Hi All,

Was hoping to get some ideas/thoughts about my friends and I's plan in Europe. We plan on leaving mid June for a 14-16 day trip. All four of us would like to hit the bars/nightclubs most nights, and would like to tour some great areas as well. We would like to hit the following areas (in order but could be rearranged):
1) Barcelona
2) Germany - either Munich or Berlin
3) Amsterdam


Our budget per person is $4,500. This includes:
$1,500 flight to and from (Illinois)
$110 Eurorail pass (pick 4 countries to travel within)
$800 Food
$750 stay (combination of Airbnb, hotels, and hostels)
$1,340 misc. (tours, nightclubs, etc.)

Days 1,15 flying to and from
Days 2,3,4,5 Barcelona
Days 6,7,8,9 Germany
Days 10,11,12,13 Amsterdam

Questions for you:
Do any of you guys have suggestions in the following countries on what to do/see/where to go and etc.?
Does this plan seem realistic/actual?
Should we add another country, maybe Paris?

NOTE: Any advice is great advice. Please comment if you have an opinion, criticism, thoughts and etc. THANK YOU

First.. would not add a destination.. because the days you travel ) like from Barcelona to Germany( I suggest Berlin for young folks who like nightlife) is a "lost day" .. so really.. you have less time then you think in each place to just relax and sightsee.. also.. do you have any idea how long it will take you to train from Barcelona to Berlin.. I would fly.. otherwise you are spending a lot of time travelling and less having fun.. its something like 20 hours by various trains to Berlin from Barcelona.. ..

You have a relatively short trip.. you want to have fun.. why not group three places together that are easy to get between.. Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin would be better then Barcelona , Berlin and Amsterdam.

Europe is big.

Also.. do NOT buy those rail passes till you work out the cost of point to point tickets first. the highspeed trains require reservations( and those have extra fees) with the railpass.. and apparently those are limited too..

PS sometimes a cheap hotel works out better for three people then paying per head at a hostel..

First, are you sure on that $110 rate? The Eurail site tells me $316 for a four country, five days of travel in 2 months Eurail pass.

Yes, definitely fly from Barcelona to Germany. Ans I agree on the Berlin suggestion because the nightlife is better than Munich.

Mixed drinks are crazy expensive in Germany and a night out could easily cost 100 Euro. And you will probably be out all night because the bars and clubs are open essentially 6-9AM.

I wouldn't bother with a rail pass if you are only using it to travel from Barcelona to Berlin and Berlin to Amsterdam. You can fly faster and cheaper (I see a $36 fare on Ryanair, $68 on Norwegian, $70 on Easyjet, $82 on Iberia, etc.). I do see a 39 Euro fare for a Berlin-Amsterdam train ticket.

I think you are going to have to revisit your budget because I see you didn't include travel within each city. Your budget is $50/day for food which is less than 40€ so will have to watch what you are eating (and most importantly drinking).

How did you arrive at $750 for lodging? That's less than your food budget.

>>Mixed drinks are crazy expensive in Germany and a night out could easily cost 100 Euro. <<

Take E4 Club in Berlin.

http://www.e4-club.de/

Entrance fee is €5.00 (sometimes there are ways to get in for free)
cloakroom is €1.50
a glass of beer is €3.00
a cocktail is €8.00

Decide for yourself how much you would spend for the evening.

However, you don't go into a discotheque to fill yourself with alcoholics. Usually you have eaten and drunken something before you go.

The younger Germans go into a grocery store and buy a bottle of vodka (€6.00) and a mixer (€2.00) and consume it before they go clubbing (I heard about it, never done by myself, of course).

4500 $ per person for 14 days seems quite ok.

I usually spend muc less for a family of 4 traveling overseas, but we have 0 spending for night clubs.

Germany is cheap for lodging and food, Spain is not expensive either.

Amsterdam cost a leg in terms of hotels - seems herbs are cheap, but I'm not into it either.

Definitely keep it with these 3 destinations.

Flights between Barcelon and Berlin should be very unexpensive - From Paris or Bxl I paid as low as 50 € one way. Pay attention to luggage fees if you have big luggage.
Check on Kayak.com for flights - might be an alternative to trains.

Enjoy your trip !

A rail pass is a really bad idea since train from Barcelona to Germany (and you should do Berlin rather than Munich for nightlife) is interminable. You should fly that route on a discount airline.

You do not have time for another city since you have not allowed the time to get from one city to another which in each case will be the best part of a day.

Be sure to get open jaw tickets - into the first city and out of the last - called multi-destination on air web sites.

As for you budget, you have allowed:

Your lodging budget is tight. It can be done - esp in Berlin but will be a challenge in Amsterdam. Do book hostels ASAP since the nice ones fill up early and some are truly dreadful (drugs, theft and poor maintenance).

As for nightlife student pubs, cafes and clubs can be quite reasonable when you stick to wine or beer - but hard liquor or mixed drinks are NOT cheap. But if you are talking full on nightclubs the costs can be shattering - unless you are happy with $25 martinis and similar - which would totally destroy your budget.

Good suggestion on open jaw ticket/multi-city destination as I see an ORD-AMS-BCN-TXL-ORD ticket for mid-June for $1268. This eliminates the need for a rail pass and saves you $200 on your ticket, putting at least $330 back into your budget.