What does a month in Europe cost?

Finally...the lowdown you've all been waiting for!

Ahem.

First, a couple of important things to know.

I spent the month traveling with two other people. It really makes things cheaper to travel in a small group. Sharing the cost of groceries, lodging and having a friend or two to laugh with is the best way to go!

We did backpack and we did use public transportation other than two taxi rides in Rome. All in all, this trip was fairly rough (i.e. we made meals in our friends' homes and in the apartments we rented) though still incredibly enjoyable and relaxing. We just tried to be as European as possible, meaning, we didn't expect American things/service/conveniences. Of course, we really didn't deny ourselves too much. We drank coffees/tea/hot chocolate in too many cafes to list and stuffed ourselves with gorgeous pastries in Paris. I guess the priority was food!


We spent the first two weeks of the trip (nearly) with friends. (Ahhh...how wonderful to not only have friends to visit in cool places...but how enriching to learn more about a country as a guest of a native! Please...do yourself a favor,
and make friends with people from other places! I'm sure you know exactly what I mean!)

So, without further ado...here's what it cost me:

airfare Seattle to London roundtrip: $880.00
airfare London to Amsterdam roundtrip: $170.00
eurail pass (11 flexi days in two months): $404.00
last minute flight from Milan to Paris: $156.80
transporation: $248.35
food: $534.20 (18 nts.)
entertainment (museums, bike rental) $116.30

Grand Total: $2509.65

I did make some purchases and buy a few gifts which aren't added to the above figure, but the nuts and bolts of everything else is accounted for. It's probably good to mention exactly where we went: One day in London, 5 days in Dordrecht, Haarlem, Amsterdam (the Netherlands), 6 days in Berne, Biel, Pieterlin, Luzerne and much of the western and middle part of Switzerland, 3 days in Florence, 4 days in Rome, 3 days in Cinque Terre (Italy), 8 days in Paris (France).

The wonderful thing about this is that, yes, it's chunk of money, but it's within your reach! So, if you've ever wanted to float the Amazon, sit in an outdoor cafe in Vienna or hike the Swiss Alps...open up that online savings account today and start stashing away little, regular bits of moolah.

Before you know it...you'll be there!