Aside from cities like Berlin and Athens, Europe was pricey. I was constantly asking myself, is this a YOLO purchase? Is it a big thing that is going to enrich our memories for years to come? Is it a small comfort that will make the heat and exhaustion today that much more bearable? Is it something forgettable that I would enter into our spending log and struggle to recall an hour later?
We had a few days under budget … and a lot more over. Which is not unexpected by any means, but it’s a little embarrassing to fess up to. We may be backpackers, but we are not hardcore. I would rather hustle harder to make more money than subsist on crackers and bananas (particularly in Italy! Oh, the food!) or miss out on certain experiences. And while trains aren’t always the cheapest way to get around if you’re willing to plan ahead, having the flexibility to hop on and off with our Eurail passes has been fantastic. We can extend stays in places we like and move on when ready. Our Munich host kept suggesting we hitchhike around (and indeed we’ve met a lot of people who have the most amazing hitching stories) during our email exchanges, but once he saw us in person, he changed his tune. I can’t imagine anyone who would ever stop to pick up someone of T’s size.
You know I’m not a hardcore budgeter, so although I was all gung-ho about sticking to a strict daily cash allotment (envelope method, anyone?) that just did not happen. Not my style – never was and never will be.
As always, spending is for both of us in NZ dollars. Our priority was food – you might even say we had almost a mid-range food budget, so much did we spend on filling our bellies – whereas we skimped on accommodation where possible. Flights, insurance etc aren’t included (you can see how much we spent pre-departure here). I’ll be doing a monster budget breakdown at the end of the whole trip and will answer any questions you have then…
June
While most of June was spent in Vietnam, we also made our move from Asia to Europe, starting with a few lovely but expensive days in the UK.
Bangkok/London
June 20 – $157.04 (including Heathrow Connect train from Heathrow)
London
June 21 – $230.28 (including London Eye)
June 22 – $134.16
June 23 – $385.58 (including buying train tickets to Edinburgh)
June 24 – $42.25 (the day we actually took the train, saving on accommodation)
Edinburgh
June 25 – $150.38
June 26 – $160.19
June 27 – $130.16
Belgium
June 28 – $193.28 (including ridiculously expensive bus tickets from Charleroi airport)
Amsterdam
June 29 – $233.80 (accommodation was a killer – 80 euros for two in peak season)
June 30 – $217.81 (ditto)
July
July was a full month in Europe, and even with a free week (thanks to hosts and to volunteering) we still spent a whopping $4675.82. Splurges included a gondola ride in Venice, BMW hire in Munich, canyoning in Switzerland, and of course, a lot of delicious Italian food. Food made up the majority of our spending at 33 percent, followed by accommodation at 30 percent, transport at 17 percent and entertainment at 16 percent.
Berlin
July 1 – $92.14
July 2 – 109.68
July 3 – $42.15 (free accommodation through Hospitality Club)
July 4 – $43.09 (ditto)
Prague
July 5 – $69.12
July 6 – $131.47 (expensive accommodation on the 2nd night)
July 7 – $226.06 (simply because I allocated the purchase of Berlin-Prague bus tickets to this day, but I actually bought them a few days earlier)
Berlin
July 8 – $27.01 (again, free hosting)
Munich
July 9 – $82.88 (free accommodation through Hospitality Club)
July 10 – $23.83 (ditto)
July 11 – $0 (ditto)
July 12 – $344.15 (BMW rental)
July 13 – $238.38 (expensive accommodation in Munich)
July 14 – $5.82 (first day of Englischhausen volunteering in the Black Forest)
July 15 – $0
July 17 – $0
July 18 – $0
July 19 – $269.10 (expensive Munich accommodation, plus settling our drinks and wifi charges from Englischhausen)
Switzerland
July 20 – $241.90 (expensive Swiss hostel and expensive Swiss food)
July 21 – $202.98 (ditto)
July 22 – $512.83 (ditto, plus $300 for T’s canyoning trip)
Bologna
July 23 – $116.14
July 24 – $168.41 (including laundry)
July 25 – $142.46
July 26 – $112.11
Venice
July 27 – $427.57 (including $70 on train tickets and $150 on a gondola ride)
Rome
July 28 – $203.51 (glorious, glorious food)
July 29 – $156.24
Greece
July 30 – $132.78 (including bus to Rome airport and train from Athens airport)
July 31 $554.11 (including Acropolis tickets and 239 euros for ferry tickets to Santorini)
August
August was another full month in Europe, most of it in Italy, but a relatively frugal one. We spent $2423.68 although half of the month was spent volunteering on a farm. We could have spent less on food for sure, but who goes to Italy to NOT experience all its culinary delights? Food clocked in at 41 percent of spending, accommodation at 37 percent, transport at 14 percent and entertainment at 5 percent.
Athens
August 1 – $81.57
Santorini
August 2 – $202.33 (including quad rental, petrol)
August 3 $194.30 (ditto)
August 4 – $136.55 (including laundry)
August 5 – $124.08
Athens
August 6 – $102.48
Rome
August 7 – $146.07 (including bus transfer from airport)
August 8 – $160.84
August 9 – $132.94
Salerno
August 10 – $125.05 (including train tickets to Salerno)
August 11 – $172.54 (including ferry and bus tickets to/from Amalfi)
August 12 – $131.63 (including bus tickets to Naples)
Naples
August 13 – $92.50
August 14 – $115.54
August 15 – $135.59 (including Naples museum entry)
August 16 – $147.22
Cerveteri (where we stayed for free while working on the farm)
August 17 – $87.48 (including new plug adaptor, train tickets from Rome to Palidoro)
August 18 – $0
August 19- $0
August 20- $0
August 21- $0
August 22- $0
August 23 – $0
August 24 – $9.85 (beer)
August 25 – $0
August 26 – $0
August 27 – $0
August 28 – $50.88 (groceries)
August 29 – $0
August 30 – $0
August 31 – $73.86 (a night out on the town)
September
September took us from the farm to Paris and to Iceland.
Cerveteri
September 1 – $0
September 2 – $0
September 3 – $0
September 4 – $0
September 5 – $0
September 6 – $99.51 (a day trip to nearby Viterbo)
September 7 – $24.62 (T’s night out on the town)
Paris
September 10 – $151.97 – (including bus from the airport)
September 11 – $173.04 (including laundry)
September 12 – $106.03
September 13 – $102.61
September 14 – $113.20
September 15 – $112.45
September 16 – $66.05
September 17 – $117.38
London
September 18 – $211.02 (free accommodation with friends, but Eurostar tickets for two – total 77 pounds – pushed us over)
Iceland
September 19 – $226.17 (free accommodation through Couchsurfing, but car rental, petrol and food pushed us over)
September 20 – $162.89 (ditto)
September 21 – $159.29 (ditto)