Most Cost Effective Way for new college graduates to backpack through Europe.

I hope they spend every dime they've saved on this adventure! It will be a marvelous experience. And they have the rest of their lives to build their careers, nest eggs, etc. They really need to put together a general itinerary revolving around where they think they want to travel. A beginning and and end are musts and they need to make hostel, hotel, airbnb accommodation reservations for those early and late stages. Since you have "backpacking" in parenthesis, I'm assuming they aren't actually planning to backpack; as in sleep in tents and in grassy countrysides. They also need to realize that 4 people is considered quite a large size as far as accommodations go. Hotels for example don't easily accommodate 4 in the way we think of American hotels with 2 queen beds as a norm. I think a really good thing to research is college/university accommodations. Often they rent out dorm rooms once the semester is over and the college students have left for the summer for very reasonable prices.

Our son did this kind of trip a few years back, but in New Zealand. Turns out he and his buddies didn't love hostels. They did a lot of camping. Some people swear by hostels though. But, the days of just showing up at a hostel seems pretty unlikely at the height of travel season. The less they plan, the more time spent trying to figure out where to lay their heads each night.

The best way to reduce costs is go to cheaper countries - Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe - and avoid the big expensive cities like Barcelona, Paris, Rome etc. And definitely don’t go to Scandinavia.

However, I expect they will have an idea already of which places they want to visit and want to see them as cheaply as possible. That’s obviously going to mean hostels, taking trains and buses and buying food to eat on the go from supermarkets and takeaways.

You might check out some resources from RS son Andy who has had a youth travel company, like this:

Andy Steves' Europe: City-Hopping on a Budget (a book I found on Amazon)

https://andysteves.com/

https://andysteves.com/blog

When I was in school, this is the way everyone I knew travelled to Europe. I did it in 1981 in the UK. My guidebook at the time was the book series "Let's Go Europe: The Student Guide to Travel" published by Harvard Students Association. I think they stopped publishing a few years ago, but the 2019 edition is still available. The helpful parts were about where to look for cheap places to stay and eat, laundromats, and train advice, so all that info might still be good as long as you dont rely on price info.

I think those "backpacking" days are over now that everything is bookable online and advance train fares are available. That said, booking with free or low-penalty cancellation would be an option that allows some flexibility. Choosing less expensive countries to visit will stretch their funds. They should take some time during their winter break to research places they want to visit and maybe make some advance bookings, as well as looking at the cost of rail passes vs point-to-point tickets.
Re: "3 to 6 weeks," my recommendation is that they leave the minute they can (e.g., heading to the airport as soon as graduation is over, should they choose to walk) and returning with only enough time to ensure they don't fall asleep on the first day of the job. The only thing they are likely to regret about this trip is making it too short.

What a great adventure your son will have backpacking around! Years ago, when I backpacked after college, I did not have an agenda. I just 'winged' it. Following in my footsteps, my son did this (and still does as he's living abroad and very frugal). Typically he uses in hostels, most of which he have been good. For transportation he used/uses a mix of buses, trains and cheap airlines to get around, depending on which has the best rate. The difference now is that usually my son makes a hostel reservation at least a few days ahead of time, especially since to get the best transportation rate you need to book ahead of time. My son figured out how to manage on a very tight budget and your son will, too. I hope he goes for it!

Have them walk the Camino Frances, starting in France at Saint Jean Pied de Port. They will get to see so much, meet so many people, and have an experience of a lifetime, all at rock bottom prices.

I agree with everything said so far but would add a few thoughts:

Doing preliminary lodging research on booking.com can tip the group off to destinations likely to be considerably more, or less, expensive than others. Some hostels are listed there, but certainly not all. The temptation on a first trip is to hit the highlights (I did that myself in 1972), but if they want to be frugal, they do need to resist the temptation to make this a trip focused solely on capital cities and other very famous destinations (like Venice, Florence and Barcelona). Maybe they can make stops in places like that rather short and include some interesting, less costly stops.

Two countries with endless attractive smaller-town alternatives that aren't crazy-expensive to visit are Germany and Italy. (They just need not to stop off in Switzerland along the way!) Italian trains are less expensive, per mile, than those in many other countries, and there are a lot of great places to visit in every region of the country, making use of cheap-but-slow regional trains not only practical but also necessary.

Germany has a stunningly good deal, the Deutschland Ticket, that covers essentially all local trains and buses (not including the express trains) nationwide. The cost will be 58 euros per calendar month for next year. With that ticket you can travel the entire country (just avoiding the express trains), including city transportation. There have been several threads on this forum about the best place to buy that ticket (you have to know how to cancel it, or you'll be charged for another month), but this website provides some useful descriptive information in English. I have no idea whether it's a good place to buy the ticket. https://www.rmv.de/s/en/deutschland-ticket

It would be smart to warn the travellers that the locals they see hopping on and off city buses and trams probably have monthly or annual tickets in their wallets. Not seeing those tickets being flashed doesn't mean the local transportation is free. Tourists need to do a bit of research so they know how to pay (in some places that means buying a ticket before boarding) and knowing how to validate it. I mention this because there are ticket inspectors roaming around, keeping passengers honest, and being caught without a valid ticket will generate a fine of (probably) at least 50 euros. No excuses accepted.

If they decide to take as long a trip as their schedules allow and know in their hearts they're going to want to move around a lot, hitting the highlights (doing something like London-Paris-Barcelona-Madrid-Rome-Florence-Venice-Vienna-Budapest-Munich-Berlin), that will be a lot of miles, and it's possible a Eurail Pass would be produce savings. The 2-month Youth Eurail Pass is on sale for $493 until December 17. The one-month pass is on sale for $416. The shorter passes are a lot more expensive per day and I think much less likely to pay off. They need to know that the express trains in many countries require seat reservations, and those are an extra cost. If you buy point-to-point tickets on such trains, the seat reservations are included in the basic ticket price. This makes it tricky to compare the cost of a rail pass (to which seat-reservation fees must be added) to buying point-to-point tickets.

I'd keep the existence of budget airlines in mind. If they decide to visit non-contiguous countries (England-France-Spain-Greece, for example), it could make a great deal of sense to fly one leg of the itinerary. A Eurail Pass becomes much less attractive in that situation.

Buying multi-city rather than round-trip transatlantic tickets will probably save them at least one full travel day, and it may not be much more expensive than round-trip tickets. It depends on the specific cities selected.

I recommend the immediate purchase and reading of Rick's "Europe Through the Back Door".

Within Germany the cheapest way to travel is the 58 euro Deutschland Ticket, which allows the rider to travel by regional trains, trams and busses, including in the cities and even some ferries. Other countries have student and commuter passes; that's going to depend on where they go. Bikes are also very common, and most of western Europe accommodates bike riders with routes and special lanes. Bikes can be taken on trains.

Hostels are usually the cheapest beds, but they can get filled by folks you just don't want to meet. They may want to consider just picking 3-4 cities and getting a VRBO or AirBnB for a week at a time and exploring out from there. It can be less expensive to do that. Smaller towns on the rail lines and Pensions and Guest houses are also worth looking into.

As noted the cheaper countries are less expensive, but often also the most uncomfortable and lacking in infrastructure. They can be a lot of fun, they can be problematic. The State dept briefs are usually a good indicator of the amount of issues travelers may encounter; they should be taken seriously.

Food is easy, there are supermarkets and inexpensive places to eat all over, I can easily eat in most of the EU for less than 15 euro a day when I choose to. Fresh water is also often available, so buying bottled water is a added, unnecessary, expense.

May and June are better than July and August. Not as good as April or September.

My suggestion is for them to sit down and decide what their top three things they want to see or do are, and then build the trip around those. They do need to get an idea as to the basic itinerary soon. They should have the major items figured out 90 days in advance to insure transport and lodging reservations as per their requirements.

The 2-month Youth Eurail Pass is on sale for $493 until December 17.
The one-month pass is on sale for $416.

This is for the global "continuous" pass in 2nd class, an OUTSTANDING deal. It can be used anytime within 11 months of purchase. Buy while the buying is good!

Some countries make using this pass easier than others. The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland come to mind. Other countries restrict use of the pass by requiring advance reservations and limiting the number of railpass holders. The travelers need to read up on this and other details at the site of Europe's most reputable train authority, the Man in Seat 61:

https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a-eurail-pass.htm

He offers this map as a guide to pass-friendly (green) and pass-unfriendly (red) countries:
https://www.seat61.com/images/interrail-eurail-reservations-map.jpg

Beer off the shelf is very cheap in Germany and groceries are reasonable. Neighborhood stores like Rewe, Lidl, Penny and Aldi are great for picking up sandwich supplies, fresh produce, snacks, etc. for those long train rides.

About the Deutschland Ticket... an excellent deal for getting around within smallish areas of Germany but unsuitable for most longer trips (Munich > Berlin for example.) This long-distance journey is a 4-hour trip by direct ICE train, but with the Deutschland ticket, which restricts users to the regional trains, it would require 9-11 hours and multiple changes of train. I would be using a Eurail pass on the high-speed ICE trains for a trip of this distance for sure.

Of course the D-Ticket works great for inside Munich and Berlin, and for short outings from those cities by regional train to places like Potsdam or Regensburg. And it's so cheap that it pays for itself very quickly with such use. It would be a fine companion to Eurail pass if you will be spending any substantial time in Germany as Eurail does not cover the buses, trams, or subways that one needs to get around Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, and other such cities.

Today, some of the best places to get advice on how to travel cheap in Europe is found on the internet...websites, videos on Youtube, Instagram and Tiktok. All produced by people their own age doing exactly what they want to do. (And this has changed since the similar activites 40 years ago.)

Besides that, to save money they can stay at hostels and research couchsurfing

But if you don't mind a little advice....let them sort it out.

That's what I say. Let them sort it out.
Frequently there are posts here about sending college sons and daughtes on journeys to Europe. You are sending them out in the world and part of that is exploring beforehand researching the trip. If people cannot do that then how confident are are you they will be OK once they get there?

I should have mentioned in my original post that they should definitely take their college IDs with them. Many sights in Europe have substantial discounts for students--sometimes about 50%. They may want to spend most of their time wandering around outdoors (that's what I did on my first trip), but they'll probably want to pop into the occasional museum or historic site.

Thank you for all the responses. Some very good advice here. Someone mentioned being cautious of hostels. Is that true in all countries, or just certain ones?

I like the idea of staying in empty University dorms. Which is the best way of tracking down the options? Is there a book or website that keeps track of those options?

You should also have them look at the cheap airlines, like Easyjet and Ryanair. They can get some good deals based on flexibility. Right now a flight to London from Frankfurt is less than $50 with a checked bag. But you need to plan those in advance. Come March they will start adding flights. That's a good time to buy.

Someone mentioned being cautious of hostels. Is that true in all
countries, or just certain ones?

That's true of any country and any type of accommodation. Just as most of us research hotels and apartments for those with decent ratings from previous guests, desirable locations and the amenities we prefer, the same goes for hostels. There are the good, the bad and the OK, and the best can offer some nice amenities such as shared kitchens and group activities. For instance, this hostel is Rome has been around for years and has gotten high marks for just as long. In addition to different sorts of rooms (shared dorms to private quarters) they have a great location not far from the main train station (Termini) common areas and kitchens, bargain-priced group walks, aperitivo nights, etc.

https://www.the-beehive.com

On the other hand, there was one not far from our accommodation in Bruges that I looked up just out of curiosity, and which had enough negative reviews that I would avoid it.

You get the idea. The young fellas should spend some time on Hostelworld (https://www.hostelworld.com) browsing the options and ratings for what's available at their chosen locations; the site also includes budget-priced hotels. I will mention that the best of them do tend to book up in advance so I wouldn't count on hitting town and being able waltz into just any of them. That there are 4 in the group might also limit their options. Prices can shift by season/date too.

University/College room stays: here's one resource:
https://www.universityrooms.com/en-GB/travel-inspiration/top-10-budget-city-stays-this-summer-savvystays

Yes, all 4 of them should obtain guidebooks and spend some time with them. They should also make use of travel forums such as this one. In addition to choosing destinations, sightseeing opportunities and transit options, they'll want to bone up on safety, more for their valuables than personal safety. Keeping phones, cash and cards tightly in their own possession and not easily available to light fingers - and those fingers can be VERY light - is important but easily accomplished. :O)

Have them walk the Camino Frances, starting in France at Saint Jean
Pied de Port. They will get to see so much, meet so many people, and
have an experience of a lifetime, all at rock bottom prices.

This would be a great idea...

Lee from Colorado who posts on these boards has traveled a lot in Germany. He recommends looking at the town"s websites to see what Pensions, Guest Houses etc. are available in that town.

Take a look at his post in the following thread for details:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/never-use-booking-com

Have them walk the Camino Frances, starting in France at Saint Jean
Pied de Port.

An interesting proposition for a great adventure indeed!

Ms. Jo is right that walking a major pilgrimage route is the cheapest way to have a delightful and profound experience in Europe. The Camino is a good choice too.

Going to add a bit more information to my original posting about them doing the Camino Frances. They could spend about a month or maybe a bit more, doing this, with an average outlay of 50€ per day, p.p. or less. That includes a bed and 3 meals. You can't get much cheaper than that. They may meet people who invite them to visit them in other countries. Portugal, France, etc. are all just a bus or train ride away. They can be spontaneous about this.