WHERE IN THE WORLD CAN YOU GET THE BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK? DON"T LEAVE OUT EUROPE!

Less than a decade ago you could get nearly $1.50 Canadian for your American dollar. Today, you'd be sacrificing  your 1st born (in gratitude to the exchange gods) if that same dollar got you 90 cents north of the boarder.

Anyone who turns on a news station or (heaven forbid) picks up a newspaper knows that the American greenback is tanking.

Does this mean that the only way you can now afford to see the world is by watching the Travel Channel (assuming you still can afford cable)?

Not necessarily.

This spring, website 'Price of Travel' released their 1st '3-STAR TRAVELER INDEX' which compares the daily cost of two people (sharing hotels/transportation) while visiting 40 major European Cities.

And, they didn't have you eating in soup kitchens, hitchhiking around town or bunking in '20 to a room' fleabags. They even factored in a museum visit plus a few beers into the equation!

Here's their 'calculation criteria' to determine the cost for each city (as copied from their website):

• One night in the cheapest 3-star hotel available with a good location and mostly positive reviews. Hotel prices are per person based on double occupancy, so the full nightly rate is double what is listed for each city here.
• Two 3-kilometer taxi rides per day (one ride paid per person)
• One cultural attraction, such as a popular museum, per day
• Three meals per day using the top end of the range of our “budget meals” for each city
• Three beers (or wine) each day as an “entertainment fund.” Non-drinkers might have dessert and coffee or attend a local music performance instead, so this is a general benchmark that should be proportional for each city.

So you won't exactly be roughing it.

And the '3-Star Traveler Index' top ten European Bargains are:

1. SOFIA, BULGARIA - $46.91 per day

2. BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - $55.77 pd

3. KRAKOW, POLAND - $58.96 pd

4. BUCHAREST, ROMANIA - $60.98 pd

5. WARSAW, POLAND - $80.12 pd

6. ISTANBUL, TURKEY - $80.21 pd

7. PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - $85.45 pd

8. ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - $91.32 pd

9. TALLINN, ESTONIA - $93.11 pd

10. NAPLES, ITALY - $94.33 pd

Check out their website -

http://www.priceoftravel.com/1020/europe-3-star-traveler-index-for-2011-compare-40-cities-by-price/    

- for complete details.

Happy traveling!!!!!!!