Based on travel time and a guess for cost…
Madrid-Barcelona: train
Barcelona-Rome: fly. Check on the overnight ferry (to Genoa, I think) if you can’t find a reasonably priced flight
Rome-Venice: train
Venice-Budapest: fly or take overnight train ( I think there’s a direct overnight train in summer)
Budapest-Prague-Berlin: train
Berlin-Stockholm: probably fly, although it might be hard to find a cheap flight for this one
Stockholm-Amsterdam: ditto Berlin-Stockholm
Amsterdam-Bruges-London: train (EuroStar from Brussels)
London-Madrid: fly — although you’d probably be better off doing an open jaw flight and NOT backtracking to London. Use the “multi-city” on flight searches to look for flights Mexico to London and Madrid to Mexico.

For the cheapest transportation you’ll want a mix of train, cheap flights and possibly a bus or ferry. If you’re willing and able (there’s lots of hard work and some luck involved) cheapest will be to spend many hours using the tips from our “cheap flights” forum and many more hours searching out the cheapest train fares available from the individual national rail company websites. The links to the national rail company websites are in a sticky at the top of this forum and under “transportation” on the “travel tips” tab. You may end up buying a railpass for some of the longer train trips if you can’t find or purchase (some sites don’t take credit cards that weren’t issued in Europe, some don’t sell international tickets or have other glitches) a cheap train ticket. If you don’t have the time or aren’t willing to commit to nonrefundable tickets for specific dates and times several weeks in advance buy the trip planner’s recommended railpass after you’ve filled in the legs you intend to fly.

If you’re on a tight budget, re-think Stockholm and/or pick a smaller geographic area to reduce city to city transportation costs. Remember to figure baggage fees and the costs to get to/from airports when budgeting for a flight.

P.S. Your other posts indicate a tight budget. You’ve picked four of the most expensive cities in Europe (London, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Venice) and have no cities that are cheaper than average to off-set the expensive ones. You’ve got several legs that involve long and potentially expensive travel distances. This is a great trip if you can afford it.

I think that with this information, I can safely go on a trip link removed by moderator Thanks for the useful information because I had a similar problem.

Hi there,
We three friends are planning a trip to Europe from India in August. We like it to be road trip, or at least a good part of it to be road trip. Could you please give some thoughts about this and how can we plan this if we are there for a month? If we choose train, we are concerned about the luggage and I guess car will give more access to places we want to visit. I would really appreciate your help. Our budget is like 2500 pounds/ head.
Regards,
Mejo.

Jome, I don’t know how much luggage you’re planning, but if it’s more than you can comfortably handle on the train, you’re going to end up with a big, expensive car. Depending on where (cities, country-side, specific cities) you’re going, a car may give you less, not more, access than the train. You’ll need at least a rough idea of your itinerary to make this decision.

For budget, you’ll need to provide some more information. How long (number of days) is your trip and what does your 2500 pounds (British?) need to cover. Does it include airfare to/from India? What is your travel style? Hostels? Private rooms in hostels? Cheap hotels? Better hotels? How are you planning to eat? Markets and street vendors? Cheap cafés? Restaurants? Will your trip involve clubs and more than the occasional alcoholic drink?

Rough Budget (per person) in British pounds, assuming low cost backpacker travel style.

R/T flight from India ????
City to City Transportation 400 (each, for 3 of you sharing a car, roughly the same — few pounds less??? — per person by train)
Daily expenses 60 pounds per day or 1800
Emergency stash of 150

This will be a fairly tight budget.

Remember that many of the most popular places in Europe are not car friendly. Amsterdam and Venice have canals, not streets. Florence, Bruges, Bratislava and many other cities have medieval sections that don’t allow cars or severely limit access by car. Mega cities like London, Paris, Rome are tough to navigate by car for a tourist. If your plans are for the major city tourist destinations, you will probably have better access by train.

Old Lady, I am especially looking for your advice.

i am traveling (part of a group of six) from Barcelona to Madrid in June. I thought I’d like to travel by train to see the countryside rather than fly, even if it was a bit more expensive. What I think I’ve found, though, has me puzzled. A flight runs $54-70 one-way and AVE is $135-170? Can that be right? That’s not “a bit more expensive”!

One other consideration is ground transportation from the station to the hotel. Seems like that would be better from a train station than an airport out on the outskirts of a city.

Advice?

You’re comparing a very fancy and speedy (thus high-priced) train with a cheap flight and perhaps not figuring the full cost of the flight. Which Barcelona airport does your flight leave from. At least one of the “Barcelona” airports used by low fare airlines is a 90 minute bus ride from town which could add 30 euros to your price. What are the baggage fees, weight limits on checked and carry on baggage and overweight fees? They can easily more than double the cost of the flight.

Also, where did you find the price for the train? Many sites selling railpasses and train tickets are travel agencies which sell “global fare” tickets and overcharge for reservations — which can inflate the price by as much as 35%. Be sure to use the Spanish national railway company website: www.renfe.com If budget is a serious concern look for cheaper (slower, with more stops) alternatives to the pricy AVE trains or look into the bus. www.eurolines.com is one option for bus.

This page has a lot of information on trains in Spain.

http://www.seat61.co…

If I recall correctly, the promotional fares, if you can find one, are very reasonable.