What does it cost to travel around Europe for 1 year? This is the most common question we get about our European trip. We haven't kept an exact financial diary, but we know how much we've spent and we've done the maths to work out how the money has been allocated between different items. We will now do our best to answer - what does it cost to travel around Europe for a whole year?
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How much does it cost to travel around Europe - here's the answer
Our 1 year long trip around Europe cost just over 300 000 SEK excluding the motorhome, which we already had. A similar trip can obviously be both more and less expensive, depending on how you choose to live and what priorities you set. We will try to describe approximately what costs we had and what was included in this.
Diesel and LPG (€35,000)
We drove about 2400 miles and the diesel cost on average about 12 SEK/mile (2400 x 12 SEK = 30 000 SEK). We bought a brand new LPG tube (1500 SEK), changed the tube about 5 times (5 x 500 SEK = 2500 SEK) and refilled LPG tubes about 6 times (6 x 150 SEK = 1000 SEK). We used LPG for all cooking including the oven and for the fridge and heating when we were not connected to electricity.
Bridges, tolls and ferries (€30,000)
We crossed several bridges with tolls (1000 kr) and paid a lot of motorway tolls (10 000 kr). We travelled on many different ferries, including Sweden-Denmark, Denmark-Germany, France-Corsica, Corsica-Sardinia, Sardinia-Sicily, Sicily-Italy, Italy-Greece, and domestic ferries in Sardinia and Croatia (approx. €18,000).
Motorhome insurance, repairs and maintenance (€16,000)
We paid for full insurance, motor insurance and roadside assistance for the motorhome (6000 SEK). We drove into workshops about 5 times to look for faults, had various small faults repaired and bought some minor things for repairs ourselves (6000 SEK). We also bought an awning (2500 SEK) and various interior improvements such as wardrobe hangers, oven moulds, sheets and kitchen towels (1500 SEK).
Personal insurance, dental care and medicines (€5000)
Travel insurance was included in the home insurance for the first 45 days, then we travelled without travel insurance. However, we each had accident insurance (1500 SEK). Peter visited the dentist three times in Portugal (650 SEK x 3 = 2000 SEK). We also bought different types of painkillers and migraine medication (1000 SEK).
Overnight stays and laundry (€60,000)
We stayed about 135 nights at a campsite without an ACSI discount (135 x 220 SEK = 30,000 SEK), about 90 nights at a campsite with an ACSI discount (90 x 160 SEK = 15,000 SEK), about 100 nights at caravan sites (100 x 100 SEK = 10,000 SEK) and about 40 nights we free camped or stayed with friends (0 SEK). In addition, we used washing machines at campsites for about 5000 SEK.
Internet (£23,000)
We bought sim cards for several countries from Holiday Phone before departure (2500 SEK), which we supplemented by buying sim cards locally in each country (10,000 SEK). We also bought WiFi at campsites where it was not included (€10,000). Internet was unexpectedly expensive as we moved around a lot and therefore often got unfavourable deals.
Food and consumables (€60,000)
Throughout the trip, we bought food, wine, cigarettes, toiletries, cleaning products and consumables such as rubbish bags, plastic cups, candles, etc. This item is difficult to calculate, but if we look at what is left of what we consumed, it is about 60,000 SEK.
Restaurants, entertainment and attractions (€43,000)
We ate in restaurants in Albania and Macedonia very often because it was cheap (a total of about 5000 SEK). In addition, we visited restaurants for dinners 4 times (4 x 1000 SEK = 4000 SEK) and for lunches about 30 times (30 x 400 SEK = 12 000 SEK). We also ordered beer or ice cream outside a few times (2000 SEK) and went out and partied in nightclubs a few evenings (6000 SEK).
We rented a motorboat twice, a pedal boat or canoe three times and a car once (5000 SEK). We visited two national parks (1000 kr), went on three different organised boat trips (1500 kr) and visited about 20 castles and museums where we had to pay an entrance fee (20 x 200 kr = 4000 kr). We also travelled by bus and metro occasionally to get into cities and paid parking fees outside attractions (2000 kr).
Shopping (£35,000)
We shopped for clothes, shoes, bags and bath towels (about €20 000), wine in Italy (€5 000) and spirits, beer and Christmas sweets in Germany on the way home (€4 000). We also downloaded a lot of books to our tablets for about £3,000.
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solan says:
Hi Freedomare! Very interesting reading... How many bath towels did you buy! The question of cost always comes up, even for us short-termers on winter storage in the south. We are at camping L`Hippodrome 13 km from Nissestaden on the French Riviera. Speaking of camping fees, this costs about € 18, including 6 amps. There are no pitches here, too expensive land perhaps. But we stay here and celebrate Christmas/New Year...then there will be other prices in Spain/Portugal. Happy greetings to you both and the houseboat 😉.
14 December 2015 - 9:47
Helen says:
Grateful for all the information you share! Happy to travel around Northern Europe for now, have dogs with us.
Thinking about taking a trip soon...
14 December 2015 - 9:58
Lina says:
What an interesting article. For 1 year it doesn't sound like much.... If you think about rent, food etc.... But I guess you haven't had any income this year either!
Great to follow you! Where is the next trip? Hugs Lina
14 December 2015 - 10:28
admin says:
Solan, jääättemånga bath towels ... No, but we stood for a long time and hesitated if we should strike ... quite stingy and worried about the economy in the beginning 😉 18 euros is quite ok for a campsite but we usually want to heat the car with electricity and then 6 amperes are not enough ... Portugal was very cheap we thought. In Spain the electricity was often expensive, but the food is cheap there! Glad you found a nice place to celebrate Christmas and New Year! ?
Helen, wonderful! Where do you go? Dogs seem to be available in most motorhomes throughout Europe, so it probably works everywhere (but you might have to check with each campsite?) One person we met on the trip joked that she thought dogs came with all motorhomes as standard when you bought them 😉.
Lina, it's the income thing that's the catch. We rented out the apartment at home and brought in small sums via the blog, but nothing that was enough to cover our expenses, so to speak....
14 December 2015 - 10:40
Ama de casa says:
Wow, what an eye for detail you have! I like to close my eyes and pretend that it doesn't cost anything 😉.
I guess you think it was worth every penny - I would have! (Except maybe the dentist visits and the migraine medicine, too bad to have to "waste" money on that...)
14 December 2015 - 10:50
Anna i Dubai says:
....and a fantastic experience - priceless!
14 December 2015 - 10:35
Monet says:
Very interesting! We have just sat down to make a similar cost estimate, partly for our six weeks in Brittany this summer, and partly for the total of 12 weeks we spent in the motorhome, including two round trips from the South of France to Sweden. It's more than you think!
14 December 2015 - 13:04
Ditte says:
Exciting and enjoyable reading! And with a total cost of just over 800/day, I think it's very reasonable, almost cheap. (I know you didn't include the car or the reduction in its value, but still...)
The fact that some items will then be more expensive must be accepted...
Before our "Round the World" trip, admittedly only three months, I had made a budget and it held and there was money left over. And yet we did more than we intended...
However, there was no internet at that time, either it was included in the hotel accommodation or we went to an internet café. But today I would definitely have the computer with me. (Even if the cost of it was about 60kr/day as for you).
14 December 2015 - 13:24
Steve says:
Interesting reading, not least for prospective long-distance travellers. I think it is an impressive and comprehensive account you offer.
Were the costs roughly in line with what you had budgeted for? Anything that was surprisingly expensive/cheap?
All in all, money well spent, I think. You too, I guess.
14 December 2015 - 13:21
Anja says:
Jeisus! Interesting! ...but that's 25,000 a month!... Well?
14 December 2015 - 15:04
BP says:
I must say that I am incredibly impressed with your detailed "bookkeeping". It was really well done and interesting to read. If you think about the total cost, I think it is surprisingly low. The only item that stands out is the internet, which I think is ridiculously expensive. I think 300 000 SEK for a 365-day holiday is more than okay. Don't think you'll regret it for a second.
14 December 2015 - 14:08
JoY says:
Surely it is interesting to make summaries of the journey you make. Have done half of our trip and eventually it will be the rest when we get home.
It is perhaps the case that you are a little cautious at the beginning of the trip before you have got used to living in the car and got an idea of what costs can go up. And what you want to do etc etc. What I reacted to was the Internet cost which was high. Otherwise, it sounds perfectly ok.
Hugs
14 December 2015 - 17:08
admin says:
Ama de casa, we haven't had great control, except that we tried to keep track of how much we have left, haha. This calculation is quite rough if we are to be honest, but in a rough way anyway!
Monet, it's easy to end up with more than you think! We think we've been stingy by rarely going to restaurants etc, but it's a lot that costs anyway!
Steve, we budgeted 250,000 - 300,000, so it kind of worked out, although it was a little bit more than that. The internet is probably what was more expensive than expected. Internet was more expensive than we realised, and we often got bad deals because we rarely stayed long in the same place...
Ditte, I actually think the cost is quite ok. Nevertheless, it is of course strained because we haven't had much income (just a little extra rent from the rental of the boat and some advertising income on the blog). We have perhaps used the Internet more than others would, but that has been our priority. Instead, we have rarely eaten in restaurants. With the exception of Albania and Macedonia, we only had four dinners out in restaurants and that's not much in a year....
BP, we like that you are impressed 😉 although we must admit that the "bookkeeping" is a bit of a post-construction. However, we have been able to use the blog to calculate the number of overnight stays in different places, we have been able to use the meter in the car to calculate miles, etc. Of course, we don't regret it for a second and I don't really think it was very expensive, even if it is a lot of money for us.
Anja, you're actually right about that. We think we've lived fairly "frugally" but there are many items that cost money... so yes, it still adds up!
JoY, we were more frugal in the beginning (when we were very nervous about the economy), so you are absolutely right! When we were going to visit sights, we packed cheese sandwiches instead of buying something outside - later we became a little less stingy 😉 We ourselves think that the internet cost was high. It is probably the item that became unexpectedly high if you say so. We use a lot of GIG and sit a lot at the computer, so it has been a priority for us. At the same time, we have moved around a lot and therefore rarely got any good deals...
14 December 2015 - 19:59
Matts Torebring says:
Wow, what a lot of work you have done. The figure of 300,000 SEK for one year was very interesting. We usually do the maths as well, not nearly as carefully specified as you have done.
We've spent more than a few expensive weeks in southern Europe over 16 summers. We drive toll roads, treat ourselves to good food, restaurants, fuel and stay at luxury campsites. Our just over four weeks usually cost us 25,000 - max 30,000 SEK. That is, the same amount you have spent roughly per month.
14 December 2015 - 20:55
admin says:
Matts, I can sort of understand why your travelling is not more expensive, even though you live and eat more luxuriously. Firstly, we have spent a lot of money on ferries when travelling around. Secondly, we never got any good deals on accommodation or internet, as we moved around a lot. Also, when you're travelling for a month, I don't know if you take into account the cost of motorhome insurance, roadside assistance, doctor visits, repairs and maintenance, books you want to read, clothes you need to buy at some point during the year, etc. We have included just about EVERYTHING that has cost us this year in our budget.
14 December 2015 - 21:25
Bo Pettersson says:
I want to inform you that you can live cheap but still good! We spent 46 900:- during 6 months last year of which 3 months in Morocco and about 2 months in Portugal. Including everything!
Internet we paid 250:- for in Morocco. Also wi-fi.
Lots of free camping, some pitches and few campsites.
27 restaurant visits but avoided alcohol in general.
We're not on holiday - we're just hibernating!
Bye!
15 December 2015 - 1:37
Marina says:
Fantastic control if you ask me! (even if it's not exact, it certainly looks very controlled. Exciting(?) with the extremely high internet fees. You would think that the costs would not be so high, but that it would work quite well anyway by now.
15 December 2015 - 2:56
admin says:
Bo Petterson, that sounds great! Our budget is all about travelling - driving a lot, constantly seeing new places, taking many ferries, constantly changing campsites and pitches, constantly changing countries and internet solutions. If you stay in the same place for longer periods of time, it's obviously cheaper. Our budget is not for a wintering in a few places but for an adventure trip around the whole of Europe for a year, so it is clear that there will be slightly different budgets. We found super cheap internet in some places - but as soon as we started using that solution, we moved... That is, here and there we have found super good solutions (in all of Albania there was basically free Internet e.g.!), but in other places it was expensive and complicated. So as I said, it's hard to compare. But it sounds like you had a great time in Morocco and Portugal! Thanks for your comment!
Marina, the internet became more expensive than expected for several reasons:
1) We moved all the time - many campsites and swimming cards offer good deals if you stay for a long time, but if you change location every day/ every other day you almost never get those deals.
2) Internet is a priority for us and we use many GIGs (uploading pictures, movies, managing websites, etc.), so we have bought sim cards with many GIGs and prioritised the internet even when it was expensive (over other pleasures ;)).
15 December 2015 - 7:59
Ontripk says:
Very exciting post and read how much a year of travelling has cost you. I am positively surprised that you have been able to do it for so 300,000 I thought it would be more expensive. I now also think that you are very cost-conscious. Well done to be able to travel and experience as much as you two have for that sum, it is very inspiring 🙂.
15 December 2015 - 10:55
Inga M says:
Roughly 300,000 SEK then? Well, it depends on how you look at it whether it is expensive or not. It is not so unusual that a holiday of a couple of weeks pulls off on so there 50,000 I can imagine. Now we are not travelling but I know how quickly the money falls away when we are on a few days visit to Stockholm. So if you consider that you have had a whole year's holiday, it will not be so expensive; 25,000 SEK a month, or just under 1000 SEK per day for two people. Of course, coughing up so much cash on the fly is not easy for most of us. Hope you get a well-paid job now after returning home! ;- )
15 December 2015 - 11:32
admin says:
Ontripdk, a trip like this can be both more and less expensive depending on lots of different things. We think we got a lot for our money, even though it is of course a lot of money...
Inga M, that's probably exactly how we see it. We think we got a lot for the money, while it is clear that it is a lot of money to cough up! So far I only have a temporary job, but income is of course needed now... 😉.
15 December 2015 - 12:47
Camilla says:
Not so bad for a whole year, I must say! If, for example, me and my partner go on a week's charter, it easily goes on 30,000. You got a lot for the money 😀
15 December 2015 - 14:55
Dan Gyll says:
Thanks for sharing, very interesting. Would think that this year and 300.000 SEK is one of the best you have invested in. Congratulations! We have only had a motorhome since 2014 but change our behaviour with every trip. Is there anything you would like to do differently if you make another long trip?
For example, we have travelled over 2000 miles with bikes in our luggage that are only used 2-3 evenings in Switzerland, we will change that....
15 December 2015 - 15:17
admin says:
Camilla, we also think we got a lot for our money! The challenge, of course, is to spend so much for such a long time while having no real income....
Dan Gyll, yes, in a way it feels like we have invested in experiences and experiences! If we travel again, it will be a completely different journey, perhaps further east in Europe. But you do learn! We have learnt that it is stupid to travel with only Swedish LPG tanks (LPG would have been better!) and that it is unnecessary to carry a charcoal grill, as it is still forbidden to grill with charcoal a little everywhere...
15 December 2015 - 16:06
Mary af Rövarhamn says:
Interesting. Not much more expensive than long-distance sailing then. At least not if you exclude shopping and restaurant visits that we have prioritised. http://symary.com/2014/05/30/det-loser-sig/
15 December 2015 - 16:16
admin says:
Mary af Rövarhamn, I have to say that I am quite impressed with your budget, considering you are still four people! Some items will of course be lower on a boat, but on the other hand, you may have had more expensive insurance and repairs may cost more... But as I said, happiness cannot be measured in money 😉.
15 December 2015 - 21:37
Annika/Resfredag says:
Very interesting to read, it shows in black and white what it costs for those who dream of a similar adventure.
16 December 2015 - 11:21
Frank Olsen says:
Very interesting and a very good overview of the expenses you have incurred.
This makes it a little easier for those of us who are planning a similar trip to see where the money is going and where we might be able to save some.
17 December 2015 - 8:20
admin says:
Annika, yes, after all, costs are very important when you are going to be away for such a long time, even if there may be more fun things to think about 😉.
Frank Olsen, we hope others will benefit from it! Then, of course, you have to recalculate depending on your priorities and how you intend to travel - and there is of course the opportunity to think about where you can save!
17 December 2015 - 8:32
Elisabeth says:
We have never made such a summary, but just noted that we can manage the trips because it is cheaper in southern Europe with food etc. But we have only been out for 6 months at the most, so a year gives more expenses.
20 December 2015 - 14:00
admin says:
Elisabeth, food and diesel are cheaper in Southern Europe, at least in most places. But then we have also included all the expenses we have had during the year in this.
20 December 2015 - 17:52
Maria says:
So fun to know the costs so concretely! 🙂
20 December 2015 - 20:10
Peter says:
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
What ferry company did you use between Italy and Greece?
27 December 2015 - 12:16
admin says:
Maria, we hope it can be useful info! 🙂
Peter, unfortunately I don't remember which company we travelled with. We travelled from Brindisi to Igoumenitsa and paid 3500 SEK for two adults and a motorhome without a cabin. We have written about the ferry journey here:
http://www.freedomtravel.se/2015/08/farja-italien-grekland/
27 December 2015 - 12:47
Frida G Svensson says:
I found here via better blogger's link list! But wow what a journey! awesome!
02 January 2016 - 14:12