The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

Average Cost of Travel Insurance to Europe (2024)

Compare Cheap Travel Insurance to Europe

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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. 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

Average Cost of Travel Insurance to Europe

Travel insurance for Europe costs from as little as £8 for a healthy 30 year old to buy 3-star cover a 10-day holiday. Upgrading to a 5 star plan costs 2X as much as a 3 star plan. In fact, Europe is typically the cheapest destination for buying travel insurance cover from the UK.

Starting Travel Insurance Prices to EuropeSingle TripAnnual, Multitrip
3 star rating£5.4£8.3
4 star rating£8.9£11.8
5 star rating£12.5£21.2

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, starts from around £18 for a 3 star policy and £47 for a 5 star policy.

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

Travel insurance to Europe is cheaper than the rest of the world, in part, due to lower expected medical claims. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) programme gives valid EHIC holders access to state-provided health care during a temporary stay in another European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland.

Compare Cheap Travel Insurance to Europe

Quick quotes from 20 insurers. Takes less than 2 minutes.

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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, give or take. Travel insurance prices for a family of 4 heading to Europe start from around £15 for a 3 star policy, with prices climbing to £33+ for 5 star cover. Annual, multitrip cover is generally better value if you'll travel again in the year, with prices from around £24 for the cheapest policies.

Starting Travel Insurance Prices for Travel Insurance for EuropeSingle Trip (France)Annual, Multitrip EuropeGet Quotes
3-star ratingcheapest£15.3£24.2Get Quotes
average cost£40.6£54.3Get Quotes
4-star ratingcheapest£16.9£39.5Get Quotes
average cost£50.9£64.2Get Quotes
5-star ratingcheapest£32.5£53.8Get Quotes
average cost£82.3£94.6Get Quotes
Chart Showing that Travel Insurance for a family of 4
Cost of travel insurance for USA for a family

Average Cost of Travel Insurance Extras to Europe

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

Starting Travel Insurance Prices for Travel Insurance for FranceNo add onsCruiseWinter SportsGet Quotes
3-star ratingcheapest£7.6£15.2£21.8Get Quotes
average cost£19.5£30.7£55.0Get Quotes
4-star ratingcheapest£9.8£19.1£33.0Get Quotes
average cost£23.3£32.9£56.7Get Quotes
5-star ratingcheapest£13.9£20.5£37.8Get Quotes
average cost£38.0£49.6£91.9Get Quotes

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.

Chart showing Average Cost of Travel Insurance Extras to Europe
Average Cost of Travel Insurance Extras to Europe

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 are relatively steady through most of adulthood up through middle age. Prices drift 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 3X that again.

For example, a 30 year old would pay from around £9 to secure a 3 star policy for Europe; an 80 year old would need to pay around £102 for the same cover. These figures reflect the average of the 10 cheapest plans available.

Cost of Cheap, Single Trip, 3 Star Travel Insurance to Europe, by ageGet Quotes
20 years old£11.16Get Quotes
30 years old£9.27Get Quotes
40 years old£10.13Get Quotes
50 years old£11.35Get Quotes
60 years old£14.20Get Quotes
70 years old£29.92Get Quotes
80 years old£102.15Get Quotes
Chart Showing that Travel Insurance costs to Europe for different ages
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 EHIC or GHIC for Europe travel cover. An EHIC or GHIC covers medically-necessary treatment until your planned return home, and may cover pre-existing conditions and routine maternity care. You may not want to rely solely on an EHIC or GHIC though—it won't cover any private medical health care costs, such as mountain rescue in ski resorts or being flown back to the UK, nor is it valid on cruises. Private travel insurance and an EHIC/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 2.4X the cost of a similar single-trip policy.

If your travels take you beyond Europe then, 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 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 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:

  • Albania
  • Andorra
  • Austria
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark (incl Faroe Islands
  • excl Greenland)
  • Egypt
  • Estonia
  • Finland (including Aland)
  • France (including Corsica)
  • Germany
  • Gibraltar
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Italy (incl Sardinia and Sicily)
  • Kosovo
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macedonia
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Montenegro
  • Morocco
  • Netherlands
  • Norway (incl Svalbard)
  • Poland
  • Portugal (incl Azores and Madeira)
  • Republic of Ireland
  • Romania
  • Russia (West of Urals)
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain (incl Balearic
  • Canary Is)
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • UK (incl Channel Is and Isle of Man)
  • Vatican City

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.

And some companies break out 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, one 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), the local ambulance companies might have a deal to take patients to the 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'. Then they include some of these notorious 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. That is, if the FCDO advises against travel to a specific country, your travel insurance won't cover a trip that includes that country.

Other FAQs

Travel insurance isn't required for a trip to Europe, but it is highly recommended. Not only can it help protect against cancellation of your holiday but it can be an important supplement to your EHIC card, which may not cover all your emergency medical costs.
UK citizens do not need travel insurance for Europe, but it's generally a good idea to buy a policy anyway—even if you have an EHIC. This can provide financial support if there are problems on your trip from cancellation to emergency medical.

Methodology

To determine the average cost of travel insurance for UK consumers heading to America, we first collected dozens of travel insurance quotes. 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.

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The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

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