The Indie Travel Podcast

In this episode of the Indie Travel Podcast, Craig and Linda Martin talk about how to eat well in Europe. We’ve discussed this topic before, but it wasn’t enough for listener Jeff to win his argument with his friend about whether or not to eat out for every meal - so we go into a bit more detail this time.

We think it is vital to eat out in Europe - the food is fantastic. But eating out three times a day can stretch the budget to breaking point, and it isn’t necessarily the best thing to do anyway - preparing a picnic can sometimes give you a better eating experience. We suggest you eat breakfast in your hotel only if it’s included in the price - otherwise find a cafe for coffee and a bakery for pastries. Eat out for lunch or dinner, but not both. Lunch is often the better option since there are usually more special deals on offer during the day, but having dinner out once in a while is also fantastic.

Preparing food for yourself can be really tasty as well, sometimes better than restaurant food. We prepared fantastic sandwiches for six people in Bern for 15 euros, when buying similar rolls with less fillings would have set us back eight euros apiece. Plus we got drinks and snacks for later, and some of the fillings lasted another day.

If you don’t have a stove, sandwiches and crackers can be topped with local cheeses or meats, spreads like pate and hummus, or vegetables from a local market. Premix lettuce leaves can make a tasty salad with the addition of whatever you want - we suggest freshly cooked chicken from the supermarket or deli.

If you do have a stove, staples like pasta, omelettes or soup are inexpensive, but you can also grab random items from the shop and give them a go - we tried a weird hashbrown dish in Zug, Switzerland.

Plus, you have a lot of choice when it comes to drinks. The cost of one bottle in a restaurant could buy you five or six in a supermarket - choose a couple of local wines or beers and enjoy!

You could even have a dinner party in your hostel with each person contributing something - a drink, a salad, a dessert … we’ve done it and it can be a lot of fun.

In addition to talking about food, we also bring you up to date with our current French holiday - the canal is still flowing and Linda’s sister Anna has turned out to be a closet gourmet - producing meals like sea snails in white wine and garlic, duck a l’orange and filet mignon. Yum.

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