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i'm going to be staying with family in Glasgow for two months. I'm wondering how much money I am going to need. I'm thinking at least £1600.
I won't need any money for lodgings unless I end up traveling somewhere else in Scotland. So far nothing is planned except for a week in Edinburgh where I will be staying with my cousin.
Many of my meals I will eat with family. Even if I offered to pitch in with the grocery bill they would not accept.
So basically I will need to budget for the following:
pubs- what's the avg price for a pint? Still around £2.50?
transport- bus, taxi
eating out - pub lunches, indian and chinese meals + treating family to a nice meal or two.
entertainment - theatre, night clubs (not really my thing but may end up at one or both)
so is £200 a month about right or will I end up burning through that more quickly than I think?
Whether £200 is enough for a month is kind of a difficult question, as the question is really over how much you want to do, in what sort of style you want to do it, and how regularly you want to do it, rather than whether it's enough to actually do anything.
Having conferred with my flatmate, we both independently arrived at the conclusion that a generic 'Glasgow' night out will involve withdrawing £50 from an ATM, and the next day that £50 will have miraculously dissipated. (What it was actually spent on is anyone's guess.) It probably involved a combination of taxi's, a meal somewhere and lots of booze. (Edinburgh is much the same cost-wise.)
If you took 4 people out for a meal in an above average restaurant and insisted on paying, you'd probably be talking £10/head + drinks, in which case you'd have spent around 1/4 of your funds for that month on a single meal.
If you want to maximise your time spent doing things whilst in Scotland, I'd recommend trying to take more than £200 for a month (£6.66/day). My suspicion is that on £200 for the month, you'd spend a lot of time having to restrict doing things that cost money. Even if you could go for only 1 month and have £400 (£13.33/day) you'd be able to have a lot more freedom to do things.
So much depends on how much entertainment your relatives are going to lay on for you, so I can't really answer your question. However if you were going to be left to your own devices for much of the time, I think £200 for a month could be quite restrictive.
Whether £200 is enough for a month is kind of a difficult question, as the question is really over how much you want to do, in what sort of style you want to do it, and how regularly you want to do it, rather than whether it's enough to actually do anything.
Having conferred with my flatmate, we both independently arrived at the conclusion that a generic 'Glasgow' night out will involve withdrawing £50 from an ATM, and the next day that £50 will have miraculously dissipated. (What it was actually spent on is anyone's guess.) It probably involved a combination of taxi's, a meal somewhere and lots of booze. (Edinburgh is much the same cost-wise.)
If you took 4 people out for a meal in an above average restaurant and insisted on paying, you'd probably be talking £10/head + drinks, in which case you'd have spent around 1/4 of your funds for that month on a single meal.
If you want to maximise your time spent doing things whilst in Scotland, I'd recommend trying to take more than £200 for a month (£6.66/day). My suspicion is that on £200 for the month, you'd spend a lot of time having to restrict doing things that cost money. Even if you could go for only 1 month and have £400 (£13.33/day) you'd be able to have a lot more freedom to do things.
So much depends on how much entertainment your relatives are going to lay on for you, so I can't really answer your question. However if you were going to be left to your own devices for much of the time, I think £200 for a month could be quite restrictive.
Eoin
oops my mistake. That last line should have read £200 a week not month.
As far as things I will be doing. I'll probably be spending a lot of time visiting family in the area. I've been to Scotland so many times that I no longer need to do any tourist things.
Yeah I can see going through £50 on a weekend night out easy. Since my cousins will be working throughout the week I doubt there will be any weeknight sessions.
Stayed in a hostel in Glasgow when we visited in 2007 and loved it. We visited because my wife's ancestors are from the Scotland. Enjoyed the whole Scotland experience. Obtained a rail pass and visited Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness. We dined nightly at Whitherspoons (pub) and enjoyed really good food there. Visited the book chain Wetherstones (sp) and Borders. Borders served really BIG cups of tea when we had our tea. Toured the Edinburgh castle (open house) and museum. Walked the Culloden Battlefield and visited the Greyfrier's Bobby statue as well as the police museum in Glasgow (saw the Burke's Butt wallet there). Overall the people were friendly and the food was very good.
Stayed in a hostel in Glasgow when we visited in 2007 and loved it. We visited because my wife's ancestors are from the Scotland. Enjoyed the whole Scotland experience. Obtained a rail pass and visited Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness. We dined nightly at Whitherspoons (pub) and enjoyed really good food there. Visited the book chain Wetherstones (sp) and Borders. Borders served really BIG cups of tea when we had our tea. Toured the Edinburgh castle (open house) and museum. Walked the Culloden Battlefield and visited the Greyfrier's Bobby statue as well as the police museum in Glasgow (saw the Burke's Butt wallet there). Overall the people were friendly and the food was very good.
The pub chain is Wetherspoons - decent food, good choices of beers and ales for a good price. The bookshop is Waterstones. Borders is long gone.
Grab a bus from Buchanan st station.. for about £14 return you can go on a journey to places like St Andrews, Dumfries.. Oban etc... cheap day out and wonderful scenery..take a poke of pieces with you... (bag of sandwiches)
oops my mistake. That last line should have read £200 a week not month.
As far as things I will be doing. I'll probably be spending a lot of time visiting family in the area. I've been to Scotland so many times that I no longer need to do any tourist things.
Yeah I can see going through £50 on a weekend night out easy. Since my cousins will be working throughout the week I doubt there will be any weeknight sessions.
how much is a pint of lager in Glasgow?
Ah now you're talking, £200/week should be absolutely fine.
A pint of lager depends on the bar and the location, but at the low end £1.40 in a chain pub for a pint of premium pi$$ beer, to £3.50 for a more sophisticated beverage in a nicer venue. £2.50 for a pint is around par for the course.
£3.50 will get you an all day bus ticket which covers Glasgow. If you prefer to get a taxi you have a choice of a black cab or a private hire, private hire's are normally a good bit cheaper but you can't just flag one down on the street so it'd probably be worth saving a private hire firms number in your phone. By private hire, it's unlikely to cost more than £10 to travel from anywhere in the city to the centre/West End. If you have a smartphone download the 'Traveline Scotland' app, that'll tell you how to get to anywhere from anywhere by bus. (i.e. where the bus stops + bus number) Also download the 'thetrainline' app which is the equivalent for trains.
Eating out again depends on the venue/time. However for somewhere you'd take relatives to appear grateful, the price range you're looking at is £8/per head for a main meal up to about £15/per head for a main meal. Most restaurants have a set menu where you'd get 2-3 courses within that price range if you're eating out during the day. (Or probably anytime that isn't Friday/Saturday night at 6pm.) At peak times those prices will often be the price for a main course and you'd need to add on £5/head for a starter/dessert.
Ah now you're talking, £200/week should be absolutely fine.
A pint of lager depends on the bar and the location, but at the low end £1.40 in a chain pub for a pint of premium pi$$ beer, to £3.50 for a more sophisticated beverage in a nicer venue. £2.50 for a pint is around par for the course.
£3.50 will get you an all day bus ticket which covers Glasgow. If you prefer to get a taxi you have a choice of a black cab or a private hire, private hire's are normally a good bit cheaper but you can't just flag one down on the street so it'd probably be worth saving a private hire firms number in your phone. By private hire, it's unlikely to cost more than £10 to travel from anywhere in the city to the centre/West End. If you have a smartphone download the 'Traveline Scotland' app, that'll tell you how to get to anywhere from anywhere by bus. (i.e. where the bus stops + bus number) Also download the 'thetrainline' app which is the equivalent for trains.
Eating out again depends on the venue/time. However for somewhere you'd take relatives to appear grateful, the price range you're looking at is £8/per head for a main meal up to about £15/per head for a main meal. Most restaurants have a set menu where you'd get 2-3 courses within that price range if you're eating out during the day. (Or probably anytime that isn't Friday/Saturday night at 6pm.) At peak times those prices will often be the price for a main course and you'd need to add on £5/head for a starter/dessert.
Eoin
thanks mate. Great info
I really like the lager in Scotland. Last time I drank Tennants. Is that considered pi$$? Or on occasion i would order a pint of heavy.
i'm going to be staying with family in Glasgow for two months. I'm wondering how much money I am going to need. I'm thinking at least £1600.
I won't need any money for lodgings unless I end up traveling somewhere else in Scotland. So far nothing is planned except for a week in Edinburgh where I will be staying with my cousin.
Many of my meals I will eat with family. Even if I offered to pitch in with the grocery bill they would not accept.
So basically I will need to budget for the following:
pubs- what's the avg price for a pint? Still around £2.50?
transport- bus, taxi
eating out - pub lunches, indian and chinese meals + treating family to a nice meal or two.
entertainment - theatre, night clubs (not really my thing but may end up at one or both)
so is £200 a month about right or will I end up burning through that more quickly than I think?
Re: public transport. It depends where you are staying. Glasgow has buses, a subway and commuter rail. It is also a very walkable city.
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