For people recently in Belgium/Germany

[mslibrarian]

I've been trying to decide how much I should plan for each day I'm on the road and since I've never been to the continent I'm not sure what things cost.

For London I'm planning on having 40 - 50 GPS per/day. This does not include my accomodations which is already paid for.
But I've been there a few times and know what to expect.

But Belgium and Germany is a mystery. I'm not a big shopper and I prefer to just meander and look at things, but I do want to see a few of the attractions.

Is 50Euros a day too little? Again, that's not including accomodations since I will have them paid in advance or I'm staying at a friends place.

[Eagle]

mslibrarian, since you won't need to budget for accommodations, Eu$50 should be adequate. However, that will depend on what you'll be eating, what attractions you want to visit and how much you'll need to pay for local transportation and "incidentals". I'd suggest having a "reserve fund" to provide some cushion on those days when you may spend a bit more.

I was just in Germany and Austria in May, but would have to review my travel expenses to figure out what I spent on a daily basis. I tend to eat at restaurants just about every day rather than "picnicking", so I'm sure that would have increased my costs.

Happy travels!

[WillTravel]

50 Euros a day would be fine, unless:
* You are going to an expensive concert or play. Obviously 25-40 Euros for this will affect your budget.
* You are doing a daytrip. Then you'd calculate the train fare (possibly purchased in advance), but say it's 25-30 Euros, as it easily could be.
* If you do, for example, three 10-Euro admissions in one day, that is hard on your budget.
* If you do a walking tour, this might be 10-20 Euros.
* If you take a taxi, that will obviously deduct from your budget, but it can sometimes be the best idea, particularly if the two of you share the cost.

So, just to give an extreme example, a day that includes a taxi ride, a daytrip, three admissions, a concert, and a restaurant meal would probably end up in the 100-110 Euro range. But I'm sure you'd have very few days like that. I have done days like that because I wanted to fit as much in as I could.

[mslibrarian]

I tend to wander around cities and through parks and take in the atmosphere from just being there. I'm not one who uses local bus's, etc. I find them confusing. While I like museums, etc, the costs usually prohibit me from enjoying many of them. That's one of the things I love about London, and the UK in general, so many free attractions. And I love the Tube!

On my last month long trip I budgeted 50 GPS a day and came home with 350 pounds. My transportation was all paid for in advance on that trip as well. With the exception of a few small train trips (from Bruges to Gent, Gent to Brussels) I hope to have the same this time around.

I'm going to buy the Benelux-Germany rail pass. It's just under $300 cdn and gives me 5 day of travel. I have two big days (can be expensive) when I go from Brussels to Bremen (a 6 hour journey! 80Euros+) and from Bremen to Berlin (my friend said a cheap ticket is 39E and they can be hard to come by). The pass also gives me a discount on the Eurostar of about 60 dollars CDN. That leaves me 3 days and my friend and I are talking about two side trips out of Bremen and I thought I'd visit Antwerp or Namur from Brussels on my own. There's the 5 days.

I don't buy many souvineers and I tend to be frugal when it comes to food. I'm not a big, fancy place eater. I'm probably more into bakeries and I love grocery stores. LOL Mind you, I love them in Canada too. I can wander around in one for hours looking at what peole eat.

I looked back at my budget from a few years back and there were days I spent only 20 pounds. Other days I spent 80. For me it is the incidentals. The bottle of pop, the cookie, etc. that ads up.

[WillTravel]

I haven't had any trouble getting cheap train tickets to/from Germany via www.bahn.de (or sometimes Thalys). So if you are willing to stick to a schedule and book far enough in advance, I'd consider that option.

[mslibrarian]

Looking at the prices now, and they are scheduled to go up in January, the cheapest I've found the fair is 89E. It's also hard to get the cheap Berlin seats as well. That's why I thought a rail card was the way to go. Then I don't have to worry about the costs.

[WillTravel]

I'm not saying you should do this, because the pass is certainly more flexible, but if I look ahead almost three months (which is generally the point at which cheap tickets become available), I see this possibility:
Brussels - Koeln Hauptbahnhof - 15 Euros on www.voyages-sncf.com (I only use the French-language site, because I've found problems with the English version.)
Koeln Hauptbahnhof - Bremen Hauptbahnhof - 29 Euros on www.bahn.de
Total time for the two trips together is about 6 hours, or you could consider spending the night in Koeln.

[mslibrarian]

I'll probably go straight through. I love the train and 6 hours isn't all that much. I've driven straight through from Nova Scotia to Pennsylvania, 27 hours! I can do 6 ;D

But I think I like the flex of the rail card.

[WillTravel]

However you do it, it's quite likely you'll have a gap between trains at Koeln, allowing you to sneak over and view the cathedral, which is conveniently located right by the train station.

[mslibrarian]

Ohh...that woudl be lovely!

One of the big decisions I need to make right now is backpack or wheeled suitcase. *sigh*

[WillTravel]

I know other people have had different experiences, but I've not had one instance so far, in many trips, where I wished I had a backpack instead of a rolling suitcase.

That said, if I were doing something like the Camino de Santiago, I'd definitely use a backpack.

[mslibrarian]

Where I thought I'd be doing more hostel jumping, the backpack makes most sense. But I'm going from London-Bruges-Gent-Brussles and then to my friends place in Bremen and then to her relatives in Berlin. I think a suitcase should be fine as we have a private room in London and I can lock up everything of value while in Belgium. If people want to steal my clothes they have really, really bad taste.