Are you looking to plan a European backpacking adventure on a budget? Well, look no further. This summer we went on the trip of a lifetime to Portugal, Spain, France and Italy and had the best time on a budget. Planning a trip can be super stressful, but hopefully I can help walk you through it and help you out on your journey.
Now, we kept seeing people on TikTok posting videos where they globe-trot for a month and only spend 500 bucks, and we're still scratching our heads wondering how that's possible. We opted for the most budget-friendly options that were still safe and clean, and honestly, I think our budget is more in line with reality. We roughed it a bit here and there, and had a few chuckles along the way, but all in all, we crushed it.
Last summer, we planned our very first backpacking adventure in Greece. I had dipped my toes into backpacking once in Ecuador, but this time, we were taking the lead and planning it all by ourselves. And let me tell you, we learned a bunch of things from this journey.
First off, we found out that you can book places in Greece for a fraction of what you'd pay in Canada. We used to think booking those swanky spots for $60-$100 a night was a steal (and compared to Canadian prices, it kinda was), but in Europe, you can do way better. This time around, we were dead set on keeping our wallets happy, and we had a mission to be thrifty and save some cash. I gotta say, we nailed it.
After we got a taste of a European summer, we knew we had to go back. When I hit up Cass about this trip, I promised Southern Europe for 5 weeks with a budget of $5000. After some negotiation, we settled on 3 weeks and a budget of $3000. And honestly, with a lot of hard work and planning, we managed to stay pretty much on budget, and that's something we were pretty proud of.
Just two girls and a dream lol...
Below, I will break down how we balled on a budget and give you the lowdown on our realistic budget for the trip. Two of the girls went home after 10 days and their trip was probably around $1000-1500 less than ours but it’s hard to say exactly. All of this is a very rough idea, I went through my credit card charges, and our split-wise app and included the cash I spent but I’m sure I am missing the odd thing but I would say this chart is pretty close. This blog is strictly walking through the budget of our trip, so if you're hoping to get some tips for your travels, check out my blog here. If you'd like to see the full itinerary of our trip, click here.
3 Week Southern Europe Budget
We spent $2500 total before the trip on all our accommodations and travel, and then about $1000 on the trip on food, drinks, public transit, excursions and all the other things you don't account for before you leave lol. Overall I'm very happy with this.
I can't say enough good things about this trip or the girls I travel with. I'm EXTREMELY lucky to have travel partners who take risks and adventures with me. While we sure have burned through a few pay cheques these past few summers, I don't regret a thing and there is no one I'd rather have by my side on these journeys. I hope this budget helps you plan your next adventure, happy travels everyone!
Hahaha look how far we've come;)
So thankful for these places and people <3