Rick Steves' Money-Saving Trick For Eating Breakfast On Vacation

Feeding yourself while on vacation can either be expensive and stressful, or a delicious way to explore another culture through food. Although some Europeans romanticize a stereotypical American breakfast, there are plenty of places to find rib-sticking, adventure-fueling breakfasts at a great value while traveling. When searching for a place to stay on vacation, it might behoove you to seek out hotels or bed-and-breakfasts with breakfast included in the room price, as it can be a great way to save money on eating out. Rick Steves, famous for practical travel advice, loves to employ this method, but only if the breakfast spread is priced right and generous enough to sustain you for a large part of the day. 

Writing on his website about eating breakfast in Europe, Steves describes the typical breakfast spreads often found in various European countries. While his advice largely pertains to eating breakfast in European nations, his tips are smart for most any place you may visit.

A hearty full English breakfast is typically served in more traditional bed-and-breakfasts in the United Kingdom, which includes eggs alongside a variety of meats, starches, and vegetables, in addition to more standard breakfast fare if you'd prefer (although you should absolutely try a "fry-up" at least once). Steves notes that Northern European countries tend to have bigger breakfasts, especially in Scandinavia, where he refers to the breakfast spread as an "all-you-can-eat extravaganza," and they are almost always worth the reasonable price, even if it's not included in the price of your lodging.

Although he is a huge fan of hotel breakfast buffets if they are either included in the cost of your stay or at an economical price, Rick Steves rarely orders continental breakfasts while traveling, as he says they are usually not worth the money. In contrast to a generous European-style buffet spread, a continental breakfast is typically found in American hotels and is usually filled with much lighter fare, like coffee, baked goods, yogurt, and fruit, but doesn't tend to include heartier options like proteins to keep you satisfied during your morning of sightseeing. 

However, not all continental breakfasts are created equal, and some are absolutely worth the cost, especially if the convenience is a major factor, which can be the case sometimes while traveling in more rural or sparsely populated areas. If traveling in the U.S., you might even get lucky and stay in a hotel with one of the absolute best free breakfasts in the country.

Similar to some sparse American hotel breakfasts, Steves notes that as you travel further south on the European continent, hotel breakfasts tend to be much less substantial, and that can be true for a variety of places around the world where breakfast is served, so check ahead. For locals, breakfasts in France, Italy, Spain, and other Southwestern European countries usually consist of not much more than a pastry and coffee, while lunch and dinner are the heavier meals of the day. If your hotel's breakfast spread is lacking, a great idea while traveling is to leave the hotel and go explore your options in the nearby town and eat with the locals, either in the United States or abroad.