Trip Budget Planner

Western Europe typically runs $150 to $250 per person per day for a mid-range trip (3-star hotel, casual dining, public transit, some paid attractions). A week is roughly $1,050 to $1,750 excluding flights. Cities like Paris, Amsterdam, and Zurich are at the top of the range; Portugal, Czech Republic, and Poland are significantly cheaper at $80 to $120 per day.

Budget travel (hostels, street food, free attractions, public transit) in Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe can run $30 to $50 per day per person. Mid-range travel (private hotel room, sit-down restaurants, day tours, taxi occasionally) in the same regions runs $70 to $120. The difference is primarily accommodation and dining style, not necessarily fewer experiences.

Shopping is the most variable category and hardest to pre-budget. A useful approach: decide on a total shopping allowance before the trip and transfer it to a separate card or cash envelope. This prevents the common pattern of underspending on food and accommodation then overspending on souvenirs, clothing, and gifts.

Flights are typically excluded from daily cost budgets because they are a fixed one-time cost regardless of trip length. The better approach: track flights as a separate pre-trip fixed cost, then use this calculator for in-destination daily expenses. Your true total trip budget is flights + (daily rate from this calculator × trip days) + any pre-booked non-refundable experiences.