At the Hotel Galeno, a two-star in a quiet Rome neighborhood close to the Porta Pia, the double bed filled my room, with about 8 inches to spare on three sides. To get in the shower, I wedged my body around the toilet near a salad-bowl-size pedestal sink. But the bed was comfy, the breakfast filling (Italian coffee, warm yeasty rolls and jam) and the service gracious. And with an air-hotel package offseason, I was paying less than $40 a night — in a city where $200-plus rooms are common.

Finding affordable lodging in Europe is a challenge this summer, and you may have to sacrifice some comfort, but it can be done. In 2000, the euro and dollar were worth roughly the same; today a euro is worth more than $1.50, a 50 percent loss of buying power for Americans. Things are worse in the United Kingdom, where a pound is worth almost $2.

A survey by the online booking site Hotels.com showed that U.K. rooms went up 12 percent last year, making the average price in London $230 a night. Venice is even more expensive: $250 a night. In Oslo, lodging was up 18 percent in a year, making $200 the average.

Prices also jumped from 9 percent to 15 percent in such popular cities as Lisbon, Istanbul, Barcelona, Madrid and Milan. But dollar pains or not, a March survey by TripAdvisor, the Web site that lets travelers rate lodging, said 50 percent of Americans who responded plan to go to Europe this year. And they don't want to pay a fortune for accommodations.

"Budget people need more guidance this year," says Mary Peters of Friendly Travel in Alexandria, Va. "But budget travel is not impossible. Don't stay home because of it."

SAVE ON EUROPEAN LODGING WITH A FEW MAGIC WORDS

Dismayed by the high cost of hotel rooms in Europe? Don't cancel your trip just yet. Here are some ways to save on lodging. Prices are subject to availability and change. Unless otherwise noted, rates quoted are per person double.

BUY A PACKAGE

If you don't want to spend hours shopping for bargains, Mary Peters, of Friendly Travel in Alexandria, Va., has this advice: "This year is the year to take a tour." Whether escorted or independent, you'll get better prices on accommodations and won't have to worry about taxes and service fees when air, hotel and (sometimes) meals and guide costs are bundled. By prepaying, you know the cost up front.

To avoid sticker shock in the United Kingdom, for example, Affordable Tours (800-935-2620, www.affordabletours.com) offers $200 discounts per couple on land-plus-airfare escorted tours; it also discounts land-only tours. Escorted tours include transportation, admissions, guides and most meals. For example, Globus' seven-day "Taste of Britain" is $949 (less 10 percent discount); airfare is $1,046 from Washington Dulles. If booked separately with the best rates at the same hotels, you'd pay $725 for lodging only. And a six-day "Taste of Ireland" through CIE Tours starts at $953 (less 5 percent discount); air from New York is $582. The same three- and four-star hotels would cost at least $777 if booked separately.

Sophisticated Traveler, which specializes in Eastern Europe, has an eight-day all-inclusive "Poland's Best" escorted tour from Washington in May at $1,815 (plus up to $360 in taxes and fees; www.affordablepoland.com). Airfare alone to Warsaw starts at almost $900 on Orbitz (Scandinavian Airlines), and the hotels would cost at least $690 if booked separately.

Independent air-hotel packages also offer savings. The average hotel price in Italy is $196 a night, according to the latest Hotels.com survey, so it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Tourcrafters' "Florence and the Heart of Tuscany" package is a bargain. For $999 (plus $310 taxes and fees) from Washington, airfare, seven nights in four-star hotels, car rental and breakfast are included (through mid-May; book by April 15; 800-482-5995, www.tourcrafters.com). If booked separately, the same hotels would cost $1,340.

Other Web sites to check: Go-Today.com (www.go-today.com), Virgin Vacations (www.virgin-vacations.com), Gate1 Travel (www.gate1travel.com), European Destinations (www.europeandestinations.com) and France Vacations (www.francevacations.net). Also check flight-hotel packages on www.Expedia.com, www.Travelocity.com and www.Hotwire.com.

TAKE A CRUISE

With a cruise, you not only prepay — thereby ensuring against rising rates — but you have built-in lodging and all meals included. Check consolidator sites for bargains within 90 days of sailing. On Vacations to Go, for example (800-338-4962 or 800-680-2858, www.vacationstogo.com), late May and early June sailings on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas are $549 for a five-day Mediterranean itinerary. Norwegian Gem's seven-day Mediterranean cruises start at $699, far below the brochure rate of $1,599. "Anything close to $100 a day in the Med on a ship like that is a great price," says Alan Fox, chairman and chief executive of Vacations to Go.

River cruises can price out considerably cheaper than land travel. Amadeus Waterways (800-626-0126, www.amadeuswaterways.com), for example, has an air-cruise-hotel package from Amsterdam to Paris (from New York) from $2,699 in November. Priced separately, airfare from Washington to Amsterdam on Lufthansa is $860; budget hotels in all cities on the itinerary would cost about $1,388. The difference of $451 covers ground transportation, 11 tours, admissions and meals.

If your schedule is flexible, check last-minute cruise sites for deals. CruisesOnly (800-CRUISES or 800-278-4737, www.cruisesonly.com), for example, has a $799 seven-day Tunisia-Spain-France route from Barcelona on the Costa Magica on May 30.

To sort through the choices, Cruise Lines International Association can help you find a travel agent (www.cruising.org).

RENT AN APARTMENT

Renting an apartment can be cheaper than a hotel for a group if you're staying a week or more; a kitchen cuts dining costs. Kemp Prugh, 62, of Vienna, and his parents stayed in an apartment in Kandersteg, Switzerland, about 30 miles south of Interlaken, for a month last fall. It cost about $75 a night through Untours (888-868-6871, www.untours.com), which helps independent travelers live like residents in 14 European countries. Untours, in business 33 years, provides on-the-ground support: A local tells you where to shop for groceries, how to take the bus, etc. In October, a double hotel room in Kandersteg starts at $109 in two-star Silencehotel Edelweiss; at Sunstar Hotel Wenger, it's $258. Prugh's rental cost at least $34 less per day, or almost $1,000 over a month.

Untours rentals can be bundled with airfare, but it's optional. Spokeswoman Kim Paschen says the Swiss Heartland-Swiss Ticino Sampler, which includes 14 nights in an apartment, round-trip air and ground transportation, is typical. In September it's $1,584 ($2,494 with airfare), staying in studios in Locarno and Sachseln. On Expedia, a double in Locarno's Hotel Dell Angelo starts at $157 a night, or $1,099 for a week; in Sachseln, Kruez Sachseln Hotel is $236 a night, or $1,652 for a week. Hotels for 14 days would cost at least $2,751, or about $400 less than the apartment package for two people, but eating meals in restaurants would easily exceed that amount.

Because of the shrinking dollar, Tuscany travel is down this year, Paschen says, but travel to Umbria, in central Italy, is up. In October, an apartment on a farm in Spello, 10 miles from Assisi, costs $1,699 per person for two weeks through Untours. On Expedia, a double at Green Hotel Assisi, in a renovated farmhouse, costs about $57 a night — about $840 for two weeks, proving that sometimes a hotel is cheaper. By comparison, two weeks at the budget hotel Elite in Florence (www.hotelelitefirenze.com) with private bath would cost $1,960.

Some of the best values now, Paschen says, are in the harbor town of Nafplio, in the Peloponnese area in Greece: A house in an orange grove costs $1,659 for two weeks. But sometimes the choice is between a slower pace and the big city, because in Athens two weeks at the 1 1/2-star Alma Hotel in Omonia Square (www.almahotel.net) costs $938, but the three-star King Jason near the Plaka (www.kingjasonhotelathens.com) costs $1,722.

RENT A ROOM

In some train and bus stations and ferry docks in Eastern and Central Europe, private residents with rooms approach travelers. You have to trust your gut. Never fork over money before you've seen the room and neighborhood. Insist on being shown the location on a map, and ask about transportation. Still, these rooms can represent real bargains, with cultural immersion as a bonus. If you feel safer using a broker, many airport, train and bus stations have information desks or tourist office branches offering information on private rooms.

Memorize the term for room vacancies. In Germany, for example, it's "zimmer frei"; in Croatia, "sobe." In Austria, you might stumble upon a "pension" sign at a farm whose workers are on vacation, such as during Easter week.

STAY IN AN INDIE HOTEL

In the United States, about 75 percent of hotels are part of chains and about 25 percent are independently owned; in Europe, it's the opposite. The bedspreads and curtains may not match. Rooms may be small, and breakfast may be served on long tables under photos of Grandma with her clan. You have to embrace the quirkiness.

Scott Booker, vice president of customer marketing for Hotels.com, says promotions are posted on the site on Fridays. And any time you see a really low rate, he says, "Be a little suspect. ... Make sure you look at guest ratings and reviews."

CONSIDER A BUDGET CHAIN

Budget chain hotels may not have much character, but most have air conditioning. France has more budget chains than other countries. Among them:

Accor Hotels (www.accorhotels.com) has 13 brands, including Formule 1 (www.formule1.com), Etap (www.etaphotel.com), Novotel (www.novotel.com), Mercure (www.mercure.com) and Ibis (www.ibishotel.com).

Formule I rooms are small and basic, with TV, sink and double bed with a bunk above for a third person. In Dijon, France, a double is $48.50 for up to three people — a bargain by any standard. An Etap hotel in Hamburg is about $58 in September. Mercure hotels have more amenities. The 84-room, stylish three-star Mercure Nice Grimaldi is $146 in Nice.

France-based Campanile, Premier Classe and Kyriad are part of Louvre Hotels (www.louvrehotels.com). Campanile (www.campanile.com) has more than 380 hotels in nine countries, with promotions such as stay two nights, get the third free. In September on the Riviera, a double near Cannes costs $96 — and it's still warm enough to swim. At Campanile Beaune in September, a double or triple room is $108.

For other budget options, including Mister Bed and Fasthotel, see Eurapart (www.eurapart.com), keeping in mind that prices are approximate. In Strasbourg, France, at the very basic Mister Bed, a double costs $48. In the U.K. and Ireland, Travelodge (www.travelodge.co.uk) is located along motorways, with rooms starting from under $40 per night offseason.

If you prefer U.S.-based hotels, check out properties with chains such as Choice Hotels (www.choicehotels.com), which has Comfort and Clarion inns. Also check budget properties on Web sites of large multinational chains, such as Holiday Inn and Intercontinental Hotels; with AAA or other discounts, you might get a better hotel at less than you'd expect.