Is Europe Expensive?

Is Europe expensive to travel? This is a very common question, and the answer will differ depending entirely upon a person’s perspective, their budget, and their selection of accommodation. One’s accommodation is the most expensive part of life whether you are secure at home or bouncing around the world on travel. The answer might even be different if you are vacationing with all the bells and whistles or simply living a small-budget retirement.

Let's begin with...How do you define expensive? Have you ever analyzed the cost to own or rent your home? Go ahead. Take your monthly mortgage or lease price and add to it all your monthly utilities such as HOA dues, water, gas, electricity, and garbage. Oh, don’t forget the internet. Each of our accommodations provides these items in the total price. And many include special cleaning fees which you don’t need to include in your number.

Now, divide your monthly number by 31 days. How much do you spend per day to live in your home?

To help you consider if Europe is affordable for you, here is a comparison of the different accommodations in which we chose to live. Except for Saranda, all our apartments had 1 bedroom and one bathroom. Saranda had two of each and was chosen specifically for location by the beach. You can see photos of these accommodations on our travel pages for each destination.

Long-stays (28+ nights)

Short stays (0-7 days)

As we learned to travel long-term and see just how far our budget will reach in early retirement, we also realized the comfort zone we like for our budget and accommodation style. How different will your travel or retirement look in comparison?