Earlier this year, I posted about our planned trip for two from Berlin to Budapest. We departed from Boston, USA on 13 November, 2025 and landed back in Boston on 22 November, 2025.
While we normally book our own travel independently, we chose to travel with Intrepid on their Berlin to Budapest itinerary, which included 7 nights of accommodation, train tickets between the 5 cities along the route, an orientation walking tour in each city, and several breakfasts.
Total Accommodation and Train Tickets: $2,71.50
We also bought an annual travel insurance plan from Travel Insured International.
Travel Insurance: $188
Our airline tickets cost more than I had hoped (was looking to spend more like $1600 for both of us). We flew from Boston, USA to Berlin, Germany with a layover in Frankfurt. The return flights from Budapest, Hungary involved a layover at Heathrow Airport in London, UK. The route home did not feel efficient, but we thought the three-hour layover in Heathrow was a better bet for making our connection than shorter layover at alternate airports.
Total for Plane Tickets: $2,432.58 (including seat selection)
Total for Airport Parking and Shuttle: $106
We arrived a day early for our tour as an insurance policy against travel delays, so we paid for an additional night in the first hostel booked by our tour group in Berlin. We also splurged for early check-in, and we bought several Deutsche Bahn tickets prior to our transit passes being covered by the tour.
Additional Travel expenses: $125.18
Our next largest expense was food on the trip. While most breakfasts were included in our trip package from Intrepid, we paid for all other mails independently. We made little effort to economize, being sure to try the local beer and wine and sample as many desserts as possible. We did share with our fellow tour group travellers, but we were all of the same mind in terms of splurging within reason. The restaurants we chose were all modest and featured local specialties, or we ate at outdoor Christmas market stalls with the locals. We also picked up a few snacks and drinks from a grocery store in Germany.
Total for food: $677.26
I seldom bring toiletries on international trips, choosing to select small bottles wherever I travel and then do my best to finish them off before I return home. I also bought an EU phone charger when we arrived, having had such poor luck with adaptors over my past few trips to Europe. I've spent probably $40 on ill-fitting chargers over the years, which are now replaced by one $13 charger that fit every socket on the trip perfectly.
Total for toiletries (and phone charger): $29.06
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