questions about berlin, netherlands, and paris..budget 4 a 21yrold student

Will break this to you gently. You did not overestimate your budget. You underestimated. 500 Euro for 2 weeks is not enough for food, alcohol, subway/bus tickets and sightseeing admissions.

1. Travelers checks. Search this site for previous discussions. They are junk. Hard to find retailers willing to take them. Use an ATM. Take out enough cash to operate for at least 1 week to avoid repeat visits (fees) at the ATM.

2. Drinking. Wine/beer - estimate 5-7 Euro for a glass at a bar. Cheaper if you buy a six pack or bottle in a store and drink at your hotel.

3. Dutch coffee houses. Assume you aren't looking for a latte and want to partake in other goods. It ain't cheap either, and don't even try to consume it when you aren't at the coffee house.

4. Paris. 10 Euro every OTHER day for food is not enough. Do a search on this site - read previous posters comments on food costs. If your hostel gives you breakfast, take advantage of it. Eat enough to cover you until dinner. Peanut butter? If you can find it in Europe, it's going to be really expensive. Buy some in America and bring it over with you (you might also consider buying some ramen noodles - all you need to do is find a place to boil water, but assuming on your budget, it's hostels all the way - they have kitchens).

If you have a college i.d. or a hostelling card, use it to get as many discounts as you can on sightseeing. Look at the Paris Museum Pass website. Tally up separate admissions to all the sights you want to see, figure out what days you are available to go see each place (museums can be closed 1 or 2 days per week - and those days vary) and then see if it is cost effective - Eiffel Tower does NOT accept museum pass.

If you can do 2 weeks in Europe on less than 500 Euro, please come back and write a lengthy trip report. Would love to know how you actually got around town, ate, drank and what you were able to visit as far as major sights.

First of all, the 2.5% ATM fee is nothing compared to the cost of using Traveler's Checks. Don't even bother with them. Exchanging money in America before you leave is also much more expensive. Ask any experience traveler and they'll tell you Visa and ATMs are the cheapest (and easiest) way to go.

Coffee will run about €3-5, wine €3-8, beer €3-6 depending on the restaurant. (I don't go to fancy places.) If you have a place to cook, and your hostel provides breakfast, you can probably survive on €10/day. This means only eating PB&J sandwiches, pasta, and a few veggies or piece of fruit. And drinking only water from the tap.

I traveled to Germany for 2 weeks last month and the entire trip cost $1,600 ($700 for airfare). We stayed in hostels, used public transportation, ate picnics or cooked our own meals almost daily - VERY low-budget. At the VERY minimum you will want to budget €50/day (€20 for hostel, €10-food, €10-15-sights, €5/public transport). Notice this doesn't include your transportation between destinations. If you want to see all of the sights you listed for Paris, you'll need to double your sightseeing budget.

Also, €500 is more like $800 - estimate $1.60 as the exchange rate. This will take into account the ATM charge.

First off bring more money. You'd be suprised at how much you spend that you dont think of. Paris is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Secondly stick to beer and wine in bars, even then your looking at least 4-6 euros per glass, usually higher in Paris. Don't order rum/cokes or any drink like that, in Europe they charge you for the spirit and the mix, which means a rum and coke will likely cost you around 7-12 euros. Not to mention if you want to go to a club the cover charges.

You might be underbudgeting, but you're not far off. I did a budget-conscious trip during college, as well. A couple of suggestions: Pick the admissions-required places that you really MUST see and make sure to allot for them in your budget, compensating with free activities. Adjust your budget as you go - we saved well in the beginning, so had money to eat out more and visit more museums at the end. We spent a lot of time just walking (a lot of the cities don't require much public transit) and taking in the sights. Churches are generally free, so we saw a lot of churches. Be aware of deals - for example, I'm not a big art person, but wanted to go to the Louvre. It's cheaper after 3 in the afternoon (check if this this still is true and for which days), plenty of time for me to see the highlights. There also may be breaks for students in museum prices, so be sure to check for those. Have a great time - my college Europe trip was one of the best experiences of my life.

It's very expensive in the cities you mention. But I can help with the beer and food in Germany.

You can get 1/2 liter bottles of reasonably tasty beer - much better than cheap beer at home! - in Germany for about 25-35 cents. The super-cheap Aldi, Plus, and Lidl stores sell beer in plastic bottles with screw-on tops. Plus even sells a tasty Weizen variety. You can pack it with you on the train and have yourself a little party without paying 6 Euros for the same thing in a glass. Pay a 25 cent deposit and return the bottle.

"I plan on buying a tub of peanut butter and some bread.."

Bread is cheaper than at home for quality stuff. You won't find much peanut butter. At the stores named above you can find cheese, liverwurst, Bierwurst, that sort of thing, at good prices. Buy some appples and tomatoes - not too pricey - so you don't destroy your digestion and your health. Milk is heavy but subsidized and very cheap in Germany. You can buy a liter for around 60 cents. Get the high-temp stuff and it won't go bad if you tote it around for a while.

"I need money for rent and college! -I plan on seeing quite a lot of museums... "

If you are on a student loan, spend some of it in Europe if you need to. Europe is the best education you'll ever get in many ways.

thanks to everyone who replied!
-i guess everyone hates travellers checks, and i went to an american express travel place seeing what else they have and they said if i paid $404 i could get $400 worth of euros...i read on here also that bank of america has partners with deutsche bank and also bnp paribas in france...has anyone tried using those banks? is it easy to withdraw money with your checkcard and your 4digit PIN?

-luckily, all my sleeping areas are taken care of: berlin: sister ; netherlands: friend's family; paris: hotel that came with the bustour, but thanks for all the suggestions!
-russ: screw on tops for beer! haha awesome! and for about 25 cents? are you sure that wasn't 30 years ago? but wow, that'll be good for my budget
-definitely going to buy peanut butter before i leave and maybe bring some canned tuna?
-i'm in pretty good shape so i don't plan on using a lot of public transportation, i figure all the nice peanut butter should give me plenty of energy :-/...hopefully
-i've read a lot of the website, but what are ya'll's favorite places in paris to see...on a budget?

Remember that if you are only doing carryon luggage, your peanut butter can't be more than 3 oz. If you're checking a bag, it's not a problem.

Favorite sights in Paris (Free or Very Cheap): Deyrolle (Rue du Bac) was awesome, but I understand they had a big fire earlier this year and only small portions of it are open to the public now. Pere Lachaise Cemetary. Paris Catacombes (reduced entry fee for 26 and under), Musee Carnavalet, Notre Dame (if you skip climbing the tower, you can enter for free), any public park or garden to people watch (NY Times online just had an article on hidden gardens of Paris), Shakespeare & Company Bookstore, Paris Plage (by the Seine in the summertime).

You can download many free walking tours of certain Paris neighborhoods (Left Bank, Montmartre, etc.) and museum audio guides (Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Versailles, etc.) on iTunes that can be played on your iPod. Also, lots of free Podcasts are available that offer suggestions for free/cheap things to do in many of the places you are travelling to.

Buy your groceries in Germany, it's the cheapest country for groceries in Western Europe. Buy water, bread and anything else you might need at Aldi, Lidl, Penny, Plus, Netto and alike.

10 euros every other day in Paris. Say it, you mean 5 euros a day for food.
Well, bread, if you go someplaces , you could get a baguette for 1 euro. I doesn't last though, next day it will be hard as a rock , so eat it all in one day( which is not difficult) . Bring PB if you can( re checked luggage0 it is a good food source, but even if you can't bring it you may now find it somewhere.
Nutella is very popular and you can get that lots of places.
Bringing some Mr.Noodles isn't a bad idea, although you will need hot water for them. Also, packaged instand oatmeal.
Frankly , my feeling is you should cough up a bit more money, your budget is so tight it sqeeks... LOL

PS Buy booze in little stores and drink it ( discreetly ) on your little picnics in Paris. Bottles of wine can be had for 3-4 euros.

I made the mistake of bringing TC's to Berlin. It's very hard to find a bank that will cash them. When I did find a bank that would, I had to pay an extra 10 Euros just to cash them! Also I went to an AAA office and their fees were terrible! You are wise not to use TC's. You will be better off using a credit card/Debit.
You will love Berlin! Great for people your age!
Happy Travels!

bring cash there are always ways to budget your money if you nreally want to see europe.