie” culture. Whatever it is, to this day I find something irresistible about cafeterias.

Many of my friends, of course, do not share this enthusiasm. They find a trip to a cafeteria to be a depressing experience—one of cattle-call lines, hospital-quality food, and bleak ambiance. Even worse, it could be a missed opportunity. After all, a meal at a cafeteria in Paris is a meal not at a cafe, or a crepe stand, or a boulangerie … or anything typically “French.” This has led to several “one tray at the table” moments for me.

No matter, when I travel I like to drop in on cafeterias and sample their wares. When living in Berlin, I ate frequently in the city’s Mensa cafeterias–and have written my own love song to that slide-and-pay experience. Mensa cafeterias not only offer a cheap lunch option, but also an opportunity to sample German-style (albeit somewhat institutionalized) dishes.

flunch it down?

In France, the flunch restaurant chain takes its name from mashing up “French” and “lunch.” (And not, as I previously thought, from “fast” and “lunch.”) It has even led to the coining of the verb “fluncher,” although I have yet to hear it used in a sentence.

Like most French restaurants, flunch offers several plats du jour, which change daily. Flunch prices them rather low—at €9.45 for one of the five available plats du jour and a drink (which includes a soda, water, beer or a glass of wine). Notably, the plat also includes an unlimited vegetable buffet, where you can graze all day on haricots verts, carottes, pommes de terre, epinards and so forth. Desserts and salads are extra.

And thus, flunch makes Cheapo sense, if it sounds appetizing to you. After all, flunch offers a cooked dish with unlimited veggies and a drink for the same price as a hamburger and a Coke next door at a McDonald’s. And the cafeteria set-up makes sense for non-French speakers. Just point and say, “s’il vous plait”. (And “merci!”)

flunch in Paris

The chain operates 200 restaurants in France, most of which can be found in shopping centers and along the highway. In Paris, however, several flunch outlets are located in super-central locations, including just next to the Pompidou Center and nearby on the street level of the Les Halles shopping center.

So, they’re cheap, convenient, and offer a healthier fast meal option than typical fast food. Why have I encountered so much “flunch-fobia”? A couple of thoughts:

Food quality:

Typical flunch. Photo: Denn

Considering my several flunch experiences, I have certainly never been wowed by the food. The entrees, usually chicken, beef, or fish, have been French classics of a quality that’s acceptable while certainly not exceptional. (Americans could think of it as a sort of Ponderosa Steakhouse “a la Francaise”.) My meals have been a bit salty, and I’ve found the vegetables quite tasty—because they’ve been smothered in butter. It’s not exactly a light meal.

Ambiance:

It’s hard for a room to escape the cafeteria aesthetic when there are tray rails lining every fixture. But they try to make the serving area cheery.

The dining areas, however, strike me as rather grim. In my experiences in the central Paris flunches, the dining rooms have been extremely crowded during the lunch hours. Sharing tables is not strange—in fact, during busy hours you’ll probably be seated next to and across from complete strangers. (But then again, I was dining alone!) These locations are also quite popular with bus and student groups—leading to sudden crowding, occasional horseplay and bathroom lines.

Prices:

Really, this place is cheap. If you’re fine with tap water, you can have a full meal for around €6.45.

Final thoughts

Clearly, flunch isn’t for everyone, but it does provide a fast, central, and cheap alternative to typical fast food. If you decide to “flunch it,” don’t expect fine French cuisine. Expect, instead, to experience another country’s cafeteria culture. And then head back for some more buttered veggies.

Have you flunched?

Have you been to a flunch restaurant in France? Have you experienced another cafeteria in the country? Tell us about your experience in the comments section.

The post Paris Cafeterias: To “flunch” or not to “flunch”? appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.