Overview
Germany, being part of Western Europe is not the ideal place for budget travel but if you want to visit the land of castles, there is hope to visit Germany without spending a fortune. We have brought our many years experience exploring Germany to help you with the cost of travel in Germany. We have been residents in this country for almost 4 years and have been using the weekends and bridge days (die Brückentage) to travel within Germany.
Brückentag is a day off that you can take between non-working days. For example, on 30 May this year, Tuesday is a holiday, Friday is a normal workday and then comes the weekend. Friday is called a Brückentag and it is common in Germany to take the day off from work. You take only one day from your yearly vacation and have four days to explore. Yeeeeh! Germany I love you for this!
We have explored Hesse state, Bavaria, Saxony, North Rhein Westfalia, Rheinland Pfalz, Baden Württemberg and Berlin. I want to say that our experience of living and travelling within the country is quite good and we want to help you with the cost of travel in Germany which is an essential factor when taking a trip.
Some of you may want to visit Germany for the EURO 2024; the price information is relevant for 2024. Then stick with us and get the information you need.
We will detail the cost of travel in Germany for each part of travelling from accommodation to activities for a budget and mid-range traveller. Every cost is valid for one person.
Accommodation
Germany has many accommodation types: from hostels to homestays from locals as in Airbnb. The choice is yours depending on the budget and the kind of traveller you are. Below are illustrated the prices for each type of stay:
| ACCOMMODATION TYPE | PRICE |
|---|---|
| Hostel Dorm | 25-35 € |
| Hostel Private | 50-70 € |
| Hotel | 80-100 € |
| Homestay | 60-80 € |
Mobility
Public transportation: Germany is well connected with a good railway system all over the country. There are high-speed trains such as ICE between big cities, and regional trains with multiple stops in towns. Germany is organised in many transport associations such as RMV-Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund that offer different tickets. Also, cities have their transport cooperation which includes trams and buses.
Flixbuses that run between cities or outside Germany are convenient for travel.
For long distances, I suggest reserving a seat which costs 4.9 € because the trains usually have a lot of passengers.
Regional trains are the best solution to visiting Germany one region at a time, for example, Saxony.
A rental car is another option for moving around the country. It is worth it outside the city and in places where public transportation takes a lot of time to move around for example Oberbayern.
Fuel cost: 1.5-2.2 € /litre
Ticket prices are as follows:
| TRANSPORTATION | TYPE | PRICE |
|---|---|---|
| Public | High-speed train | 18-60 € |
| Regional train | 15-40 € | |
| City ticket | 5-15 € | |
| Flixbus | Bus | 10-35 € |
| Car rental/day | Manual | 30-70 € |
| Automatic | 40-80 € |
Food
Well, you don’t come to Germany for food but as with every country and culture it has its traditional dishes. The country has a cold climate so most of the cuisine consists of meat and root vegetables. Apart from traditional food, Germany has a huge choice of different cuisines from around the world brought by the large number of immigrants living in the country. Now, international food is not exactly as in the country of origin but if you do a bit of research, there are some good places to eat.
Starting from January 2024 the government has returned the restaurant tax as 19%. During COVID-19, it declined to 7% to help the food and beverage industry. This means, eating in Germany costs more than before.
Supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl, Edeka, Rewe etc have prepared food such as salads, traditional German dishes, and Asian food that cost 4-8 €.
Germans love the bread and it is quite good I would say, so they have bakeries (Bäckerei) that offer not only bread but sandwiches, pretzels and cakes that cost 2-4 €/piece.
Fast food known as Imbiss such as Döner, Falafel or Asian food costs 7-15€.
Another interesting place to try traditional and cheap food is weekly markets (Wochenmarkts ). They are local markets in the main neighbourhoods of a city on different days of the week. One bread with sausage (Wurstbrot ) cost 4-7€.
Eating in a restaurant costs 15-30€ per person. Try to eat outside the tourist areas for better quality and price value.
Activities
The country offers a huge range of activities that are easily bookable online at their website or through tourism companies. The most common activities and their ticket prices are as follows:
| ACTIVITY TYPE | PRICE |
|---|---|
| Museum | 7-15 € |
| Castle (Schloss) | 6-20 € |
| Rent a bike/day | 5-10 € |
| Boat tour | 10-20 € |
Summary
| AVERAGE COST PER DAY/PERSON | BUDGET TRAVELLER | MID-RANGE TRAVELLER |
|---|---|---|
| Acommmodation | 40 € | 80 € |
| Mobility | 13 € | 20 € |
| Food | 20 € | 40 € |
| Activities | 7 € | 10 € |
| Total | 80 € | 150 € |
EURO2024
This year Germany is the host country of EURO24 and it will take place from 14 June to 14 July. If you have a ticket to any matches, this blog post will help you plan your costs for the upcoming trip.
It is very important to mention that the prices, especially accommodation will rise way more as the reference I gave above since the activity has a very high demand. It is wise to have booked way before heading to Germany or travel in a group to save some money.
Regarding transportation, Deutsche Bahn has announced the DB Ticket Euro 2024 for 29.9€ each trip within Germany with ICE- high-speed trains. The ticket is valid though together with your match ticket, so have it ready on the train.
Hints for saving money
I believe no one refuses to have some money left in his/her pocket from a trip so here are some helpful money-saving tips in Germany:
- Book your stay and flight 3-6 months before your trip
- Travel outside the high season, summer and Christmas time
- Book your flight from small airports where low-cost lines operate
- Stay in towns or villages
- Take advantage of Deutschland ticket only for 49€ /month
- Travel within a region
- Use discount city tickets for mobility and activities on city tourism websites
- Take a free walking tour
- Eat in Imbiss or Wochenmarkts
I hope the travel cost in Germany guide helps you on your upcoming trip to the country. It holds a lot of information from an insider’s eye, which is way better than just from a traveller’s perspective.
If you have any questions or experience from Germany let us know in the comments below!
We will gladly answer your questions.
