current budget for the european backpacker

It depends on where she's going. Some parts of Europe are incredibly expensive (London, Scandanavia, Switzerland, Paris), other places moderate (Spanish cities, France outside of Paris, Southern Germany), some places much cheaper (Berlin, Eastern Europe). For a "backpacker" (this assumes hostels, eating at cheap joints, no fancy dinners, etc) you generally want to budget at least 25 euro for lodging at a hostel. Some places are cheaper, others are more expensive. Some hostels have kitchens where you can store food and even cook which saves money, others don't. Fast food can be found everywhere, of course, cheapest meals usually being about 6 euro. Transit costs will depend on where she goes, it's more expensive to travel long distances of course.

Chere, I'd suggest planning for daily expenses in the range of at least €75-85 (and perhaps more). While there may be days when she doesn't spend that much, it will average out over the entire trip. One of the big variables will be the food budget. Breakfast is usually provided at most Hostels, which will differ to some extent in each country. It's possible to dine cheaply at Deli's (or whatever) for lunches, but if she has a "sit down" meal at supper that will be more on the expensive side. Again depending on which city and which property she chooses, Hostels will range from about €25-35 per night for a Dorm room (4-Bed, 6-Bed or larger). Some Hostels have segregated Dorms and some are "co-ed". I've stayed in both and didn't notice any "incidents", but I've heard some "stories". You might consider getting an HI Hostels membership, as their properties are well managed and fairly consistent from one location to the next. They're not "party Hostels", but sometimes popular with school groups. They usually have three or four properties in larger cities, so that provides some choice. Having a membership provides cheaper rates and preferred booking. Another variable with costs will be local transportation (Metro or whatever) and admission charges, which will vary depending on what she plans on seeing. It would be easier to offer more specific suggestions if you could indicate which cities she'll be travelling to? Good luck with your planning!

For this summer its a good idea for her to start looking at booking some of her hostels now! There are always lots of choices, some better , some worse, and the kids research this and the "good" ones get booked up fast. Also, daughter should be doing the reasearch and bookings herself, this is a life lesson on budget control. It she only has a set amount of money saved she will have to control her trip. Trust me, having had to buy a jar of jam and a loaf of bread to control her spending cause she blew too much on the night last night is a great lesson, one I personally learned when I did my Europeon trip when young . Having your credit card as a back up is a bad idea ,, too easy to get lax about budget if there is an easy rescue. Food can be cheap or expensive in any city.Even in Paris if you know you only have 20 euros for the day you can make it work, I have and do so regularily now. A lunch of a crepe or sandwich from a street stand or bakery can be 5 euros, a coke from a grocery store can be 1-2 euros( let her know a sit down coke in a cafe can be as much as 5 euros!!) , dinner can be as little as 10-15 euros at a cafe. Watch beverages,, bottled water costs and is not needed at all in France,, tap water is fine, given easily and tastes absolutely fine. House wine is cheap, where as sodas are expensive. There are McDonalds and Starbucks in most big cities. If daughter is alone or with one other person then hostels are best bets, but with three kids a cheap hotel room is often not much more then paying for three heads in a hostel.

I strongly suggest not to limit the search for Hostelling International hostels. At least in Europe, there are at least half-dozen better hostel chains. I second the suggestion that you let her do her own planning. The site www.hostelworld.com is perfect for that with reviews (written only by those who booked) and easy-to-book interface. As for budgeting cheap travel, I only have the reference of my nephews, whom I help plan their own trips. This is how things were planned (the trip originated in Canada): - intercontinental airfare excluded from budget but booked smartly (arrival and departure at/from different cities) - € 70/day for lodging + entrance tickets + urban transportation - a whole budget of € 400 for inter-European transportation that they could set as pleased. Then, the nephews (twins) did their own planning (they didn't travel together) as in balancing how many cities to visit vs. cost of travelling between them, balancing expensive vs. non-expensive cities, budgeting in/out some expensive activities such as soccer match attendance etc. I helped them organize the thing ================================
Now, some important observation: depending on how much your teen has, or doesn't have, control of their own finances, the strategy of giving a whole budget could backfire in ways like your teen choosing the cheapest possible place to sleep so there is more money left for partying or drinking (if she is into it). While the nominal price difference between hostel dorms in a city might be not too high (it's a pretty competitive market for savvy/cash strapped travelers), usually not going for the cheapest ones ensure an enormous quality improvement. Not only on facilities but the kind of people they attract.

How long were they travelling with the 400#

Thank you so much for your help. I really believe that it would be best for her to do this early planning but she is in the midst of some tough engineering finals. The opportunity to do an engineering program on Osnabruck came as a last minute thing. How did your nephews travel? plane, train, eurail?

Chere,, a little more information would help immensely. First when is this trip!!?? If its soon then alot of budget places and hostels book up,, she will have to act quickly to get in on some great finds.
Secondly, the WHERES are very very important.. travelling in some countries / areas is much cheaper then others, Spain is cheaper then Netherlands or UK,, etc.. so she must at least give you a wish list of a few places.On that note,, August in Nice is more expensive then August in Paris... Lastly, how long is this trip. If only a few weeks then limiting places she visits ( for two weeks I think no more then 3-4 places is idea, but some would do up to 5) will affect budget, everytime you move it costs money. Point to point tickets purchases can be a cheaper option then a rail pass( they aren't half the deal they used to be years ago, but still have some usefulness). So please talk to her and at least get some more info. No matter how busy she is,, she must have a wish list of some sort.

Her summer session in Osnabruck will end June 22. Then she has 3 weeks. She's hoping to travel by train? to Paris to stay with a friend for a few days then fly? to Barcelona for a few days then train? to Aix en Provence to meet up with another friend to explore the coast. There's even a bizarre thought that one of her friends wants he rto fly to Amsterdam for a big music fest July 7. Oh my gosh I am so glad that you are talking to me. I feel so ignorant about all of this. Chere