Austria has long been a travel destination for tourists and nature lovers for good reason. However, traveling anywhere costs money. This post will cover an average one-month budget in Austria for travelers.
This historic country is nestled in the northern Alps, where the sun is always shining, and nearly everyone is outside enjoying the beauty of nature. While Austria isn’t usually considered a budget destination, it can definitely be done affordably with a little bit of planning!
We traveled for 2 months in Austria, split between Upper Austria including Salzburg and Hallstatt, as well as in the heart of the Alps, in Tirol near Innsbruck.
Check out what’s waiting for you in Austria, and what you can expect to spend on accommodation, food, transportation, excursions, and general living expenses!
Table of Contents
Accommodation Budget In Austria
Our accommodation is what determines our trips since many Airbnb hosts have a huge discount for any stay over 28 days, especially in the shoulder- and off-seasons. This is what has made living in Austria for 2 months affordable for us.
During our first month, we stayed in Bad Ischl, centrally located in the Salzkammergut of Upper Austria, only 20 minutes from Hallstatt! Our Airbnb was about €700 in total, with a tourist tax of €3.85/night. Since I travel with my boyfriend, we were able to split the Airbnb cost, however, the cost listed is the total price.
For our second month, we stayed in the Stubai Valley, south of Innsbruck. Our Airbnb was a total of €650 before we split it. The tourist tax in this region was €2.68/night.
Accommodation
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Airbnb
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Tourist Tax
Regardless if you're in a hotel, hostel, or Airbnb, many regions have a tourist tax that should be factored into your accommodation expense! It is usually due upon arrival, in cash so be prepared!
Food Budget In Austria
Austrian food is hearty, locally sourced, and keeps you warm on those brisk winter days. Food prices were comparable to what we knew at home in the US, so budgeting was essential!
Our food expenses differed greatly between the two months. During the first month in Bad Ischl, we were constantly out and exploring, eating out, and working from cafes where we would get a few coffees and snacks.
In our second month, we were in a much smaller town, where we mostly grocery shopped and ate out less frequently, with very few small expenses at cafes.
On average, we spent €415 on food. Most of this was on groceries, with a few small meals and coffees or beers out! We are definitely big coffee and dessert people, so there was some room to save, but the food was too good!
Food
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Groceries
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Restaurants
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Cafes
Austrian diet is very meat, dairy and grain heavy. Eating local foods is the best sustainable choice, since the food didn't get transported far to get to your plate, it supports local farmers, and it's a great connection to the local culture! Take a 'flexitarian' approach to your travel diet.
Transportation Budget in Austria
Transportation around Austria was extremely easy and affordable for us. If you’re trying to see the whole country, you may experience it differently, but we were able to utilize FREE BUSES during both of our one-month stays.
Austria has a well-connected public transit system including buses, trains, and ferries. We loved the availability of electric scooters for short-term travel! There wasn’t a single time we needed a ride share like Uber or wished we had a rental car.
The Tourist Tax we paid at both of our month-long stays provided free transport within the region and even transport to our destination upon arrival!
You can’t explore Austria without a few cable cars & funiculars to get to the best viewpoints. These tickets are anywhere from €5-20 and make up the bulk of transit costs! Learn more about everything you need to know for transportation in Austria.
Transportation
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Public Bus
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Cable Cars
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Electric Scooters
Excursions Budget in Austria
There is so much to explore in Austria, luckily we love exploring the outdoors the most, which is accessible and mostly free! We were in Austria from mid-December to mid-February, so we focused a lot on skiing, gondola rides to mountain tops, and a bit of sightseeing when we were in cities.
Although skiing seems like an expensive sport, it is very affordable in Austria. We did travel with our own skis (which I definitely DO NOT recommend), so we avoided rental costs which are about €50. Coming from California where day-pass skiing can be 180 (or more), €50 a day was so cheap!
We also loved getting up into the mountains on gondolas and funiculars to see the views. This can be about €15 a ride, but we got a month pass to go up the Katrin Cable Car in Bad Ischl for €65!
We did visit Salzburg for a day, and got the 24-hour tourist pass for only €25! We planned a long layover between train rides to see the city sights, without going out of our way and incurring more transport costs!
While in Austria, you HAVE to check out Tobogganing. This is a fun sport in the Alps, like adult sledding. Tickets were typically €20 for the toboggan rental and gondola ride, but highly recommend it as a great winter activity!
Excursions
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Skiing
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Sight Seeing
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Gondolas
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Tobogganing
Life Expenses
This section isn’t Austria-specific, but it is important to make note of the other monthly expenses you may have that will eat a chunk of your budget. This includes Health Insurance, Renter’s Insurance, a Mobile Phone plan, and various subscriptions for music, apps, and a VPN.
The biggest expense is health insurance, which costs €40 for Safety Wing emergency medical coverage. I also have renter’s insurance to cover up to $10,000 worth of my items, costing me €12/month.
For our cell phone, we purchased an eSIM for Austria, which is great for saving money while traveling and managing your data from your phone! We purchased 10GB of data for €24 a month. Check out what we did for international phone plans abroad, and get discounts!
Finally, some of the subscriptions I have total up to about €24 a month, which includes Lightroom, YouTube Music, a hosting platform for this website, and most importantly a VPN. If you are traveling and have any intention of using your computer or phone for personal things, I highly suggest using a VPN to protect your online information!
Life Expenses
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Insurance
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Phone Plan
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Subscriptions
Summary - One Month Budget in Austria
Austria is an idyllic country in the mountains, with so much history, culture, and natural beauty to explore. Although it isn’t typically on the top of the list when it comes to ‘budget destinations’, it can definitely be explored thoroughly on a budget!
My biggest suggestion to save while in Austria, is to stay in a long-term Airbnb (more than 28 days), use public transport as much as possible, and be aware of what free transport options you have! Also, use a local phone plan where you can top-up data as needed.
We would go back to the 2 regions where we stayed in Austria. To check out the highlights of the areas, see my posts on Bad Ischl, the Salzkammergut, and the Stubai Valley! Austria is beautiful year-round, so start planning your next trip to the Alps!
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