Travel Expenses in Europe

How to Budget Your Travel Expenses in Europe

Working out your travel expenses in Europe on a budget can be a bit of a challenge. How much you will need varies from individual to individual depending on how cheaply or otherwise, you want to travel. There are a number of factors that determine your travel costs, so if you want the best value for money, it is best to do some planning in advance. Your planning process should include deciding early the places you want to stay and if possible, book hotel reservations, buy a eurail pass and make other arrangements in advance. Since many places have hidden fees associated, your day city trip can so easily become expensive. Living expenses vary from city to city but you’ll find that anything in Western Europe will generally take a large slice out of your purse than in Eastern European countries.

Travel Expenses in Europe – What You Will Need for Day to Day Activities

Here are a few facts that may help you. If you shop at a supermarket, approximately 10 to 15 euro will feed you for the day. Most hotels offer a complimentary continental breakfast. You could shop at a local supermarket to keep you going through lunch, so if your hotel room comes with a kitchenette, make the best use of it. If you’re not too fussy about your diet, you may also like to stock up with bread, jam, cherry tomatoes and cheese, as well as pasta and/or rice in bulk if you are staying in one place for a few days. These are some of the cheapest items, so if you won’t get tired of eating the same thing it will help you cut down your European travel expenses. On the other hand, a decent meal out at a restaurant may cost you over 20 euro. Part of any real travel experience includes sampling the local culture so you may wish to try the local cuisine sometimes. But if you’re on budget, try keeping eating out to minimum.

Travel Expenses in Europe – Accommodation

Accommodation doesn’t come very cheap. Typically, three star hotels may cost anything over 70-90 euro per night. Generally, hotels in Italy and Belgium are more expensive than hotels in eastern Europe. Hostels and backpackers lodgings are a cheaper option and you can generally score one of these for around 20 euro per night.

Cost of Getting Around

Much of your transportation cost and worries can be easily addressed if you buy bus or train passes in advance. Many of these passes cover periods of time rather than “per trip” fees. It should help avoid those unexpected ‘incidentals’ while getting around Europe. Try booking in advance by purchasing tickets online for the best deals. Websites such as www.busabout.com and www.eurorail.com include some great deals.

Travel expenses in Europe can be managed with advance planning. If you haven’t booked and paid for everything or most of the things in advance, you should put aside the amount you need to pay for any flights, trains or buses. You can buy day passes for local trains and buses. On average, 10 euro a day is about all you may need to visit local sights. You can also walk through many cities to see the sights on foot. It promises to be more fun this way as you discover some unknown hideaway or have opportunity to meet the locals going about their daily business.

There are many sights that are free, while some major ones charge entry fees. You can do a thorough research on expenses involved in sight seeing in each city you plan to visit. As a rough estimate, you may plan around euro 15 a day on average for sight seeing. This is only a rough estimate, as most museums and galleries cost not more than 10 euro to enter.

So, the least you may have to spend on travel expenses in Europe should average around 60 euro per day.

Here’s the break up once again:

Food – 15 euro;
Accommodation – 20 euro;
Transport – 10 euro;
Sightseeing – 15 euro.

This is the minimum cost you should budget for, over and above the expenses you may have already incurred prior to leaving for your European tour. If you have decided to stay in a two to three star hotel, it may cost you over 50 euro each day on average. However, off-season and early booking can provide discounts.

There are several other factors that may increase the cost of travel in Europe depending on your travel choices. The overall cost will be influenced by whether you are travel alone or with a group. The minimum indicated budget for a single person’s travel expenses in Europe may go up several times over with 5 or more star hotels accommodation, restaurant meals, and car rentals. The less expensive trips are those that are one week or less to a single city in Europe. Anything over one week begins to get more expensive.

Take a look at this interesting video that describes a country-by-country cost guide app that you can get for an iPhone. You can use it to find out pretty much anything you need to know about travel expenses in Europe.