Average Cost of Travel Insurance to Europe (2026)

Whether you’re heading off on an annual trip to Europe or you visit multiple times a year, you may want to consider buying travel insurance to provide a financial buffer against the unexpected costs of holiday cancellation, lost bags, illness, etc.

We’ve researched dozens of policies to get a handle on the average cost of travel insurance to Europe in 2026. Use this information as a guide to understanding expected costs when considering which policy and features to buy. If you have any pre-existing conditions you can find more information in our article on the average cost of travel insurance for medical conditions.

Table of Contents

• How much is travel insurance to Europe?
  • Europe travel insurance costs for a family
• How much are winter sports and cruise insurance to Europe?
• Cost of travel insurance to Europe by age

Average Cost of Travel Insurance to Europe

Travel insurance for Europe costs from as little as £8.50 for a healthy 30-year-old to buy 3-star cover for a 10-day holiday. Upgrading to a 5-star plan costs roughly 2X as much as a 3-star plan. Despite recent price increases across the market, Europe remains the cheapest destination for buying travel insurance cover from the UK.

Anyone who will take 2 or more trips in the year is probably better off buying an annual, multitrip policy. And if you're heading further afield in the year, you may want to consider an annual, multitrip policy with broader geographic cover. The cost of the cheapest annual multi-trip travel insurance for the world, including USA/Canada, now starts from around £35 for a 3-star policy and £75 for a 5-star policy.

Travel Insurance Average Costs: Single-Trip vs. Multi-Trip for Europe

Travel insurance to Europe is cheaper than to the rest of the world, in part, due to lower expected medical claims. The UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) and valid legacy European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) give cardholders access to state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in an EU country or Switzerland at a reduced cost, or sometimes for free.

Travel Insurance Costs for a Family to Europe

The cost of travel insurance to Europe for a family of four is roughly 2.5X the cost to insure an individual. Travel insurance prices for a family of 4 heading to Europe start from around £22.50 for a 3-star policy, with prices climbing to £45+ for 5-star cover. Annual, multitrip cover is generally better value if you'll travel again in the year, with prices starting from around £35.50 for the cheapest policies.

Average Cost of Travel Insurance Extras to Europe

Since a GHIC won't cover you on a cruise, and winter sports injuries often require specialized rescue and private medical care, adding these two extras onto a European travel insurance policy significantly bumps up the cost of cover. The cost of cruise insurance for Europe is roughly 2X to 3X the cost of regular travel insurance. A policy with winter sports can cost even more.

Typically, adding winter sports coverage to a single-trip policy costs more than to a multi-trip policy. This is true across all geographies, not just coverage in Europe. So if you want winter sports cover and you travel at least twice a year, an annual, multitrip policy can be better value.

Think about the holidays you'll take in the upcoming year so that you can buy enough, but not too much, travel insurance coverage. If you’re only going to Europe once or twice in the year, single-trip policies may work out cheaper for you. Regardless of whether you buy single or multi-trip cover, you may also want to be on the lookout for SAFI or ESF cover if you want protection in case your airline and/or accommodation goes into administration.

How Age Affects the Cost of Travel Insurance to Europe

Travel insurance costs remain relatively steady through early adulthood and into middle age, with prices drifting up slowly in your 50s and 60s. By age 70, however, the cost of travel insurance jumps significantly, costing around 3X as much. 80-year-olds pay roughly 3X that again.

For example, a 30-year-old would pay from around £14 to secure a 3-star policy for Europe; an 80-year-old would need to pay around £160 for the same cover. These figures reflect the average of the 10 cheapest plans available.

Travel insurance prices really jump up by age 70 years old

EHIC or GHIC Card: Do I Need One?

Many insurance providers require you to have a valid GHIC (or an in-date EHIC) for Europe travel cover. These cards cover medically-necessary state-provided treatment until your planned return home, and may cover pre-existing conditions and routine maternity care. You shouldn't rely solely on a GHIC though—it won't cover any private medical healthcare costs, mountain rescue in ski resorts, or being flown back to the UK (repatriation). It is also invalid on cruises. Private travel insurance and a GHIC provide different types of cover, therefore it is important to have both arranged before you travel.

Should You Buy Single-Trip or Multi-Trip Insurance to Europe?

It depends on where you go and how often. Anyone who travels 2 or more times a year will probably save money by purchasing an annual, multi-trip policy instead of a single-trip policy, because the average cost of annual, multi-trip travel insurance usually costs between 1.5X and 2.5X the cost of a similar single-trip policy.

If your travels take you beyond Europe, generally speaking, a multi-trip policy is more cost-efficient for two or more trips a year. The exception to this is one trip to Europe and one trip to America in a year, as discussed in our article on travel insurance to the USA.

Also, older travellers with medical conditions may find that annual, multitrip policies are very expensive, and they might save money buying a few single trip policies instead. Check quotes for both single and multi-trip policies before deciding, as the pricing will depend entirely on your individual circumstances.

What countries count as Europe for travel insurance?

You might think that companies would be consistent here but, no, each travel insurance company will have their own definition of 'Europe'.

For example, Admiral includes:

This list doesn't include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands and Georgia. While these countries are not included in Admiral's 'Europe' coverage, they are included in Staysure's list of European countries. We point this out to illustrate that each insurance company may have a unique list of 'European' countries.

Some companies also break European countries into different tiers—so they'll cover a lot of countries in Europe, but they might charge more for some. This is a savvy move that reflects an insurer's experience with local medical costs in an area, because some countries are notorious for charging extra high rates for medical treatment for visitors.

In tourist hotspots in some countries (notably Spain and Turkey), local ambulance companies might have deals to take patients to expensive, tourist-targeted medical centres. Treatment costs in these countries are higher as a result—so insurance companies rightly need to charge higher premiums for these areas.

For example, Post Office travel insurance includes most of Europe in their category called 'Europe 1'. They then include some of these higher-cost countries in another category called 'Europe 2', which includes all countries listed in Europe 1 plus Cyprus, Spain (including the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands) and Turkey.

Finally, remember that even if countries are listed in a policy wording as included in 'Europe', you might not actually be covered to go there. Why? Some specific countries might not actually be covered due to FCDO advice. If the FCDO advises against travel to a specific country (or region of a country), your standard travel insurance won't cover you if you travel against that advice.

Other FAQs

Methodology

To determine the average cost of travel insurance for UK consumers heading to America, we first collected dozens of travel insurance quotes and updated these in March 2026 to reflect current market pricing. To get an idea of the true cost of a "cheap" policy, that is, how much someone might need to pay to secure cover, we averaged the 10 cheapest quotes available for policies rated 3 stars, 4 stars and 5 stars by Defaqto.

In order to standardize our results, we made certain assumptions about the type of plan and level of coverage sought by the average consumer. Other than the "age" section, our sample traveller was 30 years old and healthy with no pre-existing conditions.