Cheap travel and Germany usually don’t go together. Even the currency is something making this country expensive and in many places cheap accommodation simply doesn’t exist. After moving here, I was surprised to find out that even Germany’s biggest cities don’t have a vast choice in hostels as big, European cities usually do. I got very discouraged from travelling within Germany and thought I just have to save a substantial amount of money to be able to see this country. It was especially impotant now as due to the economic situation, more than ever before, my priority is to make my travels low cost. Fortunately there is always a way to make your trip more budget friendly. With time, I found new ways and places I can visit on a budget. In this post I share my cost for a trip to Wernigerode and some tips for lowering your costs.
How to make your trip cheaper?
1. Accomodation BOOK HERE
It is one of the main costs of travelling, especially in Germany. I solved this problem by staying at Harz hostel in the center of Wernigerode. It was the cheapest accommodation available in the area, with the cost of 21€ per night. If you don’t want to stay in Wernigerode, you can find a lot of DJH hostels in the area. They are a bit more expensive though, they charge you an extra fee for linen and if you sleep there for the first time, you will have to pay a member fee of 7€. So altogether your first stay at DJH hostel will cost you around 32€. Both Harz and DJH Hostels are quite basic. Harz Hostel has big lockers and a kitchen.
2. Transport BOOK HERE
Another big part of your costs. Quedlinburg, Goslar, Bad Harzburg and Wernigerode are directly connected with Berlin by Flixbus and one way ticket can cost less than 15€ if you book in advance.
Once you get to your accommodation, they will ask you to pay a tourism tax, which costs around 2€ per day. You will get your receipt together with a small booklet with some discounts. With the receipt you can ride local buses for free. It is called Hatix ticket, you can check all the routes here. I used this ticket for my ride from Schierke to Wernigerode and from Wernigerode to Quedlinburg.
3. Food
Sorry to all the foodies out there! But I must say that food in restaurants in Germany is usually not worth it, especially in tourist places. Probably unless you are willing to spend a lot of money, but I am not so I cannot confirm. I tried eating out a few times and every time I ended up disappointed and my wallet was at least 15€ lighter so after a while I just stopped trying. I am not saying that you cannot find a good restaurant in Germany, that would be an obvious lie, but I feel like you need to try a bit more to find it than in some other places I’ve been to and you need to spend money not knowing what you are going to get. I usually am happy with doing that in cheap places like Czech Republic, Poland, or Vietnam where the food in on average really good and really cheap but in Germany you need to spend a lot and there is a high chance you are not going to get a tasty meal. My strategy when I go somewhere is to get my food from supermarkets. If your hostel has a kitchen, you can prepare a nice meal by yourself and if not, German supermarkets offer ready meals like salads, tortillas, sandwiches etc. If you want to eat something more substantial on a low budget, a national German dish döner comes with help.
How much did I send for a 4-day trip?
My cost including everything was 165€:
– 75€ for accommodation and climate tax.
– 30€ for lixbus and the transportation within Harz was for free.
-20€ for the tourist attractions (which were steam train ride and a ticket to the castle)
-40€ for food (including alcohol)
For Germany, the average of 40€ per day of travel is a pretty impressive budget and you are not very likely to get much lower than that if you plan to sleep in hostels, use transportation sometimes and see some paid attractions. For this price you will get accommodation in a hostel, budget transportation, access to some cheaper attractions and food from supermarket.
If you are a museum lover then there are a few museums you can visit in Wernigerode and Quedlinburg but entry fees to museums in Germany are usually very affordable.
However, if you would like to sleep in a private room, I can easily balloon your costs. Even if you don’t chose a fancy hotel. The cheapest hostel room for two people in Wernigerode costs 45€ per person which is twice as much as the cheapest hostel accommodation. Small number or lack of cheap accommodation is unfortunately often the case in Germany and it causes a vast majority of tourists stick to big cities only. However the smaller towns are also worth exploring!
If you are looking for inspiration for your Harz mountain trip check out this post.
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