Europe Budget

Hello,

I'm going on my first trip to Europe in 2008 between May-September (don't know the exact dates). Will $4000 cdn be sufficient funds? I plan on staying in hostels, making my own food, however I want to go to the tourist attractions (eiffel tower, Colosseum, etc)

My itinerary so far:
France - Paris (4 days), Normandy (2 days)

Spain - Madrid (3 days), Seville (3 days), Granada (2 days), Barcelona (3 days)

Italy - Venice (2 days), Florence (3 days), Rome (4 days), Naples (2 days)

Greece - Athens (4 days), Santorini (3 days)

I'm still working Eastern Europe but it's looking like this:

Montenegro - Podgorica (1 day), Kotor (2 days), Budva (2 days), Bar (2 days)

Croatia - Dubrovnik (3 days), Split (3 days), Pula (2 days), Zagreb (1 day)

Hungary - Budapest (2 days)

Czech Republic - Prague (2 Days)

I would also like help with transportation options. Should I get a rail pass? And what's the best way to get to Montenegro from Greece? Any adivce on Montenegro and Croatia? Thanks!

Courtney

Does that 4k include airfare? If it doesn't then you have a really desent budget and you won't have to bee too careful, if not you will need to watch your cash a little closer.

As for the Eurail pass, its a matter of numbers. Go to bahn.de (there is an English page) and find out how long the train rides are in between each of your destinations. Then figure about $12 - $15 an hour and multiply. If the passes come out less get that. Even if the pass is just a bit over, its worth it as a Eurail can help with last minute changes.

quote:

I'm going on my first trip to Europe in 2008 between May-September (don't know the exact dates). Will $4000 cdn be sufficient funds? I plan on staying in hostels, making my own food, however I want to go to the tourist attractions (eiffel tower, Colosseum, etc)

You can do it, but I think you'll have to watch it closely. And like Kathryn said, if that's including airfare and train pass, then it's going to be tight.

A couple years ago I spent I think around $8000CAD for 3 months, airfare and train pass separate. Now, you can definitely do it cheaper as for a few reasons I had to stay in 'nicer' hotels for part of the trip, I went out to restaurants regularly, I visited every major tourist attraction, and I drank like a rock star. But I also never worried about whether my money would run out before my trip did.

If you can raise more money I'd recommend doing that. Those tourist attractions really add up, I think Pisa was 15 euros to go to the top, Eiffel Tower was something similar.

People are likely going to come here and answer 'no, you'll be fine with that much', and they're not wrong, but the question you need to ask yourself is: do you want to spend your Europe trip trying to save every last dollar, or do you want to spend it enjoying yourself without worry? I chose the latter, and have never regretted a single penny I spent.

As for rail pass, I'd say do it. You're going to be moving around as much as I did, and I got a two-month unlimited pass, and ended up traveling the last 3 weeks for free on it, once you factor in what the cost of point-to-point tickets would have been.

Edit: Are you going from May until September, or for the approx 55 days you've got listed as your itinerary? Because one is 5 months, the other is under 2. That'll make a difference as well.

I think the Budget looks tight and I would actually spend more time in Eastern Europe cause France, Italy and Spain will really eat into your Budget.

What about Poland? That's really really really cheap and there are plenty of things to see (Auschwitz, Salt Mines, Zakopane).

Or, why don't you consider skipping Eastern Europe altogether and going from Spain to North Africa like Morrocco/Tunisia and Egypt? Those place are exceptionally cheap.

Of course you'll have your own ideas of what you want to see and what particularly appeals to you and you should also endeavour to follow that...I'm just giving you a few suggestions along the way

I would not get a 2 month Eurail in your situation. It won't be useful, or it won't really save money in most of the Eastern Euro countries that you would like to visit.

Wow, I'm really interested to know more ways to save money...because my friend and I are going to Europe for two months in the summer from June - August (70 days), and just on those two months its seems to be about $8000 CAN.

€1400 - Accomodation for staying in hostels every night at 20€/night
€700 - Food = €10/day
€800 - Attractions
$1000 Return Flight from home
$570 - 21 day youth Eurail pass
$125 - Rome - Athens flight
$400 - Greek Island Transportation
$200 - Eastern Europe Rail Pass
$200 - Random Busses & In city transit

already that's over $7000 Can and you haven't even gotten to Spending money yet...HOW would someone do it on $4000 in FOUR months?! So curious...

Thanks for the comments everybody! Just to clarify the $4000cdn does not include round trip airfare or the railpass if I do get one. And I'm not going from May - September just sometime during that period.

As Kathryn has already said a great site for checking rail tickets is www.bahn.de although they don't give prices anymore.

As a rule eurail pass is only worth it if a) you are under 26, b) you are spending a lot of your time in Western Europe. For Eastern Europe don't bother.

To Miraclepie, if you are going from Rome to Athens then you could get a ferry from Italy (Brindisi) to Greece. The price of this ferry is often included in the Eurail ticket.