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This is actually one of my favourite things about road tripping around Europe; you can just pull in at a random service station and get affordable, convenient h

by Svip 7y ago

This is actually one of my favourite things about road tripping around Europe; you can just pull in at a random service station and get affordable, convenient half-decent sandwiches (sometimes even decent ones!). In my experience, the only real significant ticket item on a European road trip is the fuel price. Even accommodations are generally a lot cheaper than their US counterparts.

seszett 7y ago
Usually you can go to a bakery and get a much better sandwich, from fresh ingredients and usually much cheaper than what you'd get prepackaged.
- maccard 7y ago
  Pretty much every town or villiage in the UK has a Tesco/boots/coop, all of which offer pre packaged sandwiches for less than £2. I don't think I've ever come across a bakery that sells pre made sandwiches for that price. YMMV on the mainland though
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    My experience mainly outside the South East is virtually every half decent UK bakery will make barmcakes and sandwiches to order, for about the same or if they are more it's only by a little - say 10-40p. Yet you'll usually get vastly more fillings, so they work out much cheaper, along with scope for customisation. The chain bakeries like Gregg's etc just offer the same sort of carefully rationed pre-pack choices as supermarkets.
    - ljm 7y ago
      > barmcakes So, the north west then ;)
      - noir_lord 7y ago
        Funny how you can place people by what they call them. In my case breadcake, southerners, roll or bap.
  - lrem 7y ago
    Wait, really two pounds? In Dublin it used to be more like a fiver...
    - maccard 7y ago
      Tesco has them for €3 https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=288175714 https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=288175714, and I'm sure Spar/Mace have their own versions which manage to be cheaper. £1.90 in Tesco in the UK https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/274622236 https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/274622236 If you go back to ~2015 or so, befire the pound tanked, the numbers were pretty much the same.
      - lrem 7y ago
        I remember Spar specifically in the €4-€5 range.
  - seszett 7y ago
    Maybe not in the UK, but in France it is quite normal to have ~3€ sandwich in a bakery. Not premade though, they would make it on demand.
danielscrubs 7y ago
The Nordics would like a word with you, especially the Norwegians.
- jacobush 7y ago
  Only the Norwegians
- Symbiote 7y ago
  With the changes in exchange rate in the last 2-3 years, Denmark will also feel in the same league as Norway. A fresh made (off site, I suspect) sandwich with a 50cL drink is €4.70 at 7-Eleven: https://all2day.dk/shell+7-eleven https://all2day.dk/shell+7-eleven
CalRobert 7y ago
Did a road trip with two buddies around Europe about 10 years ago and this was our experience. Italian gas stations felt like upscale grocery stores in the US. Even fuel was less than we expected due to getting 50+ mpg
- burntoutfire 7y ago
  > Italian gas stations felt like upscale grocery stores in the US. In some of European countries, shops are closed (by law) on Sunday. Gas stations are exempt from this, hence they morph into shops.
  - johnnycab 7y ago
    There aren't many countries in the EU, which emphatically restrict Sunday shopping. Even where the restrictions are in place, trading laws can vary and not strictly imposed or adhered to. This can also be coupled with diminishing political appetite to choke the local economy. 'Gas stations' morphing into shops, is related to the phenomenon of channel blurring, rather than just exploiting the exemptions in laws/rules. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_shopping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_shopping https://www.retailwire.com/tag/channel-blurring/ https://www.retailwire.com/tag/channel-blurring/
    - mattlondon 7y ago
      It is a huge pain in the UK and is rigidly adhered to. Most of the "large" shops (I think there is a square-footage cutoff point) and shopping centres/malls must only open for 6 hours on a Sunday. So the normally 24/7 huge supermarkets that are the size of several football pitches and are usually packed full of people are forced to shut. This means that everyone needs to get out in the 6 hour window, so traffic is insane and the shops themselves are insane because all the shopping that normally happens spread across 24 hours has to be jammed into 6 hours. It is really annoying. Smaller shops are allowed to stay open, so in the UK we now have a lot of smaller versions of the large 24/7 supermarket chain stores on high-streets that are typically open something like 8am-10pm/11pm/midnight 7 days a week. These are obviously much more popular than local businesses (cheaper, more reliable, loyalty schemes) so all small independent businesses (greengrocers, bakeries, small grocery stores, hardware stores, stationers, newsagents etc) are being forced out of business. I wish that one day this silliness would be abolished.
bluedino 7y ago
Mom and pop gas stations in the USA almost always have a sub sandwich counter. Even the major chains have those factory made sandwiches that are cut into triangles, plus other hot sandwiches.
- snazz 7y ago
  The factory made ones at chain gas stations aren’t great, from what I’ve had to have in the US. Iceland is an interesting example of wonderful food at gas stations because gas stations become a gathering place for rural communities there.
  - pnutjam 7y ago
    I noticed this passing through Kansas.
flycaliguy 7y ago
Even up here in Canada, you see a contrast when you enter Quebec. Little self contained food businesses with above decent food along the highway rest stations.

by Svip 7y ago

seszett 7y ago

Usually you can go to a bakery and get a much better sandwich, from fresh ingredients and usually much cheaper than what you'd get prepackaged.

maccard 7y ago
Pretty much every town or villiage in the UK has a Tesco/boots/coop, all of which offer pre packaged sandwiches for less than £2. I don't think I've ever come across a bakery that sells pre made sandwiches for that price. YMMV on the mainland though
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  My experience mainly outside the South East is virtually every half decent UK bakery will make barmcakes and sandwiches to order, for about the same or if they are more it's only by a little - say 10-40p. Yet you'll usually get vastly more fillings, so they work out much cheaper, along with scope for customisation. The chain bakeries like Gregg's etc just offer the same sort of carefully rationed pre-pack choices as supermarkets.
  - ljm 7y ago
    > barmcakes So, the north west then ;)
    - noir_lord 7y ago
      Funny how you can place people by what they call them. In my case breadcake, southerners, roll or bap.
- lrem 7y ago
  Wait, really two pounds? In Dublin it used to be more like a fiver...
  - maccard 7y ago
    Tesco has them for €3 https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=288175714 https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=288175714, and I'm sure Spar/Mace have their own versions which manage to be cheaper. £1.90 in Tesco in the UK https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/274622236 https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/274622236 If you go back to ~2015 or so, befire the pound tanked, the numbers were pretty much the same.
    - lrem 7y ago
      I remember Spar specifically in the €4-€5 range.
- seszett 7y ago
  Maybe not in the UK, but in France it is quite normal to have ~3€ sandwich in a bakery. Not premade though, they would make it on demand.

danielscrubs 7y ago

The Nordics would like a word with you, especially the Norwegians.

jacobush 7y ago
Only the Norwegians
Symbiote 7y ago
With the changes in exchange rate in the last 2-3 years, Denmark will also feel in the same league as Norway. A fresh made (off site, I suspect) sandwich with a 50cL drink is €4.70 at 7-Eleven: https://all2day.dk/shell+7-eleven https://all2day.dk/shell+7-eleven

CalRobert 7y ago

Did a road trip with two buddies around Europe about 10 years ago and this was our experience. Italian gas stations felt like upscale grocery stores in the US. Even fuel was less than we expected due to getting 50+ mpg

burntoutfire 7y ago
> Italian gas stations felt like upscale grocery stores in the US. In some of European countries, shops are closed (by law) on Sunday. Gas stations are exempt from this, hence they morph into shops.
- johnnycab 7y ago
  There aren't many countries in the EU, which emphatically restrict Sunday shopping. Even where the restrictions are in place, trading laws can vary and not strictly imposed or adhered to. This can also be coupled with diminishing political appetite to choke the local economy. 'Gas stations' morphing into shops, is related to the phenomenon of channel blurring, rather than just exploiting the exemptions in laws/rules. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_shopping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_shopping https://www.retailwire.com/tag/channel-blurring/ https://www.retailwire.com/tag/channel-blurring/
  - mattlondon 7y ago
    It is a huge pain in the UK and is rigidly adhered to. Most of the "large" shops (I think there is a square-footage cutoff point) and shopping centres/malls must only open for 6 hours on a Sunday. So the normally 24/7 huge supermarkets that are the size of several football pitches and are usually packed full of people are forced to shut. This means that everyone needs to get out in the 6 hour window, so traffic is insane and the shops themselves are insane because all the shopping that normally happens spread across 24 hours has to be jammed into 6 hours. It is really annoying. Smaller shops are allowed to stay open, so in the UK we now have a lot of smaller versions of the large 24/7 supermarket chain stores on high-streets that are typically open something like 8am-10pm/11pm/midnight 7 days a week. These are obviously much more popular than local businesses (cheaper, more reliable, loyalty schemes) so all small independent businesses (greengrocers, bakeries, small grocery stores, hardware stores, stationers, newsagents etc) are being forced out of business. I wish that one day this silliness would be abolished.

bluedino 7y ago

Mom and pop gas stations in the USA almost always have a sub sandwich counter. Even the major chains have those factory made sandwiches that are cut into triangles, plus other hot sandwiches.

snazz 7y ago
The factory made ones at chain gas stations aren’t great, from what I’ve had to have in the US. Iceland is an interesting example of wonderful food at gas stations because gas stations become a gathering place for rural communities there.
- pnutjam 7y ago
  I noticed this passing through Kansas.

flycaliguy 7y ago

Even up here in Canada, you see a contrast when you enter Quebec. Little self contained food businesses with above decent food along the highway rest stations.