Which cities to cover, based on the described criteria

I try to travel to cities that are in close proximity to each other--in a straight line. And I fly into one city and home from another--open jaw.
Have you considered flying into Munich and taking in the Austrian Alps of Tirol? Then hit Salzburg, Vienna and down to Budapest?

You don't really give any indication if what you want to see. Cities? Countryside? Beaches? Mountains?You have listed a random collection of cities and counties.

If you want better value, visit central and Eastern Europe, Greece and Portugal. Germany and Austria and Amsterdam will be more expensive. Poland, Greece, Budapest, Prague, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia all offer good value.

Poland is indeed incredibly cheap, but more important a very nice and interesting country to explore. Reliable trains. Excellent English in ho(s)tels and restaurants. No problem to fill your two or three weeks, crossing it from Gdansk to Zamosc and from Malbork to Wroclaw.
You can easily combine it with the Czech Republic,, which has much more than Prague. Larger and smaller cities like Olomouc, Kromeriz, Brno and Hradec Kralove are worth discovering. Less cheap than Poland, but still affordable. And a good train network.

With only 15-20 days, I'd try to avoid repeating anything, even though Amsterdam is great. Did you have any intra-European flights on your last trip? It often makes sense to cut the furthest point, such as Greece, or else you need to fly there (www.skyscanner.com). Do try to fly over and back from different cities to save backtracking. Maybe into Berlin and home from Budapest, for instance (or from Athens if you must go there).

For a bit of Germany before Poland, Berlin would be a great choice. Expensive areas (such as Germany) are more likely to have decent youth hostel options for travelers on a small budget. For cheap private rooms in Berlin (instead of hostel dorm beds), see www.ostel.eu or the chain www.easyhotel.com.

"I am thinking of covering Poland (heard its very inexpensive); Greece; Amsterdam (again) and Austria/some German cities."

I'd stick with Germany, Poland and a bit of Austria. The less you travel, the less you spend.

4-5 days in Berlin is about right. Then spend some several days in Wroclaw and/or Krakow too. The DB IC bus goes there cheaply.

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/mdb/bahnintern/international/ic_bus/mdb_241074_ic_bus_en_121216_704x666.png

Then see if you can fly to Munich for a couple of days. Then get a Bayern Ticket day pass for the train to spend a couple of days in Salzburg Austria.

That's it. You're out of time.

Your criteria (number of days and budget) is very broad - many, many cities can be accommodated. It is also unclear how much of your budget will be dedicated solely to the flight from India to Europe, and what the remainder will be to apply to day-to-day expenses.

I would read up on any places that may interest you in either Eastern or Central Europe. The further east you go (and south, meaning the Balkans) the less expensive the countries are generally speaking (compared to Western Europe), especially outside the major cities. Less touristy places (those absent of wealthy travelers) are also a bargain. Focus on those countries not using the Euro - Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Ukraine, etc. Just keep in mind that the tourist infrastructure can be quite rudimentary in some places (for example, don't expect older people to speak English or be helpful) but the transportation systems built during communist times are very extensive (but slow). Turkey is a bargain but obviously there are folks on this forum and elsewhere who wouldn't go right now even if you paid them to (tourism is way down from everywhere). Even if you don't go to Turkey, consider Turkish Air through Istanbul. It's an inexpensive way to get to Europe from India.

If you end up going to Poland, look up the Polski Bus. Very cheap way to travel throughout the country and to Germany, Czech Republic, etc. All young people learn English in school, so you shouldn't have any problems when communicating with them or people in the tourism sector.

Given that you prefer to average about 3 nights at each location, I would suggest 6 cities over 20 days.

Warsaw > Krakow > Budapest > Vienna/Salzburg > Munich > Berlin

Greece with the islands is a leisure destination and needs more time got relaxation.

I'd like to know what an average India Europe airfare runs too, as US$100 per day for accommodation, meals, transport, sights is beyond any reality from my experience.

Based on the cities/countries you listed you might fly to Berlin, train to Munich (or another city in Germany based on your interests), train to Vienna, train to Krakow, train to Warsaw, fly to Athens and then fly home from there. Munich, Vienna, and Athens will be a bit more expensive than the others but no more so than Amsterdam. You can use buses instead of trains for savings on some routes. I saw one-way non-stop flights from Warsaw to Athens in May for $48. It's a lot for 15-20 days but doable if you like rushed traveling and want to see a lot of places.

You don't say how old you are. Use the night trains to maximize your travel days if you wind up concentrating on Central Europe. Are you eligible for a youth train pass?

True, that Poland is cheap compared to London and Paris. In the time span of 15-20 days, I would suggest Amsterdam (you want to return); if not, then Germany, Poland, and Austria...all very doable logistically and on a budget. Maybe the Czech Republic too. I suggest this itinerary if your interests lie in history, architecture, interesting cities/towns. Stay in dorm rooms in hostels. Cheapest accommodation costs using that option. Poland especially Krakow has some of the best and most popular hostels. Three countries can be easily done in close to three full weeks.

After Gdansk and Warsaw, go to Krakow, then take the bus (only a few $$) on a 7 hour ride through scenic Slovakia to Budapest. From Hungary, maybe south to Croatia. Austria is easy by train from Budapest. Then possibly southern Germany.

So many places, it is difficult to pick.

Everyone has their favorites. Italy is my favorite country, but so many others are not far behind. The UK is amazing, but not cheap. To save money, you probably should skip Scandinavia.

Portugal and Spain are less expensive than France, UK and Germany.

Poland is great, loved Krakow. Still, on a sliding scale, i would not put most of Eastern Europe near the top of the list.

Bavaria (Southern Germany ) has much to see as does Austria. Greece is special and I would normally add Turkey to the list, but not right now with what is going on in that country.

The French countryside of Normandy, Loire Valley, Provence (South of France) and Alsace are great.

Hi,

If you focus on going to Germany, I would suggest first and foremost Berlin, also Lübeck, Potsdam, Meissen, Dresden, Weimar (Germany's cultural city), Hamburg. Relative to other capitals and large cities, you'll find that Berlin is cheap. Berlin is also a bus hub. Check with berlinlinienbus.de. If you prefer dealing with a staff member of berlinlinienbus, its office is at Berlin Ostbahnhof, located the ground floor.