How much would it cost to cycle round europe?

[poolzey89]

I am from England and I am thinking about cycling round europe next year, and just wanted to get a rough idea of how much it would cost?

I would be cycling approximately 9000km, hopefully taking no more than 5/6 months. The costs would be made up of basically food and accommodation, (the cheapest available).

The route would consist of a loop round europe starting at calais in france, going down to Sofia in Bulgaria and back up to Paris, and finally back to Calais, crossing about 15 countries. The distance would be 9-10,000km.

At the moment I'm just really looking at pricing, but if you could give me any more inforamation and tips, that would be great!!

THANKS EVERYONE

 

[andym]

It's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string?' question. But to get you going, here's a list of prices I paid this summer in France:

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=44603

You should be able to research campsite costs over the internet.

 

[Crankarm]

It's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string?' question. But to get you going, here's a list of prices I paid this summer in France:

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=44603

You should be able to research campsite costs over the internet.

Yeah just what I was thinking the string thing.

Why not budget so much each day then multiply it by your total number of days then allow a bit extra for contingencies? Obviously countries such as Austria are going to be more expensive than Bulgaria, Paris more expensive than rural Romania. I would try and get a recent Lonely Planet for Europe to get an idea of prices.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

I rode across france to the med in 9 days and a cost of 140 euros excluding the flight back...i was camping on municiple sites mostly

 

[just4fun]

The strength of the euro meant that for 14 nights this summer it cost me £800 which was 50% more than when i last went on a cycling holiday 3 years ago. This included night crossing ferry(return) and train tickets, camping everynight and all food and drinks as well as some city fun. It seems lots now as it did at the time. i was planning on a cheap holiday.
The start of the holiday there was a lot of excessively expensive food eaten which really shot the cost up.

 

[jay clock]

Depends on your standards. If you can camp wild and live off self cooked basic foods, £10 a day would be doable. £15 or £20 would be nicer.... That assumes you own all the kit, and does not include major boat or flight costs, nor allow any contingency.

Having got into the camping touring vibe, I do not think I could manage weeks on end of solo stealth camping so a hotel every 5-6 days would be needed.

If you want to do it cheaper, head to Asia or SOuth America, but of course you have travel costs to get there. Unless you cycle there.....

 

[hubbike]

As much or as little as you like. If you don´t want to miss that once-in-a-lifetime helicopter trip then have a few extra thousands up your sleeve. On the other hand by knocking on a farmer´s door and asking if you can camp in his field (and perhaps help with the harvest) you´ll have a closer experience of the people of the countries you visit and you´ll undoubtably be heartened by people´s generousity.

If you are prepared to wild camp (albeit illegally sometimes) and eat bad food everyday (pasta with a stock cube for dinner and bread and jam at other times, never drinking anything except water) then less than 2 euros a day is very possible everywhere. and do a little work here and there, you could even be quids in. also there are the extreme ideas of Road Junkie for how to travel free. I especially like the sentiment that if you are broke and travelling then you are on "a pilgrimage" and therefore "suddenly from being a worthless bum you’re promoted to the ranks of the faithful journeying under the protection of the relevant God(s)."

For six months in europe staying in hostels and eating in a cafe once a week gives a modicum of comfort and camping the rest of the time you´d be aiming at having 1800 pounds in a bank and access to 1000 of overdraft/credit card for emergencies. So if you put 300 pounds a month aside you´d easily have enough by next summer. But dont be too hung up on how much you´ll need. However much you have when you leave is how much you need!!!

If you want to have a nice time money isn´t necessarily the answer. If you do want to lubricate your trip with some luxuries, home comforts, excursions, etc then work harder, save more and wait until you have that nice round number in the bank (500, 1000, 2000 it doesn´t make much difference) but otherwise I suggest you "just go". Money is overrated.

One of the best aspects of travelling in summer in the areas of europe you propose is that the climate is magic. you could almost get away with just sleeping outside with just a sleeping bag, especially in the south... thats what I did when I was a hitch hiking student. If it gets wet who cares? it´ll dry again...or a hammock? Bear in mind too that after settling into a routine after a month on the road your expenditure drops so you can´t compare to a 2 or 3 week holiday when you buy ice creams all the time!

Sorry if this is a bit of an iffy post but seriously my advice has to be to "just go".

For better advice maybe read adventure-cycling-guide.co.uk

 

[elduderino]

I did 6000kms this summer, cycling from England to Croatia and back. It cost me roughly £900 over 64 days. So that’s about £14 a day. I camped 63 days out of 64, I would guess I spent about 21 nights in campgrounds (varied from £3 to £12) the rest were 'wild' camping and I used a hostel once. The majority of my meals were pasta/noodles and cheese sandwiches. I didn't go to a single restaurant either, unless you count McDonalds a couple of times.

I think I could have easily done it on about £10 a day.

 

[Brains]

I run Scout European expeditions, the figure we use as a base is £10 per person per day, plus the cost of any travel.

So £300 a month plus the cost of the ferry should do it, as long as you camp and cook every night

 

[raybo]

One way to save money on lodging and not have to camp is to use hospitality websites. I rode across France last year (trip journal) and 12 of the 26 nights I spent at people's homes for free. I connected to them via couchsurfing or hospitalityclub. Both sites require a free registration.

While there is no charge for the hospitality, I would occasionally take someone out to dinner or bring them a gift, but this isn't necessary.

Ray

 

[Tedx]

I didn't go to a single restaurant either, unless you count McDonalds a couple of times.

I think I could have easily done it on about £10 a day.

I usually steer clear of Mcdonalds but oh man how nice is a big burger with fries and a coke after a weeks wild camping a long ride. There's not many in Spain but when I hit a Burger King I was in heaven.

I cycled Europe for three months. Mostly wild camping, maybe a camp site once a week. I spent £1600 and covered about 5000km.