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Travel budget

How much does a trip to Brussels cost?

What a trip to Brussels costs, worked out for your days and your party, with every price traced to where it comes from. And then the part most budgets skip: how to actually pay once you are there.

Food, getting around and sights in Brussels come to €85 – €97 per person per day. Accommodation, flights and the airport transfer are on top. Prices reviewed: November 2026.

Full Brussels guide

Your trip

How much money you still need

Days, people and how you like to travel decide almost everything. Flights are left out: they depend on where you start.

6 nights

Counted at the child fares each operator publishes.

Travel style

Set meals and the odd sit-down dinner, and one paid sight a day.

Accommodation

We have no sample of hotel prices for this city yet, so we will not guess one. Type what you have seen and the lodging tax is worked out from it.

Adjust accommodation, food and the rest

In local currency. We do not estimate this: nobody knows what you will buy.

Already paid for

You still need, flights aside

€1,200 – €1,400

≈ $1,400 – $1,600 · rate of October 16, 2026

€87 – €100 per person per day · 7 days and 2 people

Expected
€1,200 – €1,400
Most trips land in here
Set aside
€1,400
With this you are unlikely to run short
Cushion, kept apart
€130
10% of the trip
  • Food€710 – €850
  • Getting around€130 – €200
  • Airport, both ways€32
  • Sights and activities€180 – €240
  • Nights out€34 – €86
  • Lodging tax and odds and ends€52 – €64

Of that, in cash: €220 – €490

The cash share is our reading of how each kind of place takes payment, not a measurement. Your own bank may charge on top; this page cannot know that.

  • Accommodation is not in this figure. Add your price per night to include it.
  • Flights are not included.
  • You probably will not spend the cushion. Having it to hand covers a night you had not planned, a taxi, or a changed ticket.
Styles

What a day in Brussels costs, by how you travel

Per person per day, two travelling, without accommodation, flights or the airport transfer. A style is not a figure: it is a way of eating, getting around and seeing things, and each one is spelled out below.

Budget

€66 – €82 per person per day

Local food, public transport, the odd paid sight.

FoodLocal and cheap
€43 – €59
Getting aroundPublic transport
€9.60 – €14.00
Sights and activitiesThe odd paid sight
€6.50 – €8.50
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
€3.00 – €4.10

Mid-range

€85 – €97 per person per day

Set meals and the odd sit-down dinner, and one paid sight a day.

FoodMixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner
€51 – €61
Getting aroundPublic transport
€9.60 – €14.00
Sights and activitiesOne paid sight a day
€13 – €17
Nights outNow and then
€2.40 – €6.10
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
€3.70 – €4.60

Comfort

€110 – €130 per person per day

The best food level we can price, public transport, two paid sights a day.

FoodRestaurants most of the time
€55 – €82
Getting aroundPublic transport
€9.60 – €14.00
Sights and activitiesTwo paid sights a day
€26 – €34
Nights outNow and then
€2.40 – €6.10
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
€4.50 – €6.50

A style's total is not the sum of the extremes of its lines: nobody has a trip where everything comes out cheap, or everything dear. “Sundries” is an assumption of ours, 5% of food, transport and sights, not a measurement.

By length of trip

How much money for 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 days in Brussels

Per person, two travelling together, without accommodation or flights. It is not the daily figure times the days: airport transfers are paid once, so they weigh less the longer you stay.

DaysBudgetMid-rangeComfort
3€210 – €260
€71 – €87 a day		€270 – €310
€91 – €100 a day		€340 – €420
€110 – €140 a day
5€350 – €430
€69 – €85 a day		€440 – €500
€87 – €99 a day		€540 – €680
€110 – €140 a day
7€480 – €590
€68 – €84 a day		€610 – €700
€87 – €100 a day		€760 – €960
€110 – €140 a day
10€680 – €840
€68 – €84 a day		€870 – €990
€87 – €99 a day		€1,100 – €1,400
€110 – €140 a day
14€940 – €1,200
€67 – €83 a day		€1,200 – €1,400
€86 – €98 a day		€1,500 – €1,900
€110 – €140 a day

Add your accommodation in the calculator above: it is the largest line and the one we cannot source yet.

Prices

What things cost in Brussels

Eating and drinking: no official statistic measures what eating out costs here, so these are prices from the menu each place publishes on its own website, and each row says where it comes from. It is a sample, not an average: there are cheaper and dearer places, and tourist areas cost more.

WhatPriceSource
Eating and drinking
Espresso, À la Mort Subite€3.80From the source Nov 2026
Coffee, Chez Léon€3.85From the source Nov 2026
Mineral water, 33 cl, Chez Léon€3.00From the source Nov 2026
Cheese croquette, one piece, Chez Léon€8.25From the source Nov 2026
Stoemp (potato and vegetable mash) with Toulouse sausage, Bouillon Bruxelles€15.50From the source Nov 2026
Stoemp of the day (potato and vegetable mash) with bacon or sausage, Chez Léon€17.60From the source Nov 2026
Mussels (600 g) in lambic and cream, with chips, Bouillon Bruxelles€18.80From the source Nov 2026
Chicken vol-au-vent with chips, Bouillon Bruxelles€18.80From the source Nov 2026
Carbonnade (beef stewed in beer) with carrots and chips, Bouillon Bruxelles€19.90From the source Nov 2026
Mussels (500 g) with chips and a draught pils, Chez Léon€20.65From the source Nov 2026
Three-course menu, noon to 5 pm, Chez Léon€23.10From the source Nov 2026
Flemish carbonnade (beef stewed in beer), Chez Léon€23.40From the source Nov 2026
Brussels waffle with cream or sugar, Chez Léon€7.75From the source Nov 2026
Draught Maes Pils, regular glass, À la Mort Subite€4.20From the source Nov 2026
Draught pils, 25 cl, Chez Léon€4.40From the source Nov 2026
Draught kriek (cherry beer), À la Mort Subite€6.80From the source Nov 2026
Westmalle Tripel (Trappist beer), À la Mort Subite€7.30From the source Nov 2026
Getting around
STIB single ticket, paid by contactless card€2.40From the source Nov 2026
STIB one-day ticket€9.00From the source Nov 2026
Bus 12 from the airport to the city, Airport2City ticket€7.90From the source Nov 2026
Sights
Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Old Masters Museum€13.00From the source Nov 2026
Comic Art Museum€14.00From the source Nov 2026
Atomium€17.00From the source Nov 2026

From the source means we read it where it is set: the operator, the bank, the city or the statistics office. Reported means a guide or the press says so and we have not seen the original. Where sources disagree we show both figures and leave the price out of every sum.

What each food level is made of

A food level is not a number we chose. It is two lists of dishes from the table above, a cheap day and a dear one, and the price is the sum.

Local and cheap
From Espresso, À la Mort Subite + Stoemp (potato and vegetable mash) with Toulouse sausage, Bouillon Bruxelles + Carbonnade (beef stewed in beer) with carrots and chips, Bouillon Bruxelles + Draught Maes Pils, regular glass, À la Mort Subite (€43.40) to Coffee, Chez Léon + Cheese croquette, one piece, Chez Léon + Chicken vol-au-vent with chips, Bouillon Bruxelles + Flemish carbonnade (beef stewed in beer), Chez Léon + Draught pils, 25 cl, Chez Léon (€58.70).
Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner
From Espresso, À la Mort Subite + Three-course menu, noon to 5 pm, Chez Léon + Carbonnade (beef stewed in beer) with carrots and chips, Bouillon Bruxelles + Draught Maes Pils, regular glass, À la Mort Subite (€51.00) to Coffee, Chez Léon + Three-course menu, noon to 5 pm, Chez Léon + Flemish carbonnade (beef stewed in beer), Chez Léon + Westmalle Tripel (Trappist beer), À la Mort Subite + Mineral water, 33 cl, Chez Léon (€60.65).
Restaurants most of the time
From Coffee, Chez Léon + Mussels (500 g) with chips and a draught pils, Chez Léon + Flemish carbonnade (beef stewed in beer), Chez Léon + Draught pils, 25 cl, Chez Léon + Mineral water, 33 cl, Chez Léon (€55.30) to Coffee, Chez Léon + Cheese croquette, one piece, Chez Léon + Flemish carbonnade (beef stewed in beer), Chez Léon + Mussels (500 g) with chips and a draught pils, Chez Léon + Westmalle Tripel (Trappist beer), À la Mort Subite × 2 + Mineral water, 33 cl, Chez Léon + Brussels waffle with cream or sugar, Chez Léon (€81.50).
Getting around

Which ticket pays off

A pass is only cheaper past a certain number of rides. This is that number, worked out from the published fares.

  • 1-day pass at €9.00: it pays off from 4 rides a day at €2.40 each.

A pass only counts on the lines it covers. Check which ones before you buy.

Accommodation

What the night costs, and the tax on top

There is no open source of hotel prices, and we have not sampled this city yet. So the calculator asks you for the price you have seen instead of printing one that looks plausible.

Lodging tax

  • From January 1, 2026

    • €5.00 per room per night, whatever the room costs

It is charged per room, not per person. The calculator doesn't ask how many rooms you book: it counts one for every two people, and that is an assumption of ours.

Which area to stay in Brussels: the neighbourhood comparison

Saving

What saves money in Brussels, and what does not

Each line is a subtraction done with the prices on this page. No tricks: just the sum.

What saves

  • Eating “Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner” instead of “Restaurants most of the time”: €4.30 – €21.00 less per person per day.
  • Eating “Local and cheap” instead of “Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner”: €2.00 – €7.60 less per person per day.
  • “Stoemp (potato and vegetable mash) with Toulouse sausage, Bouillon Bruxelles” (€15.50) instead of “Stoemp of the day (potato and vegetable mash) with bacon or sausage, Chez Léon” (€17.60): €2.10 less each time.
  • “Carbonnade (beef stewed in beer) with carrots and chips, Bouillon Bruxelles” (€19.90) instead of “Flemish carbonnade (beef stewed in beer), Chez Léon” (€23.40): €3.50 less each time.

What does not

  • The 1-day pass (€9.00) on fewer than 4 rides of €2.40 a day: it costs more than paying for each ticket.
Questions

Questions about money in Brussels

How much money do you need for a week in Brussels?

For seven days, €610 – €700 per person on the “Mid-range” style with two travelling. Accommodation and flights are not included. The airport transfer, there and back, is included.

How much money do you need for 3 days in Brussels?

For 3 days, €270 – €310 per person on the “Mid-range” style with two travelling. Accommodation and flights are not included. The airport transfer, there and back, is included.

What is a realistic daily budget in Brussels?

Per person per day, without accommodation or flights: €66 – €82 on the “Budget” style, €85 – €97 on the “Mid-range” style, and €110 – €130 on the “Comfort” style.

Can you travel to Brussels on a budget?

The cheapest style we work out is “Budget”: €66 – €82 per person per day, without accommodation or flights. Local food, public transport, the odd paid sight.

How much does food cost in Brussels?

From €43 per person per day (“Local and cheap”) to €82 (“Restaurants most of the time”). The price table has what each dish costs.

How much does transport cost in Brussels?

A ride on public transport costs €2.40. The 1-day pass costs €9.00 and pays off from 4 rides a day at €2.40 each.

Is there a lodging tax in Brussels?

Yes: €5.00 per room per night.

How much cash should you carry in Brussels?

For a week on the “Mid-range” style, about €110 – €250 per person, two travelling. It is our reading of how each kind of place takes payment, not a measurement.

Is it better to use cash or card in Brussels?

By card: in general. Card or cash, depending on the place: restaurants in cities.

Do you tip in Brussels?

Restaurants: customary. Bars and cafés: customary.

Sources

Where every figure comes from

Each price on this page carries its source. These are all of them. Prices reviewed: November 2026.

The rest of Brussels

In the app

This page tells you how much to take. The app keeps count of what you spend.

Joru works out the budget of your itinerary day by day and sets it against what you actually spend, by category and with the exchange rate. On your phone, with no account.

Google PlayApp Store

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