When you hear the phrase ‘Travel to Europe’, perhaps what comes to mind is Syahrini landing spoiled on a luxury charter plane, shopping for bags for a car in Paris, and slipping spoiled in Iceland.
Must be, expensive, really, huh?
Of course expensive. But don’t worry, even though our wallets are not as thick as syahrini’s, we can still travel to Europe. Of course at a relatively affordable cost. Well, I want to try to share a little experience when I went to Europe in 2017 and then in this post.
For about two weeks traveling to several European countries, I spent about 15 million rupiah including airplane. I think this is relatively cheap considering the distance from Jakarta to Amsterdam is about 13 hours of flight!
Try me breakdown one by one huh~
1. Flight from Jakarta to Europe
If you want cheap, of course you have to be observant with flight promos that are often circulating. Don’t just look at the promos that come from Indonesia. But look at neighboring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
The normal PP ticket price from Jakarta to Europe is around 10-15 million.
I myself got a promo for 5 million with Garuda Indonesia on the Jakarta – Amsterdam PP route. Non-stop flights without transit.
Also read: European Touchdown, Amsterdam!
My friend once got a promo for Qatar Airways 4.5 million PP from Jakarta, with one stop in Doha. Airlines like Qatar have many routes to Europe, so you can choose, for example, departing from Jakarta – Amsterdam, returning from Venice – Jakarta. If you buy a PP Garuda ticket like me, the risk is that you have to come back from Amsterdam again.
When I went to Athens with LCC Scoot airlines, the promo price was around 3.5 million also round trip from Singapore.
So here you have to be diligent in following social media, newsletters, and maybe traveler groups on Facebook so you can buy them right away if you get the chance. Because usually this promo is very limited in the number of seats.
2. The cost of making a schengen visa
The cost for a schengen visa via the Dutch embassy via VFS is 60 euros, plus a handling fee of 25 euros, so a total of 85 euros.
If converted into around 1.3 million rupiah. If you go through other countries it can be cheaper or more expensive. But about that number.
Also read: Making a European Schengen Visa through VFS Global Netherlands
3. Lodging
In Europe for hostels it is in the range of 30-40 Euros per bed per night. Around 400-500 thousand rupiah. It’s good in hostels because you can cook in the kitchen. If you travel a lot, try checking Airbnb too because it can save you a lot.
Check also business hotels. Sometimes on weekends they are cheap. Like when I was in Antwerp, Belgium, I got a three-star hotel for about 500 thousand rupiah. Because I was traveling alone, of course this was much cheaper than booking a hostel with two beds.
4. Food
European food, if I may say, is not as delicious as Asian food. Especially for our tongues that are used to rice and micin this.
For the price of food in cafes/restaurants, it’s pretty decent. For example, I once bought rice rames at an Indonesian restaurant for 13 euros (which contained rice, stewed meat, vegetables). Street food like fries with currywurst sausage in Berlin is around 5 euros.
Usually for breakfast or dinner I cook myself at the hostel. You can buy groceries in supermarkets like Lidl. Bread like croissants are cheap there too. You can buy eggs, vegetables, and fish at a pretty hefty price. For 10 euros, it might be possible to feed two people 3-4 times. Fruits like grapes are also very cheap compared to Indonesia!
Bring instant noodles from Indonesia? Of course I brought it. But the amount is not too much about 5 pieces for 2 weeks. Think of it as a backup food, not a main meal. Do you go all the way to Europe to eat Indomie?
5. Transportation
In each city there is usually a day pass for tourists. Usually for 1, 3, or 5 days. If you really want to get around the whole city, you can try this pass. So we can use buses and trains as much as we like during the day. But if you want to save money, just walk haha!
For the cheapest transportation between countries, of course, take the bus. Several times I took Flixbus for short distances like Paris – Amsterdam (3 hours) to long distances like Berlin – Prague (more than 10 hours). The bus is quite comfortable.
Also read: Berlin at the weekend
It’s more comfortable by train. Especially if you buy a Euro rail pass. But the price is quite hefty enough to make me think a few times. After all, I only visited 4 countries so I don’t need a railpass. Unless you’re out for a month or so.
Just like in Japan, the price of the train can be more expensive than the price of the plane. So try to check the price of the plane too. But don’t forget to also calculate the fare to and from the airport, because sometimes the airport is very far from the city center!
6. Others
To enter a museum or other places you should also consider. For example, to enter the louvre museum in Paris it costs around 17 euros.
But if I’m personally not too interested in museums, I’d prefer to join free walking tour. Usually the guides are local people, just look for those who speak English. We just give tips as much as we can to the guide.
Hope it helps for your vacation to Europe later! 🙂
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