How Much Does It Cost for A Family Trip to Europe?

How much money do you need to save for a family trip to Europe?

Our family took a 2-week European vacation this summer to Italy and Greece. We had been saving for the trip for 3 years, but I was still caught off guard by how expensive everything was! Despite the high costs and inflation, I still did my best to stretch our budget as far as possible without sacrificing too much comfort.

Of course, Italy has been a very popular destination in the past few years, and we were traveling during summer, which is the high season in Europe. But these are factors you need to consider when budgeting for your Europe trip!

We are a family of 6, and our kids were between the ages of 3 and 10 during our Europe trip. Traveling with young children can be hard, so we sometimes pay extra for convenience or comfort.

My husband works in education and my kids attend regular school, so we follow the typical school schedule of traveling during spring break and summer vacation. If that sounds like your family, you'll want to build in the inflated travel costs during high season.

Factors to consider when figuring out your budget for a trip to Europe with kids include how long your trip will be, how many members of your family there are, your travel style, the time of year you're traveling, and how often you'll be moving to a new city (that transportation adds up quickly).

I'll share the cost of our recent 2-week family trip to Europe (Italy and Greece) below, plus I'll share some costs from other past trips we've taken to different areas of Europe that you might be considering for your itinerary.

We had the best time making memories with our kids, and the older kids especially learned so much about history, art, and culture while we were there. In that sense, our trip was priceless!

But if you're looking for a real budget from a real family, for this type of trip, you've come to the right place! Here's what it cost for a family of 6 to travel to Europe in summer for 2 weeks.

>> Check out my 2-week Italy and Greece Itinerary for Families

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How Much We Spent for 2 Weeks in Europe as A Family of 6

The total cost of our trip to Italy and Greece with 4 kids for 2 weeks was $13,770.24 US dollars. That works out to around $2295 per person.

I like to give families a realistic idea of what they would spend on different types of international trips, so I'll compare this to our trip to Costa Rica in 2022.

The total cost of our trip to Costa Rica with 4 kids for 1 week was $5774.74 us dollars. That works out to under $1000 per person. We found activities and tours to be much cheaper in Costa Rica, plus our flights were less than half the cost of flying to Italy.

(You can read the full breakdown of our budget for that trip here: Costa Rica Family Vacation Cost: How Much Does a 7-Day Trip Cost?)

Below I'll break down the details of our Europe trip cost and how we got to that final price.

Flights

Finding flights for a family of 6 in the summer to Italy was the most expensive part of our trip. I usually have lots of tricks for finding cheap flights, and I kept waiting for a deal to pop up. I get flight deals sent to my inbox from Going, but all of the deals I found ended in April, with prices drastically rising in May, June, July, and August.

Finally, 6 months before our trip I decided I needed to pull the trigger before things got even more expensive!

We ended up finding flights around $860 per person on Aer Lingus from Chicago to Venice with a layover in Dublin. Aer Lingus is a very solid airline based out of Ireland. They generally have pretty affordable flights compared to other airlines, plus we were able to fly directly into Venice, the first city on our trip.

We also wanted to add Greece to our itinerary, which involved additional flights on budget airlines within Europe. We were able to find cheap flights on Ryan Air from Rome to Athens for around $100 per person, including a carry-on bag for each person which I paid for when I booked the flight.

We had booked roundtrip tickets from Chicago to Venice and back, which meant we had to make our way back to Italy after our time in Greece. This ended up being our cheapest option even with the additional airfare from Athens to Venice (around $123 per person) and the airport hotel we stayed in near the Venice airport.

Open-jaw flights flying into Venice and home from Athens were almost double the cost of the flights we booked. That was frustrating because it added extra travel time to the end of our itinerary, cutting our touring time short in Athens and prolonging the journey home.

Here's the breakdown of all the flights we took:

$5169.72 - airfare from Chicago to Venice for 6 people on Aer Lingus
$639.78 - airfare from Rome to Athens on Ryan Air
$743.93 - airfare from Athens to Venice on Aegean Air

TOTAL COST FOR FLIGHTS: $6553.43

Budget Travel Tip: To find the cheapest flights between the United States and Europe, go to Google Flights, click the Explore button at the top of the page, enter your home airport, and leave the "Where to?" box blank. You can either enter specific dates or flexible dates for your trip. Click "done" and the map will populate with flight prices to different destinations in the USA. Scroll over to Europe on the map, and you can see which major cities have the cheapest flights! Once you've positioned yourself in Europe you can find cheap flights or take the train to your desired destination.

Accommodations

My parents joined us for the Italy leg of the trip, and splitting apartments and Airbnb with them was a great way to save money on accommodations. As much as I would love to book luxury hotels on points, most hotel rooms in Europe have a limit of 2 people, sometimes even 3 or 4 people.

As a family of 6, that would mean we would need 2 or 3 rooms for our entire family, and since our kids are still really young, we're just not comfortable splitting up like that. Plus, we didn't have nearly enough points saved up for that at the time of our trip!

We did stay in a few budget hotels, like the hotel near Pireaus Port in Athens where we booked 2 triple rooms for one night, so we would be within walking distance of the port so we could catch our early morning ferry.

Mostly, though, finding places on Airbnb and booking.com was one of the best ways to house our big family on a budget. We stayed in some great places, but the focus was more on the activities we did each day, and not where we rested our heads at night. We didn't spend much time at all in our accommodations, especially in Italy when we were out touring the entire time!

$346.50 - Venice apartment booked on Booking.com, 2 nights (split with my parents - total was $693)
$460.98 - Florence Airbnb, 2 nights (split with my parents - total was $921.96)
$452.57 - Rome Airbnb, 2 nights (split with my parents - total was $905.15)
$163 - Argo Anita, 1 night (hotel near Pireaus Port in Athens, 2 triple rooms)
$615 - Corina Studios Paros, 3 nights
$464.39 - Blue Ark Athens 2 nights
$262 - Venice airport hotel, 1 night

TOTAL COST FOR ACCOMMODATIONS: $2764.44

Transportation

If you plan a trip where you are moving to a new city every few nights, expect to spend quite a bit of money on transportation. I think I underestimated how much it would cost to move around so much!

We took public transportation whenever possible to save money. We found the bus system on the Greek Island of Paros very easy to navigate, and we even took the metro from our place in Athens to the airport. From the Venice airport, we arranged to take the water bus into Venice, and I was shocked at how expensive it was! (And that was one of the cheaper options!)

Our favorite transportation option was the Leonardo Express, a train that goes from the train station in Rome to the Rome Airport, which is surprisingly far away. The process of purchasing the tickets online was easy, and the train ride was very relaxing.

There were instances where we splurged on private transports. The first was when we arrived in Athens late at night, and it would have been a long journey from the Athens airport to Piraeus port. We weren't sure it would be wise to try to navigate that with 4 kids late at night. In that instance, we booked a private taxi through our hotel.

The other time we booked private transport was when we arrived by ferry on the island of Paros, and we had to get to our hotel. It was midday, but we weren't sure we would have our bearings enough to figure out public transportation, so we once again splurged. We booked that one through our hotel, too. By the end of our time in Paros we were comfortable enough with the bus system to take the bus back to the port.

$75 - water bus from Marco Polo Airport to Venice
$257.14 - Train to Florence
$146 - Train to Rome:
$56 - train from Rome to airport
$100 - Boat to Burano
$452.56 - Ferry to and from Paros
$100 - Private transfer from Athens Airport to hotel
$100 - Private transfer from port to hotel in Paros
$119 - bus fares around the island of Paros

TOTAL TRANSPORTATION COST: $1405.70

Budget Travel Tip: Since transportation ended up eating up a large part of our budget, my best advice to save money would be to stay in each place for a longer period, or to purchase a Eurail pass if you plan on traveling to multiple countries that are connected by train.

Tours and Entry Fees

Activities like museums, tours, and visiting ancient ruins and iconic landmarks were our main priorities on this trip. We booked several small group tours, and had great experiences with most of them. We only splurged on one private tour which ruined our budget, and the tour we booked was underwhelming at best. I'm not against private tours. I just think next time I decide to spend that much money on one, I'll get personal recommendations from other people. All the reviews I read about our private tour were positive, but our experience was just not what we expected.

We had a great time taking a Pizza Making Class in Rome, and our Colosseum small group tour was outstanding. Those are my two top recommendations for tours in Italy, though I also think it's a good idea to take a guided tour of the Vatican.

While in Venice, you absolutely must take a gondola ride once in your life. Though it's not cheap, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience that you can't replicate anywhere else! (Not even at the Venetian in Las Vegas).

Firenze Card: $170
Vatican Tour: $450
Colosseum: $300
Pizza Making Class: $300
Doge’s Palace: $118
Athens Tour: $800
Gondola: $80

TOTAL COST FOR ACTIVITIES: $2138

Food

While our food budget was more than we normally spend on regular groceries in 2 weeks at home, we also were able to keep it pretty budget-friendly by shopping at local markets and grocery stores and making use of the full kitchen in most of our accommodations.

The restaurants we ate at in Italy were very affordable, as we mostly just wanted to eat as much pasta, pizza, and gelato as possible. We made most of our meals in Greece, though we ate at a few restaurants so we could try some local food!

TOTAL COST FOR FOOD: $908.67

Once again, the total cost to visit Europe for 2 weeks with a family of 6 was $13,770.24, which breaks down to around $2295.04 per person.

Because we moved around so much, transportation was a huge cost for us, in addition to several small group and private tours. There are ways to make this trip more budget-friendly if you want to keep the cost closer to $10,000. European trips can vary widely in price depending on the time of year, how many members of your family there are, which activities and tours you plan to do, and how often you move around.

Budget Travel Tips

Here are my best money-saving tips for taking the whole family to Europe!

Book Hotels As Far in Advance As Possible

European hotels have strict occupancy limits. If you want rooms that fit larger families, you'll have to book them as far in advance as you can.

Finding one large room to fit your family is usually cheaper than 2 small rooms, and you don't have to worry about things like cleaning or figuring out how to get in the apartment which can sometimes be an issue with booking through Airbnb. (We have booked Airbnb in Europe and it was fine for the most part, but sometimes hotels are just a better option).

My process for finding these types of hotel rooms is to search on Booking.com with the number of people in our family, setting the parameter of 1 hotel room. I love that Booking shows you on the results page how many rooms will fit your party, and what the sleeping arrangements are.

Once I find a result that fits our family, whether that's one hotel room or 2 connecting, I go directly to the hotel's website and book there. If there is no website for the property, then I will book through Booking.com. I haven't had any issues so far.

Another option that I've been using for an upcoming trip to Belgium and the Netherlands is to search on the tourism board's website. There is usually a section for recommended hotel rooms, and sometimes you can filter by "family rooms." If you can't find it, just enter the term "family rooms" in the search bar. You can also search for something called "aparthotels" (apartment hotels), which are fairly common in European cities.

Saving Money on Food

First of all, shop at local markets and grocery stores. Not only is this a great option for saving money, but it's a fun way to get a peek into the local culture. Our kids love comparing things like cookies and breakfast cereals to the ones they have back home. Plus we learned local customs, like weighing your produce before going to checkout in Italy and Greece. We love grabbing bread, cheese, apples, and cookies and setting up a picnic in a local park. We did this under the Eiffel Tower one evening in Paris, and it's one of my favorite memories.

If you're comfortable trying cheap street food, that can be a great way to sample local cuisine for the budget traveler.

Finally, we like to eat one big meal at a restaurant per day, usually lunch. Lunches tend to be cheaper than dinners, and we can eat gelato in the evening, then supplement with fruit, vegetables, bread, and snacks back at our accommodations.

Do as Many Free Activities as You Can

You can still visit the iconic museums and landmarks, but the good news is that there are a lot of fun free things to do with kids in European cities, too! Playgrounds and parks are fun things to do, and free walking tours can be a great way to learn about the rich history of the city you're visiting in without breaking the bank.

Ticket prices and entry fees can add up, so checking to see if the city offers a city card to give discounted rates is a great option for families. It can feel like a big investment upfront, but in the long run, it will save you money.

And, of course, some sights are free to visit on your own, like the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Take Public Transportation

Another way to keep travel costs down is to learn how to use the local metro or bus system. Nowadays, you can easily do a Google search for each city's local transportation app to help you navigate your way around the city.

We try to walk everywhere we can, but sometimes taking the bus or subway is a good option, too.

Sign up For Travel Credit Cards

The best way I know of to get steeply discounted travel is to make use of sign-up bonuses with travel reward credit cards. Many cards will award users a large sum of points or miles if they spend a certain amount in the first 3 or 4 months of opening the card. Just use the one card for all of your normal expenses like gas, groceries, clothes, sports fees, and Amazon purchases to get the sign-up bonus.

Then use those points for free hotel stays or international flights where you only have to pay taxes and fees.

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