I backpacked half of Europe for over a month on an extremely low budget (less than700€), here are my mistakes and advices
Hello there :)
The goal of this post is to share my experience as a non-european on very very narrow budget of less than 700€ backpacking most of Europe in exactly one month. I do this to give some advice based on my experience and how is it possible to do it on the same budget and which mistakes not to make.
To start with, my backpacking journey did begin in Gdansk, Poland and ended in Paris. I took a flight from Tallin, Estonia where I was doing my Erasmus. During my Erasmus I visited Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga, Vilnius and did the golden circle in Iceland, so by when I wanted to do the tour of Europe I was short on budget, and also preferred to avoid countries I already visited that were on the natural road I would need to follow (Riga-Vilnius). So instead I took a cheap flight to Gdansk on the 12th June (19€). Very comfortable by the way because both Lennart Meri airport in Tallin and Chopin airport in Gdansk are very compact and close to the city.
First of all me and a French friend from the Erasmus we started in Gdansk where we stayed 2 nights, in Dzien Dobry Hostel for only 38€ both nights. Very comfortable hostel and the city is very walkable, can be done easily in 2 days + Sopot beach in summer. Extremely cheap as well. 2nd World war Museum is a must-see as well and its only 6€ the ticket. Gdansk is easily one of the most underrated cities of Eastern Europe, rather small but very beautiful to walk around.
Our next step was Krakow. So we took the Polish national train all the way from Gdansk to Krakow, which costs 16€. The only problem is that this frequence in summer sells very fast, so even though we booked the train 2 weeks in advance, we had to do most of the 7hours traject standing. I have to admit is not as bad as it sounds, but still I recommend to book it as much in advance as you can.
Krakow is twice as big as Gdansk and has more excursions to do like Auschwitz and the Salt Mines. As we had only 2 nights there and as I said before, we were extremely short on budget, we didn't spend a day on those 2 excursions, however I think 100% are worth visiting. However the city of Krakow itself is gorgeous. Plenty of life, extremely cheap also and vibrant nightlife. We stayed in Little Havanna Party Hostel in the main square, which costed only 13€ the night and had a club in the hostel itself. Is definitely an amazing deal for people looking to both explore the city given the excellent location and the party vibe of the place, I doubt it is possible to find much better than this in Eastern Europe.
Next stop was Budapest. We took Flixbus from Krakow to Budapest because there are no direct trains from Krakow to Budapest. Buses are cheaper anyways (14€). The 6h30 journey might be long, but the views are absolutely stunning because the bus goes through the Tatras mountains in southern poland and northern Slovakia.
In Budapest we stayed in a friend's house in a village about 50mins away from Budapest, its a 2 trams trip from central Budapest which was a bit of a burden but we saved about 60-70€ in accomodation. There in Budapest we spent 3 nights. I feel like 3 nights is the minimum for such a city. The nightlife is just something else, the prosecco cruise is a must-do, the Gellért Hill is 100% worth doing even though in summer is very warm over there (it was 38 degrees that day). The city is not as cheap as Poland, especially if you stay in the central areas, the more you move away from the Hungarian Parlament zone the cheaper it gets.
Hungarian Parliament, Budapest
After our stay in Budapest we headed to Bratislava, Slovakia by bus again but this time via RegioJet (3 hours traject) which for this traject according to my friends from this region is cheaper and more reliable. This bus was only 9€. There we had 2 friends waiting for us, so we stayed there for 2 nights in one of their houses. Again, in this case we saved about 30-40€ in accomodation, hostels in Bratislava are cheaper as well but they are not as vibrant as in Budapest or Krakow given the size of the city.
The 1st day we explored the city, the Hrad Castle and the old town, which is definitely very cute. It has many nice coffees as well. Not as cheap as I would have expected, but with friends is a nice city to walk around. However the nightlife was quite disappointing, we went out on a friday night to a bar called KC, lots of people there but expensive drinks and after 12.30 they were starting to charge the entry about 7€ so we left for another place. The main club where (Wax is the name), was 16€ which is crazy expensive, so we just went around to bars on the main street and they were also quite empty, everything seemed quite dead to be a friday night, it looked like it was a monday on winter, not a friday in summer.
Next day we went on a day trip to Vienna via flixbus (is only 5€ the ticket and a 45minute traject), which is 110% worth doing. Vienna is very elegant, gorgeous architechture but very expensive, however for a day visit in Bratislava is a must-do, and what most of people do as well. We visited Schonbrunn Palace and Vienna downtown during the day, then we came back to Bratislava at night.
From Bratislava we took a RegioJet bus to Prague (4 hours, 11€). It was a disaster because air conditioning was broken and it was 37 degrees inside the bus, the whole trip was a nightmare.
In Prague we stayed at Onefam Arbes Hostel for 45€ two nights in a privated room with my friend. The total cost of the room for two nights was 90€ but divided by two we paid 45€ which is pretty good. There in Prague we met friends from the Erasmus and we went to Duplex at night. Before 11pm for students is free, but I have to say the club there is shit, I don't recommend going.
The city of Prague is gorgeous as well, the prices are about the same as Budapest. Charles Bridge and Prague are noth a must-see. Charles Bridge I recommend doing it early on the morning as it is really crowded of tourists later.
After Prague my French friend went back home and I continued the trip on my own. I took again a RegioJet bus to Munich. From Munich I went to Rossenheim which is a village near Munich. There I stayed 3 nights in my friend's house. 1st day we did a daytrip to Fussen to see Neuschwanstein castle. It is probably one of the most georgeous landmarks of the world, it just hits differently. Also the food and all the Bavarian culture is stunning. Definitely one of the most beautiful regions of Europe.
Neuwschwanstein Castle, Bavaria
The weekend I stayed at another friend's apartment but in Munich proper, so we visited the city itself although from Rossenheim we already did some. I did Odeonsplatz, Marienplatz, English Garden and the Eisbach on the Isa river which is an experience I highly recommend to do in Munich. Here I have to say that 5 days in Munich would have cost a lot of money in accomodation. Accomodation in Munich is really expensive, hostels don't get any lower than 30-35€ a night. Transportation in Munich is also VERY expensive, one metro ride is 4.20€. Some other things like beer are really good and cheap, but definitely Munich is in a different tier than all the previous cities.
Even though Munich doesn't have world-class monuments like Budapest, Paris or London, I still think is one of the must-visit cities in Europe even for a 1st time trip to Europe. The culture and activities Munich have to offer are just incredible, you get beer, football, the eisbach in summer, cars (BM Welt, which I didn't visit but I have been told its incredible), nightlife (which revolves mainly around student parties but it still amazing), etc... Munich in summer is definitely a vibe, and in my very personal opinion, better than any other beach city. The only problem is the cost of accomodation, I could spend 5 days there only because my friends hosted me, which I need to clarify here.
From Munich I took a bus to Copenhagen. This is the point of the trip where things started to get complicated. I was quite short on budget and given that Deutsche Bahn is extremely expensive I just kept delaying my ticket to Hamburg which is initially where I wanted to go. My idea was to get the 30€ bus to Hamburg (12 hours) and then another to Copenhagen the same day. Instead I overstayed my bus that was going to Hamburg as its final destination was Copenhagen anyways, so I saved the traject Hamburg-Copenhagen which was also about 25-30€. Note that I don't recommend doing this but this part of my trip was definitely very chaotic so I didn't have much more option.
In Copenhagen I stayed 3 nights. I stayed in Steel House hostel for only 24€ a night, which for Copenhagen is crazy cheap and the hostel was in an excellent location. The only thing that bothered me is that you had to pay to use the kitchen, which considering how crazy expensive is Copenhagen, is necessary. The city of Copenhagen is another level of expensive, eating out doesn't get any lower than 30€, a beer is 8€ or more in most places and transport is also around 4€ a ride. However the hostel had some cheap meals for around 6€ and beer was 5€ and 4€ in Happy hours.
The city is gorgeous, the Nyhavn canal is very unique, the view is just amazing. The marmorkirken is also beautiful and its free to enter. At night with a Brazilian friend I made in Krakow we went on to watch World cup games at night on Brygge Islands. It was absolutely a vibe as Sweden and Norway played the same day knockout stage. Sadly after Norway game a fan was murdered during a fight against Ivory Coast fans, but at the moment no one knew and the game of Sweden was streamed normally after that. Then after that we went to Proud Mary which is a bar/club with free entry. We didn't buy anything because drinks are out of price. However Danish people and other Scandinavians are quite friendly and welcoming and at some point of the night they invited us with some drinks.
As my Brazilian friend stayed one night more, I decided to do it as well also but we went out to Proud Mary on Thursday, which was more busy, however I just left my stuff in the locked of the hostel for 5€ 12 hours and came back to the hostel at 7am after the party, slept on a bench next to the hostel for about 4 hours until rain woke me up and 3 hours later I took the bus to Hamburg. I did all of this because I hadn't book another night at the hostel and booking it one the moment would have been 36€ instead of 24€ and by then I was very tight on budget. Copenhagen really can kill your budget easily.
However I can say I enjoyed all this chaos, and Copenhagen is just amazing. When you get there you understand why is the happiest city in the world and why it leads the top on quality of life as well. The weather really helped as it was all time basically around 25/26 degrees and sunny which for me is the perfect weather.
From Copenahgen I went to Hamburg on bus (5 hours, 23€). There I stayed in Generator Hostel Hamburg which was surprisingly cheap, only 15€ the night. I stayed only one night there as Hamburg was more of a transit city for me to be honest. However there I profited to sleep and rest as I was really tired from the 17hours of bus to Copenhagen, then the 3 nights out in a row and sleeping on the street.
Not much to say about Hamburg though. I could only explore some of it the next day and it was very cloudy and quite cold to be summer, it was 17 degrees. It even rained a bit. I went on to see the Rathaus and the Wasserchloss. Both are really nice, but the city itself didn't give me much of a vibe. Might be the fact that I caught a bad weather, I was alone, tired and didn't have time to really see it, but it was not really good I have to say.
From Hamburg I took the bus to Amsterdam, flixbus again, this time 4h30 and 25€. As soon as I arrived to Amsterdam I did the canal cruise, which was very expensive (30€) but I thought I could be worth the risk. Unfortunately it was not as good as the Budapest one, that's why maybe I had such high expectations. The city at night is really busy, and at night I went to the bar to watch Argentina Vs Cape Verde with an Argentinian girl I met on the hostel. After that we went back to the hostel. However at night it was unbearable. The hostel I booked was at Leidesplein which is not exactly in the center and it was 38€ the night, really expensive. And the room was full with a group of brits that were really annoying all the night as one of them took the wrong dose of edibles so he had a really bad trip, so no one in that room could sleep that night, which was very unfortunate as I had to checkout at 10am.
After that I went on to see the city, I walked through all the channels, I went to the flowers market, Dam Square and Jordaan. Obviously one day is not enough for a city like Amsterdam, even though I had some of the previous day and this full day as I took the night bus to Luxembourg at late night. But the thruth is that the city is crazy expensive so I could not afford more days there. And in many aspects I think it is a bit overrated and overhyped. The city is really beautiful but I can name a list of cities that I enjoyed more than Amsterdam and not even taking into account the quality-price ratio. Again, it might be the fact that I caught not a good weather (mostly 20-22 degrees but very cloudy), I was alone as well and the chaos in the hostel didn't help. I feel like Amsterdam is not really backpacker friendly and might be way better for a 'lads trip' and very well budgeted.
That said, I would like to say I want to give Amsterdam another shot in the future. Initially I had a Dutch friend open to host me there but unfortunately he was spending 3 weeks in Curazao during the time I was backpacking so it was not possible. Definitely with a local friend with it would have been better.
Even though the hostel was really expensive and all the chaos that I already explained, the staff there was very friendly and they let me leave my lugagge there for the day without charging anything. So I could enjoy Amsterdam the full day.
At night I took the night bus to Luxembourg (Flixbus, 6hours and 20€). From Luxembourg I took a train to Metz in France as transport in Luxembourg is free for everyone including tourists. There I stayed 3 nights in my friend's house, one day I did day trip to Luxembourg, next one to Strasbourg and the last one Metz proper.
Strasbourg is absolutely gorgeous and looks like it was taken directly from a fairytale. I 100% recommend going there, the food there is also amazing and not as expensive as you would expect.
Luxembourg is also really nice and is very compact, the whole capital city is easily doable in one day. The place itself is really expensive but as you can do it on a daytrip and transport is free is not much of a big deal.
And Metz is really charming, and no tourists there, it really feels very French, The architechture, the boulangeries, the chocolateries, the coffees, the restaurants. It is exactly what you think of when you imagine France, but with no tourists. I really feel like is a hidden gem. The cathedral is gorgeous, the castles there on the river also. Definitely a really overlooked city but at the same time is fortunate that it escaped overtourism so it can maintain its identity. The people there are so kind as well and speak good english. I think this is one of the cities in France that challenge the stereotype that French people are rude and don't speak any English.
After this, I took the bus to Paris from Metz which was about 4 hours and 18€. Here I have to say that the flixbus service starts to get really worse. Meanwhile in Eastern Europe everything was cheap and went smoothly, in Western Europe all the buses are much more expensive and they are always late. The 1st bus I was supposed to take didn't stop for us in the stop of Metz so we had to wait the next one, which passed in 2 hours.
I arrived late at night to Bercy Seine station and had to take a 50min metro to Maissons Laffitte in the outskirts of Paris where my friend hosted me. Paris in summer is a nightmare, it is very hot and metro is just unbearable, no aircon and people smelling really bad because of that.
Of course we went to do the typical attractions there as it was my 1st time in Paris. Paris is Paris, is the history of Europe itself so there's no question its a must-visit in Europe. Overrated or perfectly is up to you to judge but the main landmarks there are really stunning and you can feel their importance. The city is expensive but as it is huge it really depends on where you are.
And Paris was the end of my backpacking journey in Europe.
The total cost of the trip was less than 700€ and I was travelling for one month and two days exactly. I did 14 cities and 10 countries. Previously during my Erasmus I did other 6 countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Iceland).
Of course a great reduction of the budget was based on friends I made during the Erasmus hosting me in their places, and the route was basically made in order to visit my friends as much as I could. I would also like to add that for example, Copenhagen disrupts a lot the natural route and increases the budget, so is replaceable if you are not much into the nordics as I am.
My Brazilian friend for example started in Bulgaria and did Romania and Slovenia as well which I didn't do, as well as Berlin, but instead he didn't do Northern France and Paris, he ended in Amsterdam but besides that he did exactly the same route as me. I say this just to let clear that different option are possible with this approximate budget.
As a backpacker needing to pay for accomodation on all the cities, I can say that for example Bratislava would add at least 35/40€, but it can be as well removed from the list as it is not a big destination if you are short on days available rather than budget, in my case it was the latter and also the fact that I had friends to visit, but the fact that you can do daytrip to Vienna that is really expensive on accomodation, makes me thing it was still a good option even with hostel. Budapest would add another 70/80€ approx for 3 nights, which is the time I recommend spending there at least. Munich can be done in 3 days which would add at least 100€ of budget, Paris would add about the same, Luxembourg could be removed as well as Metz and Strasbourg but these two would not add a crazy amount of budget either. So that would mean the full trip is about 1000€, although all the buses I booked from Munich onwards were booked late so if everything is booked in advanced, the prices of transport from Munich all the way to Paris they would be cheaper, so the total can decrease to 900€ hopefully.
The detour to Copenhagen is completely optional and it would reduce a lot the budget. It would also mean to not do Hamburg which is not expensive, but is not a very interesting city to visit so it would add one more day available. The natural route of this trip if I had more days or budget or had I removed Copenhagen and Hamburg would have been probably London and any city in Belgium, which I would really like to have done but it was ultimately impossible.
Amsterdam as well deserves at least 2/3 nights. And here comes the mistakes I did in my roadtrip. Sometimes is better to spend more time in a location rather than focusing on doing more. Now I visited almost all of Europe, I just have Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal and the Balkans remaining which means my next trip would mean re-visiting places probably and now that leaves me in a strange position.
If I had the same budget I would re do my trip leaving some cities like Amsterdam for another trip and not rushing them, or even Copenhagen with a budget according to the prices of the city.