Geneva and Zurich top Europe’s most expensive cities for a date

Two Swiss cities have been ranked as the most expensive places to go on a date in Europe, according to the 2026 Cheap Date Index. Geneva beat Zurich to take the top spot, with Copenhagen and Oslo following in joint third place.

Geneva and Zurich top the 2026 Cheap Date Index

The Cheap Date Index is part of Deutsche Bank Research Institute’s Mapping the World’s Prices 2026 report and compares the price of a date in 28 cities across Europe. To measure dating costs in Europe, the index looks at the price of a bottle of wine, a pair of jeans, a dress, two cups of coffee, a meal for two, two cinema tickets, two single public transport tickets and a taxi journey lasting five kilometres.

Anyone looking at the cost of a date will find Geneva at the very top, where all of the above amounts to 407 euros (376 Swiss francs), reports Euronews. Zurich comes in second place at 400 euros (370 francs). In third place, a date in Copenhagen and Oslo is almost 100 euros cheaper, totalling 323 euros (298 francs).

Istanbul works out as the cheapest city for a date in Europe, where an evening out costs 168 euros (155 francs). Rome takes the second-cheapest spot at 195 euros (180 francs), and Barcelona the third (213 euros/197 francs).

The average cost of a cheap date across all 28 European cities included works out at 270 euros (249 francs).

High salaries make Swiss dates the best value in Europe

Interestingly, when it comes to dating in Geneva and Zurich, the two cities actually offer the best value for money because they have the highest salaries, meaning a date takes up less of your monthly paycheck. In Zurich, a cheap date eats up just 5,6 percent of the average monthly net salary and in Geneva slightly more at 6,4 percent.

Athens takes top spot when it comes to the amount a date costs as a share of salary, working out at 19,6 percent. Istanbul follows in second place (16,7 percent) and Lisbon in third (16,3 percent).

Most expensive cities for a date in Europe

In all, the most expensive places to go on a cheap date in Europe (price in euros) are:

1. Geneva (407)
2. Zurich (400)
3. = Copenhagen (323), Oslo (323)
4. London (317)
5. Stockholm (310)
6. Helsinki (296), Luxembourg (296)
7. Dublin (294)
8. Birmingham (290)
9. Paris (279)
10. Milan (278)