Interests + Ideas

So you're avoiding a whole continent because the dollar has been reduced to the value of Monopoly money? Rather than miss out on Athens's Parthenon, Paris's Eiffel Tower, or London's rainfall, why not approach a European vacation as a budgeting challenge? Stretching those dollars requires an open mind, a dash of adventure, and, in some cases, the flexing of long-forgotten travel muscles. Rediscovering that adventurous travel spirit—rather than coasting from one luxury hotel to another—can bring you much closer to what makes a destination special. Get cultural, go to concerts, use funky new urban transit, and learn to laugh at the five-star experience (do you really want to fly 4,000 miles to watch a flat-screen TV in your room?) Eat the freshest local food at some of the world's best markets, and hit beaches that don't make it into gossip magazines (on this side of the Atlantic, anyway). It helps, of course, to stay clear of London and Paris, which have become staggeringly expensive even without the miserable exchange rate. But if you can't stay away, we've got tips for those dollar-devouring shark pools, too…