One Week in the German Rhine Valley: How much did it cost?

Castles. Hiking. Half-timbered towns. Beer and wine. July 12-19, 2020 gave us our fill of each as we spent one fantastic week in the Rhine River Valley. Curious what it cost us? Read below for an overview. But first, we feel it’s important to give you a bit of background before you view the numbers; otherwise, they might not actually be that helpful! So in the nature of good communication, give the following a read first:

Why we share our expenses

“Isn’t it getting a little personal to share on a blog how you spend your money?” Well, that’s one way of looking at it; but here’s another: Before we started traveling, we had no idea what it would actually cost. We figured traveling Europe was mostly for the wealthy, or for those “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences you save for your entire life. It was through others like us who were willing to get a little personal and post their spending and budgets that we started to realize that we, too, might be able to enjoy traveling Europe—even on our budget! I mean, sure, you can blow it out and take luxury trips, and there’s no limit to the amount of money you can spend! But that’s only one way to travel. We hope that sharing our spending will help you discover your style of travel, too. In addition to helping you, we find that it helps us as well! Writing posts about our spending forces us to actually track it, keeping us to a budget and allowing us to make adjustments as necessary.

Some apprehensions (translated: why we almost didn’t start sharing our spending at all!)

• We’re not trying to brag or to impress you. We hope that nothing about this comes across as prideful. We’re grateful that we get to do all that we do, and we know that many can’t. But for those who want to travel more or travel differently, we hope it’s a window into possibilities and a doorway into transformational travels for you, too!
• We probably don’t travel the way you imagine someone traveling Europe. We work while we go, to earn money to sustain our travels longer. We skip out on a lot in order to save money (experiences that travel guides would consider “essential” (yeah, we’ve missed plenty of them!). We stay in one place longer and rest more. Because, let’s face it, a permanent vacation would just be exhausting!
• It’s a ton of work. It takes a lot of time to put a post like this together. And it might raise more questions than it answers. If that’s the case, leave us a comment or send us a message! We’d love to tweak these reports over time to make them more helpful—in fact, it’s because so many of you have asked that we’re creating these at all!

How to Benefit From These Spending Reports

There are probably as many travel styles, priorities, and budgets out there as there are people in the world! And you would probably do a lot of things differently. So keep the following in mind as you read to make this information as useful as possible:

• We are a married couple traveling together. Obviously these numbers would be lower for a single person, or greater for a family with children.
• This report begins upon our arrival in St. Goar and wraps up with our departure. The costs of getting to and from a travel destination can vary widely, depending on whether you’re coming from the U.S. or from within Europe, for example. Therefore, we’ve attempted as much as possible to allow this report to reflect actual costs. If you’re looking for a run-down of everything we spend while traveling long-term, stay tuned for our month-by-month expense reports!
• This report doesn’t include the use of any credit card points and miles. Though we leverage points and miles extensively to minimize our travel costs, we’re sharing the full cost of everything without those factored in. We’re doing this in order to make this report as accurate and helpful as possible. If you want to see how we used points and miles to minimize our costs during this trip, stay tuned for our monthly reports.

So take our info and personalize it for your own trip to the Rhine Valley! And finally, here we go!

The Cost of 1 Week in the Rhine Valley: $647

Lodging: $384

We stayed 7 nights in an apartment in St. Goar with 2 bedrooms, a living room, full kitchen, private bath, laundry access, parking, and a balcony on the riverfront. Not bad for an average of $55/night!

Transportation: $56

**We’re currently leasing a car long-term, so this figure excludes any rental costs. Gas: $30. We took day trips along the most beautiful section of the Rhine from Bingen to Koblenz, through the Mosel River valley and into the town of Cochem, and into the oldest city in German, Trier. Ferry across the river across the river and back: $8.61. We did this for a grocery trip; but it was also a fun way to be on the river and explore a bit of the east bank (we stayed on the west bank) since bridges are rare. Train from Oberwesel to St. Goar: $7.03. We hiked from St. Goar, up and along the ridge for breathtaking views of the Rhine, and descended into Oberwesel. This was the cost of our train to get back to St. Goar. Parking fees: $10.08. A few hours each while wandering around Koblenz, Cochem, and Trier.

Food: $179

Groceries: $54 Restaurants: $40  We only ate out for one meal, which was dinner our first night. We shared everything: an appetizer (fried potato logs filled with cheese), entree (4 pork schnitzel medallions with spaetzle and salad), and dessert (apple strudel) at a typical German restaurant in a small square in St. Goar. I had a local beer while Jana enjoyed a Sprite. Cafes, drinks, and treats: $64 This is where we like to splurge! We’ve learned that if we’re willing to eat most of our meals at home, we can enjoy plenty of coffee, pastries, gelato, and drinks out on the town!

• 4 cafe visits for pastries and coffee
• 4 stops for gelato
• Beer and brat at a local beer garden
• Beer and apple juice after a long hike
• Flammkuchen to go with our wine tasting

Food Experiences: $21

• Wine Tasting: $18. In Bacharach, we tasted 6 different Rieslings from a local vineyard.
• Mustard Tasting: $3. Sounds weird, but it was fun to try honey mustard, beer mustard, garlic mustard, and the traditional mustard from a place that’s been making mustard using the same cold-press method for over 200 years!

Experiences: $28

• Bike Rental for a day: $23. Biking along the Rhine River, from St. Goar to Bacharach and back, was one of the highlights of our trip!
• Mustard Factory Tour: $5. The main reason we did the mustard tasting (see above) is because we visited the factory and learned all about their process for producing mustard.

How We Saved Money in the Rhine Valley

Many tactics were helpful to us in decreasing what could have otherwise been a costly week. But the most helpful were:

• Booking an apartment from a local
• Staying for an entire week
• Buying groceries and eating most dinners at home
• Packing food in a day pack when out exploring

If you’re interested in more money-saving strategies, check out our post: 70+ Ways We Save Money Traveling Europe. Or subscribe below to get a weekly email update, including announcements when we publish new travel expense reports!