Budget for 8 weeks in europe

Old Feb 20th, 2017, 07:54 PM
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Budget for 8 weeks in europe

My partner and I are planning an 8 weeks trip to Europe. We hope to go june-July. The places we are going are:
London - 3 nights
Barcelona - 3 nights
Paris- 5 nights
Loire valley (tours)- 3 nights
Amsterdam- 2 nights
rothenburg- 2 nights
Berlin- 4 nights
Kraków- 4 nights
Prague- 4 nights
Venice- 2 nights
Florence- 3 nights
Cinque Terre- 3 nights
Rome- 4 nights
Mykonos- 4 nights
Naxos - 4 nights
Santorini- 4 nights
Athens- 2 nights

I know it's a lot of places but we've factored in half a day or more for traveling from one place to another. We want to mostly travel by train but happy to take planes here and there if necessary. We are happy to stay in airbnbs (entire place to ourselves though) or hotels. We would have a mid range budget and want to be comfortable when away and not worry about money or cook when we are there.
We are thinking $15000 aus each
Any advice would be great
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 10:55 PM
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Besides it being way too many cities, why do you want to stay two nights in Rothenburg (I presume it's Rothenburg ob der Tauber)?
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:34 PM
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I know it's a lot of cities but I don't know when we will get the chance to go again and we are spending a decent amount of time in each city in my opinion
But yes the reason I am staying two nights in rothenburg. Half of the first day will be spent getting there and by the time we put our bags away and stuff we will only have the late afternoon and night and then the next day there is a museum we want to visit and just look around. So that's two nights
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:46 PM
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3 nights, 2 full days in London is in my opinion way too little for such a huge, site-filled city. And that is just the first on your list.

You will likely be jet-lagged and will barely get a chance to get your feet and you are off.

I would give London at least 5-6 nights (4-5 full days) or just drop it and reallocate the time to other destinations you actually want to see.

You are making the most common mistake of new travelers - thinking that by hitting more destinations you will see more. In fact, you will see less because proportionately you will spend more time and money in transit, waiting for trains/planes, getting to airports or train stations, finding your hotels, figuring out new transit than you will enjoying the places you visit.

Cut down on your locations and spend more time seeing and less time in transit.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:56 PM
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There are only specific places I want to go in London so 2 days is enough for me
But I understand where you're coming from. It's so hard to cut more when I've cut so much already
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 12:02 AM
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Honestly I would just skip London then and use the 2 days better.

I think you are underestimating how tiring it is to travel for 8 weeks. We do 2-3 weeks tops because after that everything starts to blur together, we miss our bed, our shower and clean clothes. With so many locations you risk getting really burnt out and that is not fun.

Don't forget that in 8 weeks you need to allocate time to do laundry as well. You can't count on every day being a full on sightseeing day.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 12:23 AM
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I have created an extremely detailed plan which includes days to do nothing and relax and do laundry etc.. Just because for you it would be a lot, it doesn't mean that it would be the same for me. All I want is a rough estimate of how much it may cost me. I'm happy with my itinary and spent many months organizing what I will do each day. At the end of the day it is my trip and I appreciate all the feedback and I acknowledge that it is a lot of places and may seem ambitious but it's something I've wanted to do for a long time and no amount of negative feedback will change it
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 12:26 AM
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Great - sounds like you are all set and have thought of everything then. Enjoy!
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 12:49 AM
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> and no amount of negative feedback will change it

Challenge accepted!
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 12:52 AM
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We want to mostly travel by train but happy to take planes here and there if necessary>

If riding trains that much check out some kind of Global Eurailpass - great sites for learning the ropes of European trains - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Overnight trains save daytime travel time and the cost of a night's accommodation.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 01:06 AM
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>>>I know it's a lot of places but we've factored in half a day or more for traveling from one place to another.>>We are thinking $15000 aus each
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 01:21 AM
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I think the pacing of your trip is fine. I would probably cut a couple of cities, but that's me.

My main critique is that you are going to need a break in the middle of the trip to recharge, perhaps more than one. Travel is exhausting! Set aside 3-4 days for a mountain town or a beach where the only agenda is to relax. No museums, no hectic schedule, no crowds, just relaxation.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 01:40 AM
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I'd budget like this

17 moves E50 each x 2=E1700
rooms E75 x 8x7 =E840
Food (5+15+25) x2 x8 x7=E5040
play money; no idea

Total E7580

Now London rooms are going to be more expensive and of course what you find comfortable and I find comfortable might not be the same and even with the food you could easily pay twice that amount
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 01:49 AM
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If you go to lonelyplanet.com, click on Destinations and Europe, then for each country click on survival guide and then money and costs, you will find suggested budgets. Then you can figure it out yourself, since you are the one with the necessary info.

E.g. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/money-costs

I have done months-long trips. Last year's was three and a half months, I once spent ten months on a RTW mostly by train. You do need to allow for some down time. Also, I haven't counted your trip, but you do know that one day somewhere requires two nights, right?

To spend nearly as much time in Rothenburg as in London (you will have jet lag) strikes me as crazy. I have not been to Rothenburg, but everything I have read says that it is capitalizing on its cute buildings to sell overpriced Christmas ornaments to coach loads of tourists. On the other hand, London is the largest city in Europe, vibrant, multi-cultural and loaded with things to do/see, many of them free. You want to visit a museum in Rothenburg? How long are you spending in the British Museum? The V&A? The Imperial War Museum? The Museum of London? The Natural History Museum? All of those are free and I haven't even started on the art museums.

I would find your decision to short-change London more comprehensible if you were interested in the countryside and hiking, but aside from the Greek islands you just have a list of cities.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 03:08 AM
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I'd budget like this : me too.

17 moves E50 each x 2=E1700
rooms E75 x 8x7 =E840
Food (5+15+25) x2 x8 x7=E5040
play money; no idea

Total E7580

However E75 * 8 * 7 = 4200 not 840 when I do the calculation.

So I would take 40 €/ night per person or 80 for 2 (assuming they sleep in the same room).
So :
1700 + 4200 + 5040 (correct !) = 11 000 €.
No idea about the rate of the USD - cannot care for the moment, OP to check.
Museums ? easy 10 € a day on average. = 560 €.
Pharmacy : 100 e
Beer on the way : 1000 € - ok downsize, but Aussies drink nearly as much as Belgians ;-)
Way in / out : 1000 € pp?

So I'm easily at 12 - 13 k€.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 03:09 AM
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Meant AUD - I care even less for USD, I don't buy anything anymore from US as long as Trump is president.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 03:29 AM
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Thanks Woin, the calculater just had a formal "smash up and burn" in the back garden.

I assumed only local jug wine as the OP isn't going to Belgium
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 05:39 AM
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Overall I think your plan is OK. I haven't done an 8 week trip but I often to 5-6 week trips and don't get tired, I don't think 8 is that bad. You say you have figured in transportation and down time.

I do agree you are shortchanging London. One suggestion I'd make is to drop Mykonos and add 2 or 3 of those nights to London and the rest to Venice or Florence. Even without it you have ten nights in Greece and two islands.

Obviously you need to fly between London and Barcelona, Barcelona and Paris, and Rome and Greece. Greece you can do by ferry and the rest by train. But do check schedules, some may be longer than you think. For example, Krakow is not really convenient and you might want to do that one by flying as well (but check trains, I think they may be better than a few years ago). If you do find it quite time consuming you might need to drop Krakow as well. In which case you might consider substituting it with Vienna or spreading those nights out among other places you are already going.

As pointed out above, your budget works out to just under 200 euro a day - assuming your flights from home are already paid for? And what about intra European transportation (trains and flights). You can save by booking trains way ahead (but loose flexibility) and same with easyjet, ryanair, etc. So 200 euro each for hotel, food, admissions is quite doable but if you have to subtract the transportation it gets tighter. You can know what those costs will be however by just checking on line. You should also be able to know your hotel costs (booking.com). Then you'll have a better idea if you can make what you have left work for food, local transportation, admissions, etc.
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Old Oct 28th, 2017, 06:32 PM
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Hi OP I was wondering if you went on your trip and how it all worked out and how much you ended up spending?
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Old Oct 28th, 2017, 07:03 PM
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MaryAlex: You might want to start a new thread of your own -- the OP has not been back to the forums since Feb.
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