Hi all,

My student son is about to inter rail around Europe for nearly a month this summer in a mad whirl around mutliple capital cities [he starts in Amsterdam and then goes onward via , Berlin, Prague, Florence, Rome, Barcelona , Paris] . His travel to Amsterdam and home from Paris and all the train journeys in Europe are all paid for and his accommodation is booked and hence costed.

How much per day do you think he will need to cover all other costs [meals, drinks, local transport and museum entry, laundrettes etc] ?

I recognise that this is one of those "how long is a piece of string" type questions but info on the rough costs that budget/student have managed on would be great. Thanks

I suggest an ATM card. That's what he'll need in any case to "carry" money.
$50/day would be a gracious amount I think.

PalenQ will have the best answer but lets see where I end up

Euro 30 for meals (6, 14 and 10)
Drinks, (does he still drink fizzy sweat water, if so no idea) but say Euro 3 for a beer
Travel say budget on 5/day abut he can often get deals on multiple day tickets
Museums, 10 a day
Washing clothes 10 a week

so something like 50 a day

You'll get a better answer on the Lonely Planet discussion board - a lot more young backpackers over there. You can also consult that site for suggested budgets:

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

A whole lot depends on his expectations and his appetite.

Portions are generally smaller in europe so he needs to account for that - if he has a large appetite it will cost him.

Soft drinks are very small and very expensive. He should get a large bottle of water and refill at taps. Local beer and wine are cheap (whatever is local to the area - less that sodas).

Some sights are expensive - he can have a quick look at the websites to see.

He should count on walking a lot - local transit can be cheap or expensive depending on how far from the center he is staying.

We just visited 3 of the above mentioned cities in May (Berlin, Prague, Paris] and my observation would be that it depends. Street type of food from kiosk (donair, sandwich, pizza, hot dog, etc) was reasonably inexpensive (in 4-7€ ballpark). Breakfast in McDonalds is in 3-5€ ballpark. Eating proper meal is not (I don't agree that 10€ will cut it in all mentioned places except may be Prague). Drinking is the cheapest in Prague (beers starting at 1€ vs 8 - in Paris). Supermarket food is reasonable. Paris was by far most expensive.

Public transit 4-7€ per day for unlimited travel, museums not cheap but some offering discounts to students. Laundry is probably not a significant amount.

Amsterdam is expensive for food. I seriously doubt he could feed himself on €30 a day there, though he can get a good cheap breakfast at some instore cafés.

Look at museum websites for entry fees. Consider whether a city card which also offers public transport and sometimes other discounts is worth buying for each city he is visiting.