There seems to be a misconception that you can’t travel Europe on a budget and it is an expensive part of the world to travel. Europe contains 50 countries so surely it can’t be expensive to travel in every single one of them!
We’ve travelled to 30 out of 50 countries in Europe so here are our best tips to travel this continent on a budget.
Table of Contents
Choosing when to visit
If you’re planning to travel Europe in the summer then you have to accept that you’re going to need a bigger budget. Many countries raise their prices in the summer season, because, well they can, they know they’re going to have an influx of tourists and they all want to explore.
For example in Croatia, to visit the famous Plitvice waterfalls will set you back €40 in peak season and only €10 in the winter!
Prices of transport and accommodation are also known to increase in the summer, especially during the school holidays because there is an increased demand.
So, if you don’t need to travel during peak season, then consider travelling out of season. We’ve been to several countries at times when you might not think to go, such as Albania in October, Greece in December, Spain in January, Portugal in March, and in each country we still had lovely weather.
Yes, if you travel outside of the summer, the chance of rain is slightly higher but it’s actually cool enough to explore as well! So, that’s your first tip for travelling Europe on a budget.
Accommodation
Many people will complain about how expensive it is to travel but they also want to stay in a 5* hotel and have breakfast included and a suite room. There’s nothing wrong with this if that is your travel style, but it’s not going to be the best option for the budget.
Apartments and hostels
The good news is there are plenty of cheaper options for travel if you have a smaller budget. Try websites like Airbnb for cheaper apartments. If you really don’t mind what accommodation you’re in, try something like Hostel World to find hostels across the world.
Campervan
Our personal favourite option is travelling in a campervan, this is a great way to travel cheaper because although you have the initial cost of a van, you then pay for your accommodation and transport in one when you pay for fuel. Campsites range from €10 to €40 per night which is much cheaper than other accommodation.
If you don’t have a campervan, you could also opt for travelling in your car and setting up a tent to sleep during the night.
Free Camp spots - Park4night
When travelling in a campervan it’s also possible to spend even less money by finding free places to stay the night. Park4night is a brilliant app for this that includes endless free spots to stay the night and it’s community-based so you can see recent reviews from other campers. This is an excellent option for travelling Europe on a budget.
Find out more about how much we spent travelling Europe for 2 weeks.
Choose cheap or free activities
It’s completely possible to travel and not spend much money on activities if you don’t want to. If you’re visiting a city, you don’t need to pay any money to experience it, you can simply walk around and admire the sites and the architecture.
If you’re into hiking, this is an amazing way of seeing incredible places without spending much money, there are always free hikes to be done!
Spend some time researching for cheaper or less well-known activities and these are almost certainly going to be cheaper than the main tourist places. If you don’t like researching, our travel guides all include loads of locations and activities that are affordable or free.
Cook your own food
Eating out 3 meals a day for a week, 2 weeks or even a month really starts to add up. A lot of the time people even complain that they feel rubbish after eating out so much.
A great way to save money is by cooking your own food and if you don’t have your own appliances to warm food up, you can still save money on breakfast and lunch by buying stuff from the shop, such as fruit, bread and cereal.
If you don’t want to cook, then simply eating where the locals eat is another great way to save money as these are usually less fancy restaurants and at much more affordable prices.
Choose more affordable countries
Like we said at the beginning, Europe is made up of 50 countries! We don’t really think you can lump all of Europe into being expensive to travel, maybe people only think of Western Europe when they are saying this because there are plenty of cheaper options.
Head to the Balkan countries like Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia, Bulgaria and Romania and your money will go a lot further here than it will in Italy, France or Switzerland. Other great options are countries in Central Europe like Poland, Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia that are not quite as expensive as its neighbours like Germany.
The best thing is, these places are just as beautiful to explore, so why not consider visiting somewhere that is not as popular and you might save some money and discover somewhere new.
Travelling Europe on a budget
We hope this has inspired you to spend less money on your next trip because money doesn’t always equal more fun, you can still see and experience so much on a budget.
