How much does a trip to Germany cost? Daily budget and prices

Germany is mid-priced by Western European standards: cheaper than Switzerland or Norway, close to France, and cheaper than the UK for food and local transport. The three tiers below are per person per day, with a room shared at mid-range and comfort. Long-distance trains are not included.

The gap between tiers comes mostly from the bed and the evening meal. A hostel dorm and a bakery lunch leave room for one paid sight a day at budget level; a 3★ double and a restaurant dinner is the usual mid-range pattern; comfort adds taxis, wine and first-class rail.

Munich and Hamburg run roughly 20–30% above Berlin or Leipzig for hotels and restaurant meals. Frankfurt is close behind on weeknights because of business travel. Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and much of the east are the cheapest city stays, and smaller towns in Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are cheaper again outside the coast in July and August.

Season matters as much as city. November to early March, excluding Christmas market weeks and school holidays, is the cheapest stretch for beds. Late June to early September is peak, and the coast and Bavaria's lakes fill first. Oktoberfest in Munich and large trade fairs such as those in Frankfurt, Hanover and Düsseldorf can double or triple hotel rates for their dates — check your dates against fair calendars before booking.

Food is where Germany is easiest on the wallet. Bakeries sell a roll or pretzel for around €1–2 and a filled sandwich for €3–5, which makes breakfast cheap. Lunch specials (Mittagstisch) at ordinary restaurants often run €9–14 for a main, while an evening main course in a mid-range restaurant is more like €14–22. A döner kebab is €7–9 in Berlin, where prices have risen fast, and cheaper in smaller cities.

Drinks: a half litre of beer in a bar or beer garden is €4.50–6.50, an Oktoberfest litre €15–16 (check), and coffee at a café €3–4.50. Supermarket food is far cheaper than restaurants — a picnic lunch of bread, cheese and fruit costs a few euros. Bottles and cans carry a deposit (Pfand) of €0.08–0.25, returned at supermarket machines for a voucher, so keep the receipt and the empties.

Hostel dorms in Berlin, Leipzig or Dresden are commonly €25–45 a night, with private hostel rooms €50–80. A 3★ double in a mid-sized city is around €80–130; the same room in Munich or Hamburg is often €110–180. Comfort hotels start near €150 and climb quickly in fair and festival weeks.

Two money-savers work well. Booking direct with small hotels and guesthouses (Pension, Gasthof) often beats platform prices, and staying one stop outside the centre on the S-Bahn or U-Bahn can cut the rate without adding much travel time. Apartments and Airbnb-style stays are common but many cities restrict short-term rentals, so availability is thinner than in southern Europe.

Local transport is cheap if you buy the right ticket. A single ride in Berlin AB is €3.80 (check), but day tickets and 7-day passes cut the per-ride cost sharply. The Deutschlandticket, about €63 a month (check), covers regional trains, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses nationwide — it does not cover ICE, IC or EC long-distance trains. For a trip of a week or more with several bases, it usually beats buying point-to-point tickets.

Long-distance ICE fares are dynamic: booked 3–6 weeks ahead, a Berlin–Munich one-way can be around €60; bought on the day it can be two or three times that. Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis fares are tied to a specific train, so they are cheap but inflexible. If you are covering several regions, compare a German Rail Pass or a Eurail pass against the sum of your advance fares before buying.

Travel in the low season, base in the east, and eat your main meal at lunch. Those three moves alone can take a mid-range trip down toward the budget tier. Bakeries and supermarkets handle breakfast and picnic lunches; restaurant dinners two or three times a week rather than every night keeps food near €30–40 a day.

On transport, buy the Deutschlandticket if you are staying a week or more and moving between cities on regional trains, and book ICE legs as soon as your dates are fixed. Many museums have cheaper or free entry on certain evenings, and city tourism cards bundle transport with discounts — worth comparing only if you will actually use the sights included. Carry some cash: card acceptance has improved, but some bakeries, bars and small restaurants still take only cash or Girocard, and a foreign Visa or Mastercard may be rejected even where the logos appear.

The currency is the euro (EUR). Card acceptance has improved but is not universal: some bakeries, bars, kiosks and small restaurants are still cash only, and some taxis too — ask before you order. Girocard, the German debit system, is not the same as your card: a sign reading 'EC-Karte' or 'Girocard only' may still reject a foreign Visa or Mastercard even when their logos are shown.

Tipping is simple: round up or add about 5–10% when you pay, and tell the server the total rather than leaving coins on the table. Bottles and cans carry a deposit (Pfand) of €0.08–0.25, returned at supermarket machines for a voucher. For a full trip estimate by style, use the trip cost estimator and adjust for your dates and cities.