European Pricing Help

[Deleted]

Hello, on 15th June I am planning on visiting for a week the following countries (in succession):

- Sweden 15 - 22 June
- Finland 22 - 30 June
- Denmark 30 June -8 July
- Germany 8 - 15 July
- France 15 - 23 July

I live in the UK however and in the UK we have a) our own currency and b) very, very cheap prices on alcohol and such. Mostly I'm going to visit friends and we'll be out a lot of the time, or eating takeaway food. So I'd like to know the general prices of alcohol so that I can compare. Mostly it's the price of alcohol because I know the UK is relatively cheap compared to - well - the rest of the world when it comes to alcohol pricing in superstores (and as such we're one of the worst countries for drinking in the world x_x).

To take an example:
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Produ.../?id=255248875 - although it doesn't state it, it's 17.5%
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Produ.../?id=270978627 - again, it's 4.6%

Also I plan to visit the following places: Gothenburg, Helsinki, Rodovre, Berlin and Paris so if anyone knows of any good places to experience the night life please let me know: preferably cheap and ... *cough* gay friendly

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

xoxo

[Deleted]

well dnt they all use the EURO and id edit the gay friendly part cos your gonna get some american or other foreigner calling you names

[Bakis]

For Sweden and Denmark, been a while since I were in Germany. Never been to Finland and I will revisit France if I ever get leapercy

Denmark has cheaper prices on alcohol than Sweden but not that much.
A bottle of Smirnoff when I visited Denmark 1,5month ago was 170 danish crowns while in Sweden it was equal to 190 danish crowns.
Beer is cheap in both Denmark and Sweden, ~o,85QDP for 0,5 litre. Dunno if thats cheap for you but you britts are alcoholic
When you buy alocohol at a club the prices in both Denmark and Sweden rise alot. A beer at a nightclub or pub in Sweden is 3,5-4,5 QDP however at least in Sweden there are plenty of happy hour deals up to 22:00 (maybe not on saturdays though).
One thing to worth mentioning is that in Sweden you are only allowed to buy aclohol (apart from beer up to 3,5%) in special stores.
Systembolaget (http://www.systembolaget.se/English/), they are common so have no fear of not finding one easily. Since its regulated in that way you will get your mind blown if you visit one in a larger town such as my LOVELY TOWN GHOTENBURG. The array of wines, beers etc that you will find within that store is just kickass. Several hundred brands of wines, hundreds of differen brands of beer, booze etc. In Denmark you are able to buy in every gr. store or Seven-11 etc but just the usual brands of cos

Eating out in Denmark and Sweden toally depends. Just eating at a local pub, lunch whatever is cheap. If you plan to visit a real restuarant the prices might rise quit a bit.
The QDP is still strong with both the danish and swedish currency.
1 QDP is ~11,74 SKR.

You are able to pay in euros in both Denmark and Sweden (at least most places).

Regarding the gay part you will be in heaven (dont think there are that many clubs though 2-3 in Gothenburg maybe but really dont know). Extremly little homophobia especially in the major cities.
In fact Gothenburg started a 2-3 week HBT celebration just the other day.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I know that Stockholm and Copenhagen are quite expensive to eat out in, not sure about the rest of Sweden and Denmark though.

Germany probably has the cheapest alcohol in Europe. If you go to a supermarket, you are going to pay €0.50-0.65 for a decent half liter bottle of beer, or €2.50-5.00 for a decent bottle of wine.

[wickedbastard]

Shame on you for not visiting the Netherlands....

[Deleted]

well dnt they all use the EURO and id edit the gay friendly part cos your gonna get some american or other foreigner calling you names

Sweden and Denmark has their own currencies too...

On to the topic at hand, alcohol in Sweden is very, VERY expensive. Just a normal beer at a restaurant can be around 70 SEK, which is £6.25. It's pretty much the same at bars/clubs etc. and prices only go up for stronger stuff. Alcohol is cheaper if you buy it at Systembolaget (the Swedish state-run liquor store), but it's still expensive. A bottle of Absolut Vodka (350ml) for example, is around 130 SEK, which is £11.60. Hope this was any help for you. ^.^

[Bakis]

Just a normal beer at a restaurant can be around 70 SEK

Thats eating out in the evenings though.
Its 50-54 SKR at a nightclub or at a resturant daytime.

Needless to say it aint cheap ;<

[Deleted]

Sweden has their own currency; Krona
Denmark has their own; Danish Krona
Finland, Germany and France use Euro.

In Finland alcohol is pretty expensive, for a beer at some restaurant, be ready to pay atleast 5€, and about 30€ for a bottle of wine.
Its cheaper to buy it in a store though, about 20€ for 24 cans of beer, and 8€+ for a bottle of wine. You can buy beer in almost any store, but stronger alcohol can only be bought in Alko, think its the same for Sweden but its called Systembolaget in Sweden.
Eating out will probably be around 10-20€, depends on place and where in Helsinki. Im sure there are cheaper places, restaurants owned by foreigners are most of the time cheaper, pizza is like the cheapest meal you will find in Finland, in my city its about 5-7€, might be more expensive in Helsinki.

I dont know any gay place in Helsinki, and i dont recommend asking for one on the street. Try to google it, its safer.

[Deleted]

Sweden and Denmark has their own currencies too...

On to the topic at hand, alcohol in Sweden is very, VERY expensive. Just a normal beer at a restaurant can be around 70 SEK, which is £6.25. It's pretty much the same at bars/clubs etc. and prices only go up for stronger stuff. Alcohol is cheaper if you buy it at Systembolaget (the Swedish state-run liquor store), but it's still expensive. A bottle of Absolut Vodka (350ml) for example, is around 130 SEK, which is £11.60. Hope this was any help for you. ^.^

£11.60 for a bottle of vodka is cheap its more expensive in the uk weare like the most expensive country in europe

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Mostly it's the price of alcohol because I know the UK is relatively cheap compared to - well - the rest of the world when it comes to alcohol pricing in superstores

Come again? Buying beer in a supermarket in Britain is at least 4x more expensive than in Germany.

[Deleted]

Come again? Buying beer in a supermarket in Britain is at least 4x more expensive than in Germany.

Germany probably have the cheapest beer in Europe, havent been there myself. Just what i have heard.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I think beer prices are actually regulated by law here.

[MestHoop]

£11.60 for a bottle of vodka is cheap its more expensive in the uk weare like the most expensive country in europe

11 pounds for a 350ml bottle is cheap?
Didn't OP say that UK had some of the lower prices for alcohol? XD

[Deleted]

Hmm okay. So I should be expecting to pay a lot for alcohol. I knew about the systembolaget thing but the reason why alcohol is so cheap (relatively) in places such as tescos is because tescos have their own mega-cheap brands... Hmm, I guess if I drink straight vodka it wont take much to get drunk. I would've visited the Netherlands but I'm planning to go there with my friends in August after we've all graduated from university - and that'll be fun.

As I'm generally going to be staying with people food costs aren't too much of an issue: obviously out of courtesy and manners I'm going to treat the people (who are keeping me) to a restaurant meal and generally I'm just a bit worried about my finances, for a week is 150 euros enough (per week)? Obviously the 150 is transferred to whatever currency specific countries use as I know some European countries prefer their own over the euro.

Again, all information is appreciated: thank you so, so much xoxo

[Deleted]

Shame on you for not visiting the Netherlands....

I have to quote this for truth. But besides the nightlife and weed Netherlands is really boring. But we most certainly have a lot of places for our happy lads and ladies

[Deleted]

Beer and alcohol in general is much cheaper in Germany than any of the other countries you listed. For example, the 12x275ml (total of 3.3L) of Tuborg = ~13EUR, in comparison, 20x500ml (total of 10L) of Pils/Hefeweizen = ~9.90EUR - ~12EUR (depending on brand ofc). For most liquor prices just switch the Sterling sign with the Euro one.

[Stanton Biston]

11 pounds for a 350ml bottle is cheap?
Didn't OP say that UK had some of the lower prices for alcohol? XD

Oh. Holy fuck that better be some top shelf shit right there.

So far I'm happy I don't have to pay European prices on booze. I was really curious how they shaped up.

[Shakadam]

As someone who lives in Finland and have visited the UK, I'd say that the store prices for all kinds of alcohol are fairly similar. There are small regional differences but on the whole, expect to pay just about the same as you would in the UK. Remember that anything above 4,7% is only sold at Alko, and you can't buy alcohol in a store after 21.00 even though the store might be open longer than that. They're forbidden by law to sell alcohol after 21.00.

Prices at pubs, restaurants and not to mention nightclubs are a bit higher though. Expect to pay ~4€ for a 0,4L "pint" at a bar/pub, ~5-6€ at a restaurant and god knows how much at a nightclub. This is obviously the cheapest beer they have on tap which is perfectly fine if it's Karjala but run like hell if it's Lapin Kulta, it tastes like piss :P

Anyways having said that, alcohol in Finland is on average slightly cheaper than in Sweden, both in stores and pubs. I'm fairly certain that Sweden is going to be the most expensive out of those 5 countries you listed.

About the 150€ per week: It's cutting it a lil' close, that's just about 20€ a day, hmm. I assume that's only food+drink and nothing extra, in which case it CAN be done but don't expect to eat much else than pizza/kebab, that is if you intend to eat more than once per day. If you only eat at restaurants etc once per day it shouldn't be much of a problem, just avoid the more expensive places.

I've never lived or spent much time in Helsinki so can't help you much there, I do know you shouldn't have much problems finding even gay friendly places though, Helsinki has an abundant nightlife.

However, and this is a big one! The starting date you've chosen for Finland is midsummer's eve, one of the largest public holidays of the year. Pretty much everything will be closed and all cities, including Helsinki, will have a much much much smaller population since people tend to go out into the countryside to their summer cottages or similar. You'll essentially be looking at a deserted city during 22nd and 23rd.

[Deleted]

Oh. Holy fuck that better be some top shelf shit right there.

So far I'm happy I don't have to pay European prices on booze. I was really curious how they shaped up.

By European you mean Scandinavian. Because booze is still comparatively cheaper in Germany than in the US (afaik).

It's strange to see that a Swedish product, such as Absolut Vodka, is so much more expensive there than in the rest of the world.

[Deleted]

Yeah my issue was mostly clubs and bars - but if supermarket prices are relatively similar then that's fine, I can get drunk prior to going out. It's a lot cheaper, pre-drinking often is.

Even in 'big city clubs' - I live in Cardiff (Wales :P) for example - you can get a double vodka + mixer (of any choice, my favourite is lemonade + blackcurrant) for £2.00. Maybe it's because it's student prices?

Still though, I'd consider the UK prices cheap - especially as they're now increasing the costs by 10-15% in supermarkets to combat "binge drinking" in Britain.