Have you ever wondered how much does cost to study/ travel in Europe for 6 months?
Now that I’m finally nestled back home in Singapore, I can complete my final tabulation of my exchange expenses that I did when I spent 6 months in Europe.
I understand that travel expenses and living expenses are both very subjective.
Many study abroad students are always perplexed as to how much to budget for Europe for 6 months, or wondering if they should go to Europe as it is expensive since everything is 1.5 times more than Singapore, in €.
So with my experience doing an exchange in Europe in 6 months from January to June 2015, I hope that my expenditure can provide some insight to those on the way to their very own exchange!
All $ is stated in SGD.
At A Glance
How much does a Europe trip cost?
While I can’t give you a precise budget for travelling around Europe because everyone has a different style of travelling and level of comfort, I can share how I’d travelled and the amount I’d spent. This would hopefully give you a better indication on how much to budget for your own exchange!
Throughout the 84 days spent travelling, I took 10 trips out of my base in Rouen, and visited 16 countries throughout that 6 months.
Of the 16 countries, 10 of them were spent on my own dime, which I’d tabulated to amount to a
Total expenditure of SGD 6991.
This amount is contingent on how much you travel. Some immerse wholly in cultural exchange in their host country and school and hardly spend much travelling out.
For me, I went travelling Europe on a budget, almost like backpacking Europe.
I would scrimp on food, accommodation and transport, preferring to prepare my own meals and walk as much as I could.
I walked around Santorini instead of hiring an ATV, and managed to spend only 53€ a day in Santorini.
I would spend, instead, on experiences and places. I love hunting for local food, like the food markets in London, coolest Ghent food recommendations from a local and going on an Amsterdam food tour!
That, I believe, is the cheapest way to travel Europe.
How much money should you budget for an exchange in Europe for 1 semester?
S$14,000
This is the total amount I’d spent in the 6 months I was travelling extensively around in Europe, while being on a budget.
The figure may not surprise you, as there are many travellers out there who’ve successfully travelled with little. For me, though, it comes as an astonishment.
I set out on this exchange wanting (or rather, having) to travel on a budget. I am not born with a silver spoon, but earned every penny on my own. Sailing to the European soil for the first time meant being ambitious and excited about my travel plans across Europe.
I did not spent lavishly most of the time I was abroad, except for special occasions (like when WL and I were celebrating our anniversary in Greece) and rich experiences (such as experiencing the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, or visiting Mount Titlis and realizing that there’s still snow in summer!).
I diligently kept track of every single expense, from transport tickets to tipping, shopping & tours. This figure thus also includes my shopping, which was done mainly in 2 locations – Amsterdam, during the great winter sale (end Jan) and in the UK.
A sample of my expense excel sheet is shown below.
My expenses revolved around travelling and local experiences. How you want to budget your spending rests very much on your priorities, be it travel, local experience, food, social, shopping, etc. In my case, that was the order of importance.
Below shows the breakdown of my expenditure in that 6 months:
Click here to get your own travel expense sheet!
Out of this $14,000,
I spent S$5,600 on living expenses.
This includes:
Visa in France (6 months) | $159.40 |
Insurance (NTUC annual plan) | $375 |
Singapore to Paris by Malaysia Airlines | $486 |
Budapest to Singapore by Qatar | $721 |
Accommodation per month | $310.80* |
Living Expenses (97 days) | $3497** |
*There was a $102 subsidy because France has a housing subsidy called CAF!
**Living expenses encompass daily essentials such as grocery, utensil, bedding, cookery, sanitation, household.
When we first entered our dorm, it was bare. I remember having to sleep on the cold hard bed frame the first night because we were brought to our rooms when the sky had already set.
Even with the heater on, it takes time to acclimatise to the January European weather. I went to bed with a pile of bedsheets as my pillow and huddling my jacket to sleep.
On top of buying our own bedding, my dorm didn’t provide kitchen utensils. No fork, no spoon, much less a pan or pot to cook. All of these had to be bought, but thankfully we met a fellow neighbour who kept all the previous students’ homeware.
It’s thus important to make friends, and connect with your earlier batch who went to the same school as you! They will be able to offer invaluable and extremely useful tips (like how you can get pass your host school’s system. ;))
Want to know how to save while travelling?
Read: How To Save on Accommodation and Transport While Travelling
Want to know how to save while travelling as a student?
Read: 10 Student Travel Tips I Wish I'd Known Earlier
Curious how I funded for my exchange single-handedly?
Read: How to Fund for Exchange?
Now that you’ve got an inside view of how much a typical exchange student spent, I hope it’ll help in planning for your next study abroad or long-term Europe trip!
OMG. U IS SO DETAILED, with all the spreadsheets. I IS IN AWE. I must learn from Your Greatness.
Awww. That means a lot to me. Thank you! 🙂
Can you email me directly please as I would like to know more information!
What info?
That’s a lot more than I usually spend but it’s true that I tend to have some collaborations which always save me some money 🙂