Europe Costs: The Final Figures

Well it's almost been a month between posts, but we have been exceptionally busy... As I write this, I'm sitting under a circling fan in our 1 bedroom apartment on Calle 102 Norte, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. That's right - after an incredible 9 months of traveling, volunteering, sightseeing and partying throughout Europe; it was time to move on.

We loved Europe, but it was time to move on

As beautiful as the European winters can be, we were both craving some sun on our skin and some cool sea breezes. But more importantly, we knew that Europe alone could easily provide enough to see and do for an entire year - so if we didn't move on we could quite possibly exhaust our budget (and ourselves).

We had also used all of the time our Schengen Visas would allow, which meant that even if we had wanted to re-enter Europe we would need to travel via non-Schengen countries until May 2014 at the earliest.

So the decision was made to hightail it to Mexico, largely because this provided us with a cheap way to enter Central America from the UK (by flying into Mexico and traveling overland) and if we departed the UK in early March, we avoided the subsequent Spring Break mayhem (which is not only popular amongst American college students apparently).

We scored a great deal on flights thanks to Thomas Cook Airlines (one of the primary carriers for flights between the UK, Mexico and The Caribbean) and on the 4th March 2014 - exactly 9 months from when we first arrived in Europe - we departed for the sun-drenched shores of Cancun, Mexico.

One of the first things I did before our departure from the UK was to reconcile all of our spending in Europe over the past 9 months. As I'd been dutifully logging all expenses in a calendar this was a relatively easy task, as I simply added up the total spent in all the countries that we visited.

So - which were the cheapest countries in Europe, and how much did we average per day?

The table below outlines all the countries we traveled (with the cities and towns visited) and the total number of days spent there. I've also calculated an average daily spend based upon all cash withdrawals, purchases, visa costs (where applicable), accommodation, sightseeing, guided tours, car hire, entry fees, gigs, festival passes, food & drinks, groceries, bank fees... every single transaction, expense and withdrawal has been accounted for and divided by the number of days.

As you can see, Eastern Europe was the cheapest region to travel with both Romania and Bulgaria costing us well under AUD$30/day. Much of Central Europe (Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia) was also relatively cheap, with Slovakia considerably cheaper due to our month-long work exchange where we volunteered in a hostel in exchange for free food and accommodation.

Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast

Costs in Germany were kept low because we predominately spent our time in Berlin, which is significantly cheaper than other cities such as Munich or Frankfurt. And in Ireland we managed to reduce our costs by staying in smaller towns and villages on the weekends (rather than the big cities), by staying with locals where possible and getting good deals on coach travel.

By far the most expensive leg of our journey was the UK, despite having friends in London who kindly provided us with free accommodation. Nonetheless, we still found ways to save and averaged AUD$50/day which is well below the recommendations of many travel websites.

Hopefully this table will illustrate that it is possible to travel Europe on a budget, particularly if you're selective about the countries you visit and you're not afraid to get off the beaten path. Whilst many people dream of the beaches of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea Coast offers similarly spectacular beach-side resorts at a fraction of the cost. If skiing, hiking and Alpine forests are what you're after; consider the budget-friendly High Tatras in Slovakia, The Carpathian Mountains of Romania or The Julian Alps of Slovenia.

Whatever your pleasure, there's bound to be a destination in Europe that delivers and traveling on a budget doesn't have to mean sacrificing the quality of your trip. All it takes is a little planning, a little research and a sense of adventure.

So...what are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?