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It is your third morning away and the maths has stopped adding up. The hostel charged a city tax in cash at check-in that was never in the booking, the cash machine by the station offered to "help" by converting to pounds, and the cheap flight to the next city lands at an airport that turns out to be over an hour from the centre. None is a disaster alone, but across a few weeks they can end a trip early.
Travelling Europe on a student budget is less about finding the cheapest of everything and more about knowing where the hidden costs sit. These 15 tips cover the whole trip, from setting a daily budget across different currencies to the small habits at the table, the ticket machine and the card terminal that quietly protect your money.
Set the budget before you book anything
1. Build a daily budget that changes from country to country
A single daily figure for the whole of Europe does not work, because the continent is not one price zone or even one currency. Start with your total funds, take off the fixed costs you will pay before leaving (main transport, insurance, any rail pass), and divide what is left by the number of days. Then adjust that figure by region rather than applying it evenly.
A day in Zurich, Amsterdam or Paris costs far more than a day in Kraków or Budapest, so plan to spend less in the expensive cities and give yourself more breathing room in the cheaper ones. Remember that several popular countries do not use the euro: Poland uses the złoty, the Czech Republic the koruna, Hungary the forint and Switzerland the franc. Exchange rates move during a long trip, so check them when you plan and again before you arrive.
Keep a small reserve for missed connections or the night when the only bed left is a private room. Then record every purchase in a simple note on your phone, with the amount and a one-word category. Reviewing it each evening lets you correct course the next day. There are more habits like this in 3 Tips That Will Help You Save Money on Your Travels.
2. Travel in the shoulder season and move midweek
High summer is when hostels, trains and flights are at their most expensive and most crowded. Late spring and early autumn usually bring lower accommodation rates, shorter queues and weather that is still good for walking. The weeks of the Christmas markets in Germany, Austria and Central Europe are another busy spell, so if the festive atmosphere is not the point of your trip, avoid them.
Within any season, the day you travel matters. Moving between cities on a weekday is often cheaper than on a Friday or Sunday, and staying put over a weekend, when city breakers push up hostel prices, can save money too. Check local public holidays too, which can fill trains and beds. If this trip is part of a longer break, Spend The Gap Year In The Best Possible Way has ideas for planning the bigger picture.
Paperwork, entry rules and insurance
3. Check the Schengen rules and the new entry systems on the official EU site
Most of mainland Europe sits inside the Schengen area, where there are no routine passport checks between member countries. For UK passport holders and other visa-free visitors, time spent in the whole area counts together towards a limit of 90 days in any 180. That limit is easy to forget on a long rail trip, so count your days as you plan, particularly if you are on a gap year.
The rules are also changing. The EU's Entry/Exit System records visitors' fingerprints and photographs at the external border, and ETIAS is a pre-travel authorisation that visa-free visitors, including UK citizens, will need to apply for online before travelling. Check the official EU website for what applies on your travel dates, and only apply through that official site, because copycat sites charge extra for the same form.
4. Get a GHIC and proper travel insurance
UK students should apply for a Global Health Insurance Card, the GHIC, which replaced the European Health Insurance Card. Existing UK EHICs remain valid until their expiry date. The card gives access to necessary state healthcare in EU countries on the same terms as local residents, which may mean paying a contribution. It is free from the official NHS website, so ignore any site that asks for a fee to process it. Arrangements in Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein differ, so check the NHS guidance for those countries.
The card is not travel insurance. It does not cover private clinics, mountain rescue, being flown home, theft, lost luggage or cancelled trips. Buy a policy that does, and read the exclusions. Many basic policies exclude skiing, hiking above a certain altitude or other activities, and some expect you to have locked valuables away before they will pay for theft from a dorm. Declare medical conditions honestly.
Getting between cities without overspending
5. Do the maths on a rail pass before you buy one
Rail passes are the classic student choice, but they only save money if you use them hard. There are two main families: Interrail passes are for European residents, which includes people living in the UK, and Eurail passes are for everyone else. Both offer a youth price for younger travellers and both come in versions covering one country or many. Most are sold as a number of travel days within a longer period.
The catch is seat reservations. Many high-speed trains, especially in France, Italy and Spain, and almost all night trains require a reservation on top of the pass, and the number of seats set aside for pass holders on some routes is limited. On those routes an advance point-to-point ticket can cost little more than the reservation alone. Regional trains in many countries need no reservation.
A sensible approach is to price your main journeys as individual advance tickets first, then compare that total with a pass plus its reservations. Point-to-point tickets usually win for a short trip with a few long hops booked early. A pass usually wins for a long, unplanned trip with lots of travel days and changes of mind. The Ultimate Guide to Travelling Around Europe has more on linking cities by rail.
6. Use night trains and coaches to save a night's accommodation
A night train turns a travel day into a free night's sleep and puts you in the centre of the next city at breakfast time. Choose a couchette, a shared compartment with bunks, rather than a seat if you want to sleep at all. Some routes offer women-only compartments. Lock your bag to the luggage rack or keep it under your head, and keep your passport on you.
Long-distance coaches are often a cheap option between many pairs of cities, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and on routes where train fares are high. They are slower and less comfortable, and stops can be at suburban bus stations or by a motorway rather than in the centre, so check exactly where you will be dropped and how you will get onwards, especially if you arrive late at night.
7. Read the small print on budget flights
Low-cost airlines can be the fastest way to cross the continent, but the headline fare is only the start. The basic ticket often includes just a small under-seat bag, with charges for a larger cabin bag, a checked bag, choosing a seat and sometimes printing a boarding pass at the airport. Measure and weigh your bag against the allowance before you fly, because paying at the gate is usually a costly way to fix a mistake.
Then look at where the plane lands. Some budget routes use secondary airports a long way from the city they are named after, such as Beauvais for Paris, Bergamo for Milan or Girona for Barcelona. Add the transfer time and fare, and a train can end up cheaper door to door.
Where to sleep and where to base yourself
8. Choose cheaper bases and make day trips from them
Where you stay sets the cost of every day. Cities such as Kraków, Budapest, Prague, Lisbon and Porto are popular with students because accommodation, food and local transport are generally less expensive than in Western capitals, and each has enough history and street life to fill several days.
- Kraków: the Main Market Square, the grounds of Wawel Hill and the old Jewish district of Kazimierz can all be explored on foot.
- Budapest: walk the Danube embankment, climb Gellért Hill and wander the Castle District. Budapest by Day and Night: Two Banks, Thermal Baths and Ruin Bars covers both banks.
- Prague: Petřín Hill, Vyšehrad and Letná Park give big views for nothing. Prague Beyond the Bridge: Quiet Streets, Hills and Views goes beyond the busiest streets.
- Lisbon and Porto: Lisbon's viewpoints, the miradouros, and the lanes of Alfama are free, as is walking across the upper deck of the Dom Luís I bridge in Porto. See Lisbon on Foot: Hills, Viewpoints and the Neighbourhoods Worth Your Time.
Two cautions apply. The old towns of these cities are priced for visitors, so a few streets away the same meal or room is often noticeably cheaper. And for expensive places such as Switzerland or Scandinavia, it can make sense to visit for fewer days, stay further out or travel in on a day trip rather than skip them altogether.
9. Book hostels carefully and learn dorm etiquette
Hostels are the backbone of a student budget, but the cheapest bed is not always the best value. Check the location against the places you want to see, because a hostel on the edge of town can cost you the saving in transport. Look for a guest kitchen, lockers, free breakfast and whether towels and bed linen are included or charged. Read recent reviews for cleanliness and security rather than just the score.
Dorm life runs on a few unwritten rules, and following them makes it easier for everyone:
- Pack the night before an early departure, and do not rustle plastic bags in the dark.
- Use a phone torch rather than the main light after others have gone to bed.
- Bring your own padlock for the lockers, plus earplugs and an eye mask.
- Take calls and late conversations to the common room.
- Wash up straight after using the kitchen, and label food in the shared fridge.
Keep your passport, cards and phone locked away or on you, not under the pillow, and split your cards and cash between two places so one theft does not leave you stranded.
Student status and free culture
10. Carry an ISIC and understand who gets free entry
The International Student Identity Card, the ISIC, is a widely recognised proof of student status in Europe, and it is often accepted where a university card in English is not. It can unlock reduced entry at museums, galleries and historic sites, and sometimes cheaper local transport. Carry it with your passport, because many ticket desks want to check age as well as student status.
Be aware that many of the most generous schemes are based on age and residence rather than on being a student. France, for example, gives free entry to its national museums and monuments to under-26s who live in the EU, and Italy has reduced tickets at state museums for young EU citizens. Since Brexit, UK students living in the UK generally do not count as EU residents for these schemes, though a student or youth ticket may still be on offer. The rules vary by country and by site, so check the official website of each museum before you plan around a free visit.
11. Use free walking tours, free days and free places
Tip-based walking tours run in most major European cities. They are a good introduction on a first morning, but they are not truly free: guides often pay the company for each guest, so tipping is expected. Give what the tour was worth to you, and if money is tight, say so honestly rather than slipping away early.
Many museums have free or cheaper entry on certain days. Italy's state museums, for example, open free on one Sunday a month, and many cities have similar schemes. Expect bigger crowds, and check whether a timed booking is still needed. Beyond that, much of what makes a European city memorable costs nothing: parks, riverbanks, market squares, viewpoints and the outside of famous buildings. Many churches are free to enter, though some major ones charge, and all ask for modest dress and quiet during services.
Eating and drinking for less
12. Shop at markets and make lunch the main meal
Food is where daily spending creeps up fastest, and also where it is easiest to control. Covered markets and supermarkets let you build a picnic of bread, cheese, fruit and cold meats for far less than a café lunch. Kraków has the Stary Kleparz market, Budapest the Great Market Hall, and Porto the Bolhão market.
When you do eat out, eat your main meal at lunchtime. Many countries have a fixed-price weekday lunch: the menú del día in Spain, the prato do dia in Portugal and the daily lunch menu in Czech pubs. In Poland, a bar mleczny, a traditional milk bar, serves cafeteria-style pierogi, soups and potato pancakes, while Budapest has lángos, fried dough topped with sour cream and cheese, and Porto has the bifana, a pork sandwich. Then cook dinner in the hostel kitchen. Pasta, rice, eggs and vegetables shared between two or three people stretch a budget a long way.
Know the table customs that add to a bill. In Portugal, bread, olives and other starters brought to the table without asking are charged if you eat them, so send them back if you do not want them. In Italy, many restaurants add a coperto, a cover charge, and coffee drunk standing at the bar usually costs less than the same coffee served at a table.
13. Carry a refillable bottle and ask for tap water
Tap water is safe to drink in most of Europe, and buying bottled water several times a day adds up quickly. Carry a bottle and refill it at hostels, cafés and public fountains. Rome is dotted with constantly running drinking fountains, Paris has its green Wallace fountains, and many Swiss towns have fountains fit to drink from. Skip any marked as not drinkable.
In restaurants, ask specifically for tap water, because in some countries the default is to bring a bottle that appears on the bill. Pack a few snacks too. Hunger at a station or a major sight is how most expensive impulse purchases happen.
Money on the ground: cards, cash and hidden charges
14. Always pay in the local currency
Before you leave, get a debit or credit card that charges no or low fees on foreign spending and cash withdrawals, and tell your bank where you are going. Carry two cards from different accounts, kept in separate places, in case one is blocked, lost or swallowed by a machine.
A large and avoidable cost is dynamic currency conversion. When a card terminal or cash machine offers to charge you in pounds instead of euros, złoty or koruna, it is offering its own exchange rate, which is almost always worse than your card's. Always choose the local currency. At cash machines, decline the conversion and watch for screens that make the expensive option look like the default. Use machines belonging to banks, ideally inside a branch, rather than standalone machines in tourist streets, which often charge high fees. Contactless payment is widely accepted, but carry a little cash for markets, small cafés, public toilets and tips.
15. Budget for tourist taxes and other hidden costs
Many European cities charge a tourist tax for each person per night, and it is often not included in the price you see when booking online. Some hostels collect it at check-in, sometimes in cash. Check the booking conditions and add it to your daily figures. Venice also charges day visitors an access fee on certain days, so look at the city's official website before planning a day trip there.
Other small charges catch travellers out: key deposits, towel hire, station luggage storage and fines for not validating a paper ticket on a bus or tram. Validate tickets in the machine on board or on the platform where that is the local system, because inspectors rarely accept "I did not know" from a visitor. For more on the costs that ambush a holiday budget, read Unexpected Holiday Expenses.
Before each new city, spend ten minutes checking its tourist tax, the airport or station transfer and whether its main museum needs booking, then pay in local currency and fill your bottle on the way out of the hostel.
Official sources and further reading
Opening times, entry rules and prices change, so check them on the official sites before you travel:
- Visit Europe: The European Travel Commission's guide to destinations in Europe.
- Your Europe: travel: EU rules on travel, passports, healthcare and passenger rights.
- Interrail: Official rail pass and timetable information for travel across Europe.
