Average price to backpack Europe?

First off on this website most(not all) of us have left our backpacking on a tight budget days behind us, and even those who still backpack have a slightly higher budget.
So you may get some good ideas here , but I encourage you to also look at the Lonely Planet forums as they will have more back packers on budgets there.

An average/decent hostel bed on a shared dorm room may run 25-35 euros in big cities.
You need to also consider transportation costs, not just from city to city but within each city,you usually can't walk everywhere.
You can cheap out on food by eating a lot of picnics.

Which cities are u visiting? Costs can vary a lot based on destination, for example Switzerland is $$$$ while southern Spain may only be $$blanketed w. blanked

PS good hostels do book up, make reservations,especially on big cities.
Have you looked at Hostelworld

You may also want to look into Couch Surfing. I've not done it, but there are people who post here who do. Are you traveling alone? I would be uneasy couch surfing alone as a young woman, but that said, that may be me. I certainly know young women who have done this. They are a wee bit more adventurous than I am.

Also, don't forget Let's Go Guides. The website doesn't appear to have a forum, but it does have some interesting blogs.

Also, I remember someone posted about the Contiki Tours and said that it worked well for her. I don't think that they are for everyone, but they are another budget option.

Pam

Contiki is not a good budget option! My nephew took them and sure the upfront price seemed OK not he said he was constantly nickel and dimed, and lots of their accomadations were not central at all so on what little free time they had they had to pay for transport to get to sites etc. There were lots of charges for sites that were not included and if u chose not to go with group u were stick put on some suburb hotel with nothing to do.

He had fun but can barely remember half of what they did,,,partly as it was very whirlwind and partly because he was hung over a lot, lol

grace,

As pat mentioned, most of us here have left our low cost backpacking days in the past and now travel with slightly higher budgets. Travel is so much different now than it was when Frommer's "Europe on $5 a Day" was written. You may enjoy reading THIS article on that topic.

One advantage that the group here can offer is that many have extensive lifetime travel experience so have lots of tips and other good information to pass along. I'm not sure whether €60 per day is possible, and I suspect you're going to need a higher daily budget. A few thoughts.....

• Lodgings - as mentioned, Hostels will average €25 - €40 per day. You may be able to find cheaper Hostels, however they may be a bit dodgy. Have a look at the HI Hostels website. They have properties all over Europe (often more than one in larger cities) and I've always found them to be clean, well run and fairly consistent from one property to the next. Having an HI Hostels membership will provide slightly cheaper rates and preferred booking over non-members.
• Food - In many cases, the Hostel or Hotel will provide breakfast, so you'll only have to deal with lunch and supper. You can keep costs down by getting food from deli's or whatever, rather than dining in more formal restaurants.
• Transportation - You'll need to budget both for transportation between cities as well as within cities. Keep in mind that each time you change location, there will be a cost both in time and money.
• Incidentals - If you're planning on visiting any Museums or whatever, the cost for those is usually somewhat "fixed", so you'll have to allow for that.

If your trip will include any stops in the U.K., you'll have to add to your budget as the exchange rate will be higher on Pounds Sterling than on the Euro.

If this is your first trip to Europe, it would be a good idea to read Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip, as that provides a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe, including ways to save money. Although time is short before your departure, you should still have time to go through the book.

As someone else mentioned, for travel in July it would be prudent to pre-book lodgings as it will be busy and crowded in Europe.

Happy travels!

Hi,

If you're not yet 26, you are eligible for the Youth Rail Pass. That might be a good option depending on how you use it. There are numerous ways to cut expenses. Basically, it all depends on how much you are willing to stray from your comfort zone in order to cut expenses without sacrificing flexibility and what you can tolerate. Of course, you'll encounter very different answers since reponses are based on one's comfort zone and experiences.

I would suggest mainly hostels for accomodations, dorm rooms instead of a private room. I discovered some hostels only offer doubles and if you're a solo traveler as in my case, you pay per bed. Paying for that private double in the hostel costs more than staying at a Pension. Look at also at university dorms. and the university cafeterias where you can get good cheap hot meals at lunch. I've done this in Berlin, Kiel, Vienna. The HI hostels serve dinners, you don't need to be a guest at the hostel to buy a meal ticket. The dinners I had at HI hostels since 2009 I never saw Americans there, only other nationalities.

Don't rule out taking a night train esp with the Pass, sleeping upright in a compartment is the cheapest. You only pay for the seat reservation. This last trip two weeks ago I paid 17.50 Euro for a sleeperette going from Hamburg to Munich on the CNL night train, that's less than you would pay for a hostel.

Certain Pensionen still offer the option of having the shower / WC down the hall, (if you're not opposed to that) which is cheaper than having the amenities in your room. I suggest as a guide "Let's Go" to plan your trip. If you're traveling from Germany to other capitals, Budapest, Paris, etc, you can also take the bus, instead of relying on the train.

gm25, I haven't read one lately, but the Let's Go series of guidebooks, -Let's Go: Europe - was/is the bible of backpacking students.

A couple of other money saving strategies:
1. Try to stay several days in one spot instead of switching cities every 1-2 days. That means more transportation costs.

2. Avoid big cities on weekends if possible. Lodging goes up, sometimes quite significantly.
3. You haven't mentioned where you are going but places like Sicily, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary (and someone else mentioned southern Spain) are going to be cheaper than Paris, London, Rome.
4. Not really a strategy but don't be afraid to drink the tap water or water from public fountains. Plan to avoid soft drinks because they will be more expensive than you are used to. Just stick to a water bottle and then you can save to try the local beers and wines.

I like the website Hostel World for looking at hostels.

Six countries doesn't help much. How's about a list of cities you have in mind?

Costs can vary wildly depending on where in Europe you're going. Going to London, Paris, Amsterdam, or anywhere in Scandinavia will cost you A LOT more than, say, Prague, Budapest or Berlin. Whether you can live on 60 EUR a day depends on where you go.

Also, I would personally stay away from HI hostels, only because in my experience they have been the most drab, always seem to have large groups of children staying there (I mean like 12-14 year olds running around), and they nickel and dime you on everything (I can't recall any others that made me pay extra for bed sheets). They aren't necessarily cheaper or cleaner than other hostels either.

I'm sorry everyone, it seems like I did not give enough info. Yes, I do have a traveling partner. We are both 19(but will be 20 by the time we get to Europe). Already purchased a Eurail pass and plane tickets a couple months ago. 6 countries are France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Austria is now off the itinerary because there's just not enough time. The cities are Paris, Bruges, Leuven, Brusells, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Milan, venice, florence, pisa, rome,barcelona, and Madrid. I already added up all the totals for attractions and ended up being about 200 something euros. My partner and I are satisfied just stepping foot in Europe, so we won't be doing every single main attraction. If there's anymore details anyone needs, please feel free to ask. I appreciate the help from everyone who took the time to reply.

14 cities in 30 days,,, what a lovely tour of train stations you have planned.
I suggest u sit down and do a bit of editing.

The good news: if that rail pass covers all the long-distance transportation, you've got it made if you're minimally careful.

The bad news: fourteen cities in thirty days ain't about to happen -- that's about two days for each, and most are a half day apart, door-to-door.

If you think all your transportation costs are taken care of because you bought a Eurail pass... you'll have some nasty surprises awaiting once you arrive on the continent.

Reservation fees for trains?

It's a big world out there, and Europe is a big place with lots of exciting things to do and see. It's great that you two are able to make a trip for a full month at age 20. Hopefully you'll be able to return, maybe several times, to see more places and things. Unless the cities you mentioned have a special meaning for you (are your families from a certain town, for example), maybe you could pare down your destinations a bit and concentrate your trip in a somewhat smaller region. As Tom noted, you may incur taxi/metro/bus costs in towns, and the train stations aren't necessarily within easy walking distance of the town center, especially hefting backpacks. As noted above, tap water is way cheaper than soft drinks, and often a beer or wine is cheaper, too. You may or may not be looking at alcoholic beverages as an option, but drinking ages are generally different in Europe than in North America.

The places you're planning on visiting are great, but they're kind-of the most expensive places you could possibly choose. If you'll be happy just to be setting foot in Europe this time around, maybe you don't need to be able to check off a huge list of destinations for this trip. There are lots of free or low-cost lodging and sightseeing options, and you can save on food, too (like getting cheap hummus plates from a middle-eastern take-out place in Paris for example, rather than a fancy French meal) but never sacrifice your safety for a cheap dive. Have a great trip, but you'll have plenty of experiences to remember without hitting 14 places this one trip!

Thanks for the replies guys. I thought it was too much to cram 14 cities in 25 days(excluding travel time). My friend thought it was possible so I just went ahead and made the itinerary. I'm glad you guys brought this to my attention. Hope I can convince my friend that we should settle for less cities with all these responses. Like I said, my friend and I are content just being in the city. We don't plan on doing everything, just trying to see as much as we can. You never know if you're going to go back. We're paying for this ourselves as college students, so we want to make the best of this trip. Since 14 cities is too much, what do you guys think is a good amount? Just to get an idea of what I'm doing, I'd like your thoughts on our time in each city(if you don't mind).

Paris(3 days)
See the Eiffel tower, louvre, versailles,etc.

Belgium
Bruges(1 day)
Leuven(just to go to stella artois brewery) then travel to Brusells(20 mins away)(1 day)

Really just going here to drink

Amsterdam(2 days)
Heineken experience and red light district, the rest just exploring

Germany
We're not really into Germany.
Berlin(1 day) just to see the Berlin wall, breadenburg gate, and explore
Munich(1 day) We're soccer fans, would like to see Alianz arena and that's it

italy
Milan(1 day) Really just for soccer stadium san siro and view a couple churches
Venice(2 days)
Florence(1 day)
Pisa( literally going to see the leaning tower of pisa, then head to Rome)
Rome(3 days) Sistine chapel, colloseum, pantheon trevi fountain)

Spain
Madrid(2 or 3 days) visit santiago bernabeu soccer stadium, explore
Barcelona(2 or 3 days) Visit camp nou soccer stadium, explore

So yes, it is a lot of cities. However, we're satisfied just taking a picture of a popular attraction, then going on our way. Yes it's rushed, but we'd like to see as many cities as we can. We're not looking to spend lots of time in one place, just a few cities. The travel time from city to city average is like 2-3 hours. Only long trips are Amsterdam to Berlin and Berlin to Munich, which we might take a night train for. We planned on waking up 6 am everyday and travel in the morning. As you can tell, my friend and I are new to this. Please feel free to criticize my plans, because it could help me out very much. Once again, I really appreciate the help from all of you.

It's good that you're devoting at least 2-3 days in big capitols like Paris, Rome, Madrid. Venice will make you want to find a way to go back again. In Belgium be sure to try a kriek (cherry beer), and in Germany, order a radler (beer/lemonade that radleren (cyclists) drink for a refreshing beverage that doesn't get them liquored-up on their bikes). Speaking of bikes, Belgium is a big-time cycling country, so if you have the time, money, and inclination, rent a bike and go for a ride in or around Bruges, Leuven, and/or Brussels.

Invest in a guidebook to study before your trip and to have with you. Paraphasing Rick Steves, it's a $20 or $30 investment towards a successful $1800 trip. You can sometimes find one to borrow from your library (renew it on your library's Website from Europe before its due date), but you can't write notes in it and you're liable if something happens to the book. Let's Go is backpacker-oriented, written by Harvard students, and recommends accommodations and sights to see, but doesn't provide much info on hours of operation, addresses, or prices, so they leave it up to you to go to the Tourist Info office in each location and find all that out. Lonely Planet and Rough Guide guides also can lean towards budget travel, and have great maps and recommendations. Rick Steves guides don't cover every place in Europe, but cover all the places you're considering (except for Leuven). Rick also explains City Passes, when available, that offer discounts on museum admissions, transportation within cities, and sometimes opportunities to skip lines to sights. Reserve your Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel entrance online, for example, and consider a Roma Pass for Rome and Paris Visite pass for Paris. Lots of places also offer free admission at certain times (the outstanding Prado Museum in Madrid, for example, at night), but sometimes that means those places are packed with other bargain seekers. Rick gives the pertinent details. His Europe through the Back Door book covers the "best of Europe," but individual country/city guides are available. A good guidebook also offers tips on staying safe, transportation, packing, weather, etc. Hostels usually have like-minded travelers staying there who can provide tips on things to do, places to go, ways to save money, and maybe even provide traveling companions for a day or more.

We were in the Cinque Terre region of Italy years ago, just a short distance from Pisa, but we headed from there to Milan and on to Venice, without making a short trip just to see The Tower. We made it back to Milan a few years later, but still haven't made it to Pisa . . . maybe some day! If a place is on your way, great, but I might not go out of my way for one sight, unless it was a pilgrimage, like to Bernabeu stadium.

By the way, we've run across many passionate Belgian soccer fans, but they were sad their national team apparently hasn't given them much to be happy about. Also, expect to get fries with every meal in Belgium - even a plate of pasta comes with fries on the side :-)

Unless you have some special attachment to Stella Artois specifically, skip it all together and visit De Halve Maan while you're in Bruges. Not only would it save you time, but the place, history and most importantly beer are much better. Also, you get to go onto their rooftop as part of the tour, which gives you a great view of the city in case you don't want to or don't have time to climb the Belfry tower.

My friend and I both love Stella. I will also be going to the de halve maan brewery in Bruges, thanks for the advice though. :)

Great that you have Berlin and Munich listed. Save a half day or so of traveling by taking the CNL night train between these two cities. That CNL route offers the Ruhesessel (a reclining seat) in a general seating area. You'll be surprised how far back you can recline that seat. Taking the night train is one day's ride on the Pass and the reservation cost for the Ruhesessel is under 20 Euro, cheaper than staying at the hostel. That's what the train controller is most interested in seeing, ie, the reservation, not the Pass.

On costs: Berlin is cheaper than Munich. True about the HI hostels, a very good chance you'll run into teenage school groups, which I would rather not do. Both in Berlin and Munich are independent hostels only a few mins literally from the central train station, Hauptbahnhof. No need to stay at the HI hostel in either city. I like visiting both cities, food and drink (beer) are great but prefer Berlin way over Munich.

grace,

Your Itinerary still seems somewhat "ambitious", but it's an improvement over the first version. You may find that changing locations so often becomes tiring very quickly, but you're young so will tolerate that much better than I do.

Is this along the lines of what you have in mind.....

• Day 1 - Flight to Europe
• Day 2 - Arrive Paris (you'll be jet lagged so probably won't get much touring done)
• Days 3, 4, 5 - Paris (You won't have time to see all of the Louvre as it's HUGE - you might focus on the Denon Wing, which is where most people start - Versailles will take at least 4-6 hours, including transportation times - If you're planning to go up the Eiffel Tower, reservations would be highly advisable - You might consider a Paris Museum Pass, as it will minimize queues - BE SURE to do some research on the pickpockets and scammers that you'll encounter there, and indeed all over Europe).
• Day 6, 7 - Train to Brussels (~1.5 hours). Are you planning to stay in Brussels and day tour to Leuven and Bruges?
• Day 8, 9 - Train to Amsterdam (~2 - 3 hours)
• Day 10, 11 - Train to Berlin (6H:14M direct, longer with changes) - you won't arrive until late afternoon, so won't get much touring done. When you arrive at the Berlin Hbf, you can use the S-Bahn to reach which ever area your hotel is located. I assume you mean Brandenburg Gate? There isn't much left of the Berlin Wall, but you will be able to see some short sections.
• Days 12, 13 - Train to Munich (~6 - 7 hours). Again, you won't arrive until late afternoon. There is LOTS more to see in Munich and area, so it's unfortunate you won't have more time there.
• Days 14, 15 - Train to Milan. It's going to take a minimum of 7 - 8 hours to get there from Munich. Hardly worth the trip just to see a Soccer stadium (it will take 6.5 - 11 hours to reach Venice, should you decide to start there).
• Days 16, 17 - Train to Venice (minimum 2H:35M)
• Day 18, 19 - Train to Florence (~2 hours)
• Day 20 - Train to Rome via Pisa (about an hour to Pisa and another 3 hours to Rome, plus time to and from La Famosa Torre - I'm not sure it's worth the effort as you could be in Rome in 90 minutes from Florence).
• Days 21, 22, 23 - Rome.
• Day 24 - Train to Barcelona (this trip will require ~15 to 26 HOURS by train, with 3 - 7 changes). This route would be better via budget airline.
• Days 25, 26, 27 - Barcelona
• Day 28, 29 - Train to Madrid (minimum 2H:30M).
• Day 30 - Flight home

One important point to mention is that most cities in Europe have more than one rail station (Paris has about six), so you MUST be clear on which stations you'll be using. It would also be a good idea to research the local transport in each city you'll be visiting (such as the Paris Metro). You may find it helpful to watch THIS short video.

Also as Ed mentioned, there will be additional costs to using a Rail pass, which is especially important in Italy. If you're using any of the "premium" trains such as the Le Frecce high speed versions, you MUST have a reservation specific to the train, date and departure time or you'll face hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Fines also apply to unvalidated tickets on Buses (ie: in Rome).

Good luck with your planning!

The Stella Artois brewery is not open to the general public. But Leuven is still a great place for two 20 year olds to hang out, given it's large student population.

"The travel time from city to city average is like 2-3 hours." I'm not sure where you're getting your information from, but you have many stretches that are signficantly longer than that. Plus, your rail pass will only cover a fraction of the cost from Paris to Brussels and from Brussels to Amsterdam on the fastest train. Unless you want to pay the hefty supplements required to use the Thalys train network, you'll have to string together a series of much slower regional trains. It will take much longer. Plus, you have to get to the city's train station, which depending where you stay, can add quite a bit of time to the total transit time.

"We planned on waking up 6 am everyday and travel in the morning." I've seen a lot of people plan to wake up early and it never works.

Unless you want this to be primarily an exploration of European rail networks, I suggest cutting back more.

PS, for two youngens, here's where to go in Leuven (provided it isn't raining). Head to the Oude Markt, which is the large square just around the corner from the cathedral, smack in the middle of town. If it's a busy night, you'll understand why I'm recommending it. You'll never look upon the silly college bar scene in the US the same way again... when you turn 21, that is.

I suggest looking on airbnb for some cheap lodging options. Many of them have couches you can "rent" for the night, rooms in a house, and some have odd options like sleeping in a teepee in the garden or some such thing. We've done this several times in different countries and loved it! You meet really great people who know the area.
Another interesting thing to maybe try is Mealsharing. People who love to cook and meet new people offer meals for free in their homes. There aren't tons of listing in Europe yet but there are a number and it might be fun to try a couple of times!

My wife and I spent about 70E each per day last fall. But we stayed in inexpensive apartments or B&B's in small towns in Germany rather than in large cities.

To each his own, hope you get to see what you want in Leuven :)

To add to what Fred said re hostels near the main train stations in Munich and Berlin - the one in Berlin is a Meininger "Hotel" (really a hostel though). If it's in your price range, I definitely recommend staying there. I've had nothing but good experiences with the Meininger chain. My hostel of choice in Berlin though is The Circus Hostel, where I've stayed multiple times now. It's located in Prenzlauer Berg, a great area with cheap food, parks, and a biergarten nearby, and it's easy to get to/from the Hauptbahnhof.

Congratulations on embarking on such a grand adventure!

I think your budget is reasonable (after all you did say it would increase a bit by July), but I would suggest you have a means to find funds if you encounter unexpected expenses. Do you have zero-balance a credit card for emergencies?

Some of my favorite days in Europe have cost very little. If your hostel supplies breakfast, eat well. You could last the rest of the day on 10 Euro if you are thrifty. When I travel by myself I bring a supply of snack bars from home that serve as my "lunch" and then only have dinner to worry about.

I've seen city hostels for 25-30 Euro, but I've never once seen one charging 40 Euro per bed in a 4+ bed room (I don't doubt they exists, but you have other options). You can do better than that. If you were to go rural, I've also seen hostel beds for 15 Euro.

That said, just walking a city, seeing some iconic sights (but not always paying to go inside) and absorbing the atmosphere and taking some good photos is often enough for me.

So while I can't promise you will come home debt-free, I think it's possible. Either way, it will be a great experience and worth whatever it winds up costing. Have fun!

Hi,

Yes, you can take the CNL night train for Amsterdam-Berlin and Berlin-Munich. Just reserve the Ruhesessel (sleeperette) seat at the Reisezentrum at any German train station or at Amsterdam Centraal. Or, if you prefer saving the Youth Pass for other rides, you can take the bus (another option) for these two routes. For Amsterdam-Berlin you do arrive at Berlin Hbf rather early but it's going to be light shortly prior to 0500 in July. The hostels have 24 hr check in. I've seen guests coming in at 0500 checking in.