Planning a date in Europe can be a financial exercise as much as a romantic one. The cost of a simple evening out—coffee, dinner, cinema—varies dramatically from city to city, and for many, it influences not just where they go but whether they feel ready to date at all.
The Cheap Date Index from Deutsche Bank Research Institute, based on mid-2026 prices from the crowdsourced database Numbeo, paints a stark picture. The index bundles a bottle of wine, a pair of jeans, a dress, two coffees, a meal for two at a mid-range restaurant, two cinema tickets, two one-way public transport tickets, and a 5km taxi ride.
Switzerland leads the cost table
Among 28 European cities, Geneva tops the list at €407, with Zurich close behind at €400. The Nordic capitals are also pricey: Oslo and Copenhagen share third place at €323, Stockholm ranks sixth at €310, and Helsinki eighth at €296. London, the most expensive of Europe's major economies, comes in at €317, with Birmingham at €290 and Edinburgh at €290.
Paris sits near the European average at €279, while Milan costs €278—a stark contrast to Rome's €195, highlighting significant intra-country differences. Germany's three largest cities are all below the average: Munich at €260, Berlin and Frankfurt at €254. Spain offers some of the cheapest dates: Madrid at €219 and Barcelona at €213.
Istanbul is the cheapest city in the index at €168, followed by Rome at €195. The simple average across the 28 European cities is €270, compared to €195 in the other 41 cities surveyed globally.
Income changes the picture
Nominal prices tell only half the story. When adjusted for local salaries, the rankings flip. Zurich and Geneva, despite their high costs, take the smallest bite out of a monthly net salary—just 5.6% and 6.4%, respectively. Luxembourg (6.6%), Amsterdam (6.7%), and Frankfurt (7.2%) follow.
In southern and central Europe, the burden is heaviest. A date in Athens costs €222—just over half the price in Zurich—yet consumes 19.6% of the average monthly net salary of €1,132, the highest share among the 28 cities. Istanbul (16.7%), Lisbon (16.3%), and Budapest (15.6%) also rank high.
These salary figures are city-level estimates from Numbeo, which may overstate the burden. Using Eurostat's national average net earnings for a single person without children, the share in Athens drops to 12.4%, and in Lisbon to 12.6%.
Money and relationships
The financial dimension of dating has real consequences. Research by Johanna Peetz and Geoff MacDonald, using US data, found that young adults' financial well-being is linked to romantic desire and perceived readiness for relationships. In Europe, Chen-Hao Hsu and Henriette Engelhardt found that temporary employment and unemployment negatively affect the probability of forming a union for single men and women.
The cost-of-living pressures behind these trends are visible across the continent. In Italy, protests over living costs have turned tense in several cities, and clashes in Rome have escalated as young people demand change. Meanwhile, grocery costs continue to strain household budgets across the EU.
For those planning a date, the choice of city matters—but so does the local wage. As the index shows, a cheap date in Zurich is a luxury in Athens, and the financial readiness to date is not just about the price tag.
