I plan on going for a month more or less. Would a budget of ~$1500 be realistic? I found a ticket to London for about $700 and I plan on bouncing around europe on the train. On top of not knowing my daily budget for food and other expenses, I don’t know what to expect from the train system. I was looking for some type of train pass but i’ve been reading that it would be cheaper to reserve tickets a few days out. My itinerary right now is London->Paris->Amsterdam->milan->???. I’m fairly easygoing and want to go by feel, while also ensuring that i have enough money to avoid being stranded
Any recommendations for less expensive cities that would be a better alternative? I’m planning on rearranging my budget too
I can’t say for sure as I haven’t done this yet, but I’m planning one month in Ireland and the UK, and hoping my 2000€ will be enough. But even that won’t be a huge budget by any means, and I’ll travel coach, stay in hostel dorms and wild camp some nights.
So I think you might be fine if you’re willing to spend your month in 16 bed dorm rooms, which I think can be very fun, socially. You’ll still have to be frugal and not stay in the city centre.
I’ve travelled France these past few months and usually spent at least ~20€ a day on accommodation and ~15€ a day on food (coffee at a cafe + fruit and bread from a grocery store). But that was in winter, everything will be on the more expensive end if you’re travelling in season. Example: the same hostel in Barcelona where I paid 84€ for 4 nights in November now charges 57€ a night end of may.
1500 for a month is $50 a day. That’ll barely even cover dorm accommodations.
noted
Yeah, unfortunately you’ll need to reduce the length of the trip, and pick cheaper destinations, or spend more time saving.
I spent a month in Europe over 5 years ago, stayed only in shared airbnbs and hostels, and spent $4k total (including all flights)
For the cities you mention, regardless of how low budget you are willing to go on food and accommodation, I think you would want minimum 60-100 euro a day excluding travel. That might not even cover your accommodation some days.
It really depends on how much you want to do and how much you want to make sandwiches. I wouldn't do a trip like that for less than 60 a day and I can be on the very low end of shoestring travel(willing to eat very little/badly and sleep rough/almost rough, hitch hike if i need)
With your budget, Maybe look at less time, less travel and or smaller cities that are still accessible or more more affordable. There are super cheap buses available to go from a lot of European countries to others. But it's not comfy.
I would invite you to Ireland, it's great, but that would be the literal opposite of the advice I gave re saving money.
Best of luck.
i really appreciate the tips. I really had no reference and no one would give me a straight answer on what to expect. let me go back to the drawing board
"Figure it out yourself" seems to be common advice to inexperienced travellers. You can spend 6k in a month without going mad, like being totally lavish, eating out fancy and doing every single thing you want to.
If I have no idea what I'll spend on food, drink and fun things, I would budget 50-80 a day for that to have a cushion, and budget my accommodation and travel after that.
20-30 quid here and there for something you want to do adds up over a month. And You don't want to spend your trip thinking you are missing out.
2 weeks without worrying that you don't have enough to enjoy yourself would be way better than a month scrimping imo
100 a day minimum
Your train travel between those cities could cost up to 500 euros total depending on the season.
Google around for what your choice of accommodation will cost, plus transport fares and the tourism features you want to attend (entrance fees and such). Add at least $50 a day for food and incidentals.
Couchsurfing/ couchers could be helpful. ( sleep and meet new people at their homes) To meet new people and travel with less costs. Traveling could be hitchhiking. prepare to give small gifts for people where you stayed for free. You have to think about your safety. ( lots of preparation needed, don’t think it is easy because in rural places, people are more easily found to stay at home. In big city’s people sometimes get 40 requests in a day. )
Dormroom: youth hostels are nice, prices are variable through Europe. East Europe is cheaper than west Europe. Think about 100 euro a day for a dormroom, and something to eat during the day. In east Europe it will cost you less, you can compensate in de city’s you mentioned. To be safe: you could add up 100 a day for traveling/ sightseeing. You need to make a reservation, otherwise the big city’s you mentioned are full and you have to stay at a B&B or hotel. (Check on booking.com the numbers for the city’s you mentioned. This can be more expensive!)
So 6000 gives you the budget to be safe, still have to think about shoestring. 3000, with free traveling, stay at peoples homes. Not realistic for the whole period.
So if you want to feel free, 6000 is the minimum.
A cheaper variant of train is the FlixBus! Check this out online:)
Training around in Europe is not as cheap as people claim. A train ticket from Paris to Amsterdam, a couple days in advance, might still cost you 130€ (single). Do that at least four times (the cities you're mentioning) and you've already lost ~500 of your budget.
In most large cities you won't find a place to sleep below 35 a night (that's being very hopeful). So a quick calculation teaches me that 35*30 nights is already over a thousand. Given that you want to sleep inside? I wouldn't risk a long trip like that with so little money/reserves. Eastern Europe and the very south (Portugal). tends to be a bit cheaper but not by much, especially in peak summer time.
Your budget is low for anywhere in the world. Even if you average $30/day for housing and $20/day for food (both are on the extreme low end of the spectrum), you are at $1500 for a 30 day trip.
To give you an example of what it cost me in USD 25 years ago when I went to Australia for 20 days, it cost me $500 for youth hostels, and another $400 for food (I went to the store and made meals at the youth hostel) and went out to eat only 4 or 5 times at a resteraunt to try the "local food", and then another $200 for toiletries and personal items, and another $200 for souvenirs and I mailed back film just before I left. It cost a total of approximately $1400 for 20 days, plus my airfare. And I walked most places, and only took a cab from the airport to the airport twice, and ot was less then $20 total.
Look at the Rick Steve’s travel books online or at bookstores. He has TONS OF INFO for Europe travel- where to stay ( even hostels), eat, what to see, travel, etc. I use his books every time and have never been disappointed. GOOGLE: Rick Steves
Ok if you want to do Europe on 1500 without flight included, you can’t go to Paris Amsterdam Milan, those should just wipe out your budget, aim for places in Spain or in Eastern Europe, they’ll be a lot cheaper. Also are you sure you can’t find plane tickets for a little bit cheaper. You pick the right season and you can probably find them for under 600.
Check out couch surfing, strangers offer to host on it... I've done it a few times but def be smart about jg
Portugal. Very affordable. But even then you are way under budget.
Yah, Spain has more options than Portugal budget especially cause it has bigger cities but just 1500 in a month could be difficult.
$1500 is good for 1 week...
thought this was r/shoestring my bad
Shoestring still includes eating and sleeping safely
I mean if you spent only $60 a day on a hotel then you might be able to do it.. but what if you have an emergency? You have to be realistic
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Considering your itinerary includes some of the most expensive cities in Europe, your budget is low. Might not even cover accomodation for one month