We had a fantastic trip and now that all the bills are in, I can tally up the cost. What I’m really interested in doing is comparing the actual cost to my estimated cost. I can’t help it – I like to know if I did a good job J

I estimated a total cost of $10,000 for a trip for 4 of us to the UK for 20 full days (not including our on flight days). Here’s where the money went:

Flights                                                   $4,880

Accommodation                               $1,391

Rental Car & Gas                              $1,700

Gifts                                                      $160

Events                                                  $410

Fun/Incidentals/Eating Out         $1,680

TOTAL                                                   $10,221

Not bad! We paid for accommodation for 6 nights as we had 6 stays with family and friends (thank you) – the most expensive at $364 (including a fantastic breakfast) and the cheapest at $82 (private family room with an en-suite and a wonderful lake view) at a youth hostel in the Lake District. We had lots of picnic lunches and made several dinners and breakfasts but otherwise thoroughly enjoyed ourselves without feeling like we were watching our pennies (or pounds £ as the case may be). We found that most things cost in £ what they cost in Canada …. Only then you have to double it to account for the exchange rate! For example, a liter of gas was £1.15 and a latte £3.50.

We went to the Edinburgh Tattoo, the Cowal Highland Gathering, Roman Baths (in Bath!) and rode a huge ferris wheel along with visits to several castles, standing stones, and national parks. We came away with souvenirs and many, many pictures. It was a great trip and $200 over budget is not bad…I just wish I’d managed to set aside the full $10,000 before our trip.