daily average spending on recent trips to Europe?

Rob we usually travel about 2 weeks-we are in our 60's and very active-and I plan the trip with Rick's
books and other sources on the internet. We always use freq flyer miles so our airline round trip is
usually just a couple hundred dollars pp for the taxes. And we move around by train. Last year's trip
was Florence-Innsbruck-St. Goar & Salzburg and our usual spend pp is $2200 staying at nice B&B's,
a couple nights with hotel points in Salzburg, the Salzburg card, boat rides on the Rhine and bike tour
of Florence and line pass at Academia.

I think you can see Europe at any budget level provided you're flexible in making some tradeoffs to make the trip happen (after all, both students living on a shoestring budget and wealthy people travel to Europe, so it's definitely possible), and you are fairly aggressive about shopping for a good airfare and lodging. The other stuff - meals, incidentals, entertainment, etc. - are the most easy to adjust and they usually make up a smaller share of the entire budget.

I really wouldn't worry about other people's spending, or to use their numbers as a reference for what you should do - you have to stick to your own budget and what you can comfortably afford at the end of the day, and that's all that counts. Daily average spending in a continent as large and variable as Europe will be skewed all over the board, so I wouldn't trust those figures anyway.

Rob - haven't been since 2014 and that was a bit of a "cheaper" trip to Germany for Christmas markets. I think we spent around 7k for 3 weeks. This summer we are doing a 6 week trip and right now the budget is at 21K. Several different countries including UK and Switzerland. Average hotel cost is close to 200 a night and I have an average of 150 a day for meals and sight seeing budgeted. I tend to budget on the high side as I'd much rather spend less than expected:). We tend to not eat many fancy meals out and frequently picnic or skip lunch. The one place I refuse to skimp is on sight seeing.

This is a very difficult answer to give because of the variables involved. I count all actual costs from the day I leave home until the day I return home. I calculate everything, airfare, hotels, all transportation (rental cars, trains, metros, cabs, etc.), food (meals, drinks, snacks, etc.), tours, sight entry fees and all tips.

I stay at middle of the road hotels (avg. $125). Rarely eat breakfast unless it is included (don't eat breakfast normally anyhow). When traveling solo I try to eat a full meal for lunch and very small dinners (that way I burn off a lot in the pm walking to sights, hiking, etc. and I usually have a drink and something small in the evening and just sit and take in the surroundings.)

I have tracked my spending on several trips and it averages as a SOLO.......$300-320 per day. For 2 people you need to do a calculation regarding hotels. Hotels don't double, but almost everything else does.

If you are asking about just daytime spending, that is impossible to say. Hiking is cheap....most museums cost money. All depends on your likes and dislikes.

With 2 kids and 2 adults my rule-of-thumb for a budget that is reasonable for us is $500/day plus the flight from home. The $500 includes everything else - flights within Europe, trains, hotels, food, tickets to attractions. This is a comfortable amount - we could go lower, but this amount generally gives what we need without being extravagant. It's an average, some days will be higher and some lower.

Edit that if I were solo I could keep it to $200 or so. Adding people adds expense.

Also my trip to Sicily was less than the one to London and Paris, for obvious reasons. Sicily may have been more like $400/day or less, as most of the apartments we rented were around $100 instead of $175+

I would bet most trips are two weeks or less so the substantial cost is the airfare. Everyone here manages to find $500 deals to Europe, much in the same way everyone i have met won in Vegas. I'm going to guess that the average cost is somewhere around $1200 a ticket x 2 (most travel with significant others). So you are now at $2400. Two weeks is 16 days but you spend 3 of those traveling, leaving 13 days meaning you start with a cost of $185 a day.

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Transfer to and from the airport (again, i don't believe everyone rides the metro), another $55.00. Oh, i left off getting to the airport at the US end? We'll say you took the metro. Me? I pay to park a car.

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So the privilege to be there averages out to $240/day

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Now you gotta sleep and eat at a minimum

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Mid-range hotel in Central Europe (more in the west, less in the east) will set you back at least $125. Ching, ching: total $365/day.

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Three meals as good as the ones you would have back home, but not better (so why travel?) figure $40 x two folks. Ching, ching: $445/day.

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BUT you still haven't seen a dang thing.

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So now to save money you will spend 45 minutes on a metro to save $20 on a taxi which will reduce the overall cost of the trip by 0.5%; and two dozen similar examples of thriftiness which might save you as much as 3%. Personally, I dont go to Paris and skip the Eiffel Tower, because of the cost or replace it with something that isn't famous because ... well why would something not be famous?

You can get a lot more value by planning logical trips with logical progressions during, not bad seasons, but shoulder seasons. Be willing to drive a few hours to a cheaper airport, etc. Then when you get there do everything you ever dreamed of and do it well.

Ok so last year I went to London at the end of August through Labor Day weekend. I think I was gone for about 13 days. I spent the first two and a half days in Venice, and the rest of the time in London. My flight to LHR was expensive ($1200) because I waited but the flight to and from Venice ($75) wasn't bad. My hotel for London was $1300 total, Venice was $200 for the two nights. So before any thing else even considered I was at around $210 per night. With transport ($150), food ($500, I went to a fancy afternoon tea and bought some friends dinner), and miscellaneous stuff (shampoo, deodorant that I forgot, etc. about $150), I was at about $275/night, including travel days. This doesn't include souvenirs which would probably add about $50/day. I bought a lot of Christmas present in England.

This year I am getting ready to go to Greece and then spend 4 more days in London. My costs:

Flight to LHR: $650 (including a basic traveler insurance plan, I got a steal!!!)
Flight to Santorini: $100
Ferry to Paros and flight to Athens: $75
Hotels in Greece: $680
Stay for one night at Hever Castle: $275 (it is my birthday present and a dream come true! so excited!)
Hotel in London: $600 (it overlooks the Tower of London so I splurged a little)
Transport for the whole trip: $300 (public transit, the tube, etc)
Food: $50/day
Souvenirs: $300 (total)

This trip: $280/night

(13 days including the days I fly in and out)

For our upcoming 23 day trip to the Netherlands and France this month we've so far spent $550 pp for airfare and $650 for our only hotel nights (4) in Paris. We bought a transportation card that gives us 40% transportation in the NL and we will buy a $60 Museumkaart x2. We will spend about $100-$200 on other transportation and maybe $100 for museums in France. We typically budget NOTHING for meals because we eat out quite a lot at home. As you can see, people travel very differently and are all over the place in spending. For our upcoming July-August Switzerland trip we are budgeting considerably more although our airfare was only $446 pp. We always start by looking for good airfares in a region of Europe we'd like to explore.

My target has been for many yrs, no more than $150 pp pday when 2 share a moderate room, B.B. or pvt rm hostel, includes meals, sights and local transportation.
So far I have not exceeded that amt. realize I book lodging carefully ahead so that I stay within range.
Also no alcoholic beverages or coca colas saves plenty. And no fancy meals either.
However as my Europe travels have been mostly peak summer season my airfares have been very high from west coast.

I'm not sure that this question is really meaningful. You could ask the same question about the US: how much do people spend when visiting the USA?

I'm sure the Trump family (and apparently his cabinet officers) regularly spend tens of thousands of dollars every day. At the same time, there are backpackers who get by in some places on a dollar a day.

The answer really depends on how lavish or cheap you are...the figure can and will vary wildly, and depends on lots and lots of variables.

The trip expenses depend on various factors, eg, the exchange rate, cost of the flight if you include that too. I was throwing old credit card statements yesterday, saw that I had booked hotel rooms in Feb 2016 for the trip in June/early July. . These charges were non-refundable with the exchange rate then at $1.07 to the Euro. Now it's much worse at $1.22 or so to the Euro. Obviously, I'm going to be paying more on this trip.

My Pension in Berlin still charges the same for a single (EZ) as it did in 2016, 42 Euro but I know I'll pay more at the end my week long stay next month due to the weak rate which might be still worse by mid-May compared to now.

The big advantage this year is that the flight from SFO to London was $500, last year and in 2016 I paid twice as much for the same time period. In past recent years flying out in mid-May to early June from SFO, the flight was $1500 plus (Economy sardine can, non-stop) to Frankfurt or Paris.

On recent trips I have found out lots of ways to cut down on spending, if that's my intention at the moment. I do that plus a few dinner splurges, no more daily beer, which eliminates the drinking expense.

One's travel style dictates the final price of a trip, small hotels/Pensionen, B&Bs, night train rides are always part of each trip, meals in train stations, sometimes staying in a hostel dorm room, which I've not done in a few years, using discount train tickets,
I go by how many Euro am I spending each day including the hotel room. Berlin is the cheapest of big cities and capitals (outside of former East bloc capitals) in that regard which affects the total expenses for the day. In London at the B&B if you call up to make the reservation you get 5% off....still helps.

We spent May 5-June 12 in England, France, Germany, and Croatia last year. We spent $175/day for 2. The total is slightly unrepresentative of others, since 5 nights in Bretagne were spent in a small hotel where the cost was covered by a friend. That would have raised our per-day price to $183.

We keep all our costs in a Google Spreadsheet. That way, we can keep very careful records about spending.

We were able to spend very modest sums on overnight stays by doing 2 things: 1) staying frequently in hostels in private rooms - we stayed in Leipzig for 45 €, and in Munchen for 70 € for 2 - these included breakfast. We ate usually in a decent restaurant for one meal a day, which often included a bottle of wine.

Re: the price paid in Leipzig and that paid in Munich....that's very accurate to what I pay in Berlin and Munich for staying at the two Pensionen, 42 Euro per night for a single, 45 Euro for a single in Munich (in the Hbf area), if there is not a convention going on, otherwise the single (EZ) is 55 Euro.

In Minden I paid 65 Euro but that was a 3 star " hotelgarni" In the Zentrum was a Pension for 20 Euro less, I wanted to stay in the station area which explains the 65 Euro. A couple of years ago staying at a 3 star hotel in Dresden in June cost me 59 Euro for a single.

"...different places ...yield different results...." Very true.

Because I still haven't cleaned out my old emails, I can see exactly what I spent November 2017 for vacation in the Netherlands. The price of roundtrip airfare was $568 (I paid extra for premium economy to have a little extra legroom to stretch out on flight, or it would have been $198 cheaper for the roundtrip if I opted to just go with standard coach seats).

5 nights at Ibis Rotterdam - 411 Euro (includes 25 Euro spent to get early morning access to room before regular check-in time)
3 nights at boutique hotel in Utrecht - 480 Euro (this was a premeditated splurge - there were other less expensive hotels, but I specifically wanted to stay here)
8 nights at Conscious Hotel Amsterdam - 915 Euro (included an additional fee for a bike rental)

And because I have an email from one of my friends who was there with her family at the same time I was in Amsterdam showing me the address of her 3BR/1BA Airbnb rental in DePijp, her rental was $1449 for 4 nights (including all taxes and fees). My other friend was also in Amsterdam during this time for 4 nights in a 1BR/1BA Airbnb rental near Museumplein which cost her $836.

Got an OV Chipkaart but don't recall putting a ton of money on it (maybe 50-60 Euro?) but used it to take the local trains (airport to Rotterdam, Rotterdam to The Hague, Rotterdam to Utrecht, Utrecht to Amsterdam) and a few buses (Rotterdam to Kinderdijk, Amsterdam back to Airport) and some tram rides. Other than that, walked a good amount.

On that trip I spent 60 Euro on a Museumkaart and about 30 Euro on admissions for places not covered by Museumkaart. Meals were all over the place. When I was solo for part of the trip I tended to dine in cheaper restaurants (dinner entrees under 20 Euro) and also do takeaway (5 to 15 Euro per meal). But with friends we often went cheap at breakfast (5 Euro or less for a coffee and croissant) and cheap on most lunches and splurged on some of the dinners (not every night - but dined at some places where entrees were in the 25-40 Euro range). Alcohol was also all over the place. We drank beers at some inexpensive spots or dropped a decent chunk on some wines with dinner or cocktails in the evening. Also spent a few days sampling some of the offerings at the local coffeeshops with my friends who were staying in the 1BR, but collectively we didn't spend more than 40 Euro between us - although we did tend to have a cup of tea or a juice while sitting in the coffeeshops (so spent an extra 4 or 5 Euro per person for a refreshment).

And because I will not wash my clothing in a hotel sink or bath tub, hang it and let it drip all over my hotel room, to wash and dry 2 loads of laundry at the self serve laundromat cost me a total of 12 Euro.

Here's what I've budgeted for upcoming 33 day trip for two in June/July
Hotels (already booked) $3600
Airfare LAX>Madrid, Paris>LAX $1855
Train, metro, bus $400
Car rental, gas, tolls, parking $550
Admissions $600 (estimating high, usually estimate to low)
Food $1000 (We eat out 5-6 days a week at home. So this $1000 amounts to about $30 more a day than at home).
Stuff $500 (estimating high)
Total $8500 for the two of us, $260/day.

Usually, I don't really BUDGET. Just try to save on air/train, spend about $100/night on hotel (more in big cities, less in smaller ones). The rest is just doing, seeing, eating what we want in our modest way.

In Germany, staying in apartments or inexpensive zimmers, eating at inexpensive restaurants, taking the train, my wife and I average 150 Euro per day for the both of us. Airfare not included since we usually have ff miles.

I don't go much over 100 euro per day. Generally less than 50 euro for a room less than that for food and between 10 and 20 spent on sights. That's average costs. Sometimes I'll spend more for a dinner or lodging and/or see more sights and that can push a day upwards of 150 euro. Add transportation costs to that. I very rarely shop for souvenirs so that cost is close to zero for me.

My last 2 trips to Europe have been solo. That made my individual pppd costs on the high side, but the total trip costs much lower than if my husband had been along.

UK. 2016. May 1 to June 12. 43 days. Self-planned. Not counting airfare, but counting everything else like souvenirs, dog boarding, RT airport shuttle in Tucson, planning materials, etc. Solo trip. Lodging costs not much lower than for 2 people. Food costs about 1/3 of those with husband along. Average pppd cost $180.

Italy. 2017. June 12 to July 12. 31 days. RS Village Italy tour (with single supplement but discounted) sandwiched between self-planned visits to Rome, Ravenna and Venice before and to Milan after. Not counting airfare, but counting everything else like souvenirs, dog boarding, long-term parking near the airport in Tucson, planning materials, etc. Solo trip. Non-tour lodging costs same as for 2 people. Food costs about 1/3 of those with husband along. Average pppd $240. The tour cost is what made this pricier. Worth every penny.

Its all about where and how. and when. My last trip to Scotland was pretty basic but still cost nearly $300 a day (with out airfare)
My last trip to Montenegro with a private guide, car and driver and beautiful hotels was maybe $225 a day.

But to ignore WHEN is the first mistake. Generally my tickets to Budapest set me back $1300 in high season but $900 in low season. Low season can extend into April or May and September and October when the weather is generally pretty good where i travel. So I loose nothing by avoiding the summer; except tourist crowds.

Then the HOW. By planning trips logically you can save a lot. My flight into Lviv and out of Budapest cost no more than RT to Budapest. The connecting flight which give me a few days in Kyiv are $125. Of course your daily average could go way down if you spend 3 of those days on a train. But what did you get for your money?

The WHERE works when you combine a higher cost destination with a lower cost destination. There is so much world to see, its easy for me.

Its all about where and how. and when. My last trip to Scotland was pretty basic but still cost nearly $300 a day (with out airfare)
My last trip to Montenegro with a private guide, car and driver and beautiful hotels was maybe $225 a day.

But to ignore WHEN is the first mistake. Generally my tickets to Budapest set me back $1300 in high season but $900 in low season. Low season can extend into April or May and September and October when the weather is generally pretty good where i travel. So I loose nothing by avoiding the summer; except tourist crowds.

Then the HOW. By planning trips logically you can save a lot. My flight into Lviv and out of Budapest cost no more than RT to Budapest. The connecting flight which give me a few days in Kyiv are $125. Of course your daily average could go way down if you spend 3 of those days on a train. But what did you get for your money?

The WHERE works when you combine a higher cost destination with a lower cost destination. There is so much world to see, its easy for me.

I travel solo and live close to Europe, so airfare is not even a factor in my destination decisions. Hotels are my biggest expense by far. When I plan a trip, working out a budget is one of my first steps. I price hotels and intercity transportation and car rental, if needed. Then I throw in an estimated per diem - seems to be about €45-€75, depending on the country. Mostly I budget in euros, though on my last European jaunt, I went to Poland and Hungary so I budgeted in USD. Then I look at the total and decide if I can live with it. If it looks ridiculously high, I'll reconsider - maybe look for cheaper rooms or cheaper destinations, or even scrap the idea. Usually, though, it sounds reasonable. While I'm traveling I keep track of my spending. If I see I'm going "over budget", I may cut back on food expenses - not so many restaurant meals, or I may just say "what the heck, I can afford it." On the other hand, when I'm "under budget", that encourages me to splurge :-)

Big cities are usually more expensive, at least for me. My daily expenses in Alsace and Burgundy were about half what they were in Paris. Though I really splurged in Paris because I had a free place to stay.

This year I'm planning a fall trip to either Greece or northern Spain. What I'm hoping is that I can allow myself to do both because I'm having a lot of trouble choosing between them and I think they are both relatively inexpensive destinations. When I get around to doing the budgets, I'll find out.

Our last trip to Spain, not including airfare, was €450 a day for a family of four but that included expensive accommodation, car hire, meals out, groceries and miscellaneous items.

One thing I consider is that if I am traveling I am not at home...which means I am not spending the money I spend at home. Day-to-day expenses, obviously I am still paying my mortgage and fixed things. But if groceries for my family are $240 per week and I'm gone 2 weeks...that's almost $500 of the trip cost "offset". Not commuting to work? No gas/subway fare/parking cost. Eat lunch or coffee out during the day at work a few days per week? Not doing that on vacation, neither is your spouse, "save" $100. I also skip our monthly date night and babysitter on trip months.

Obviously travel is much more expensive than being at home...but there are a few home costs that will bring down the average. If it's $1000 over a 2 week trip, that's $70 per day.

I did not take this into account in my estimate above but if I were really budgeting I might

This is a good question, because it made me stop and think.

I never include transportation/hotels - basically any booking made and paid for prior to leaving home - as part of my daily average spending cost. I can see why people do include that figure. I just think of the question in terms of what have I not paid for yet and need to budget to include.

So if I haven't paid for train tickets, cab rides, bus fares - that's a cost.
Meals are a cost.
Tips are a cost.
Souvenirs are a cost.
Entrance fees to sites/museums are a cost.
Fees to use phone/data are a cost.

But that's basically how I figure out my daily average spending - what I haven't yet paid for.