Graduation trip to Europe!

[gain]

Hey guys
I am currently planning a graduation trip to Europe for approximately 3 weeks and wanted some help with planning.

So far I have thought of doing something along the lines of: Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and finally Berlin (in that order) and spending approximately 6 days per city. May 24 - June 17. Do you guys think that's good or too long?

Also, I am trying to budget and wanted to know if something like this can be done in $2000-$2500 CDN approximately. I looked at flights to Madrid and return from Berlin and that cost $900. I checked prices for train tickets and I got something along the lines of : $160 from Madrid to Barcelona, $103 for overnight from Barcelona to Paris and $125 overnight from Paris to Berlin. Next, for hostels I am estimating around $500 (for 21 nights). Leaving me a total of $700ish for 24 days for food and sightseeing....which doesn't look like a whole lot to me.

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks!

[Eagle]

gain,

Welcome to GFE! I have a few comments on your proposed Itinerary.

The four cities you mentioned are all good to visit, however six days in each is a bit more than most would spend. However, if you only have three weeks you'll have to spend about three days less time in one of the cities.

Using open-jaw flights is absolutely the best idea, especially as your beginning and ending cities are a considerable distance apart.

IMHO, your budget is much too low for a trip of that length. Cdn$2500 is only about €1600. Europe can be expensive, so it's important to allow adequate funds for the trip.

Rail is a good option for most legs of your trip, however for the trip from Barcelona to Paris you might also look at budget airlines. EasyJet flies from BCN to CDG with fares as low as €34.99 (depending on which day you book the flight). The shortest rail trip I could find from Paris to Berlin was 8H:22M, so you could consider either rail or budget flight for that section. I'd probably go with rail as that avoids the time and expense of getting to and from airports at either end, security, check-in, waiting times, etc. The rail trip will be much less stressful.

How did you arrive at the cost estimate for the Hostels? Using HI Hostels for reference and an estimated amount of €25 per night, that still works out to about Cdn$815 for 21 days.

Hopefully the others will have a few comments to add as well.

Good luck with your planning!

[gain]

Thanks for replying Eagle.

I actually made a mistake in my first post. I have $2500 - $3000 USD to spend, not CAD.

A bit about my prices, I used hostelworld.com to find prices for hostels. I made slight adjustments to my trip based on what others told me. I am only staying in Madrid for 2 nights (planning: Cat's Hostel, which comes to $22 USD/night) and staying in Barcelona for 9 nights, (Backpackers CSN Casanova @ $28 USD/night). Also, I am not that interested in museums so I am only staying in Paris for 1 night ($34 USD at St. Christopher's Paris).

I am currently debating between Dresden and Berlin or Florence/Venice and Rome. I am leaning towards the latter since I am currently taking a Roman History Course and it would be great to see some of the stuff I am learning about (and I also love the Classical Roman Era and seeing the different ruins). But if I use prices to what I found in Dresden and Berlin it comes to approx $17 USD/night.

I also chose to use rail instead of budget airlines as they normally operate out of remote airports. I lived in London for a while and I knew of RyanAir then and they would only fly to airports that are pretty far from the main city center and the time/cost spent going to the airport doesn't make much sense to me. Also, I was planning on taking the overnight trains from Barcelona -> Paris and Paris -> Venice/Dresden, so I can save some money on hostel costs there.

My total cost estimate for airfare (to and from Toronto), railpass (I am planning on buying the Select Pass 3 countries 5 days Pass), train reservation costs (used raileurope.com) and hostel costs (Hostelworld.com) brings my total to $1836 USD.

That leaves me approximately $700 - $1000 for food, sightseeing and miscellaneous expenses. Think that's enough for 24 days? Most Hostels have free breakfast so I would just have to buy lunch and dinner and I am planning on trying some of the street food, which I loved when I was in London.

[Eagle]

gain,

A few additional comments.....

At the moment, $2500 - $3000 is just about the same between Canadian and U.S. dollars.

Could you clarify one point. Are the Hostels listing their prices in US$ or Euros? There's a significant difference!

I'd also suggest the Venice / Florence / Rome option, especially as you're studying Roman history.

Rail is generally the best option for shorter journeys. However, if the trip is longer than about eight hours, I'll consider using budget air. Some of the other budget airlines such as EasyJet use more conveniently located airports, so it doesn't take as much time or money to get from there to the city centres.

As far as "saving money" by using overnight trains, that will depend on whether you'll be renting a Couchette for the trip. It would also be a good idea to have a look at the trains you'll be using to determine whether the trip is direct, or whether it involves changes. If you have to change trains at 03:00, you won't be getting much sleep!

Good luck with your planning!