Trip budget

How much does a Europe trip cost in 2027? Daily budgets for 16 cities

For anyone putting a number on next year's trip: one day in Lisbon priced line by line, the same day in 15 other cities, and the tourist taxes that go up in 2027.

By the Time to Travel team6 min readChecked 4 Nov 2026 · 11 sources

The short version

Per person per day, two people sharing a central 3-star room:

€90 to €100: Bucharest, Riga.
€120 to €160: Lisbon, Budapest, Berlin, Kraków, Prague, Athens, Rome.
€190 to €260: Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Vienna, Copenhagen, Oslo.

Bed, dinner with wine, transport, one sight, a coffee and a beer. Add breakfast, lunch, tourist tax and the journey.

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Two nights for two in a central three-star hotel cost €171 in Bucharest and €529 in Barcelona over the same weekend in June 2026. Dinner for two with wine cost about the same in both cities. That gap, more than food or museums, decides what a European trip costs.

The figures come from the Post Office City Costs Barometer 2026, which priced 12 tourist items in 50 cities: hotels from Hotels.com (the 10 cheapest central three-star rooms, 5 to 7 June 2026), the rest from tourist offices. We converted at €1.157 to £1, as Euronews did, and split everything per person.

A yellow and white funicular tram climbing a steep cobbled street between pale buildings with balconies

One day in Lisbon, priced line by line

Lisbon sits mid-range. One person's share of a day, travelling as a couple:

One day in Lisbon per person, two people sharing. Post Office City Costs Barometer 2026 prices converted at €1.157 to £1; tourist tax from Lisbon City Council. Checked 4 November 2026.
Item	Cost
Half a central 3-star double, one night	€61.61
Three-course dinner with house wine (half of €68.04)	€34.02
Top heritage sight	€15.26
Transport (one day of a €14.75 48-hour card)	€7.38
Tourist tax, per night from age 13	€4.00
Bottle of local beer at a bar	€2.34
Cup of coffee at a café	€2.04
Day total	€126.65

Call it €127. Seven nights come to about €887 per person; Lisbon charges the tax for seven nights at most. Alone, you pay the whole room: about €62 a night more.

How much does a day cost in each city?

The same day in 16 cities. The dot is everything except the bed; the ring adds half a 3-star double. The line between them is the hotel.

1Bucharest€49 without the bed, to €92 with the bed
2Riga€60 without the bed, to €100 with the bed
3Lisbon€61 without the bed, to €123 with the bed
4Budapest€75 without the bed, to €126 with the bed
5Berlin€71 without the bed, to €142 with the bed
6Kraków€90 without the bed, to €142 with the bed
7Prague€78 without the bed, to €144 with the bed
8Athens€95 without the bed, to €147 with the bed
9Rome€76 without the bed, to €156 with the bed
10Madrid€71 without the bed, to €192 with the bed
11Amsterdam€88 without the bed, to €201 with the bed
12Paris€122 without the bed, to €206 with the bed
13Barcelona€80 without the bed, to €212 with the bed
14Vienna€139 without the bed, to €218 with the bed
15Copenhagen€140 without the bed, to €246 with the bed
16Oslo€154 without the bed, to €260 with the bed

Per person per day, two sharing: dinner for two with wine halved, one day of a 48-hour transport card, the top heritage sight, a coffee and a beer, plus half of one hotel night. Post Office City Costs Barometer 2026, priced May 2026, hotels for 5 to 7 June 2026; converted at €1.157 to £1. Tourist tax not included.

Berlin's top heritage sight is free. Vienna and Copenhagen are dear on the ground, with dinner at €78 and €95 a head; Madrid and Barcelona are cheap to eat in and dear to sleep in.

Why does the bed decide your budget?

A plain hotel room with a double bed, an armchair, a desk and a glass door open onto a balcony

Look at Madrid and Berlin. On the ground they cost the same, €71 a day. The bed is €121 in Madrid and €71 in Berlin. Barcelona's day without the bed (€80) is close to Prague's (€78), but its bed costs twice as much: €132 against €66.

Two ways to move that line:

Share. Every figure here assumes two in a room. Alone, the bed costs double: €123 a night in Lisbon, €264 in Barcelona.
Sleep one city over. Two nights for two cost €162 in Lille and €334 in Paris, an hour apart by high-speed train. Strasbourg came in at €198.

What the €127 leaves out

Not in the daily figures:

Breakfast. A hotel buffet adds €7 to €18 a person; coffee and a pastry at a bar in Italy or Spain costs €2 to €4. Our breakfast guide has the chain prices.
Lunch. Not priced; a bakery or set lunch keeps it small.
The airport. A return airport bus or train ticket was €4.37 in Lisbon and €51.57 in Oslo. Our airport transfer guide compares the options.
Getting between cities. Advance train fares start at €9 on our cheapest train routes. At card terminals, pay in the local currency.

A cobbled street at night lined with lit restaurant terraces, awnings and a tree hung with string lights

Countries show the same spread. In Eurostat's 2024 restaurant and hotel price levels, Switzerland stood at 171% of the EU average, Denmark at 148% and Bulgaria at 53%. Our cheapest countries ranking has the 2025 figures.

Which tourist taxes go up in 2027?

Tourist tax is charged per night on top of the room. As of 4 November 2026:

Amsterdam: 12.5% of the room price before VAT. The city plans to raise it to 16% in 2027 and on towards 20%; each step still needs a council vote.
Barcelona: since 1 April 2026, per person per night, €6 in hostels, €8.40 in four-star hotels, €9.50 in tourist apartments and €12 in five-star hotels. The city surcharge rises €1 a year until 2029.
Edinburgh: 5% of the room price from 24 July 2026, for up to five nights in a row.
Lisbon: €4 per person per night from age 13, for up to seven nights, unchanged since September 2024.

ETIAS will cost €20 for travellers aged 18 to 70, but as of 26 October 2026 it has no start date (see our ETIAS 2027 guide).

Four ways to sleep, compared

Accommodation options for a European trip, per person per night, as of 4 November 2026. Hotel range: Post Office City Costs Barometer 2026; night train: ÖBB Nightjet saver fare reported by The Local, June 2026; taxes: Catalan News.
Option	Price	Where	Cancellation	Pros	Cons
3-star hotel, two sharing	€40 (Riga) to €132 (Barcelona), June weekend	Every city centre	Depends on the rate; flexible rates cost more	Private room and bathroom, cleaned daily	The biggest line in the budget; double for one person
Hostel dorm bed	Usually the cheapest central bed	Most big cities, fewer in small towns	Varies by hostel and booking site	Lowest price; a kitchen cuts food costs	Shared room; tax still applies (€6 in Barcelona)
Holiday apartment	Varies; split between more people	Widely, but some cities limit them	Often strict	Kitchen and space for a family or group	Cleaning fees; higher tax in Barcelona (€9.50)
Night train couchette	From €54.90 Vienna to Zurich, bed and journey in one	A few dozen routes	Saver fares cannot be refunded	Replaces a hotel night and a travel day	Cheap fares sell out; shared compartment

Who should pick what: a couple, a 3-star hotel in a cheaper city. A solo traveller, a hostel, since a room alone doubles the bed line. A family, an apartment with a kitchen. Between distant cities, a night train instead of a hotel night.

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Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need per day in Europe?

Sharing a central 3-star room, about €90 to €100 per person in Bucharest or Riga, €120 to €160 in Lisbon, Prague or Rome, and €190 to €260 in Paris, Barcelona or Oslo, before breakfast, lunch, tourist tax and travel.

How much does a week in Europe cost for one person?

Seven nights in Lisbon, sharing a 3-star room and paying the €4 nightly tourist tax, come to about €887 per person on the Post Office's 2026 prices, before breakfast, lunch and the journey there. Alone in the same room, add about €431 for the other half of the bed.

Is it cheaper to travel Europe as a couple than alone?

Yes, mainly because of the bed. A room costs the same for one or two, so a solo traveller pays twice the per-person bed price: about €123 a night in Lisbon instead of €62, or €264 in Barcelona instead of €132.

Do I need to budget for ETIAS in 2027?

Probably not yet. ETIAS will cost €20 per person aged 18 to 70, but as of 26 October 2026 it has no start date, and nobody can be refused for lacking it during its first months.

Where the figures come from

Checked on 4 November 2026. Official sources first; secondary sources are labelled.