I Went to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Europe and This Is What It Cost

When Taylor Swift announced the Eras Tour, I was confident I could get tickets. Initially, I was wrong.

I spent hours trying to get tickets for the US leg of the tour, with no success. But when Eras Tour dates were announced in South America, I thought this would be my chance. After all, I'm a digital nomad who spends around seven months of the year on the southern continent. But yet again, I was unable to get tickets.

I finally made it happen during the tour’s European leg. Somehow, I secured four VIP floor tickets for the Edinburgh show this June and decided to make a whole trip out of it. I dropped my cat Isabelle off with my parents in North Carolina the week before the show. Then I flew to London, spent two nights there, took the train to Edinburgh, hit up Dublin, and finally ended by relocating to Madrid. During the trip, I met up with a range of friends, making it cost-effective to share lodging and food expenses.

The Eras Tour was amazing, but not every part of the trip was a success. My Airbnb in London did not have running water, so I had to relocate to a hotel for my second night. This considerably messed with my budget, so the prices for this portion of the trip were much higher than initially expected. I’m still in talks with Airbnb to see what they will cover.

Here’s a breakdown of what I spent on a trip to London, Edinburgh, and Dublin to go to the Eras Tour.

Job: Freelance Writer
Annual salary: $61,000-80,000 per year
Location of residence: Worldwide
Age: 25

Where: England, Scotland, and Ireland
How long: Nine days
Planned Budget: $2,000

Flights: $552.53. I booked three one-way flights. The first, from Raleigh, North Carolina to London, cost me 20,750 Avios, plus $232.80 in taxes and fees. I paid an additional $181.45 to select a window seat with extra legroom. The second flight took me from Edinburgh (which I traveled to by train) to Dublin. It would’ve cost $156.16, but I applied part of my annual travel credit from my Capital One Venture X, so I paid just $15.04 out of pocket. Finally, I ended my trip by flying from Dublin to Madrid for $123.24.

Rental car: $129.23. My parents live in Wilmington, North Carolina, but my flight was two hours away in Raleigh. I booked a rental car for the afternoon for $129.23, including gas.

Train tickets: $112.24. I bought a train ticket from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh for £87.90 ($112.24).

Hotels/lodging: $990.44. I paid $277.76 for a London Airbnb, but have been refunded $107.38 (so far), as the Airbnb didn’t have running water. The hotel where we relocated following this disaster cost £333 ($394.37) per person for one night. I had a more successful Airbnb stay in Edinburgh, where I paid 225.91€ ($241.68) for three nights. In Dublin, I paid 172€ ($184.01) for two nights in a hotel.

Relevant prior expenses: $518.17. I bought a “Karma Is My Boyfriend - Front Standing Left” VIP ticket to the Taylor Swift concert in Edinburgh, which was £349 ($450.21). After the facility fee, transaction fee, venue fee, and PayPal transaction fee, the ticket cost was a bit higher: $518.17.

Total cost: $141.00
My mom dropped me off at the airport in Wilmington to pick up my rental car, and then I drove straight to the airport in Raleigh without incurring any additional charges. I paid American Airlines $100 for my overweight suitcase and went through security. I didn’t have access to a lounge at this airport, so I went to a restaurant to kill time before my flight. I bought two beers and an appetizer ($41) before boarding the plane to London.

Total cost: $226.14
I arrived in London around 7:10 am. After going through immigration and collecting my suitcase, I made my way into the city. There’s a train from Heathrow to Central London, so I bought an Oyster card (which covers train and tube rides) for £7 and loaded it with £30 ($47.40 total). The train ride cost approximately £13 ($16.49), so I had plenty of leftover funds on the Oyster card for all my travel throughout London over the next few days.

Once I got to my Airbnb, I relaxed briefly before my friend arrived. A couple of hours later, I took the tube to the Tower of London, where I had a tour with some other friends. My ticket cost £34.80 ($44.14). After the tour, I hopped back on the tube to meet some other friends for a late afternoon tea. The tea experience, including tip, cost £70 ($89) and was worth every penny. It included one savory and one sweet tower, plus a full pot of tea per person. After tea, we walked and met up with the group for karaoke, which cost £18 ($22.80) per person and included a drink.

While I was at karaoke, my friend called to let me know the water in the Airbnb had stopped working, so I took the tube back home to try to solve the issue. I popped into the grocery store for drinks and snacks to enjoy while calling Airbnb Support later that night, which cost £18 ($22.80). Then, I spent the rest of the night on the phone before falling asleep searching for somewhere else to stay.

Total cost: $45.62
With no resolution from Airbnb, we walked across the street to get a room at a Marriott. I spent the day working from the hotel, so I didn’t have the opportunity to explore the city. That night, I took the tube from Marylebone to Clapham to meet two friends for pasta. We spent £36 ($45.62) per person, which was very reasonable for the quality of the food. After dinner, we took the tube back to central London. At this point, it was dark, so we could enjoy the sight of Big Ben and the London Eye lit up. After walking around for a while, I took the tube back to my hotel and went to bed early.

Total cost: $69.38
Our train from Kings Cross to Edinburgh departed at 11 am, so we took the tube to the train station and got on board. The journey was a little over four hours, so we bought coffee and water on the train for £6.60 ($8.37). Once we arrived in Edinburgh, we decided to take an Uber to the Airbnb because it was affordable—just £6.18 ($7.91) per person. After we were settled into our Airbnb, we walked across the street to get fish and chips for (£14, or $17.79).

Hunger satisfied, we took the train for £3.85 ($4.87) roundtrip to the stadium to pick up our VIP boxes. Since we don’t live in the UK, they weren’t mailed to us, but we were thrilled to be able to get them before the show. Once back from the arena, the four other people in our group had arrived, so the eight of us went to a pub nearby and munched on some mac and cheese with gin and tonics, where I spent £12 ($15.22). After dinner, we stopped by the grocery store, where I spent another £12 ($15.22) on some water and snacks to bring while we waited in line for the concert. We spent the rest of the night hanging out at the Airbnb before going to bed early to rest up for concert day.

Total cost: $37.21
When I woke up, I walked to a cafe nearby and bought some coffee, spending £7 ($8.84). I walked back to the Airbnb and started getting ready for the show. Although our whole group had eight people, four of us were in the VIP section on the floor, while the other four were in the lower bowl, so we didn’t see each other on concert day. By the time the four VIPs finished getting ready and taking pictures, we ran out of time to get lunch. Instead, we grabbed a bunch of snacks and took the tram for another £3.85 ($4.87) to get to the stadium around 2 pm. Our tickets provided early entry at 3 pm, so we hung out until we were allowed in and ended up giving away some of our snacks that we couldn’t bring inside the arena—a great way to make some friends and trade friendship bracelets.

Once in the arena, we claimed our spot in the third row from the barricade at the center diamond. It was exactly where we wanted to be, so we were thrilled. We had three hours to kill at this point before Paramore took the stage, so we made friends with those around us. One person in our group bought us all burgers, which was a saving grace for such a long day standing around.

Paramore started at 6 pm and performed for 45 minutes. Taylor Swift took the stage at 7:15 pm and performed nonstop until around 10:30. Although this trip cost much more than I typically spend on vacation, this performance made it all worth it—It was truly incredible.

We had tram tickets after the show, but the line for the tram was not moving. We waited about 30 minutes before walking to an open street to call an Uber. It cost about £5.91 ($7.50) per person, but we would’ve paid any amount of money to get out of the cold and be able to sit down. To end the night, we ordered a bunch of food on Uber Eats, spending £12.62 ($16) per person.

Total cost: $118.43
I’m not sure how Taylor Swift can perform for multiple days in a row, because we were all exhausted after watching the show. But since this was our only full day in Edinburgh, we got up and made the most of it. I paid £3.15 ($4) for a coffee and then £3.85 ($4.87) for the tram to Edinburgh Castle. Entrance to the castle costs £19.50 ($24.90), and you can easily spend an entire day there. We took our time and explored every nook and cranny, working up an appetite. After the castle, we walked down the Royal Mile to a nearby restaurant, where I got some traditional Scottish food and a gin and tonic, spending £23.50 ($29.71).

After lunch, we walked to Victoria Street, which is famous for being the birthplace of Harry Potter. I bought a perfume from a local store for £15 ($19.23). I also bought a 100% wool coin purse from Harris Tweed for another £15 ($19.23). Then, we took the tram back home and rested for a bit.

To round out our trip to Edinburgh, we walked to Port of Leith Distillery, where we did a tasting of different Scotch whiskeys and snacks (£13, or $16.49) and then walked back home, packing up before an early flight the following morning. There were plenty of leftovers from the various meals of the last two days, so we munched on those before bed.

Total cost: $96.38
Four of us were headed to Dublin after Edinburgh, while the other four split up and returned home. We called an Uber XL to the airport around 6 am for £8.65 ($10.98). At the airport, I paid £10 ($12.81) to increase the allowed weight of my bag. After security, we went to the lounge for breakfast before boarding our flight. The flight was short, just a little over an hour. Once we arrived, we called an Uber to get to our hotel for 9.73€ ($10.61) per person. It was still early, and we couldn’t check in, so we dropped our bags in the storage room and went out for lunch. The pub was just two blocks from the hotel, and I got a spicy chicken sandwich with a Guinness for 23.50€ ($25.15).

After lunch, we got settled in the room, then fell asleep for a bit, still tired from the show and feeling a little under the weather. Then, we took an Uber for 4.4€ ($4.74) to the famous Temple Bar Pub. It was extremely crowded, so we only stayed for a couple of songs before walking to a different pub. We got a couple of shareable platters and spent 26€ ($27.83), then took an Uber back to the hotel for 3.95€ ($4.26).

Total cost: $73.06
I was behind on work and spent the morning catching up. I bought a couple of coffees and a pain au chocolat at a nearby cafe for (11.50€, or $12.77) and worked as much as I could until 3:15, when I had scheduled a tour of the Guinness Storehouse (20€, or $21.40). I took an Uber there for 8.80€ ($9.48). We paid an additional 2€ ($2.14) for the selfie experience that prints your face on a pint of Guinness, which was a worthy expense.

After the tour, we walked back to the hotel to freshen up and then to the Church, a pub located in an old cathedral. We spent 23.76€ ($25.42) per person for shareable plates of lamb stew, calamari, and braised bacon with mashed potatoes—all super delicious.

After dinner, we walked along the river and ended up very far away from our hotel. At that point, we were too tired to walk the whole way back, so we took the tram home (1.75€, or $1.85).

Total cost: $65.77
We started our final day of the trip by checking out of our hotel, storing our luggage, and walking to get brunch. This was one of the only meals of this leg of the trip that wasn’t shared, so I spent 19.50€ ($20.82) on a breakfast sandwich, hash browns, and coffee. After brunch, we walked around for a bit before returning to the hotel so my friend could catch her flight back to the US. I walked around a nearby park for a couple of hours, then returned to the hotel to grab my luggage.

My two friends spent an additional night in Dublin and booked a different hotel. I took an Uber with them to the new hotel for 4.66€ ($5), as my flight wasn’t departing until that evening. We hung out at the hotel for a bit, and then I caught the Aircoach bus from the hotel to the airport for 8€ ($8.63). I paid Ryanair an additional 30€ ($31.32) to be able to bring a carry-on, which made my checked suitcase light enough not to be charged. After security, I went to the lounge and got dinner before boarding my flight and heading to Madrid, exhausted but fulfilled from an incredible nine-day journey.

Upfront and travel costs: $2,302.61
Costs from the week: $872.99
Final total: $3,175.60
How much I spent compared to my original budget: $1,175.60 over budget

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