The Ultimate Guide on How to Budget and Plan for a European Vacation
Wondering how to budget and plan a European vacation and maximize your time overseas? We have planned many vacations spanning one, two, three, or four weeks in Europe. We understand how much time it takes to plan out the logistics of traveling abroad and getting to see everything. Below we go into detail on how to plan various length vacations in Europe and our recommendations for the amount of places to see based on length of time.
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How to Budget and Plan for a European Vacation
Begin Planning Time Frame
Due to flight bookings, start planning your trip at least 5 to 6 months in advance. It is also important to pick your date frame to start tracking tickets. If you plan to travel in a summer month, we recommend starting 6 to 7 months in advance. Tours, hotels, restaurants will start to be booked within four months of summer and getting a head start will help you have first pick in all your activities.
Booking Flights
When you are booking flights to Europe the idea time to book for the cheapest air fare is 4 to 5 months in advance. We recommend setting up google flight alerts for your selected date range and emails will be sent when the price drops or increases. When it is time to book your flight, we like to use booking.com. Expect to pay between $800 – $1500 for flights depending on departure city and arrival city and if traveling during peak season May – September. If traveling in the off season, except for Christmas, you can often find flights $200 – $300 dollars cheaper.
Booking Hotels / House Stays
Plan to book a hotel at least 4 months in advance. Hotels and house stays in downtown locations are often more expensive than in the suburbs outside of big cities or towns. These locations tend to sell out the fastest as well. Our travel guides highlight price levels of different locations. Plan to spend between $120 – $300 per night in most places. We like to use booking.com (linked here) we booking our hotels. They are competitively priced and easy to use platform. If you are a group of 3 plus, then I would consider looking at house rentals instead of hotels. The price per night split between each person is often cheaper than hotels and can be as low as $50 a night per person.
Restaurant Reservations
Most large cities are going to require lunch and dinner reservations, especially during popular times of year. It is recommended to book your reservations 30 to 60 days in advance. If you are looking to dine at a special restaurant then we recommended checking in with that restaurants website on when reservations open. Set a calendar reminder on your phone to book on the day when reservations are released so you are guaranteed to have a dinner reservations at that restaurant.
Entertainment / Attraction Tickets
If you are looking to go to museums, national park sites, private gardens, or other entertaining venues plan to book about 6 to 8 weeks in advance to guarantee a ticket and sometimes a specific time slot. Most famous museums in Europe only offer tickets during specific time slots and they will book way in advance.
How to Budget and Plan a European Vacation: One Week in Europe
In one week in Europe we recommend that you stick to one country and explore one to two cities. Traveling to more than one country and take a whole day impacting the time you have in Europe.
Follow our example itinerary below for staying in one country: Spain, France, Italy, Germany, England, Austria
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 |
| Arrive and Check in to Stay | Museum / explore city / free walking tour | Day Trip from City | Museum / Monuments / explore city | Day Trip from City | Cooking or Food Tour | Check out and Fly Home |
How to Budget and Plan a European Vacation: Two Weeks in Europe
In two weeks in Europe you have more options to explore. We recommend either sticking to one country and exploring more cities or exploring one to two countries that are close together. When traveling to a different country look at your transport options (Flights or Train) and the total time / costs it would take to get to that city.
Flight between countries: If you decide to take a flight between countries, factor in the baggage costs, the time to get to the airport and from the airport, and potential for delays. Most European flights from country to country are on smaller planes, meaning overhead bin space is limited. They are a lot stricter on weight and size of bag, so plan ahead to avoid costs.
Follow our example itinerary below for staying in one country or two countries. (Spain and Portugal, Germany and Austria, Greece and Turkey, Netherlands and Belgium, Germany and France, Croatia and Italy, Italy and Greece).
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 |
| Arrive and Check in to Stay | Museum / explore city / free walking tour | Day Trip from City | Museum / Monuments / explore city | Day Trip from City | Cooking or Food Tour | Travel to New Country |
| Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 |
| Museum / explore city / free walking tour | Day Trip from City | Museum / Monuments / explore city | Cooking Class or Food Tour | Day Trip from City | Last day to explore the city | Check Out and Fly Home |
Budget Planner for Two People
| Expense | Budget One Week | Budget Two Weeks |
| Hotel / Home Stay | $800 – 1200 | $1600 – $2500 |
| Meals | $500 – $700 | $700 – $1200 |
| Entertainment / Attractions | $100 -$300 | $200 – $600 |
| Transport Costs | $50 – $200 | $100 – $500 |
| Flights | $800 – $1300 | $800 – $1300 |
| Total Costs | $2,250 – $3,700 | $3,400 – $6,100 |
Recap of Trip Planning
Here we provide a brief recap of when you should start planning and booking your three day weekend.
| Activity | When to Start Planning Before Trip |
| Start Planning | 5 to 6 months |
| Hotel Booking | 4 months |
| Restaurant Booking | 1 to 2 months |
| Entertainment Booking | 6 – 8 weeks |
| Flight Booking | 4 to 5 months |
Hope you found this guide on how to Budget and Plan for a European Vacation helpful!
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