How much does long-term family travel actually cost day to day? Ben and Claire share their real spending across Spain, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia, breaking down what an ordinary day costs for a family of four, excluding accommodation.

Our Daily Travel Budget

One of the questions we get asked most, in one form or another, is simple: what does a day actually cost? Not a flight, not a big one-off expense, just an ordinary day, eating and living as a family of four. Every figure below excludes accommodation entirely, this is purely food, drink and daily extras.

Here’s what we’ve tracked so far, country by country. Whether or not we have a kitchen is the biggest single variable, but it’s not the only one, the region itself has made a real difference too, and the cost of living has genuinely differed from country to country in ways that go beyond just cooking or eating out.

Country	Daily Spend	Kitchen?	Breakfast Included?
Spain	€145	✅	❌
Albania	€100	❌	✅
Montenegro	€100	❌	✅
Croatia	Under €100	❌	✅

Spain, around €145 a day

We stayed in an apartment with a kitchen, which shaped our spending completely. We did regular food shops and made our own breakfasts, snacks, and some evening meals. We weren’t eating out for every meal, typically once a day, plus drinks, coffees and ice creams along the way. Having a kitchen doesn’t just save money; it changes the whole rhythm of the day.

Albania, around €100 a day, over ten days

No kitchen here. Breakfast was included at our accommodation, but every other meal, snack and drink was bought, restaurants, cafés, shops. We kept a mini fridge stocked for water and cold drinks, which helped, but the core spend was still all eating-out. Notably, this was already meaningfully cheaper than Spain, even without a kitchen, a sign the region itself was a factor, not just our access to cooking.

Montenegro, around €100 a day

The same pattern as Albania: breakfast included, no kitchen, everything else purchased. By this point we’d settled into a rhythm of what a no-kitchen day roughly costs us as a family, and Montenegro landed in a similar bracket to Albania rather than Spain.

Croatia, currently under €100 a day

We chose differently here, an all-inclusive-style hotel with breakfast and a drinks package included. This wasn’t our usual style of accommodation; we picked it specifically because our parents were visiting and we wanted more comfort and ease for them, so they could properly spend time with their grandchildren rather than manage logistics. Drinks are covered, breakfast is covered, and we’re spending under €100 a day on top of that, mainly one meal out a day, at ordinary, unpretentious places. We’re not doing three courses or fancy restaurants anywhere on this trip. We’re just eating what we want, when we want, at a reasonable level.

What We’ve Learned About Daily Spending

What the pattern tells us

Whether we can cook is the single biggest lever on our daily spend, but it isn’t the only one. The region itself has clearly mattered too: Spain came in noticeably higher than everywhere we’ve visited since, kitchen or no kitchen, while Albania, Montenegro and Croatia have all settled into a similar, lower bracket despite different accommodation setups. If you’re budgeting for a similar trip, we’d suggest treating both questions as important: “does this place have a kitchen,” and, just as much, “what’s the general cost of living here”, because the two don’t always move together.

We’ll keep adding to this as we move through the rest of the Balkans and into Central Europe, and we’ll flag anywhere the pattern breaks.

What else is possible, when you can actually see what a day costs instead of guessing at it?

How much does it cost to travel Europe as a family?

So far, we’ve found our daily spending ranges from around €100 to €145 for a family of four, excluding accommodation. The biggest factors are whether we have access to a kitchen and the general cost of living in the country we’re visiting.

Does having a kitchen save money?

Yes. Being able to prepare breakfasts, snacks and some evening meals has made the biggest difference to our daily spending throughout the trip.

Which country has been the most expensive so far?

Spain has been the highest daily spend of the countries we’ve visited, even with access to a kitchen.

Which country has been the cheapest?

So far, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia have all fallen into a similar range of around €100 or less per day, depending on our accommodation and meal arrangements.

Does this include accommodation?

No. These figures only cover our day-to-day spending on food, drinks and everyday extras. Accommodation is excluded.

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Related reading: The Real Numbers: What It Actually Cost Us to Leave the UK · Why We Stopped Planning Ahead