On Sunday, May 26th, 2024, I left San Francisco for Copenhagen.
21 days later, on Saturday, June 15th, I returned from Lisbon (Portugal).
In between these dates, I spent
- 1 night in Copenhagen (Denmark)
- 5 nights in Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- 2 nights in Brussels (Belgium)
- 3 nights in Paris (France)
- 3 nights in Couvet (Switzerland), where I ran the Swiss Canyon Trail 111K, about 1.5 hours north of Geneva
- 4 nights in Geneva (Switzerland)
- 1 nights in Lisbon (Portugal)
- Effectively 2 nights in the air (1 on the way there, and 1 on the way back)
The total recorded monetary cost of this trip was about $4081, or $194/day (counting the 2 days in the air) or $215/day (excluding the 2 days in the air). This total doesn’t include perhaps 25-ish euros in cash I had from my trip to Germany last Sept-Oct. It also doesn’t include remaining settlements I have with friends in Amsterdam (which will add around 20-30 euros to the total).
Cost Breakdown
As usual, flights, lodging and food predictably comprised about 3/4 of the total. The cost of flying there and back made up about a third of the total cost. I overpaid in cash (vs points or miles) partly because it was easier to find flights with long layover this way, partly because I didn’t know exactly when I wanted to return, and partly because I booked my flights virtually at the last minute:
- My flight out of SF was booked about 3 weeks before I left.
- My flight back to SF was booked just about 4 weeks before that flight
Lodging made up about a quarter, and would have been more expensive if I hadn’t stayed with friends for the entire time I explored Amsterdam. As usual, because I was traveling solo and because I wanted opportunities to meet other folks, many of my stays were at hostels, with the main exception in Couvet.
I ate fairly well many nights, but also relied on grocery stories for many dinners. In total, food made up about 20% the cost.
Public transit was surprisingly more expensive than I had expected. To travel in-between cities, I mostly bought tickets from NS International and SBB (within Switzerland). Because I bought every ticket at the last minute (categorized as within 72 hours of departure, or at the gate), I paid the most expensive, non-1st-class price for each ticket!
