A date in Europe costs on average €270: the most expensive and cheapest cities

What the 'cheap date' index measures

How much does romance cost? A report provides the answer Mapping the World's Prices 2026, prepared by Deutsche Bank's research institute, according to which the cost of a typical date set in Europe varies by more than a factor of two depending on the city. The index includes a bottle of wine, a pair of jeans, a dress, two coffees, a dinner for two at a mid-range restaurant, two cinema tickets, two public transport tickets and a 5 km taxi ride. Since the set includes jeans and a dress, clothing can account for a significant share of the cost, meaning the index reflects not only the price of the date itself. Prices are taken from the Numbeo platform, which is not an official source: the data is collected by users. The figures reflect prices as of mid-2026.

Switzerland is the most expensive, Istanbul the cheapest

Among the 28 European cities, two Swiss cities lead: a date set costs €407 in Geneva and €400 in Zurich. The cheapest European city is Istanbul (€168), slightly more expensive is Rome (€195). The average cost across the 28 cities is €270, while in the other 41 cities of the world it is €195. Europe dominates the top of the global ranking: eight of the ten most expensive cities are in Europe, 14 are in the top twenty and 20 in the top thirty; Istanbul is the only European city among the twenty cheapest. The only non-European city in the top five is Tel Aviv–Yafo (€365).

Variation within countries and across regions

Among Europe's major economies, the UK turned out to be the most expensive: London is €317, and Birmingham (€290) also makes the top ten. Paris is almost exactly at the average level (€279). Within a single country, prices can differ noticeably: in Milan the set costs €278, while in Rome it is €195. German cities are all below average and close to each other: €260 in Munich and €254 each in Berlin and Frankfurt. Spanish cities are among the cheapest: €219 in Madrid and €213 in Barcelona. Dates are expensive in Northern Europe: Oslo and Copenhagen share third place (€323 each), Stockholm is €310, Helsinki €296. For comparison: Dublin is €294, Edinburgh €290, Brussels €271, Amsterdam €263, Vienna €250, Warsaw and Lisbon €225 each, Athens €222, Prague €214.

If you factor in salaries, the ranking flips

Nominal prices are only half the picture. In Zurich and Geneva a date is the most expensive, but salaries there are also the highest: the set takes up only 5.6% of the monthly net salary in Zurich and 6.4% in Geneva. Next come Luxembourg (6.6%), Amsterdam (6.7%) and Frankfurt (7.2%). In Southern and Central Europe the picture is reversed: in Athens a date costing €222 — just over half the price in Zurich — eats up 19.6% of the average monthly net salary of €1,132, the highest figure among the 28 cities. Next are Istanbul (16.7%), Lisbon (16.3%) and Budapest (15.6%). The salary data are city-level estimates from Numbeo, cited by Deutsche Bank; they broadly align with calculations based on Eurostat national data on the annual net income of a single person on an average salary, although according to Eurostat the share would be noticeably lower: 12.4% in Athens instead of 19.6%, and 12.6% in Lisbon instead of 16.3%.

Money and readiness for a relationship

The report also cites research on the link between financial situation and personal life. According to a study by Johanna Piitz and Jeff McDonald based on US data, financial well-being among young adults is associated with romantic interest, a sense of readiness for a relationship, and an actual transition to close partnerships. Chen-Hao Xu and Henriette Engelhardt found that temporary employment and unemployment reduce the likelihood of forming a union among single women and men in Europe.