Budgeting Europe
 

Hello Europe,

We are a couple a Canadians (2 bikes) from Vancouver, British Columbia,:scooter: and we are planning next summer a 4 months trip to all parts of Europe, therefore I would like to get your inputs by different sections of Europe so the wetern most country would be Ireland, southern most is Morrocco, the eastern most is Moscow, and northern most would be Sweden so in order to make a average of daily expense which I guess would be quite different in between Norway and Croatia .
I just completed 3 months (1 pers, 1 bike) in Central America and had a large budget of $95 P/Day and lived like a king but I do understand that Europe will be generally quite expensive and we are planning to squeeze more :frown:
Any input is appreciated and look forward to hear from you of the "old continent"
Merci

Chefonbike

From my experience all of Europe on less than $100 day is very easily do-able. You just have to adjust your lifestyle to the country - in Sweden you will be free camping with the occasional hostel and buying your food in supermarkets, in southern/eastern Europe you will be closer to living like a (slightly impoverished) king.

Enjoy the trip

I did 4 months in Europe last year , mainly France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
I allowed $100 a day but ended up spending on average 30E a day.

10 for petrol (scooter), 10 for camping, 10 for food from supermarkets.
Sometimes the camping was free or a nominal 2E in communal campsites in France.
The food was the big surprise. Compared to Oz, it was really cheap. I was getting bread, ham, cheese, tons of salad veggies/ fruit etc for around 10E. If you go half an hour before the shops close, you can get heaps of stuff at half price.

Take me with you....... please!!!

In Spain prices vary quite a bit around the country - especially the Mediterranean coast which is expensive - but your daily 'budget' is really fine, including low cost accommodation.

Take a look at the specific section on my blog for details of finding all this, shopping, eating out, etc. and also for planning routes and getting the best out of this wonderful country :)

Enjoy

Simon

Hi,

Traveling around Europa can be really cheap. Just buy food in supermarkeds or at cheap Greece and Turky shops and whild camp in a tent, ask people to camp in their garage or use couchsurfing.org. This way you only have to calculate the petrol kosts + 5 Euro per day for food. If you are not using the highways but ride the winding more beautiful small roads, you dont even have to pay the highway tolls :)

Enjoy it, Tobi
http://schoene-motorradreisen.de

Sure, if your idea of a nice tour, or a holiday, is to live almost like a beggar, then you can do this. Most people, however, choose not to do it this way, and Europe is among the more expensive regions for tourists and for touring. Especially northern and western parts of it.

- Fuel
- Road tolls
- Ferries
- Accommodation
- Eating out (if not everyday, at least sometimes)
- Entrance fees to places

have to agree with pecha.

that is quite a range/area you plan to cover in four months.travelling on all the lovely winding traffic free back roads takes alot longer.
fuel here is on avg is 1,60 euro a litre.so filling your 20 litre bike will cost you 30+ euro a day, to do maybe 250 - 350 miles per day depending on what u r riding.thats not far a day if you intend riding from moscow to southern spain!
to do huge distances between scenic roads and not use expensive toll roads
will be time consuming.

so accomodation? camping? free camping in some scandinavian countries maybe, other countries you'll be arrested lol! on avge anywhere from 15 - 25 euros per pitch for 1 tent and 2 bikes.
hotels, 2 people, not pre booked ahead budget 50 euro a day.may find cheaper sure in some places, others more expensive.coming to europe in the summer? ah yes thats the high season sir..lol

food..you really going to stick to 10 euro a day cold food or basic stuff on a camping gas stove when you've ridden 500 miles and its raining...
depends on just how pared to the bone you want to get.

ferries to morocco, ferry or tunnel to uk.the bridge from denmark to sweden will cost you 40 euro each...want to see anything while you are here? 5 - 10 euro entrance costs to most things of any interest..

I would say budget 120 - 150 euro a day. if you find you are able to spend less then no harm saving cash but a real bummer if you dont have enough!

As Ta-Rider said, you can save some money with Couchsurfing. The Tent Space map from ADVrider can help you to find a free camping space, or even a room.
+ you can use the tools of your host to service your bike, fix something broken, maybe even change your tyres, or just get the name and adress of a good and cheap mechanic. And wash your clothes.

If you want to sleep in an hotel every night and eat in a restaurant every meal, 100 $ will not be enough in north and northwest Europe.
But if you want to combine couchsurfing, camping, supermarkets, etc. with hotels and restaurants, you're fine.

Hi,

Most people, however, choose to work like slaves and waste their live just earning money so they can affoard staying in a hotel during their 30 days of holliday each year. Compared to this, i prefere to live like a "beggar" (traveler?) in my tent with 11 months of holliday each year ;)

I rode for a couple of weeks in France and Spain last year and including return ferry crossing (Portsmouth - Le Havre) averaged out at £75.00 per day.

About half and half hotel and camping municipal. Main meals bought in cafe/restaurant, with breaky and lunch from shop/supermarket. Averaged about 250 miles a day but that was on a DRZ on mixed country roads and mountain trails so you'd probably do better mpg than me.

If you cooked all your own food and camped a bit more, I'm sure you could get down to somewhere about £60.00 a day easily.

I have spent a month or two riding all over Europe for the past 10 summers. I ride a Honda ST1100 that I keep in Switzerland.

My overall experience has been that hotel or other accommodation costs are about identical to what you would pay in Canada for the same thing. Restaurant food is about 150% of what you would pay in Canada for the same thing, and fuel is nearly 200% of what you pay in Canada.

Obviously this will vary by country - Poland, Romania, Bulgaria will be less expensive, Switzerland and Scandinavia will be more expensive.

I think that the best way for you to approach budget planning would be to determine what it would cost you to do a 4 month coast-to-coast trip in Canada, using the same level of services (accommodation and food) as you plan to use in Europe, then apply the percentage increases given above.

Also keep in mind that the average VAT (equivalent to our Canadian HST) in Europe is about 20%.

As for me - I stay in hotels, eat simply, and don't drink alcohol, and my average spend rate is about CAD $300 a day when I am touring (I travel alone). That includes hotel, food, and fuel.

Michael

Jeezo, you guys must be made of money, on my 3 week trip through France and Spain(May-June 13) we averaged 45-55e per day, most of this was of course on fuel. We stayed at camp sites 7-15e per night and shopped for what we wanted to eat,(local produce, I don't travel to eat the same food I eat here) as for staying in hotels, if that's what you want then go for it but you'll miss what is in fact the essence of travelling(only my opinion) that is to blend with your surroundings and immerse yourself in the culture and vibrance of wherever your visiting.

Just finished a 3 month trip to Greece and Europe from London. Spent about GBP45 a day, travelling 2- up. Camped every night, but was high season, so might be a little bit less other times of the year.

Sent from my HTC J Z321e using Tapatalk 2