Dish of the day
Steve Clifford from Catalan Adventures runs some of our most popular budget walking vacations. While
walking in rural Spain, budgeting tips are barely needed: you’ll almost always eat out – and eat well – cheaply.
“You can just eat where the locals are eating,” says Steve. “By law each restaurant is supposed to provide a three-course meal with a drink – it’s called the
menu del dia. You can find these places everywhere, so you can have three courses and a bottle of wine for 10-12 euros... You can get some incredible food – dishes that can cost you 15-20 euros each in the UK.”
You can just eat where the locals are eating.
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Tailor made walking vacations are particularly good at adapting to hikers’ budgets. You’ll often start with a welcome meeting with a guide who’ll run through all your route notes before you set off, pointing out places that’ll suit your wallet.
Even notoriously expensive places like Sweden have deals if you know where to look. Your tour provider will tell you to look out for ‘dagens lunch’, where you can eat a cooked meal with a salad, drink and coffee for 80-100 krona (£8). In Montenegro, meanwhile, almost every village has its own cheese to inspire a cheap and tasty picnic.
