Euro-Trip and Budget

[FLNJ]

Hey everyone,
Glad to see the forums are alive.

Next summer I'll be making a voyage to the old world, my experience traveling internationally is void and I'm hoping someone here with a few deep notches under their belt could chime in and help paint this picture for me....

I will be traveling with one other person, together we can be very frugal and as far as from what I know we'll be either couch surfing or staying in hostels along the way. From my understanding Europe is linked through a very sophisticated railway system but I've no idea how much it costs to ride, I'm assuming this will be our main source of travel between countries.

Budget wise I'm thinking of saving about $20,000 for this 6 month trip, this is roughly about $3,000 and some change a month. Is the Euro the universal currency of all European nations? What would be a solid daily budget? I imagine food being more expensive, Western Europe being more of an economic challenge to travel than Eastern Europe and rural areas being more financially accessible than major cities.

Originally, my friend planned on making the trip alone but I opted to join her for many different reasons, aside from this being a great opportunity to travel I believe we will be safer traveling together. Are there places we shouldn't go?

As I get more information on the details of this trip I'll post what countries we'll be passing through,
I appreciate your time!

Sincerely,
FLNJ

 

[iamwhatiam]

$20,000 is budget traveling??? wow, must be nice

 

[FLNJ]

Thank you, its a financial goal and around these parts $20,000 probably makes me sound like a douche bag but I've been having to turn led into gold, water into wine for a long time to even imagine putting that much cash into my pocket.

 

[OutsideYourWorld]

Man that's gonna be a classy trip. Not possible for you to use that money and travels for years instead?

It's easy to survive on 5 euros or less in any European country, food wise. Save for Scandinavia. Eat what's locally produced, eat at places locals eat at, and if all else fails, bread and cheese is always good. I suppose dumpster diving ain't your thing.

For travel, if you use trains and buses, check out buses first. Usually cheaper. If you take trains, it can be cheaper to get a train to a border, then change to another once you've crossed. I believe for Hungary to Romania this saves some money, at least. Megabus in the UK can be as cheap as one euro from Glasgow to Brussels if you book ahead.
Ryanair is very cheap if booked ahead, but only if you have no checked baggage.

The euro is used pretty much everywhere, I wouldn't worry about changing. Eastern Europe has a few countries who use the own, but accept euros usually.

Safety wise, use common sense. I wouldn't say any European country is dangerous, really. People go on about eastern Europe being dangerous, but I was perfectly fine. But if you stand out as a tourist with money, you'll be a target anywhere. Keep your important stuff close, and be cautious about people (not saying don't trust anyone, just dont automatically take them for their word).
Um, yea, with that kind of money you'll be much more than fine. You'll be a king in eastern Europe.. And I suggest spending a good chunk of time there.

 

[SKJag]

Wow. That's going to be a luxury trip no doubt. I'm going next summer and hitchhiking on a $1,000-$1,500 budget for Ireland to Turkey. I would love to have $20,000!

 

[MFB]

Start smoking rollies.

The euro-rail offerred all kinds of multi-destination packages, rides as much as you want type packages that were affordable. (this was ten years ago...)
I think there were about 25 different countries available as destinations. And you didnt have to lock in you date of travel either. I'd look into that if I was you.

and...yea...so...20k huh...PM me...we should be friends.

 

[SKJag]

Start smoking rollies.

The euro-rail offerred all kinds of multi-destination packages, rides as much as you want type packages that were affordable. (this was ten years ago...)
I think there were about 25 different countries available as destinations. And you didnt have to lock in you date of travel either. I'd look into that if I was you.

and...yea...so...20k huh...PM me...we should be friends.

The rail has changed a lot. From talking to all of my friends and visiting the website, you can no longer just easily go on the trains without a reservation on a lot (Extra money) and such. For someone with $20k, it's nothing, but for the average hiker, it's expensive. Around $1,300 for a 30-day continuous pass.

 

[MFB]

Whaaaa!?
Shit man, I think I paid 80 quid -160ish dollars- for a six destination ticket that was good for 30 days. Europeans always brag on how cheap and easy it is to travel...fugg. Sucks.

 

[SKJag]

Whaaaa!?
Shit man, I think I paid 80 quid -160ish dollars- for a six destination ticket that was good for 30 days. Europeans always brag on how cheap and easy it is to travel...fugg. Sucks.

Yeah, I JUST found out an hour ago and was LIVID. The prices for Europeans (InterRail) are really good, while Americans are $1,300 or so. The pass doesn't guarantee you'll get on a train at the time you want either. I know it's going to be more annoying because of time, but Eurolines can take you to most of Europe for around $600+ for a 30-day continuous pass.

 

[MFB]

600 for 30 days really aint to bad if you plan well though. Id take that deal.

 

[Sueyean]

Sorry to sort of bust in but does that mean my budget of $10,000NZD could last the whole summer?
of course Im hoping for $2000ish of it to go towards entertainment.

 

[landpirate]

everything in the UK is expensive. Especially food. you can get good deals on train travel if you book about a month in advance and travel at off peak times. Somebody already mentioned megabus, I second that. the earlier you book the cheaper.

 

[Cardboard]

Bahahah.... isnt this a squatting website?
Sorry, not to bash anyone for having money, just saying.... I have been in Europe forover 5 years now, seen a hell of a lot, and got here with €1.40 in my pocket.
Also not trying to seem arrogant, but any budget you come with should be enough to live well and get around. Trains are quite expensive over here, cheapest way to travel big distances is unfortunately flying (unfortunate, I think it takes from the experience of the actual "travel"). Some places can find cheap buses, some trains are cheaper if you know the right tickets to buy, but in general, commuter flights are going to be the cheapest way to get from point a to point b.
Other than that, depending on what you want, I would say theexact opposite of your assumptions on East v. West Europe, In the West it is INCREDIBLY easy to live quite well, for completely free. In the east, you might not have so easy access to dumpsters, and should rather expect to pay something when you need it (vs west, where you can find everything for free if you try hard enough).
I dont know though, with that kind of money I would still try to do everything as cheap/free as I could, and know that when I wanted some luxury shit, it was no problem.