I need help with our budget.

Can't speak to the budget- but if you really want to be in Munich for Octoberfest you will need to make reservations ASAP. You might want to consider staying in a nearby town or village and going into Munich just for a few events and some sightseeing if you have trouble finding an afforadble place at that time. Or maybe just do Paris and Italy? Stay in Paris for a week or a little more and do some day trips. Then head to Italy. Save Munich and Prague for another trip. That would also save some money on transportation.

I am sure others can give you more info on budgeting, but just off the top Switzerland vs. Croatia...Switz. is much more expensive. Have you priced out airfare yet? Mine for two trip to Europe this summer is more than I have ever paid. Things might be a little cheaper in the fall. There are more inexpensive places you could go to keep the budget down, after the typical places... Romania is beautiful, Turkey (going this year) Poland. I think any of these would be cheaper than Switzerland. Prices in Italy can also vary depending on where you are. Cities, expensive... countryside, cheaper. I am a budget traveler and could easily do a trip with your budget, but I would not stay in any of the cities for as long as you have designated. I would opt for small towns or villages for most of the time.

Lets work backwards a bit. $10,000 minus $2400 for airfare leaves $7600 Divide by 45 days -- $168/day -- With the cities you mention it is going to be hard find lodging averaging $100/days. Leaves about 68 for food/admission/ AND transportation, especially transportation given the distances you want to cover. 30 days gets you to $250/day which is more workable but still tight. Munich during Octoberfest is expensive. To save money you need to reduce your travel costs.

Ben: What a wonderful way to start your marriage! Airfare is going to take a chunk of your budget, so get a good estimate on that first. If you are lucky, $1000 each, leaving you $8K for travel. Think of these variables:
Rooms - 100 euros per night average (some less, Paris and Rome more) Food - 50-80 euros per day for two, depending on a) your coffee habit, b) your wine & beer habit, c) your willingness to cook or picnic. Admissions/Tours/Local Trans - 50-80 euros per day Transportation between cities - easily 600 euros for all those "hops" you want to do. At the low end, that's $9100 + airfare for 30 days assuming an exchange rate of 1.38 euros per dollar. The fewer location changes the better. You can get some lodging discounts by staying a full week, especially with apartments and B&Bs. No car rental possible with this budget, IMO. You can get good lodging estimates by exploring online. Trip Advisor is an excellent source of places, but check with the establsihment directly to see if you can get a better rate instead of going through a booking service. Personally I'd go for a shorter stay and have a little more fiscal flexibility.

Ben, To begin with, CONGRATULATIONS! Now, regarding the questions.... As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to departure. That will provide you with a lot of good information on "how" to travel well in Europe. Given your home location, you might consider taking the short drive to Edmonds and picking up the book at ETBD. While there you could speak with the the travel experts on Rick's staff. As your budget includes airfares, you'll have to deduct about $2500 "off the top" to start with. That leaves US$7500 or about €5460 at current exchange rates (~€121 per day). If you travel frugally as you described, that MAY BE possible. Note than in Switzerland you'll be dealing with Swiss Francs, in Prague the Koruny and in Croatia the Kuna, so exchange rates will differ accordingly. While it may be possible to "get by" with Euros in Switzerland, I wouldn't suggest it as the exchange rate will be terrible. In order to keep your transportation costs as low as possible, try to minimize travels between locations as that can be expensive. As this is your honeymoon, budget Hotels would probably be a better choice than Dorm rooms in a Hostel. In order to find good Hotels in each city, use the FREE Library at ETBD. Rick's Guidebooks all have great listings for Hotels in each city in various price ranges and located in different parts of each of the cities you'll be visiting. Web addresses and Maps are also shown in the Guidebooks, so they're an excellent resource for planning trips. Where are you planning to visit in italy? Happy travels!

You've got the right idea by cutting Croatia (too far) and Switzerland (too expensive). I can spend a month in europe with my wife (we do it three times a year) and not bust six grand per trip (not including airfare). You can't because you have two things going against you: StupidFactor and WillysFactor. The SF is evident since you mention two star hotels and don't know what that means. You also mention picnics, but haven't thought about what to do with the left-overs, so you'll toss them and wind up spending as much for one meal as you would have if you ate in an economical sit-down place. You mention hostels, but for two people a budget hotel is generally cheaper. Don't feel bad, your SF will go down. Mine has, but there's something else called the PigheadFactor which has replaced it. Once you overcome the SF, overcoming the WF is the best way to cut costs. My WF is zero - - I eat and sleep in places that would make a lot of people shudder, but I find really good grub and don't stay in fleabags. Don't get hung up on hotels recommended in travel guides or some kind of star rating - - use venere.com - - or some people like tripadvisor, but I find that it mostly sorts out places previously mentioned in guidebooks. Some very excellent hotels have no system rating and are not in any guidebook. Walk five or six blocks out of the tourist area to find a place to eat. Have a couple of big splurges; it's not going to cripple your average.

Here's how to figure out how long you can stay gone: Take your total money and subtract airfare. Next subtract transportation between the cities. Then subtract intra-city transportation and entrance fees. These are you fixed costs, there's nothing you can do about them without cutting out museums or lopping off destinations. What you have left is your variable costs. For now, figure $150/night for hotels and $75/day for food (pretty good supper with some splurges, bread/cheese/coffee breakfast, mix of snack and-sit down lunches, an extra beer or coffee during the day). Anybody can make it on this amount - - my figure is below $150. Divide this $225 into what was left of the ten grand after pulling off the fixed costs. That's how many days you can spend. If you don't like the answer, you can start completely over by cutting a city (transportation costs) or start over at the midpoint and cut accommodation costs (this would be my idea since it galls me to pay for ambience which I can't see with my eyes closed). You probably can't shave too much off of food costs in these cities, put you can sure as heck go over them if you're not careful. I have no idea what you're up to in Italy, but be aware that Venice can rip your pocketbook apart and you might have extra traveling expenses if you're going to wander around Tuscany.

Ben
I did 39 days in 7 countries in 2009 and after returning home and doing the math, figured out I spent $6500 Canadian, and that included the flight over and back, my Eurail pass, accommodations( budget hotels primarily), meals and spending money. With $10,000 US, if staying in budget accommodations ( no, they won't be dumps, quite acceptable accommodations actually) and not going totally crazy with your spending money, you should do just fine and have money left over...

Croatia is doable with a ferry from Venice if you have the time. It is markedly cheaper than Switzerland. Munich during Oktoberfest may be one of your most expensive times, hotels and restaurants are really overpriced then. You could spend one night in Munich for the Oktoberfest experience then spend time in Salzburg or Garmisch, etc.. Take waterbottles and fill them up where you can, it'll save a lot not having to buy water or drinks along the way.

Glenn: Was that for one person or two?

I think you can definitely do it with your budget. I did a 30 day budget trip with a friend a few years ago. Everyone needs to eat and sleep but I found a big variable to be the actual tourist activities. We did a lot of free activities - self guided walking tours of cities and churches, but skipped most museums. (It also helps to not be museum people in this scenario.) Don't skip the sites that cost, but pick the ones you really want to do. Look into whether there are discounts. For example, we discovered that the Louvre is reduced price after 3pm one day a week for students. As far as sleeping, we found B&Bs to be value for the money, rather than lower ranked hotels.

What an amazing trip! Congrats. I just wanted to add that we rarely stay in hotels when we travel... we're heading to Germany and staying in a place for 30eur/night... so in the areas that have homeaway.com, vrbo.com listings, check them out. I've never traveled to these particular cities, but just wanted to make sure you were looking into those sites. We prefer to travel that way because the rental flats typically have kitchens and it cuts meal prices down as well when we can eat one or two meals at our "home" per day after hitting local markets and getting local meats, cheeses, etc. I love wandering local food markets and creating dishes with local ingredients... you guys may not, but it's a nice option, especially for such a long trip! :) You might consider cutting down to fewer cities and renting longer in rental flats because the price will go down/night. Just a suggestion and have an amazing time! :)

I feel like I am a budget traveler. I recently went to Italy for 15 nights. Our trip cost, including airfare was approximately 7k. That was for 2 people, staying in 2 star or less hotels. I was maybe my most expensive budget trip but we did not starve nor were we wrapped in luxury. We were comfy. So food for thought when it comes to the Italy portion of your trip.

I think you can swing it easily. I think many people ruin their travel budgets on hotels. I am assuming you are fairly young and will want to get the most out of your days. We spend at most 1 hour a day awake in the hotel so I tend to cheap out on it. For me, eating healthy is essential as travel is hard work. For us, finding a good, healthy grocery keeps costs down and quality up. Our last trip was for 17 days and for two people we spent $3900 including air from Seattle. We don't do any fancy meals but we certainly don't starve or stay anywhere unsafe. Your airfare will likely be a bit higher given when you are going but I am sure I could swing 60-75 days on your budget. Its all about the choices you make dining out and with regard to hotels. My advice for what it is worth is since you seem to be able to get the time off, stay as long as your budget will allow and sacrifice where you need to for a trip that will truly be one you will never forget. I can help out with some suggestions in Italy, Paris and some in Germany (but not Munich) if you need a hand. Ed's reply above is for me spot on...

One other thing since you are in Seattle. I think the Rick Steves travel class is this Saturday. I've gone before and find it a useful primer though I blend a bit of Rick Steves and a bit of Let's Go to suit my travel needs.