Happy 50th Anniversary ‘Europe on 5 Dollars a Day’

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  05.02.07 | 7:33 AM ET

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Arthur Frommer self-published “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” 50 years ago, an event that still resonates among travelers. “On the 50th anniversary of the book’s publication,” the AP’s Beth J. Harpaz writes in a profile of the legendary guidebook, “Frommer is still being credited with helping to change leisure travel by showing average Americans that they could afford a trip to Europe.” Harpaz points out that Frommer’s approach—“a combination of wide-eyed wonder and getting the best value for your money”—has become typical, but at the time it was a radical shift.

Frommer elaborates on his groundbreaking book and 50 years of travel in a Q&A with his staff.   

Here’s why he chose to write about budget travel:

There was a day in Paris when I was traveling on my own, before I did the GI’s Guide, and I was sitting in a sidewalk café writing letters home, nursing a little glass of wine for several hours—to enable me to keep sitting at that café. I looked up and saw a motor coach of forty or so American tourists passing by with everyone’s noses pressed to the glass looking out at the life of Paris from the inside of the bus. At that moment, I realized that the difference between them and me was that they had money and I had no money—and because I had no money, I was having the time of my life. That if I’d had any money, I would not be sitting at an exotic cafe, meeting Parisians and involving myself in the life of Paris ... I would be in that bus, having a second-rate experience.

I suddenly realized that when you travel, the less you spend, the more you enjoy. The experience is better. And I held onto that lesson and will go to my grave still advocating it. That’s the love for budget travel which underlies Europe on 5 Dollars a Day.

The AP has also posted excerpts from the original edition of the book.

Tags: Global Village, Travel Books, Europe, News and Briefs


1 Comment for Happy 50th Anniversary ‘Europe on 5 Dollars a Day’

TambourineMan 05.02.07 | 11:37 AM ET

Reading this, I was trying to think of what movie Frommer did a cameo in, but as it turns out, it wasn’t Arthur at all.

From Wikipedia:
“Frommer was portrayed by actor Patrick Malahide in the film EuroTrip.”

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