A guide to 15 European cities and their transport costs

With 16 metro lines, the metro is the cheapest way to get around the centre of Paris. It runs daily from 6:00 am until late and has over 300 stations. You can use your ticket on other modes of public transport too, such as the bus and trams. Metro tickets are only valid in zones 1 and 2. 

A single fare price on the London Underground between zones 1-2 will cost you £3.20 at peak times, and £2.60 off-peak. Travelling around Paris is much cheaper – a single fare comes in of a saving of £1.58. 

If you’re traveling around the Spanish capital, you can purchase either single or multiple journey tickets.

Compared to the London Underground where a single fare in Zone 1 would cost £2.50. Travelling around Madrid on a single fare in Zone A is almost half the price – and would save you £1.22.

Italy’s capital city offers a lot of options when it comes to public transport. You can transfer between urban trains, buses, metros, and trams during this time.

In comparison, a weekly pass on the London Underground will set you back anything from £38.40 to £70.30. This means, a week’s travel across Rome is £18 cheaper.

A single ticket in Berlin starts at €2 for a short trip. With this type of ticket, you are only allowed to ride six stops and are not allowed to change vehicles. However, you are allowed to change onto the S-Bahn, and this is valid for three stops.

Using Berlin’s public transport system, you’ll save 6p per single ticket. But 24-hour tickets will cost you 20p more, compared to the London Underground.

You can use a single ticket for 90 minutes. A 24-hour ticket will cost you €4.10 (£3.50), and a 5-day ticket is €8.10 (£6.90). A 3-day tourist ticket which includes transfer to and from the airport with unlimited travel will cost €20. Compared to the London Underground, purchasing a 24-hour ticket in Greece will save you £4.21.

In order to use the metro services in Lisbon, you must purchase a pre-paid card for the value of €0.50. A single ticket allows you to use the network for 60 minutes. These tickets can be used on the metro, trams, and buses. For a 24-hour ticket, costs start at €6.40 - a saving of £2.25 compared to the London Underground.

A single ticket fare in Vienna will cost you 45p less than a single fare on Zone 1 of the London Underground. The 24-hour ticket allows one person unlimited access to the public transport network and is priced at €8 (89p cheaper than in London).

Bucharest has two types of fare tickets. One type allows you to use everything apart from the metro and costs 3 lei (£0.50). The second, allows you to enjoy the metro as well for 5 lei (£0.86). A 24-hour pass in Bucharest can cost you anything from 8 lei, (£1.38). A yearly pass in Bucharest will set you back 700 lei (£120), but this is still cheaper than a monthly zone 1 London Underground ticket priced at £147.50.

A single use ticket in Warsaw starts off at 3.40 PLN (£0.61). This ticket is valid for 20 minutes and increases to 4.40 PLN (£1.25) for a 75-minute single ticket and 7 PLN (£1.61) for a 90-minute ticket. A 24-hour Zone 1 ticket in Warsaw will cost you 15 PLN. Compared to the London Underground, a 24-hour day ticket in Warsaw will save you £5.01.

A single fare in Budapest will cost you 350 HUF (£0.75). However, if you purchase a single use ticket from the driver, the price of the ticket will be more expensive, 450 HUF (£0.97). A 24-hour ticket to use Budapest’s’ transport network will cost 1650 HUF (£3.54) In comparison to the London Underground, purchasing a 24-hour ticket for unlimited use of the transport network will save you £4.16.

Belgrade’s public transport network works the same as Budapest’s in that you can pre purchase a ticket for 89 RSD (£0.65), or you can purchase a ticket from the driver. However, purchasing a ticket from the driver will be more expensive at 150rsd (£1.09). A 24-hour unlimited ticket in Serbia’s capital will cost you 250 RSD (£1.82). Compared to London, Belgrade offers a public transport network with savings of £5.88.

If you’re travelling within the city, you will only need a two zone travel card, which will cost you 24 DKK (£2.74). The City Pass is also available to buy for 24-, 48- and 72-hour periods. These come in City Pass Small and City Pass Large tickets. These passes allow unlimited travel on the bus, train, and metro. These fares start from 80 DKK (£9.15). Unlike other countries, you’ll be spending a minimum of £1.46 more.

The single fare can only be used for 30 minutes and increases in price if you purchase a longer ticket (40 CZK for 90 mins). A 24-hour ticket will cost you 120 CZK (£4.18), so if you’re wanting to save money and plan to travel all day, it is probably best to purchase a 24-hour ticket instead of a single day ticket. The 24-hour ticket is valid on the funicular to Petřín but the single tickets are not. Compared to a London Underground day ticket, you can save £3.52.

A single fare in Oslo will cost you 39 NOK if pre purchased before departure (£3.28) and lasts for 30 minutes. If you purchase the ticket from the bus driver however, you’ll pay an extra 20 NOK, meaning that you will end up paying 59 NOK (£4.96). A 24-hour ticket can start from 117 NOK (£9.84). You are spending £2.14 more than the London Underground daily cap. 

A single fare in Amsterdam will cost you €3.20 (£2.73). A 24-hour ticket will cost you €8.50. Amsterdam also offers the I amsterdam card which is €65 - this includes all public transport, as well as certain attractions and museums, along with a canal cruise.