for those who traveled to Europe, what was cheaper than expected?

34 comments

1. Alcohol.

   But I live in Pennsylvania, so it wasn’t unexpected so much as “wow. It’s way less expensive.”

2. Bottled water

3. Beer was cheaper but hard liquor was more expensive

4. Could be a when time and place situation but red wine. Something that Americans often see as a luxury item back then was just a common thing with dinner and usually was good

5. Transportation. Not having to have a car has really lowered my COL. Cars are expensive with gas, insurance and maintenance costs.

6. Cigarettes. NB: I was not in the EU.

7. Beer, wine, whiskey, most groceries, train tickets… Almost cancels out how much more expensive gas, rent, and taxes were

8. A good bottle of port wine from a winery in Portugal was very inexpensive.

9. Pretty much everything as long as you don’t go to like, Paris or London and aren’t eating at fine dining Michelin starred restaurants every night. Most expensive part was the plane tickets to get there.

10. Museums. Most were free, or less than £10. Here you’ll pay $18.99-29.99 for entry to most places.

11. Travel within Europe. Travel to Europe is still really expensive though.

12. It really varies by country. Most of what others mentioned, but if you go to Scandinavia, alcohol won’t be cheap.

13. Coffee. It was amazing just dropping in and getting a quick espresso for like 1 euro and it being better than most places in the US.

14. Pastizzi and other delicious little pastries were amazingly cheap in Malta.

15. Food in general, particularly in Paris. Everyone talks about how expensive Paris is, but in reality the biggest expenses (which are considerable) are flights and lodging. When you talk about museums, food, public transportation, etc. it’s quite affordable. You could eat some really nice food including alcohol for the price of a mediocre meal in the U.S.

16. Food in Paris was a lot cheaper than I thought. The grocery stores were *very* cheap, not to mention things like little bakeries being very inexpensive too. I also found restaurants pretty cheap with like multiple course meals+wine at fancy-ish restaurants coming in at under 60 euros for two people. A true bistro meal involving multiple courses and wine might be less than 15 euros.

    Food in Spain was super cheap too, I remember getting a ham sandwich for less than a Snickers bar. But I sort of expected Spain to be cheap.

17. When I went to the UK I was pretty surprised how cheap candy was. you could go to a shop and get a relatively large bag of candy for less than a pound. even adjusted for exchange rates sweets were usually 1/3-1/2 the price they are at my local grocery store.

    I had an unbelievable amount of all sorts and (though not a candy) pork pies…

18. Almost nothing. The train maybe?

19. The rooms… an Airbnb in Rome was something like £30 and included a morning pastry and espresso at the nearby cafe. This was also walking distance to most places in the city and only about 5 min walk to Termini for trains everywhere in Italy.

20. beer and food in general is cheaper. Clothes, transport, and electronics were more expensive. Lodging (hostels) and flights (Ryanair) were cheaper.

21. really depends on the country. But, I remember being shocked at how cheap beer was most places.

22. Beer can be a lot cheaper, in Germany specifically. You can buy 3 liters of beer for 5€, and it would still be good quality, whereas in the US a six pack may run $8-10 for craft types.

23. Cigs

24. Fresh fruit

25. Drinks and food I think? But it’s been a while and it was when I was 16 and still pretty dumb, croatia seemed to have cheap everything and I loved it there

26. Fresh produce and train passes.

27. Traveling within the interior of Europe was much cheaper than I would have imagined. I took trains everywhere I went for about 2.5 months.

28. I lived in Spain for a few years and my groceries were a fraction of what they were in the states. And everything was usually very fresh. I miss the fresh orange juice machine and very cheap cava that made my weekend mornings a lot more fun. Travel was considerably cheaper within Europe. I could go to another country for a few days and keep everything including food, tours, travel, lodging under 1000. Everything was really cheaper though since your rarely tip.

29. Hookers

30. Flights within Europe. Took Ryan Air everywhere, and just about all flights were under a 100 bucks at the time.

    Things that were more expensive was paying to use public bathrooms! First time I saw a toll gate style thing in front of a bathroom I was like wtf.

31. Lodging. I rented amazing airbnbs in Europe for a fraction of the cost they would have been in the US. Hotels tend to be cheaper too.

32. Friendship 🌈

33. hostels

34. Clothes. Yeah, we know you have ridiculous tariffs on certain items (how much does a pair of Levi’s jeans cost?) But when I lived there, my wife would go shopping. She’d come back with like four jackets, six purses, a pair of boots, kids clothes and somehow only managed to spend like 20€.

    Travel. Individual train tickets seem more expensive, but many areas have regional discounts. Where I lived, the regional train lines would usually give me unlimited rides on the weekend for 12€ and included a nearby subway system. There are also very low cost airlines that fly out of tiny airports for like a tenth of the cost.