Under $100 a night in for three is below hostel prices -- you simply have to quit comparing places in the States to Europe and ESPECIALLY not in major/popular cities. Besides not knowing the neighborhoods there are other things to consider. While in San Diego you might have booked a room in a California house (with things like big closets, 2 or 2.5 bathrooms, a large kitchen with a 28 cu. foot fridge etc.) - in London the rooms will quite small, the vast majority of places will have one bathroom for the whole house/apartment meaning sharing.

If that London place is actually in Belvedere -- DO NOT stay there. It is miles east of central London way beyond Greenwich. It would take 40 mins to 1 hour on the train (not on the tube) just to get to Cannon Street station and then another 10 to 30 minutes or even longer to get to wherever you are sightseeing. So count on a minimum of an hour to get in to most any site in central London. And the daily travel will add unnecessary costs . . .

London, Paris, and Amsterdam are not San Diego! :-)

$100 for 3 people would maybe get you bunk beds in hostels in those cities or 2-star hotels WAY outside the city center.

PalenQ, something suggests to me that you haven't actually been in Amsterdam for a couple of years.>

right oh -4 years now - but day tripping in from Utrecht or Rotterdam is I believe still not a good suggestion - Amsterdam may have changed but I went annually or more for decades and yes it is always changing but still lovely Amsterdam I must believe. I do not exactly know why you are advising against staying in Amsterdam - Q- how much does it cost to travel return Rotterdam/Utrecht to Amsterdam a day.

<<I was hoping to find under $100 to split 3 ways. >>

Sorry, but I live in Europe and consider myself a maven at finding nice budget accommodations, but I just can't see that happening much of anywhere. We consider it a great find if we can find a clean, centrally located double room for 50 euros or less anywhere in Europe, as we did last night in Périgueux, did last summer in Paris, and have done in Iceland and Spain and Hungary and Slovakia (the Netherlands - never!). But that is after a HUGE amount of research, and the rooms are almost always tiny and don't include breakfast (fine with us).

I think you need to re-evaluate.

You may want to check out the places recommended on this website http://www.eurocheapo.com

Crosscheck the recommendations with booking.com and tripadvisor.com to see what people say.

I don't use this site but have seen it before.

Well, there are a hostels in the center for under that price for three, that even have decent ratings, but you'll be in a dorm not a private room.

E.g. http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...er_of_guests=3

Dear PixieGal & daughter:

The question i wonder is whether your family would be happy going to some of the beautiful gems of Europe that are not capital cities where accommodations are more affordable. As you probably already know, Rick Steves became a rich man advising people to go to Europe "through the back door", and he wrote travel guides that sent people to places most guidebooks never mentioned, but were beautiful gems in their own right.

Now these places have become as crowded and expensive as the places he guided people away from -- but Rick Steves never exhausted all the possibilities. There are hundreds of more "back doors" into Europe that you could open -- in particular if you have been thinking you want cultural immerson with only a few museums and touristy things sprinkled in.

I've already tossed out Utrecht. Instead of Munich, how about nearby Augsburg (or some other town on the Romantic Road that still makes it possible for you to visit Dachau) -- ?

http://www.thereareplaces.com/newgui...d/augsburg.htm

I'm sorry you are not interested in going to Italy because I could very easily name for you three dozen or four dozen beautiful towns you could reach by train where you could definitely stay -- all 3 of you -- for 80 euros per night, or less.

But if you cannot get help here for the countries you want to visit, I suggest you join the TripAdyvisor message boards and the Lonely Planet message boards and ask about beautiful affordable towns in the countries were you want to go.

If you want to see the tourist sights of the capital cities of Europe, I'm not going to talk you out of it. But you can have a thrilling experience of Europe going to places where you can stay for $100 per night in the countries on your list, I am sure of it. Others might not approve of your trip. Just a warning.

On a first trip do you want to see the back doors or front doors?

<B>OR</B> -- maybe consider a radical change. Instead of staying in hovels an hour from the places you want to see . . .

Instead of a month on a really bare bones budget - why not go for 2 or 2.5 weeks to one or two countries and double your budget for accommodations. $200 a night still won't get you 4 star, but it would get you very nice rooms in the middle of the action.

Just something to think about.

I think PixieGal & her daughter deserve to be told that all of Rick Steves "back doors" were right next to the "front doors". People who stayed in the "back door" towns had easy access to the famous sights -- plus the joy of authentic experiences in less touristed but beautiful places, and lower prices.

PixieGal, I'm hoping that eventually hetismij2 will return to this thread because she already encouraged you to explore the Netherlands, not be fixated on Amsterdam.

I'm also hoping four4travel will return to help you with Austria, because she lives in Vienna and has a family of 4, and she likes to travel on a budget and uses apartment rentals.

For Germany, there is a generous poster named Cowboy1968 who knows Germany in every corner & is happy to give advice to budget travelers.

If these people don't join this thread, you might try putting up a separate post asking about each country, and including their names in the "headline".

There is also a poster who lives in Scotland who could probably help you. I have forgotten her name, but janisj no doubt remembers it.

I would definitely join other message boards for advice on France & UK, but for all the countries really. This is not really a forum for budget travelers. Thorntree is (the message forum for Lonely Planet) and while most people there are young backpackers, many are not & have lots of budget travel experience under their belts and give honest advice.

I'm sure you don't have to stay in "hovels" in Europe to complete your 4 week trip. Other boards won't be dripping sarcasm about their "radical" ideas to change your trip into something that meets their approval.

I don't spend $200 a night to travel in Europe. It's really not necessary. I don't stay in hovels, but I don't travel middle-of-the-road either.

DO NOT stay there. It would take 40 mins to 1 hour on the train just to get to Cannon Street station and then another 10 to 30 minutes or even longer to get to wherever you are sightseeing>

I agree in general with janis and this is about what staying in Rotterdam or Utrecht would entail - and C.S. is a longish way from say the Museum District.

And if in Utrecht it is a country village that means probably a bus connection.

massimop/sandra: I was not being sarcastic.

I stay in a LOT of places for (much) less than $200/£150/€170 a night. I also give lots of recommendations for budget accommodations. My comments have been about London specifically. And they are not going to find a decent triple for no bleedin' $75 a night. And no matter how much they spend, they do not want to stay in Belvedere.

>>There is also a poster who lives in Scotland who could probably help you. I have forgotten her name, but janisj no doubt remembers it.<<

(Since she hasn't posted in a very long time you must have seen her posts in one of your past lives)

And while I'm at it -- I was ONLY offering an alternative they could think about. . . .

Please trust that I am taking into consideration all of the input offered here. I thank GOD I posted here as early as I did. There have been contradictions, yes, but people have different perspectives and filters. I am just taking it all in and continuing my research, reading the guide books, and listening to those who have been there, done that. I've already learned a bunch from y'all in just a few days, and much as I hate to think it, it looks like my lodging budget is going to be more like $3500 for 30 days. Eeeek!

I don't know if Italy is remotely doable, but I'll certainly look into it. As for shortening the trip, yes that's an option. However, I'm in a nice position, as I recently was informed I'll be refunded $11k in retirement overpayments (before taxes), and am more willing to splurge with that money, since I never expected it in the first place.

I personally do not see that anyone is trying to change your trip into something that "meets their approval." I think people sense that you may not know all the options, that thinking only of lodging costs and not considering time and travel costs may not be cost effective and that worrying too much about specific places and travel mode is putting emphasis on logistics rather than the experience you want from this trip.

Now, for some really important information for your daughter-in-law.
Do you know yet how long her husband, your son, will be deployed?
Is his station in Germany a prelude to being deployed elsewhere?
It seems she will be a "non-command sponsored dependent, meaning her husband's command is not sponsoring her to be a dependent in his overseas assignment.

She is likely still entitled to free travel to and from his post in Germany. She would fly space-a on certain military flights. Flights are limited and she would need some flexibility, but they are free or a few dollars, and since she is by herself, it would be easier for her to get a space. Seriously saves lots of money. She should think about it. What she will need is for your son to get a letter from his commander declaring her status as a non-command sponsored dependent of her husband and authorization for her to travel. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, it is pretty standard. Just know that she might not be able to match up with your trip exactly.

Next. Some bases and posts have guest housing. Some even have hotels or lodges. Just so people do not get upset about tax dollars being used this way, many are self funding or must be required to break even. They don't have to make a profit, so they can be cheap. Some of the fancier ones were built by funds from Officers' clubs. In Europe, there are some that are basically little apartments with one or two bedrooms and a kitchen, or two bedrooms and a living room. Some are military housing that, when not needed, the govt rents out to make money rather than let them sit empty. When there is a hotel or guest housing on the installation where your son is stationed, if there is space, you can stay there. If he travels anywhere with you, he is authorized to use accommodations at other bases and you can stay as his guests.

Researching this would be a good task for your daughter-in-law. Google some of these. There are tons more resources, but this will get her started.
Military Space-a travel
space-a.net
Non-command sponsored dependent travel
Air Mobility Command
Military lodging
Air Force Inns
You and your daughter may or may not be able to stay, and certainly only with your son or DIL, but this will be great for her. If they do not have space, they may be able to find cheap places for you.

One more thing. They are not always a great buy, but MWR on bases sometimes runs tours - easy way to sightsee. Look them up on line.
Military guest housing, etc., etc.

I'll reiterate for the Netherlands:

stay outside of amsterdam and accommodation prices will drop significantly
book at Stayokay to have good accommodation for a budget price: plush youth hostels with large multi persons rooms you can book privately.
"commuting" from Haarlem to Amsterdam: 15 minutes, Utrecht - Amsterdam 25, Rotterdam - Amsterdam: 40 minutes.
Plus those cities are interesting in their own right.

I also want to point out cheap train tickets usually for sale at Kruidvat drugstores, AH Supermarkets or Hema: one of those, or two at a time will have discounted train tickets. For instance, Kruidvat now has a day ticket (valid after 9 am) offering unlimited travel throughout the Netherlands, for €13.99. AH had these a few months ago for €15.99. It makes sense to follow a site like

http://www.treinreiziger.nl/category/treinkaartjes/

PalenQ, 4 years is a long time, in terms of the way Amsterdam has been developing under tourism. There's been a big surge of it that you've simply not been able to observe.

PixieGal, if you want to be somewhere rural or coastal, look into booking at one of the Nivon Houses

www.nivon.nl.

There was a comment from someone who lives in Amsterdam on the regrettable column (aka unthinking paean) Tom Friedman wrote on the "sharing" economy yesterday in the New York Times. It included this:

"Now across my street old Amsterdam housing is bought by investment companies to rent out to hoards of tourists while the local population is struggling to find a place to live.

Small personal profits evaporate soon when the market absorbs this model. In Amsterdam there are people living in tents on nearby camping sites in the summer to be able to rent out their house to pay their mortgage."

I would note that a large majority of comments were opposed to the sharing model.

Venice went thru this a long time ago and now we have a Venice that is just about a Disneyland -some want to charge to enter the park even.

These are tough issues with no easy answers. I am sympathetic to locals being pushed out but this is not just an Amsterdam phenomnon but also in many European tourist cities and regions.

Maybe Europe should just ban tourism? Foreign tourism that is?