Plan Eurotrip in 1.25 Lacs (Including Airfare!)
I covered 6 countries in 20 days within ₹1.25 lacs – 50k of which was just airfare! ($1940 and $800 respectively), and so can you. You can visit loads of places, do pub crawls and have 3 meals a day – no cutting back on fun or expenses. All you need to know is a handful of hacks and facts to have your best time ever in Europe and yet be easy on your wallet. Let me explain how to plan Eurotrip like a pro.
Here’s a list of countries I covered:
- Netherlands
- Germany
- Czech Republic
- Hungary
- Slovenia
- Croatia
And here is a glimpse of my trip:
Here’s how to Plan Eurotrip Like a Boss
Before we start, one thing worth mentioning here is that I didn’t visit any museums because I had no interest. If you would like to visit them, your cost might go up a bit as the entry fees are quite high for some of these museums. But then you can always counter that by spending a little bit less on alcohol :D. Okay, let’s see how to smartly plan  Eurotrip:
1. Air Tickets
Track the ticket fares for a few weeks before you book. The price usually fluctuates a lot. There is a good chance that you might get a favorable offer on some website as well! People often suggest Skyscanner but I got the cheapest tickets on PayTM (thanks to 10 % cashback). Try not to book direct flights, they are costly; but the flights with layovers eat up a lot of your time. So it’s a trade-off. You have to find the perfect balance for yourself. And try to be flexible with the dates, usually tickets are cheaper for weekday-departures.
2. CouchSurfing and Hostels:
Even if you are travelling in a group / with your girl, try Couchsurfing and hostels. Hostels are a lot cheaper than hotels and airbnb. Hostels have male only/female only/mixed dorms. You can choose accordingly. You can find hostels along with reliable reviews on these websites – hostelsbookers and hostels. Good thing with hostels is that you can find like-minded people and tag with them for city tours.
‘Couchsurfing‘Â is a website that enables you to get in touch with people willing to host you and take you into their homes! You are literally the guest; you don’t have to pay anything, just a gift will do. But you have to act like guests, don’t demand things like you would do in a hotel. Rather share your stories and spend time with the host. Just check the references and the interests of the host on the website and then send a personalised request. It can be a little tricky to get your requests accepted by the hosts, so try to be creative in your pitches and request messages.
Here is a video explaining it allÂ
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3. Travel at Night
For going from one city to another try booking overnight buses or trains. This way you can skip the stay-cost for that night. You can book eurolines or flixbus online. I personally liked flixbus more, they have double decker buses with toilets and wifi. Also, you can compare train and bus prices on goeuro. Sometimes you might as well get a cheap flight ticket, but they charge extra for luggage. So keep that cost in mind as well!
4. Avoid costly cities on weekends
When you plan Eurotrip, shortlist the costly cities from your itinerary and do them in weekdays. In my trip, Amsterdam was the costliest and I was there on a weekend. The hostel cost in Amsterdam for 1 night was 3 times that of a hostel in Berlin. So, never be in a costly city on a weekend. Keep the weekends for cheaper cities.
5. When in City, Walk. (Or get a Day Pass!)
Walking in the streets allows you freedom and perspectives here. But if are not that much into walking, buy a day pass which costs somewhere around 5-6 Euros in almost all the cities and then you can get into any bus, tram or metro. Uber is available as well, but never take a normal taxi.
6. Eat Street Food or from Supermarkets
Don’t eat in restaurants. Whenever I ate in restaurants in Europe, I found that street food and sandwiches that I made myself after buying stuff from super markets were much better. You will  just be having meat, cheese and breads anyway. So it’s better to make a sandwich yourself to treat your taste buds.
This meal costs 12 Euros. A McD burger on the other hand cost just 3 Euros!
7. Carry your University I-cards
You will get discounts on some tours if you are a student, so carry a card from your college days (nobody is going to check the date, you can carry expired ones as well).
8. Optional – Buy a SIM Card
There is public wifi available at McDonald’s , Starbucks and hostels. But having a SIM with some calls and data is always better. You never know when you will need to call the embassy to report your stolen passport :D (not trying to scare you, but just in case). I bought a matrix sim card with 2GB data and 500 mins of calling for Rs 3500. And it was worth the money.
9. Fun Fact – Don’t Pee much
In Europe, you will have to pay almost 35 INR every time you use a public toilet, or even more. So drink accordingly and pee judiciously. :D
Bonus Tips:
Here are some preparations you need to start if you are seriously going to plan Eurotrip
- Keep multiple copies of your Passport and VISAÂ and keep them in different bags.
- Do learn some local words to be able to thank & greet people. It helps a lot. Remember of how it makes you happy when a foreigner says ‘Namaste’ to you? And how you become more willing to help such a foreigner if the need be!?
I hope this map will answer your queries on my itinerary.
You can find the cost breakup here.
In the end, I want to emphasise on the fact that don’t keep postponing your Eurotrip waiting for a friend/family to accompany you. It’s much more fun when you do it solo.
So when are you going to plan Eurotrip for yourself ? If you need more details, just drop a comment, I will be happy to help you.Â
Here is a recent video where I covered everything in detail.
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29 Responses
Hey Guys,
Totally been following your blog and love the write-up. Also the videos on YouTube are really nice.
I’m planning for a Euro Trip and was looking for the route. Could you mail me your route, itinerary and also flights in-out to which city. Would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Ashis
Hey Ashish,
Thanks for the lovely words! The entry point was Amsterdam and the exit was Dubrovnik. Will be writing detailed blogs for all the destinations, itinerary and cost breakups. There is a itinerary post on our FB page already !
https://www.facebook.com/thepunjabiwanderer/photos/a.965537370231231.1073741828.961732477278387/1274568189328146/?type=3&theater
Nicely written Devang. All the tips seems very useful and only few share such tips. 🙂
Thanks Gagan ! The write-up is a team effort though 🙂
Awesome .well written . Thanks dude. .
Thanks Manish !
Nice
Thanks Ankur !
Very nicely written bro.
I read the whole write-up with great enthusiasm.
Would love to read more of your blog articles.
Thanks Sonia. There are 4-5 of them, plus the videos at the end of each blog 🙂
GREAT ARTICLE AND VERY HELPFUL
Hey thanks !
Did you watch the video as well ? 🙂
Can you write a post about all the places that you visited while you were there? And the good and the bad about them. Some must be above expectations and some below.
Yup, in the process of writing dedicated blogs and making videos.
Nicely written Devang! Exactly point to on the tips for travelers rather than Detailed Tripadvisor descriptions! One question, did you prebook the hotels, pre-plan these routes? Or u did everything on the go? I am in general the 2nd type 😉 🙂
Thanks Anirudh, I had shortlisted some hostels before hand but I booked most of them on the go. Generally they charge very small amount when you book, the rest you have to pay at the hostel. So that is also a nice option. For couchsurfing, I was trying my luck till the very last moment 🙂
Nice & very useful tips…. to spend 20 in Europe. .. can u tell whats cost of the drink over there…
Hey Akhil !
Thanks for reading the blog. I assume that you are asking about hard drinks only :). I generally did pubcrawls. They have offers like 20 euros – Drinks free for 2 hours/ welcome drinks free. Apart from that, Beer in Berlin was 5 euros I guess. Amsterdam was a bit costlier at 7 euros for a beer.
Great Post (y)
Thanks Pamela.
Hey Devang,
Very accurate and useful tips. Just one opinion – rather than having a Matrix SIM, I found it better to get a Lyca SIM in EU. It costs almost half compared to Matrix. Thanks.
Oh is it ? Will check that out next time 🙂
Best Review and Guidance … I always follow your instagram and youtube channel .. So many Countries i got to know from you. Best Youtuber.. Keep Posting and keep Guidance us that how to make trip in diffrent countries where u visited within the budget … Thank you So much
Thanks for the nice words Vivek. Keep Supporting !
Very nice blog..visiting Europe is my dream. Will consider this post.
Thanks ! 🙂
Nice work friend. You are really growing well. I am also planing for Austria, Czech Republic and Budapest .. if you have detail itinerary of this can you please share it.. will be helpful for me before applying visa.
Nice work friend. You are really growing well. I am also planing for Austria, Czech Republic and Budapest .. if you have detail itinerary of this can you please share it.. will be helpful for me before applying visa.
Thank you so much for sharing all the information. All the very best..Keep entertaining and inspiring us 🙂