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XinYe
3 weeks, 1 day ago
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On my last day in Budapest, looking back on my nearly three months in Europe, I couldn’t help but share with you the cost of this trip. Many people think that the cost of living in Europe is high, but this is not the case. Today I will break down the various costs in detail and take you to understand them.
Living ≠ traveling: new life experience
Sojourning is different from traveling. It means staying in one place for at least 20 days. No need to rush to tourist spots or eat out at restaurants every day. You can slow down and cook your own meals in a rented house. This not only saves money, but also adds fun to life.
Cost breakdown: Traveling on a budget
- Accommodation : Find short-term rentals mainly from netizens through Xiaohongshu. Many European university students return to their home countries during the summer holidays and rent out apartments on a short-term basis. In August, renting a room in the International Student Apartments in Utrecht, the Netherlands, costs 500 euros per month; staying in a friend's room in Paris for 10 days costs 350 euros; staying in Florence, Italy for more than 20 days costs 300 euros; renting in Budapest, Hungary A netizen's room for more than 20 days costs about 4,200 yuan. The total accommodation expenses in the past three months were 1,841 euros, less than 15,000 yuan.
- Food : Eating in Europe is really expensive if you go to restaurants. It is common for a meal to cost more than ten euros. A good meal will cost 25-30 euros. But I mostly buy my own food and cook. I go to the supermarket to shop 1-2 times a week for 20-30 euros each time. The cost of cooking for a month is about 200 euros. I eat out 2-3 times a week, averaging 20 euros each time. I spend 100-120 euros a month eating out. Calculated in this way, the food expenses for one month are about 300 euros, and for three months they are about 900 euros, which is close to 7,200 yuan.
- transportation :
- Transportation : Switch between different countries in Europe, you can choose plane, bus or train. Although air tickets are cheap, such as Ryanair, they only cost 20-30 euros, but most of them do not include baggage allowance, and you need to pay an additional 30-40 euros to purchase them separately. For buses, we recommend flixbus. The price is cheap. The earlier you buy, the more affordable it is. For example, a 7-hour drive from Uthe to Paris only costs about 25 euros. It is also a double-decker bus, so you can enjoy the scenery along the way. Long-distance train fares between countries are more expensive, but within-country fares are cheaper, and the earlier you buy your tickets, the better. My main transportation expenses this time were first-class train tickets from Paris to Italy (nearly 800 yuan including luggage allowance), Rome to Budapest (about 700 yuan), and Florence to Rome (more than 40 euros), totaling about 2,500 yuan.
- Small transportation : Public transportation in the Netherlands is relatively expensive, a few euros one way and 3-4 euros round trip. You can save money by renting an international student card or applying for the NSS Free Weekend Train Package (from €30, unlimited free Dutch train rides on weekends) or renting a bicycle (from €20 per month). Many other European cities have transport packages such as monthly and weekly passes. For example, a monthly pass in Budapest is more cost-effective for tourists than a short-term package. My three-month transportation expenses are about 4,000 yuan.
- other :
- Cultural experience : There are many museums and art galleries in the Netherlands, Paris, Italy and other places, with tickets ranging from 10 to 20 euros each. However, there are ways to save money. For example, the official ticket to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris is more than 20 euros, but Taobao only costs more than 80 yuan; a Seine River cruise can be bought locally for more than 10 to 20 euros, and Taobao costs more than 50 yuan.
- Shopping : I don’t have a strong desire to shop, so I don’t spend much money on this part.
- Hard expenses : I bought two phone cards on Taobao before going abroad, and recharged them for more than 100 yuan in the third month. Including the international roaming fee of 200 yuan for the first month's extra traffic, the total cost is more than 500 yuan. The Schengen travel contract costs more than 900 yuan, and the round-trip air ticket costs 4,345 yuan.
Final bill: The cost of turning dreams into reality
Not counting the 1,080 euro tuition fee for learning a driving school in the Netherlands, my three months in Europe cost about 32,000 yuan. Even including driving school tuition, it is still within 50,000 yuan, which is in line with expectations. Also, I was able to earn money during my stay. If I want to experience a similar life, I can make sure I earn around 15,000 per month to break even.
So, is life in Europe cheaper than you think? If you are interested in a certain aspect of the trip, please leave a message and I will record a separate video to share later. Looking forward to your next visit!
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