2 Months in Europe: Budget of $6000

Question

I'm going to Europe in April for two months with my girlfriend. We don't have an exact plan, just sort of knowing where we basically want to go. Trying not to decide much and go with our wills during the trip.

This is the main plan:

1. Prague
2. Berlin and maybe other places in Germany, I don't know enough yet.
3. Amsterdam
4. Paris (for short time, due to its expensive costs)
5. London
6. Dublin

And than going back to Prague and a flight home from there (we live in Israel and that's the cheapest flights we found, considering that flight in Europe aren't very expensive)

We plan to mostly sleep in dorms and hostels, eat fast food or buy groceries at the supermarket and cook it at the hostel.

We plan to spend about 6000 USD. Do you think that is realistic and possible? Or maybe we should change our planes?

Answer 1

Totally do-able, but it will be tight and may be different from the lifestyle you're accustomed too. Some people live at home on $6k/week and others at $6K/year. Likewise how I travel might not be how you travel.

My best advice is to price out the necessities - transport, lodging, and visas. Then with the cash you have left, see what kind of daily budget you'll have. If it's less then reasonable, try shortening your trip.

I would always rather go somewhere for a shorter period of time and afford to do the things I really want to then to visit somewhere for a longer period of time and decrease the quality of living I'm used to at home. I wouldn't fly to Tokyo and not have sushi because it's expensive, likewise you probably don't want to go to Paris and not afford the Louvre. Remember, you're trying to experience a country when you travel, not kill time.

Some things that you can do to reduce costs would be to stay in neighborhoods that aren't prime for tourists, which will also reduce food costs. Maybe look into couch surfing if your accommodation budgets are tight?

Food can be a combination of grocery and fast food, but grocery comes with the "where the heck are you going to cook" factor. Good Luck!

BTW, Paris isn't as expensive as people think it is, most people just spend their money poorly. Try looking into staying in the 18th or 20th arrondissement, you'll have more fun, avoid the tourists, and likely save a ton of money.

Answer 2

It is completely possible. You can for example buy interrail/eurail pass train tickets. With this train pass, you can take trains for 2 months. If you do that, you can spend less than 6000 USD. For example, I spent 1 month in Europe and I travelled 5 countries, 17 cities (most touristic and expensive ones) and I only spent 1500 EUR.

The only bad thing about eurail pass is that you should pay extra reservation fee for many destinations, such as Dublin or London. For these destinations, you can prefer cheap flights, especially with Ryanair and Easyjet that offer many flights to these cities.