I backpakced for a bit over a month in 2002 and your budget would not have been enough even then when the CAD exchange rate wasn't quite so terrible. Admission to some sites is really high... for example, Pompeii/Herculaneum in Italy is 18€. And the train to get there (Circumvesuviana commuter train) wouldn't be included on your Eurorail pass so your journey would be another 2-3€ each way. You are way over your $25 CAD per day and you haven't even bought a single meal yet!

Hi

The most critical issue here is the cost of the Eurail tickets. You have to be sure this is the best way to go. This link will help - http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/rail_menu.htm.

Have a look at the cost of flying. You will be surprised how cheap it is. Try www.whichbudget.com, Ryan Air, Easy Jet. This site may help if your skint - http://www.sleepinginairports.com.

Coach travel may be an option - Try - http://www.busabout.com or http://www.eurolines.com. For Spain and Portugal try also http://www.eurohop.es/dataeng/index.php.

As far as your budget goes you could do it on €60 a day on mainland Europe. Make sure your accommodation has use of a kitchen and buy your booze from the supermarket. You are travelling in the off season so that should help. If you buddy up with someone you should be able to find better accommodation than a hostel for the same money probably less. If you are really strapped I would rethink my itinerary. I haven't travelled Britain (did London) but it strikes me as expensive. It may pay you to leave this "leg" for another trip.

Hostels: This is an excellent site - http://www.twizi.com/

Discount Card For under 26 year olds: This card is free I think and from memory would be useful for discounts for museums, transport etc. http://www.isic.org/sisp/index.htm?f...ply.html#Para2.

General Backpacking Info: This site is excellent - http://www.artoftravel.com/

Other accommodation: If you’re on the bones of yer butt try http://www.couchsurfing.com/

Best of luck, play safe.

Reading this is a bit depressing. Here is this ambitious young man with a nice bit of money (or so I consider it) who wants to take a budget vacation/ horizons-building trip to Europe and it is going to cost much ore than he has. Backpacking has traditionally been the method of travel for students and budgeters. It's a shame to see how much it costs! Is travel going to become <i>solely</i> the province of the affluent?

Iain, perhaps you can do some short-term work for cash while you are in Europe?

Best of luck!

Europe is expensive - especially for those outside the UK, Japan and the US. That exchange rate is not pretty - but travel is not exculsive to Western Europe - there are many countries where the CAD is strong and that offer excellent horizon expanding fun! Also, a trip doesn't have to be 2 months to count as a great experience :D

Good Luck and Great Travels,

Murphy

Sheez. Travel is not only for the rich, but yes you do need, oh let's say 50 bucks a day for a pleasant vacation in Europe.

The points above are realistic, not depressing imo.

If you can't afford admission fees to museums, sights, and sites, the huge cost of a plane ticket and rail pass hardly seem money well spent.

There's a few obvious options I see.

(1) Shorten the trip and keep the same budget, say to 6 weeks rather than 8 would give you considerably more daily allowance.

(2) Rethink the type of rail pass to be certain that is the best one for your needs.

(3) Raise a bit more money before you take for your trip.

I agree that it is a bit depressing. But I also think the OP is a bit too ambitious.

Iain
You've got some good advice here. I think that cutting the number of countries you will visit can help you save money. Also, you won't get to see any place thoroughly if you are moving about so much.

I agree to save most of Britain for another trip, in order to make your money go further.

I don't think you need quite so much for reservation fees. Perhaps some of that can go into your per diem spending money.

If you were to cut back on countries, staying in contiguous ones that are so high priced (say skipping Scandanavia) and backpack through 5 or 6 countries, you can may be able to make your money go farther.

In any case, Fodorites aren't generally the type of travelers to have this special expertise. You've got some good links to follow up on.

Have a wonderful trip.

Hi LH,

Before you buy railpasses enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click &quot;only if it saves money&quot;.

1000+ euro seems high.

A eurostar ticket from London to Paris is about 90E.

You have budgeted about 17E/night for hostels, that's low.

Ditto on your spending money.

Are you sure about the 14 countries in 60 days?

It's a lot of traveling. You are going to lose at least 1/2 day each time you change hotels.

From my own experience, sleeping on overnight trains for a couple of weeks is exhausting.

Just what is your planned itinerary?
Perhaps you could do fewer countries in the alloted time, enjoy it more and stay within your budget.

((I))

1. Pick three countries. You may actually learn something about each of them, that way.

2. Don't cross any body of water larger than a river (except the Atlantic Ocean, coming and going to Europe).

3. Shorten the trip to 30-35 days. Work 20 days more, and put more money in your pocket.

4. Plan on no more than 300 euro for intra-Europe transportation. Any more than that, and you're moving around too much. Move around less; see where you are more. You're backpacking? Pick an area with some villages of interest, less than 10 km apart, and walk between them. If you don't intend to do that, you might as well take a rollaboard.

Best wishes,

Rex

as others say - you need to re-think both the itinerary and teh budget.

budget has all been kicked around - but just a bit more re the itinerary:

Two months sounds like a long time but it isn't for what you want to do. <b>60</b> days <b>-2</b> (for travel to/from Europe) <b>-10</b> (estimated time spent traveling between countries/cities. You lose between 1/2 and 1 full day every time you move. If you plan on a lot of stops this could be even more) <b>= 48 days / 14</b> countries <b>= 3+</b> days per country. Barely enough time to settle in and find the best pubs.

You will have an easier time adjusting the budget if you trim the number of places you visit and will actually have enough time to see things.

Also, have you thought about insurance? What if you're sick, or have an accident?

One budget stretching idea that was touched upon above. Sleeping on overnight train rides now &amp; then can save the cost of a hostel bed. People may poo-poo it here, but for your style of travel it's worth considering.

The price he has quoted for the Youth pass in Canadian dollars is pretty much on the money...$1026 plus shipping fees. The pass is not valid for Scotland so you will have additional transportation fees there as well.

It has pretty much been covered as far as advise for raising the budget so I will just give you a helpful link which lists many budget travel organizations recommended by Transitions Abroad:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/nav...websites.shtml

I hope you will find some of the websites useful in your planning.

Hi LH,

Rather than training all over Europe,

Pick the cities you most want to see and check airfares at www.whichbudget.com.

You might save significantly.

((I))

I have not backpacked for 25 years. However, some things still apply, and my 2 former-backpacker siblings concur:

Guard your health. A good night's sleep will help. This might mean splurging on an inexpensive hotel or even a moderate hotel occasionally, instead of a hostel or (heaven forbid) a night curled up (and fending off thieves eyeing your backpack) on the train. If/when you come down with a cold, having a little money for luxuries will be much appreciated.

Think hard about that Eurail pass. Thieves are as common today as yesteryear, and that thing is worth a lot of money. (Ask the three people I've met over the years who've had theirs stolen.) Yes, I know you can get insurance, but you still have to bridge-finance for a new one until your reimbursement comes through, which takes time and paperwork. In any case, if you buy tix as you go you can get local deals that way (which will include reservation fees) and you won't feel like you HAVE to travel to x y and z in order to get your money's worth. That said, buying the Eurostar ticket in advance nearly always saves you money.

See fewer places over that 60 days, and stay longer in the ones you do see: the rule is, you can save time or money, but not generally both at the same time. By staying longer in a given place, you can:

pick accomodation more on the outskirts of major cities, which will usually save you money, even allowing for the cost of commuting in and out of the core;

allow time for cooking/reheating meals in the hostel kitchen, where applicable;

have more flexibility to plan your sightseeing around any 'free' days at museums, etc.

Last note: the advice to check lonely planet is a good one. Bon voyage.

I guess it's all in what you're used to, but $50 for lunch for two people seems extremely high to me. That's closer to what we spent for dinner for two on our recent trip to Benelux and Germany--and we ate well. Of course, some people eat their big meal at lunchtime and a light meal in the evening, in which $50 would get you a nice big lunch. We normally spent about $10-$15 for lunch for 2 people--sandwiches, soups, and the like.

But if you know where to go and aren't a foodie, then even the $50 for the &quot;big&quot; meal of the day (whether at noon or 8 pm) is a lot.

I agree that $50 for lunch is extravagant.

BUT when we last left IainH, his budget was all of 34 euro for EVERYthing including a place to sleep, food, admissions, local transportation, and spending money.

IMHO - you're going to get awfully hungry and awfully bored.

First - even doing meals only from local markets - food costs something. And since you're a guy I presume - 1 skinny sandwich a day isn;t going to fill you up. And forget about ever going to a pub or having a drink. (FYI a fast food meal - sandwich fries and drink in the UK is about $9 US - so maybe $10/$11
Canadian. So - in 60 days that would be $600 for one meal per day.

As for sights - the entrance to the Tower of London is about $15 - with a student discount. - So - one sight per day would be $450.

Now - there are places that are free - but most are not. And I really would plan on 3 meals per day. Obviously - you need to do a lot more work on what things actually cost before heading out.

(All I can tell you for perspective is that the first time my boyfriend and I went to Europe - at 19 and on a budget, but more generous than this - we had $500 mad money in case of emergencies - and that was 30 years ago when $500 was equivalent to at least $2000 now - and we did need to dip into it.)