This trip was expensive, and that sucked.
Backpacking through Europe can be ultra-cheap --like $60 per day, not including travel costs. I began my trip with a budget this tight. I booked overnight trains without sleeper cars, planned to cook most of my dinners at the hostel, and aimed to explore the off-beaten paths of cities rather than the major sites. I thought that this thriftiness would lead to a sense of adventure.
I quickly realized that this was too idealistic. On such a tight budget, you miss things. You don't get to watch the sunset on the Acropolis while eating dinner, or you miss a whole day of sightseeing in Rome because you're too tired from your overnight train. You don't get to try exotic foods like escargot, or take spontaneous trips to places like Cinque Terre. Travel can be ultra-cheap, but you must make some serious sacrifices.
As a recent college grad, I fully understand what a very limited budget looks like. I would still recommend saving up more money so you don't have to do Europe ultra-cheap.
While traveling, I tracked every euro I spent, from the 155 Euro flight change fee in Barcelona to the 2 Euro I dropped in the gutter in Athens. Here's the data on my spending.
Average cost per day, not including long-distance travel: 99€ (Euros)
Category break-down of my daily costs:
Misc includes such expenses as hiking equipment for Switzerland, souvenirs, and gifts
The transport section does not include pre-booked long distance trains and planes. It is such a large percentage of my budget namely because I missed my flight in Barcelona, costing me a total of around 200 euro to catch up on my itinerary.
Total long-distance travel: 873€ *
*My wonderful parents bought my trans-Atlantic flights for me as a graduation gift, so I am not including that cost here.
There was an interesting trend in my daily food spending...
The massive peak is from Brugge, Belgium. The fantastic beer here caused me to lose all common sense regarding food costs.
The local troughs mark travel days, where I'd usually skip a meal and eat a cheap sandwich for lunch and dinner.
You'll also notice a general upward trend. This is partially because as the trip went on I cooked less, realizing that my cooking time could be better spent exploring. I also did consciously increase my restaurant spending in order to try more foods, like escargot from France and pesto dishes from Cinque Terre, that are expensive.
The total trip cost was 3826€, or $5.2k.
I would do it again in a heartbeat. But not anytime soon, because I'm broke.