How Much Money We Spent Traveling in a Camper Van for 4 Weeks in Europe

This Europe trip was a last minute trip that we did little planning for and we wanted it to be an affordable trip. We found pretty cheap flights into London, UK and then we were able to do the van rental out of London. Had we flown into a different European city like Paris for example, the van rental price would have been comparable. In the end, it probably came out in the wash because we ended up paying for ferries to get from the UK into France but we were ultimately really happy with the fact that we got to visit Scotland. We read really promising reviews about the van rental place – Getaway Camper Vans and at the end of the trip, we were very happy with the company! 

One thing that we really did a poor job of calculating/understanding was the cost of fuel. At the end of the day, we’re pretty sure one could do a similar trip while staying in cheap hotels and driving a small rental car, but having the van was definitely part of the adventure for us. 

So this information is useful and relevant for you, there are a few things you should probably understand about us. Yes, we like to eat, but we do not plan our trips/days around food. We had a small fridge in the van so we tried to buy groceries and eat relatively cheaply. We occasionally stopped at restaurants for meals, but did not ever eat anywhere super “fancy.” We would splurge once in a while on something like gelato and then we got in the habit of getting some OJ and fresh chocolate croissants in the morning. So while we didn’t eat at fancy restaurants, we stopped for food when it looked enticing and spoiled ourselves with fresh pastries etc. I do feel like this cut down on our cost and what we would’ve paid in CO for the month for groceries probably would have been similar (if not more! Groceries are so cheap in Europe). We also don’t drink alcohol which really helps with the budget. 

Here’s the breakdown: 

Food – $594

Fuel – $1662

Transport – $520 (ferry tickets from Uk to France, tolls costs (not cheap!), parking, trains, camper parking, etc.)

Lodging – $76 (we only paid for one night in a hotel, all other nights in the van with the exception of Spain when we met up with Tyson’s family)

Misc. – $237 (including our tour in Normandy and other random findings)

Cash – $500 (some cash went to fuel in Italy, some went to misc. costs we don’t really know where this money went to be honest, which is why we hate traveling with cash)

Plane Tickets – $880 (2 round-trip tickets from Denver to London)

Van Rental – $1431

Broken Window- $330

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Total: $6230

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We were honestly so surprised that we ended up spending over $6000 on this trip as that is not what we intended at all. We didn’t really have a budget for the trip and I think next time we would research more diligently. Of course, if you didn’t drive nearly XXX miles, your fuel cost would be much lower. If you ate out at really nice restaurants every night for dinner your food cost would be much higher. Oh, if you didn’t park in a shitty area and get broken into, you would save some money as well. Hopefully, this can be helpful for some of you looking to head out on a Europe Adventure. 

More reads you may want to check out:

Our Europe Adventure 

Our Getaway Camper Van Rental Experience

The Best Way to Stay Connected in Europe: Coming Soon!