How Much Spending Money Do You Need for a Day Trip Abroad? 26 Cities Compared
Spending money for a day trip abroad runs from £19.25 in Faro to £64.05 in Oslo, covering the airport transfer, local transport, lunch and dinner. Most cities come in between £25.00 and £45.00 a person.
See the day trip to Milan Malpensa
Everyone looks at the flight price. Nobody looks at what the day costs once you land, and that's where a £28.00 trip turns into £80.00.
So here's the honest answer to how much spending money you need. We took the ground cost from our own trip pages for 26 cities. That's the airport transfer there and back, getting about town, lunch and dinner, per person. Paid sights and shopping are on top. Figures from our trip pages on 28 October 2026.
Under £30, the cheap days
- Faro £19.25 lunch £8.00 and dinner £11.25. The town is small enough to walk.
- Prague £23.60 £4.00 for the bus in and out, £5.00 on trams, lunch £5.60, dinner £9.00.
- Kraków £25.50 lunch at £4.00 is the cheapest on the list.
- Wrocław £25.50 the airport bus is £2.00 there and back.
- Lisbon £28.00 £2.00 on the metro to town and back, lunch £8.00, dinner £12.00.
- Tirana £28.15 £6.00 on the Rinas Express, lunch £6.40, dinner £15.75.
£30 to £45, most of Europe
- Alicante £30.75
- Gdańsk £31.70
- Málaga £32.30
- Palma £32.65
- Shannon £33.00
- Seville £33.25
- Barcelona £37.85
- Berlin £38.60
- Cologne £38.65
- Dublin £38.85
- Basel £41.40
- Turin £42.00
- Amsterdam £43.65
This is where most day trips land. Spain sits at the bottom of the band, northern Europe at the top, and the difference is mostly the price of dinner.
Want to see where your money actually goes? BudgetBro tracks it in any currency, free.
Over £45, budget for it
- Zurich £50.10 £13.00 for transport, lunch £17.60.
- Cork £55.85 the airport bus alone is £14.00 there and back.
- Milan Malpensa £56.00 the coach into town is £14.00.
- Vienna £56.30 £10.00 on the Railjet, dinner £25.50.
- Rome £57.15 £24.00 on the Leonardo Express, the dearest transfer here.
- Copenhagen £62.20 dinner is £36.00 on its own.
- Oslo £64.05 £20.00 on the airport train and £26.25 for dinner.
Where the money really goes
The airport transfer is the thing that catches people out. It's £2.00 in Wrocław and £24.00 in Rome, on flights that can cost the same. Before you book, check how far the airport is from town and what it costs to get in.
Dinner is usually the next big one, from £9.00 in Prague to £36.00 in Copenhagen. If you're watching the pennies, have the big meal at lunch and keep dinner light.
How to keep the day down
- Pick a city where the airport is close. Faro, Wrocław and Lisbon all cost £6.00 or less to get in and out.
- Eat your main meal at lunch, when places do set menus.
- Use a day ticket for transport if the city has one, rather than paying per ride.
- Leave the paid sights to one per trip. Two or three museums can double the day.
Every trip page on BudgetBro adds this up for you, flight plus the day, for the exact date. Search day trips and you'll see the whole-day price on every card.
Want the cheapest whole days we found? Try Faro from Gatwick on 14 December at £60.25 all in, or Prague from Gatwick on New Year's Eve at £88.60.
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Day trips in this article
- Day trip to Milan Malpensa
- Day trip to Copenhagen
- Day trip to Amsterdam
- Day trip to Barcelona
- Day trip to Alicante
- Day trip to Cologne
- Day trip to Wroclaw
- Day trip to Seville
- Day trip to Dublin
- Day trip to Berlin
- Day trip to Zurich
- Day trip to Vienna
- Day trip to Krakow
- Day trip to Gdansk
- Day trip to Prague
- Day trip to Tirana
- Day trip to Malaga
- Day trip to Lisbon
- Day trip to Basel
- Day trip to Turin
- Day trip to Palma
- Day trip to Cork
- Day trip to Oslo
- Day trip to Rome
- Day trip to Faro
The cheapest day trips of the week, by email
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