When I set off solo backpacking through Belgium, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my wallet. This small nation is often overshadowed by its pricier neighbors, the France’s and Netherlands’ of the world, so I naively hoped Belgium might be a hidden budget gem.
Travel gurus warned me otherwise: Belgium “is not a cheap country to visit”, they said, with high accommodation costs and food & drinks that can quickly drain a backpacker’s funds.
Conventional wisdom suggests budgeting around €60 per day for a Belgium trip, and I was determined to stick close to that. With equal parts optimism and apprehension (and a healthy appetite for fries and waffles), I started a journey through Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp to discover whether Belgium is truly budget-friendly or deceptively expensive.
What followed was an eye-opening, chuckle-inducing adventure that tested both my bank balance and my sense of humor.
Brussels
I snagged a bed in a highly-rated hostel just off Grand Place for €36 a night, a bit steep for a dorm, but after reading horror-story reviews of cheaper digs, I decided a good night’s sleep was worth the extra euros.
The location was gold, though, stumbling distance from the glowing guildhalls of Grand Place and dangerously close to countless chocolate shops.
For lunch, I made a beeline to a fries stand, fulfilling a lifelong dream to eat Belgian frites in Belgium. The cardboard cone of crispy, golden fries smothered in mayo set me back just €2.50 – finally, a price that made me smile. In fact, street eats quickly became my Brussels budgeting strategy.
A street waffle loaded with powdered sugar or Nutella cost around €3 and doubled as dessert and cheap entertainment (nothing like watching a tourist’s face the first time they bite into a heavenly Brussels waffle).
I learned to avoid sit-down restaurants in the tourist center, where a simple Belgian stew might cost €18 and a cappuccino can hit €4 – classic tourist traps. Instead, I sought out local friteries and kebab shops: one night I feasted on a huge döner kebab wrap for €5 near the hostel, alongside local students grabbing dinner on the cheap.
And every morning, I bypassed the pricey café next door and popped into a little bakery where a “croissant + coffee” breakfast deal was just €1.50 – yes, really. That might be the best-value caffeine dose in Western Europe, and my backpacker soul rejoiced.
Sightseeing in Brussels, mercifully, didn’t break the bank. Many of the big attractions were free or cheap. I gawked at the bizarre Atomium structure from the outside for free (I skipped the €16 inside tour in favor of preserving my budget), and I spent an afternoon at the European Parliament – completely free, with an audio-guide tour of the Hemicycle where EU laws are debated.
The Royal Museums did tempt me (entry ~€10-15 each), but I found that wandering the city’s neighborhoods was just as rewarding. I joined a “free” walking tour of central Brussels – a great way to meet fellow travelers and learn quirky city facts. Of course, free is a misnomer; I tipped my guide €10 for a superb 2.5-hour tour, which was money well spent (and still cheaper than any paid tour I’ve seen).
By day’s end, I had encountered Manneken Pis (tiny and overrated, but it costs nothing to look and laugh) and sampled free chocolates in the Galeries Royales. Not bad for a day under budget!
Getting around Brussels was another story. The city is larger than it looks, and after one too many long slogs on foot, I caved and bought a metro day pass for €8. Considering a single ride is €2.60, the day pass was a savvy deal as I pinballed between the Atomium, EU Quarter, and back to the city center.
Trams, buses, and metros are all covered for 24 hours, which I definitely maximized (I may or may not have ridden an extra loop on Tram 92 just because I could!). In more compact cities like Bruges and Ghent, I’d hardly need transit, but in sprawling Brussels, that €8 pass was a budget-friendly lifesaver that saved my legs and a few euros.
Nightlife in Brussels can be as pricey or cheap as you make it. Being a beer lover in the beer capital of the world, I had to experience the scene. At the famous Delirium Café – with over 2,000 beers on the menu – I was like a kid in a candy store. I wisely stuck to one pint of local brew (a delicious Trappist ale) for about €5, savoring it slowly.
In touristy bars, Belgian beers often ranged €4-6 each for drafts. To keep costs down, I embraced a time-honored backpacker tradition: pre-game from the supermarket. A bottle of strong Chimay or Leffe ale from a convenience store was only €1.50-2.
So one evening, a German girl from my hostel and I had our own little tasting session on a bench by the illuminated Grand Place – two bottles for the price of one bar beer. Cheap? Absolutely. Cheesy and wonderful? Also yes.
With a pleasant buzz and euros saved, we later ventured into a student bar off Saint-Géry square where the vibe was local and the live music was free. Not every night needs clubbing when you have good beer, new friends, and a glittering medieval square to yourself at midnight.
By the end of my Brussels stay, I’d felt the pinch – mainly from lodging costs – but I also found plenty of budget hacks. The city proved a point: even in the de facto capital of Europe, a savvy backpacker can pinch pennies without missing out.
The key was choosing street food over tourist menus, walking or day-pass hopping instead of taxis, and enjoying the free experiences (city views, public parks, people-watching over a cheap waffle) as much as the paid attractions.
With Brussels under my belt (and loosened, thanks to all the fries), I was ready to see how the rest of Belgium stacked up.
Bruges
Bruges greeted me like a storybook come to life – narrow cobbled lanes, medieval houses reflected in canals, and oh, did I mention the smell of chocolate and waffles at every turn?
I arrived by train from Brussels, a quick one-hour ride that cost me about €18. I could have saved money by taking a slower FlixBus for ~€10, but I was impatient to meet this famous fairytale town.
The bus would’ve been fine (and very budget-friendly), but at least I saved elsewhere: I walked from the train station straight to my hostel, avoiding Bruges’s quaint but pricey taxis.
My hostel in Bruges turned out to be one of the best bargains of my whole trip. Tucked in a quiet side street, the Snuffel Hostel offered a bed in a 6-bed dorm for just €24 a night – significantly cheaper than my Brussels digs and including free Wi-Fi and maps.
The place even had an on-site bar with €2 beers during happy hour. Let’s just say many new friends were made there before we ever set foot outside. Bruges isn’t known for raucous nightlife (the town largely snoozes by midnight), so having a built-in social scene at the hostel bar was both convenient and cost-effective.
I spent a mellow evening chatting with travelers over a couple of local brews, which kept me from indulging in any overpriced pub crawl. Not every budget surprise in Belgium is a bad one – sometimes it’s an unexpectedly cheap hostel that’s both cozy and fun.
Wandering Bruges by day was an exercise in resisting temptation – of both the financial and caloric kind. Around every postcard-perfect corner lurked a chocolate shop or a Belgian waffle stand ready to deprive me of my euros. I gave myself a daily “treat allowance”: one indulgence per day.
One day it was a handmade chocolate truffle sampler (€6 for a little box of heaven); the next, a street waffle with whipped cream for €3 (so large and decadent it doubled as my lunch). Meanwhile, I kept main meals thrifty. Thankfully, Bruges has a few budget-friendly eats if you look past the tourist traps on the Markt.
I found a tiny sandwich shop where a loaded baguette with local ham and cheese was €4, which I carried to a canal-side bench for a million-dollar view lunch. Another backpacker tip: Bruges’s supermarkets (like Carrefour Express) are great for assembling your own picnic.
One sunny afternoon, I teamed up with two Aussie travelers to buy bread, cheese, and fruit (spending under €5 each) and we picnicked in the Minnewater park. As swans glided by on the lake, I couldn’t imagine a better budget meal setting.
For activities, Bruges has plenty of free/low-cost charms. Simply strolling the canals and winding lanes felt like stepping back in time – and last I checked, window-shopping medieval architecture costs nothing.
I did pay €12 to climb the famous Belfry tower, and while that dented my budget a bit, the panoramic view over red-tiled rooftops was spectacular (plus, all those spiral stairs counted as exercise to justify another cone of fries later). Museums in Bruges are generally €8-€15, but I skipped them this time in favor of outdoor sights.
One free highlight: the Church of Our Lady – seeing Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child sculpture inside costs only a small donation. Also, the St. Bonifacius Bridge (a.k.a. the “Fairytale Bridge”) offered one of the prettiest views in town for free; I must’ve taken a hundred photos there at different times of day.
Perhaps my biggest surprise in Bruges was how budget-friendly a nightlife non-nightlife could be. By 10 PM, the day-trippers had vanished and the city grew quiet under the glow of streetlamps. Instead of seeking an all-night party, I embraced the calm.
One night, a few of us from the hostel grabbed bottles of Belgian cider (€2 each at the shop) and camped out on the steps of the illuminated Burg Square, swapping travel stories in the silence. It felt almost transgressive to have this gorgeous medieval city essentially to ourselves – and it didn’t cost a thing.
The real party in Bruges is the scenery and ambiance; enjoying it is free. Just be warned: the absence of crazy nightlife is probably good for your wallet (and your liver), but Bruges may instead seduce you into daytime spending – like that horse-drawn carriage tour I had to talk myself out of (€50 for 30 minutes, no thanks).
I left Bruges having spent less than expected, thanks to walking everywhere, indulging in one daily treat instead of five, and finding creative ways to enjoy the city’s magic without constantly opening my purse. It turns out, even in a fairytale town, a backpacker can write their own happy (budget) ending.
Ghent
Ghent was my next stop – just a 30-minute hop from Bruges by train (€9 with a youth discount ticket, since I’m under 26 – score!).
If Bruges is a preserved medieval jewel, Ghent is its cooler, scruffier cousin – a lively university city where stunning Gothic buildings share the streets with bold street art and bike-toting students.
Crucially for me, more students often equals more affordable eats and nightlife, and Ghent did not disappoint on that front.
I checked into Hostel Uppelink, which sits in a prime location overlooking the Leie River and the famous St. Michael’s Bridge. For €29 a night I got a bunk in a 10-bed dorm including free breakfast – a godsend for my budget and my belly.
This wasn’t just a stale toast and coffee situation, either; we’re talking breads, cereals, fruit, and DIY eggs. If you fill up at a hostel’s free breakfast (which I certainly did, shamelessly going back for seconds of baguette and Gouda), you can often skip lunch or just snack lightly, saving a bunch.
Uppelink turned out to be fantastic value in other ways too. They hosted free activities for guests – I joined their free beer tasting night (yes, you read that right: free beer!), where a local beer enthusiast walked us through samples of Belgian brews.
Imagine a dozen backpackers from all over the world, crammed into the hostel common area, bonding over Trappist ales and Tripel blondes – and not spending a single euro. It was the perfect prelude to exploring Ghent’s bar scene without blowing my budget, because frankly I was already a little buzzed (and educated!) by the end.
Ghent’s youthful vibe made cheap dining easy. For lunch, I followed students to hole-in-the-wall eateries. I discovered a busy frites shop near Korenmarkt serving up overflowing cones of fries with curry mayo for €3 – that plus a soda filled me up until dinner.
One evening, I tried the Belgian take on fast food: a mitraillette, essentially a baguette stuffed with meat (or veggie burger, in my case), fries, and sauce. It was the size of my forearm and cost €6; two meals in one, really.
I also visited the Vrijdagmarkt square on a Friday when a food market was in full swing – I scored a hearty bowl of waterzooi (creamy chicken stew, a Ghent specialty) from a vendor for about €7, a fraction of restaurant prices and utterly soul-warming.
The key in Ghent was simple: eat where the students eat. The university crowd knows how to dine on a dime, and many cafes even offer student discounts (some generously gave me the deal when I flashed a very expired student ID – shh!).
Ghent’s attractions balance history and quirkiness, often at low cost. I visited Gravensteen Castle, the medieval fortress in the city center; entry was around €12, but honestly the entertaining audio guide (narrated by a local comedian) made it worth every cent for the laughs amid the ramparts.
For a free thrill, I wandered the Graffiti Alley, an ever-changing canvas of street art that costs nothing and feels like a secret museum of modern Ghent. I also climbed (for free) the steps of the old Belfry cloth hall for another panoramic city view – by this point, I was a connoisseur of Belgian bell tower views.
But my favorite Ghent activity was entirely gratis: simply walking along the Leie River at sunset, watching the sky turn cotton-candy pink behind the row of guild houses. No ticket needed for that kind of beauty.
When night falls, Ghent comes alive with a student-driven nightlife that is refreshingly kind to the wallet. The area around Vrijdagmarkt and Overpoortstraat brims with casual bars, many offering happy hour deals like €1.50 beers for students (and those of us savvy enough to blend in).
On a Thursday night (the big student party night), I found myself amid a jovial crowd at a pub called De Dulle Griet, famous for its over-the-top beer list. I splurged – experience is priceless, right? – on the house special: a 1.2-liter “MAX” beer served in a boot-shaped glass.
It set me back €10, but came with a hilarious ritual of surrendering one of my shoes as collateral for the fancy glass. Watching everyone remove a shoe (locals and tourists alike) and drink beer from a giant boot was well worth the cost, and I figured it counted as both entertainment and drinks for the night.
On more low-key evenings, I joined new hostel friends for a pub quiz and live music at a grungy student bar; our table of international misfits actually won a round of drinks, turning an already cheap night into a free one.
In Ghent, I truly felt I could have a full nightlife experience – live music, local craft beers, lively conversation – for easily under €15-20 total on a good night out. The city’s youthful energy proved that Belgium can be done on the cheap if you know where to go.
By the time I packed up to leave Ghent, I realized something: this city had been the easiest on my budget so far. The combination of affordable hostel, cheap eats, and free fun (plus perhaps a dash of Flemish frugality in the air) let me actually come in under my target daily budget on several days.
If every stop were like Ghent, I thought, I might even afford a splurge or two elsewhere. Good thing, because my final stop – the stylish city of Antwerp – would test that theory.
Antwerp
Antwerp, Belgium’s second-largest city, has a reputation for fashion, diamonds, and hip nightlife – in other words, things that typically aren’t synonymous with backpacker budgets.
I arrived via a direct train from Ghent (€14 well spent to pop out in Antwerp’s gorgeous Central Station, often dubbed one of the world’s most beautiful railway stations). Gazing up at the station’s grand dome and ornate clock, I had a feeling Antwerp might dazzle my eyes and challenge my frugality. I wasn’t wrong, but I came prepared.
My home base was a funky spot called YUST Antwerp, a hybrid hostel/hotel known for modern design and social vibes. A dorm bed cost €29/night – about average for a big city – and the place felt more like a chic loft apartment than a hostel.
Think industrial-chic décor, a rooftop terrace, and even an in-house art gallery. Honestly, after some of the creaky bunks elsewhere, this felt luxurious (they even had privacy curtains on the bunks!). Important for my budget: YUST had a communal kitchen, so I immediately hit a supermarket to stock up on pasta and veggies.
Cooking my own dinner two nights in a row saved me a bundle; I spent maybe €5 on ingredients for meals that would have cost €15 each in a restaurant. When you’re in a city famed for cuisine and you choose to cook instant noodles, you know you’re dedicated to the budget cause – but fear not, I balanced it out by enjoying cheap local street food for lunch.
Antwerp’s multi-cultural vibe means you can get everything from frites to falafel on the go. I frequented a Surinamese takeout joint where for €6 I got a heaping plate of roti curry that could feed two people. It was delicious, diverse, and dirt cheap – three of my favorite things.
Exploring Antwerp by day revealed a mix of free sights and splurges. The city’s famed fashion boutiques were purely window-shopping territory for me – I treated the ModeMuseum (Fashion Museum) area like a free exhibition, admiring the cutting-edge window displays without opening my wallet.
For actual museums, I chose one: the MAS (Museum aan de Stroom), notable for its striking modern architecture and panoramic rooftop. To my delight, the rooftop view is free – you can take an escalator up to the top of MAS without a ticket and get a 360° view of the city and harbor.
I only paid the small locker fee to stash my backpack. Inside, I limited myself to the permanent collection (about €10 entry).
Another budget-friendly gem was the Cathedral of Our Lady – while full entry had a fee, simply stepping inside to view a few Rubens paintings during a service was donation-based. And I’d be remiss not to mention Antwerp’s train station again as an attraction: I must have spent an hour there just marveling and taking photos of the architecture – all for free, since I was coming/going anyway.
When the sun went down, I braced for Antwerp’s nightlife, which I’d heard can be both epic and expensive. Certainly, if you hit the upscale cocktail bars or nightclubs, you could burn through cash quickly (some clubs charge €10-15 entry plus pricey drinks).
To strike a balance, I opted for the classic backpacker strategy: start the night low-key and local, then see where it leads. On a Friday, our hostel organized an informal pub crawl. A crew of us – a mix of solo travelers and a few young expats – gathered in the common room for some pre-drinks (again with the trusty €1.50 supermarket beers).
Armed with a nice buzz, we headed out to explore Antwerp’s eclectic bar scene. First stop was a speakeasy-style jazz bar tucked in a cellar, where there was no cover charge and live music filled the air. I nursed one Belgian blond beer for €4 as we soaked in the atmosphere – a budget win for live entertainment.
Later, we hit a popular student bar on Mechelseplein that had a 2-for-1 beer special; I spent €5 for two strong triples and definitely felt I got bang for my buck (and bang on the head the next morning…). By midnight, a few die-hards wanted to go clubbing at the trendy Het Eilandje district. A peek at my wallet and the long line at the club convinced me to pass – a decision my budget thanked me for.
Instead, I capped the night with a last-stop at Frituur No.1, a legendary late-night fries spot near the cathedral, where €3 bought me a paper cone of hot, salty fries to share with a fellow wanderer as we walked back. Who needs an expensive nightcap when you have midnight fries under a cathedral?
Antwerp did live up to its flashy reputation in some ways – I saw Lamborghinis on the streets and high-fashion locals who probably spend my weekly budget on a single handbag.
Yet, I never felt priced out of enjoying the city. There were enough affordable options interwoven with the glam. For every artisan coffee at €4, I found a Turkish bakery coffee for €1.50. For every high-end bar, there was a cozy brown café where the house beer was €3.
In fact, one of my favorite afternoons was spent at a humble neighborhood flea market by Sint-Jansvliet, bargaining for a vintage postcard as a souvenir (I got it for €1 after friendly haggling in half-broken Dutch – my proudest budget trophy).
Antwerp taught me that even in a stylish city, you can “travel hack” your way to savings: cook your meals occasionally, mix free attractions with paid ones, and follow the local students to find the best drink deals and cheap eats.
My verdict on Antwerp’s affordability: not the cheapest corner of Belgium, but with some creativity, it didn’t blow my budget either.
Budget vs. Bust
So, is Belgium a bargain or a budget-buster? The answer, much like Belgian beer, is a mix of flavors. Compared to its neighbors, Belgium holds its own on prices.
By most metrics, Belgium is a bit more affordable than ultra-pricey France (especially if your reference point is Paris), and it’s certainly cheaper than the Netherlands, where Amsterdam’s costs can make a backpacker cry into their €7 beer.
Some economic indices actually showed that Belgium’s cost of living for travelers is on par with, if not slightly above, Germany’s in certain categories. In plain backpacker terms: don’t expect Belgian cities to be as gentle on your budget as, say, Prague or Lisbon. This is still Western Europe, and your euros have wings here.
After two weeks weaving through Belgian cities, my take is that Belgium is neither a runaway bargain nor a backpacker’s bane, it sits comfortably in the “moderate” range of Western Europe’s cost spectrum.
In simpler terms, it’s about as pricey as it looks: the waffles are cheap, the beer is reasonable, the trains are fair, but the beds and sit-down meals will remind you this isn’t Southeast Asia.
But if you come informed, knowing that, say, hostels will run €20-35 and a restaurant meal could be €15+ – you can strategize and find plenty of ways to save.
In the end, I’d call Belgium backpacker-budget-friendly… with an asterisk. The asterisk being: friendly, if you make friends with your budget.