So you’re planning your holiday to Europe — how exciting! If this is your first time visiting Europe, you may have a thousand questions in your head, and 101 people telling you what to pack, where to go, and what you should see/do. But let me tell you this right now: those people are just trying to help you travel how they would travel, and in fact, everybody travels differently.

Why? Because what makes travel exciting, fun and captivating is unique to you. Some people like to dart across the globe spending 1 day in Paris, then the next day in Budapest and literally visiting as many cities as possible. While others prefer to spend all their holiday vacation time by the beach in Croatia. For me, I’m somewhere in the middle, and I prefer to spend roughly 1-2 weeks in each city.

So why am I talking about “travelling styles” when this post is about budgeting? Well, because the way you travel will affect your travel budget, and depending on how much cashola you’ve got laying around, this may affect what you do, where you go, and for how long. So I’ve put together this guide to help you find the right budget for your trip.

Disclaimer: this article should in no way be regarded as official financial or professional advice. Also, if you’re unsure, it’s always better to over-budget than under-budget and have a contingency plan just in case you run out of funds.

Step 1: Figure out your travel “style”

This doesn’t need to be complicated. All you need to do is quite literally write down your answers to the following sections. Remembering that your travel style is completely unique to you, and will likely differ from your travel companions.

Step 2: How are you travelling?

Now you know the 3 most important key pieces of information for working out your travelling budget.

1. Where + when you want to go travelling

2. What you want to do while travelling

3. How long you want to travel for

Now before we crunch the numbers and start working 3rd or 4th jobs to fund our trip, we still need to know one final thing — how will you be travelling? This might sound super vague, but when I ask this question what I’m really asking is what kind of trip are you taking? For example, you might be travelling to Europe for any of the following reasons:

• A work trip

• Contiki or organised group tour

• Backpacking on a low budget

• A volunteer trip

• Solo travelling and quite literally ‘eat pray loving’

It’s important to consider how you will be travelling as well as if you’ll be travelling alone, with a friend or partner, or with an organised group or tour because these all come with different price tags (and maybe liabilities/risks). You might also be doing a combination of the above, for example, with a mix of backpacking and a contiki tour. In which case, you’ll want to factor in any standard costs associated with organised tours into your budget.

Step 3: Let’s work out your budget

Here’s my secret sauce formula for working out my European travel budget. Remembering that it’s always better to over-estimate costs than under-estimate when it comes to your travel budget. i.e. more money is better. But knowing most people don’t have the luxury of unlimited funds, this is a guide on how you might work out your travel budget.

Travel budget =

[[my daily costs incl. food, entertainment] x [number of travel days]] + [transport costs for flights, trains etc] + [extra emergency funds + shopping fund]

So this could look like the following:

[$90 AUD/day x 21 travel days] + [$2000 international flights + $1000 for transport/other flights/trains] + [$2000 extra] = $6,890 AUD total for 3 weeks of travel across Europe

Traveller’s Note: Not all of Europe is the same

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but when it comes to travelling around Europe, it’s important to remember that not all European countries are the same. Big hit-list cities like Paris, London (no longer part of the EU), Budapest, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Prague, Barcelona and Venice are often more expensive. So staying in smaller suburbs out of the city center or perhaps visiting lesser populated cities may make your trip more affordable.

Which countries are the most expensive?

In my experience, any of the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark etc) are really expensive. I once bought a coffee in Copenhagen for $9 Australian dollars (almost twice the price of a standard flat white back in Australia)! Plus, accomodation and flights to any of these countries can also be super expensive. I also found that London (United Kingdom) was quite expensive and accomodation was hard to come by, which meant I stayed about 40 minutes south of the city center on the train. Lastly, Switzerland is also one of my top, most expensive countries to travel to, with coffee costing almost the same as Copenhagen, and food also burning a hole in my wallet. They also use Swiss Francs in Switzerland, which means on top of the already expensive prices, you will need to factor in a currency conversion rate too.

Which countries are the cheapest/most affordable?

Eastern Europe is super underrated and super affordable. In my travels in 2022, I visited Poland, including Krakow and Wroclaw and found these cities to be very affordable. Accomodation was cheap, food was really good quality and also affordable, plus I could catch a bus via Flixbus which meant I didn’t need to fork out extra for a plane ticket. If you love the island/beach life, then definitely check out Montenegro and Croatia. Montenegro isn’t yet a Schengen country or part of the European Union, and Croatia is soon to join the EU/Schengen agreement, but when I visited, these countries were super affordable. Lastly, one of my favourite cities in Europe, and one that’s super affordable, is Prague in Czechia. If you’re interested, you can check out my city guide of Prague here.

Summary:

If you’re taking the leap to travel to Europe for the first time, I commend you! Travelling is a wonderful experience and is a great way to get out of your comfort zone. Everyone has a different way of travelling, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it — there’s only the right way for you. My advice for new travellers is to choose your travel companions wisely, always over-budget, and most of all, expect for something not to go to plan. Happy travelling and see you on the road my friends!