How Much We Spent Traveling in the Netherlands

Now that I’ve shown you the overview of how much we spent traveling in Europe this past May and June, I thought it would be helpful to break it down by location. Andy and I spent 11 nights in the Netherlands: 5 nights in Amsterdam, 4 nights in Rotterdam during the travel blogging conference, and 2 nights in Rotterdam after the conference. Our accommodations, activities and most of our food on the post-conference trip were covered by the tourism board and a few meals during the conference were provided by TBU, so my numbers show how much we spent traveling in the Netherlands for 9 days.

Total Netherlands travel costs

928€ / $1,222.74 – accommodation
132.60€ / $174.71 – trains
59€ / $77.74 – other transportation
375.61€ / $494.82 – food and alcohol
86€ / $113.28 – activities
65.15€ / $85.82 – miscellaneous
1,646.36€ / $2,169.11 – total

Accommodation spending in the Amsterdam and Rotterdam – 928€

In Amsterdam we rented an apartment from Airbnb for 5 nights which cost 548€, so 109.60€ per night. It’s not a particularly cheap city for lodging, and we had a hard time finding apartments for less than 100€ a night that met our requirements. Fortunately we really liked where we stayed. It was close to a grocery store, close to the tram lines, and there was a washer in the apartment.

In Rotterdam we rented a canal boat that had been converted into 2 apartments. It was 380€ for 4 nights, so 95€ per night. We could’ve rented something a little cheaper, but when we found this boat we couldn’t resist. It just seemed like such a fun idea, and we really enjoyed it.

How much trains cost in the Netherlands – 132.60€

This includes our train tickets from Luxembourg to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Rotterdam. This number is for 2 people, so 66.30€ per person.

Other transport spending in the Netherlands – 59€

We bought 5 day public transportation passes in Amsterdam for 26€ per person, and they were totally worth it. We spent a little extra for our transportation to see the tulips in Keukenhof, but I’ve included that in the activities section since we bought it as a package deal.

We also had to buy 2 metro tickets in Rotterdam for 3.50€ per person. We mostly walked in Rotterdam because it’s a smaller city and the places we needed to get to were close to where we were staying.

Food and alcohol costs in the Netherlands- 375.61€

The advantage of having an apartment is being able to cook a few meals to save money. We cooked several times in Amsterdam and ate breakfast at home every day. We also found some cheap and delicious sandwiches at a market near our apartment.

However we probably offset this savings by going to a local brewery with a friend followed by an amazing dinner at a Mexican restaurant and several drinks. In Rotterdam some of our lunches were included with the conference but we still bought food for breakfast and ate dinners out. Overall we averaged about 41.73€ per day, so about 20.86€ per person per day.

Activities spending in the Netherlands- 86€

We decided pretty quickly when we were in Amsterdam that we needed to slow down, so we didn’t spend a lot on activities. Our visit to Keukenhof to see the tulips, including transportation, cost 55€ for the 2 of us. I went to the Anne Frank House which was 9.50€, and while I was there Andy went to the zoo which cost 21.50€.

Miscellaneous spending – 65.15€

Amsterdam was where my old jeans died so I had to buy a new pair. I also bought some earrings, a souvenir thimble for my mom, and we spent 20 cents each to use a bathroom.

Andy and I averaged 182.93€ per day, or 91.46€ per person per day for about 9 days in the Netherlands. As always we could have done this for less if we had cooked more meals instead of eating out, didn’t go out drinking, and sought out cheaper lodging. But this life of travel is a work in progress, and we’re always learning how we can do things better or just differently. If you’re planning a vacation to the Netherlands, this is a good guide to start with when making your own travel budget.

You might also enjoy:

• How Much I Spent Traveling in Amsterdam
• How Much I Spent Traveling in Paris for One Week
• How Much We Spent Traveling in Budapest
• Or check out more real travel budgets