After my one-month stay in Zagreb, Croatia, it was time to head to Switzerland for a snow-dusted winter in the Alps. The train ride from Zagreb to Interlaken is a long one—about 15 hours on trains if you do it all in one fell swoop. So while I was planning, I looked for a way to break it up. What was the halfway point? Was there anything there I’d been itching to see?
I consulted my places-to-visit map and was thrilled to realize that Innsbruck, Austria—a town known for its pretty mountain views and outdoorsy opportunities—was just past the halfway mark.
So I booked a week in a shared apartment about 20 minutes from the city center. As usual, I kept track of my spending. So here’s what it cost me.
How Much My Trip to Austria Cost (Real Budget Numbers)
| Category | Dollars | Euros |
| Accommodations | $299.85 | 263.46 |
| Transportation (national/international) | $36.16 | 32 |
| Transportation (local) | ||
| Groceries | $110.65 | 97.22 |
| Supplies | ||
| Eating/drinking out | $65.10 | 57.20 |
| Luna (vet bills, supplies) | ||
| Health & wellness | ||
| Totals | $511.76 | 449.88 |
Innsbruck Budget Notes
It’s important to note that the above expenses are my spending for a solo week. My partner was in Asia on business, so there are no shared expenses above.
For Innsbruck accommodation, I found my room for rent on Airbnb. I was about 20 minutes on foot from the city center and lived with three roommates in a four-bedroom (though the roommates weren’t really around and one was out of town completely during my stay).
Transportation was the cost of a train ticket from Zagreb to Innsbruck. I walked from the train station to my Airbnb, so no bus or cab fare included. I also walked everywhere while I was in town, so I don’t have any local transport costs. If you use buses or trams, expect that line item to grow.
I mostly ate in, but I did have a couple meals out when my friend Ali visited early in the week and I did have some lovely gluhwein (mulled wine) at the Christmas markets.
I haven’t included any health and wellness costs. My monthly cost for insurance abroad is $165. So if you want to break it down technically, you could add 1/4 of that as the cost for this one week.
Finally, it’s worth noting that short stays always cost more than longer stays. If I stayed for a month, there were Airbnb room rentals under $500 and my transport cost would be spread across four to five weeks instead of one. Which is one of the reasons we tend to travel so slowly.
Keep in mind that the above budget is my day-to-day living and exploring costs and does not include my business expenses and certain personal expenses like books, movie rentals, and replacing water bottles and clothes. I figure those things are too personal and variable to be helpful if you’re using these budgets to figure out your own trip costs, so I generally pull them out.
Want to see more nomad budgets? Check out this extensive piece with links to all my published budgets from the last six+ years.