Ps. I live in the US
My idea would be that you fly into Amsterdam, Netherlands, and then take trains to Belgium (Brussels, the seat of the European parliament), and then continue to Germany to a city like Cologne (K?ln, home of the biggest cathedral in Europe and otherwise also worth a visit). From there on, if your budget allows, you could take a cheap bus ride through France and onto a ferry to England, and fly back from London.
Prices of food and accommodation vary wildly from city to city, but train tickets are really budget if you use the special offers provided by, for example, Deutsche Bahn (db.de) and Nederlandse Spoorwegen (ns.nl). Flying within Europe I would not really recommend, as distances are so low that you can get from place to place in less than 24 hours, usually, and it's a real experience taking a ferry from France to England, especially when you've never been on a ship before.
The first thing to do is get guidebooks to the countries you would like to visit, your local library should have some, then work out a rough route based on what you would like to see and do. Guidebooks will also give you an idea of costs.
Train is the best way to get around Europe, it's clean, comfortable, and reliable, and there are not many inter-country buses anyway.
How much the entire trip will cost is impossible to estimate without knowing where you are travelling from, and how long you plan to stay in Europe.
EDIT: One week will give you three days in the capital cities of two countries. You need to allow a day to travel between countries. In two weeks you might manage four capital cities.
But where are you travelling from, because your biggest expense could be the air fare.
That's easy enough to do.
Budget accommodation: www.hostelworld.com (not just hostels!)
Try Eurolines.com for buses, or you could do the train thing if you are going longer distances, in which case a Eurail pass might be an option.
Do check travel guide books, available for free in your local library. Once you have an idea of which countries you want to visit, then come back and ask more questions on here.
All depends on how long you want to stay and how many cities etc you want to visit. Start with expedia.com for flights and couchsurfing.com (nice and free ) also hostelworld.com. You might also like houssitting.com. Travelling by train in Europe is best (look at SNCF and Deutsche Bahn). I figure you need at least 150USD per day.
Prices depend on exactly where you start from, where you fly into, the kind of places you stay and what you see/do/eat ... . People who backpack generally can get by for $100 US per day staying in cheap hostels and carefully watching their budget (not including airfare). However, if you stay in hotels, it will cost you more. I usually spend 100 to 150 euro a night for a hotel just for myself, but there are cheaper places. You should plan on using trains to get around. They're faster than buses and give you more travel options.
Here are some resources that can help you plan and check options and current prices for your trip (expect prices in the future to rise):
http://www.kayak.com/ - airfares & hotels; the explore function is useful for finding the less expensive places to fly into from your starting point.
http://www.skyscanner.it/ - particularly good for budget flights within Europe, but you can also use everywhere as a destination to do something like the explore option on Kayak. You may not need the airfares, but you can compare to the cost of the trains to get around. this one may be more useful for you.
http://www.seat61.com/ - a great train site with details about railpasses. It can be cheaper to buy individual tickets than passes. This site will tell you how to determine whether you're better off with a railpass or individual tickets or some combination for your trip. It also details how to use the pass and what to avoid to get the best use out of a pass.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.js... - Italian train schedules & prices. You can find links to the various national train sites on the Man in Seat 61 site above.
http://www.venere.com/ - hotels/B&Bs - prices for the same hotel can vary hugely depending on the season and what local events are going on.
http://www.hostelbookers.com/ - hostels.
http://www.monasterystays.com/ - monasteries & convents that offer accommodations
You can also look into camping or couch surfing as cheaper alternatives for accommodations.
http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.ht... - festivals, exhibitions and events
http://www.backpackeurope.com/ - information & advice
For sightseeing prices: check the websites for entrance fees for the museums & galleries you're interested in. I spend anywhere between nothing and 40 euro a day depending on exactly what I go to see when out exploring. For food, I spend around 25 to 50 euro for a meal, but you can eat for less. A pizza is 8 to 13 euro and a panino or wrap is around 3 to 6.50 euro in many places. You can often get food at festivals at a relatively low price. You can also shop in the markets and put some meals together for yourselves.When I travel, I like to try the local specialties and the good restaurants.
Trains go everywhere
100 USD per day.
German, Poland and Czech!!! Great trip! :)
