Berlin is a great place to travel to. It is filled with beautiful scenery, impressive architecture, and all the museums and art galleries you could ever need.
If you’re considering traveling to Berlin, you’re probably wondering how expensive it is to survive on a daily basis.
If you need to budget and put aside money for your trip, then you’ll need to know roughly how much it’s going to cost you.
In this article, we’ll be going over everything you need to know about the different prices in Berlin, from food and public transportation, all the way to accommodation. So let’s get started!
How Expensive Is It In Berlin?
You might think that it’s really expensive to stay in Berlin, but the actual cost might surprise you a bit.
If you’re a budget traveler, you can get by in Berlin on about €40-€75 a day.
If you want to upgrade your accommodation or you want to upgrade anything on your holiday from budget to a bit more luxurious, then you’re going to end up adding at least €100-€200 to that overall price.
But it’s definitely possible to get by on €40-€75 and still have a good time. Berlin is one of the cheaper places you can visit and it’s not very taxing on your finances.
Food Prices
Food prices are pretty good in Berlin and you won’t go hungry during your stay.
Pretty much all of your meals will be filling and if you are fond of beer, you should know that it’s quite cheap in Berlin.
Let’s have a look at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and how much you’ll roughly be spending.
Breakfast
If you’re staying in a hotel, even a budget one, most of them will offer a free breakfast each morning.
These breakfasts are quite simple, and usually include some form of cereal, some bread or a croissant, and in some cases milk, coffee, tea, or juice.
If you’re really lucky, you might even be offered cold-cut meats and cheese!
If a hotel breakfast isn’t for you then you can explore Berlin and look for a cafe, and we promise, there is no shortage of them!
These cafes will offer you a lovely and filling breakfast that will cost you somewhere between €5-€10.
You can also check out bakeries and grocery stores which are pretty cheap too. Pastries can be as cheap as €1 and coffees and tea can be anywhere between €2-€4.
Lunch
Currywurst and bratwurst are two very popular dishes to enjoy for lunch, and there are plenty of takeaways in Berlin where you can purchase them. This will usually cost you around €2.50.
If you’d prefer a pizza, you can get them as cheap as €3-€5, so you don’t have to worry about being set back too much if you go for this option.
If you really want to budget and save money, you can head to one of Berlin’s grocery stores and pick up bread, deli meat, cheese, and even fruit, and it won’t cost you more than a few euros.
You can make your own sandwiches that are tasty for half the price of going out and buying a ready-made one.
You also have the option of other takeaway shops, that sell things like kebabs, which will only cost you about €3.50 each.
Dinner
Dinner is going to be the most expensive meal of the three, but that doesn’t mean the prices are going to be extortionate.
There are lots of local restaurants within Berlin that serve top-quality meals for prices between €8-€10, so you won’t go hungry for dinner.
If you fancy a burger, you can find lots of burger places that sell them for around €3.50 and they are of high quality too.
If you really want to keep your spending low, you can even take some of the lunch options and use them for dinner. It depends on how much you want to spend.
Public Transport
Because Berlin is such a huge city, you are undoubtedly going to need to use public transportation during your stay.
Berlin is very accommodating with their means of transportation too. You can choose from subways, trains, trams, buses, bikes, and taxis.
Something you should know before you go is that the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, bus, tram, and regional rail all allow you to use the same ticket per day, so you can definitely save money by using these options.
Here are some of the prices of popular public transport in Berlin:
- Single One-Way Ticket: €3.40
- Short Distance (three stop) Single One-Way Ticket: €1.70
- Day Card: €7.00
- Small Group Ticket (for up to five people — This is the most cost-effective for three people and above.): €20
- Bike Rental: €8-€12/day
Accommodation
Accommodation is where most of your money is going to be spent. There are three main options when it comes to accommodation in Berlin, so let’s have a look at them.
Hostels
Hostels usually cost anywhere between €15-€38 a night. If you want to stay in one of the better hostels, you will be spending between €25-€38 a night.
It should be noted, however, that these prices are for shared rooms. If you want a private room, it will cost around €50-€70.
Hotels
The cheapest hotels are going to cost between €40-€100 a night, but if you want to stay in a cheaper hotel that’s a bit nicer, anything over €70 a night is the best option for you.
Rental Apartments
Rental apartments are great because they are bigger than hotels and they are as private as you’re going to get.
They usually cost between €65-€100 a night. You can look into Airbnb, but it’s recommended that these aren’t a great option for shorter stays.
Conclusion
As long as you’re resourceful and creative, Berlin can be quite an inexpensive trip to go on.
The prices we’ve discussed here are all on the cheaper side and more budget options, so if you want something a bit more luxurious, just know that the prices will go up.