Budget first: $4,500 US each is fine if it doesn’t include airfare and city to city transportation. It’s pretty tight, but probably doable, if it needs to cover those items. I’d figure airfare ($1,000 is probably a low end guess for summer) plus $150 per week each for city to city transportation, ( $900 each) plus $75 each per day for hostel, local transportation, meals, admission fees, the occasional beer, laundry and misc. That’s a pretty bare bones budget. Serious partying is going to require more $.

Rule of thumb is an average of 3 days per city or 1 week per country although you can cover a few more countries if you’re only interested in seeing major cities, pick countries that are close together, and pick some small countries.

My one bit of advice would be not to travel with someone you had to convince.

Hi Oldlady. is $75 a day a rational amount? Does this sum hold true for cities like Rome, Paris, Barcelon, Amsterdam etc (the big cities in western europe) and by how much does this vary when we travel to central europe?

For example, i ll be going ot Paris for three days, and its very clear to me (and my travelmates) that we can only do the sights there and maybe sip a beer in a nice pub, no artying. Does it make sense to look at your trip from that point of view? Divide the cities where you can afford to party and the cities you are going for the history and the culture?

Becasue of this I am having a tough time planning my list of cities, and hte part that pinches most is the city to city travel, you waste time and money!

In terms of city-to-city travel, you might save money by using Ryanair and booking far, far ahead, but then your spontaneity is quite limited.
$75 might go father in Barcelona than Paris.
As Oldlady said, it would help to plan your travel for countries that are close together.

$75 is staying in hostels, eating from markets and street veneers with the occasional low end pub or cafe meal, subways and buses for local transportation, admission fees, laundry, misc. and the occasional beer or wine. Shared rooms in budget hotels will raise that to $100 each and partying/clubbing on a regular basis, always eating in cafes with the occasional restaurant and “moderate tourist class hotels” will hit $150.

Thanks Cil and Oldlady! That is heartening news indeed! i will definitely be staying at hostels and sticking to basic food and only eating at a restaurant once in a while.I was of the opinion that local travel and admission fees will be quite steep(despite the student card).

Rome and Paris create the biggest dilemma for me. These two cities are staples for anybody visiting Europe for the first time, but i think to be fair i should keep Italy and France for another visit, one in which i can spend at least 10 days in each country. I have changed my plan quite a few times in the past week, the most updated one stands like this Budapest (5 nights), Barcelona(by air:5 nights), Amsterdam(by air:4 nights), Berlin(5 nights), Prague(6 nights) and a few days for spontaneity.These are going to be the major cities and i will plan some day trips from these. I hope for the city to city transportation i can get two cheap air tickets(wizz air and easyjet) and i might have to purchase a 3 country select pass (Benelux-Germany-Czech). What are your thoughts?

I would probably try to add France to this trip and see Spain and Italy (flying between the two or visiting southern France) on your next trip. Just using the cities you’ve mentioned I would plan:

Paris, 4 nights, train to
Amsterdam, 3 nights, Train (about 6 hours) overnight train or flight to
Berlin, 3 nights, train to
Prague, 3 nights, train (about 61/2 hours) , overnight train or flight to
Budapest, 3 nights,
That gives you ample time to visit other areas of France and Germany and maybe hit Vienna/Bratislava and other areas of Czech, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary in a month

I’d look at a France, Benelux, Germany (and maybe Austria, depending on your plans) 3 country select railpass and point to point tickets in Czech Rep., Slovakia, Hungary.

Thanks Oldlady! The plan you have chalked out definitely looks good. Only thing i am missing here are the beaches, that was the reason i had included Barcelona. Another difficulty i face is cheap flights to Europe. The cheapest flights into europe from Delhi are the roundtrips to Paris, Prague, Budapest and a couple of other cities ($550-$600). An open jaw flight costs significantly higher except when you’re flying in to Buda and out from Prague ($600). So i need to keep this in mind as well. I was reading a couple of other threads in the favourite places forums and felt that Vienna and Bratislava might not be as interesting as other Czech and Hungarian cities?

I love Bratislava, but it’s compact and easy to see in a day or two. I found Vienna dull, but there are some interesting sights and interesting day trips into the Austrian Alps, although those day trips are as easy, or easier from Munich as from Vienna.

Since you have 4 to 6 weeks, planning a loop route with a round-trip ticket will work. I’d look for the cheapest airfare and plan the trip around that. Munich, Frankfurt andAmsterdam are sometimes cheaper arrival/departure cities from the US, so check those, too.

I love Barcelona, but the beach would not be on my list of reasons to visit there. Beaches in Barcelona are fine, but nothing overly special. I actually stayed at a hostel that was literally on the beach and while I enjoyed the atmosphere, restaurants, bars, etc. in that area, the beach was really, really crowded and had tons of vendors bothering you all day long hawking their crap and will constantly pester you to buy something. While I ran into that at times in other parts of Europe, it was nowhere near as bad as Barcelona.

If you want to go to the beach, I’d add the French Riviera- perhaps using Nice as a base and exploring nearby. The beaches are rocky, rather than sandy (except for Antibes, while I believe has a small sandy beach) but it’s still a nice atmosphere.

I think oldlady has the right idea- save Spain and Italy for a separate trip where you can devote more time to each country.

“For example, i ll be going ot Paris for three days, and its very clear to me (and my travelmates) that we can only do the sights there and maybe sip a beer in a nice pub, no artying. Does it make sense to look at your trip from that point of view? Divide the cities where you can afford to party and the cities you are going for the history and the culture?”

Hi, I’m planning to only go out partying in some cities as well, and see all the art and museums in the other cities, I was just wondering if you had any suggestions for which cities would be good for both these things, if you had to choose one or the other?

Thanks DI. Thar’s a good point you make. I have heard that from others as well

I think i am pretty sure of the route i will be taking now: Budapest(5 nights), Rome(3 nights i could see fairly cheap flights from wizz air, hopefully $80 – $100 should be enough), Nice (Easyjet runs some really cheap flights from Rome) – couple of nights here should be good, What about Monaco as a day trip? Train to Paris(3 nights) – i’d love to go to Caen, not sure if i’ll need more time, train to amsterdam (3 nights) this should be fun, i have never tried the magic mushrooms before!, train to Berlin (5 nights) – a couple of day trips? Move on to Prague (5 nights): would love to go to Cesky krumlov, pilsen and one village in Moravia just to get a feel of the lifestyle differences in the two regions.

a 4 country select pass should suffice. Thanks guys for all your help! i am really happy with this, feel free to add

Hi Grace
I guess most of the cities would have a great nightlife. For me it comes down to the budget, I am pretty sure i wouldnt be able to party in Paris or Rome because they are on the higher side. From the cities you re visiting i’d say Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam and Barcelona (dont know too much about the Greek cities though) are supposed to have really good nightlife and at the same time are pretty affordable. I guess you’ll really be able to appreciate the art and culture at Florence, Vienna, Venice, Paris and Rome. That being said i think all the cities have great history and architecture attached to them and you should not miss out on that.

I have also heard Croatia as a really good party spot (Split and Dubrovnik), might make sense to explore them as an option when you’re travelling from Venice to Athens, if you’re not taking a flight that is.