I might go to Europe

[Kipper is King]

I was in London last year during the Olympics. It was my first time overseas, and it was wonderful. London is a great city, and I can't wait to see elsewhere in Europe! Have fun!

One of the things I really found useful was getting a skype subscription. Skype touts worldwide calling, but you can buy unlimited calls to Canada for about $6. Combine that with a sim card with unlimited data, and you have a cellphone you can easily call home with. Do bring an unlocked cellphone, also!

[NBC]

Depending on where you go there may be other reasonably priced alternatives to your standard Youth Hostelling International (YHA) dormitory-style accommodation. Some places may have small lots of pensions or guest houses, which sometimes are near to the price of a dorm bed at the YHA. I'll never forget my first YHA experience, it was the City of London YHA near St. Paul's Cathedral. It was July 1995 and the cost for a bed in a room of 8 was £19.10. The exchange rate at the time was $2.40 to the pound. $45 for a bunk bed and a continental breakfast? London B&Bs could be had for £20!

There are alternatives and it might be worth while looking into them.

Good luck.

[darthma]

Not to throw a curveball here, but Barcelona is worth checking out if you enjoy architecture, if only to see all of Antoni Gaudi's work. It's not too expensive there either. Once you're in Europe, it's easy to take short flights via Ryanair (or the other company who's name I forget).

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by darthma

Not to throw a curveball here, but Barcelona is worth checking out if you enjoy architecture, if only to see all of Antoni Gaudi's work. It's not too expensive there either. Once you're in Europe, it's easy to take short flights via Ryanair (or the other company who's name I forget).

I was going to mention the same. Great architecture, food, and a big nightlife scene as well.

[NBC]

Just stay of Las Ramblas. Barcelona's version of East Hastings.

[gargamel]

I agree with everyone who has said to go with some variation of option 3 with Berlin added on. I've done different parts of that trip at different times, and absolutely loved Berlin, Prague and Budapest. Amsterdam isn't close enough to make it worth visiting in this trip if you're committed to rail travel, but you can usually play around with flights so that you'll have an 8-12 hour layover there, which I highly (no pun intended) recommend.

[troutman]

If you'd like to "spend as little as possible", I would recommend avoiding all the big cities. They can be very expensive. There is plenty to see in smaller cities and towns, and in the country-side. Aeneas could suggest some amazing itineraries for you. It is tempting to want to see all the major cities, but Europe has great attractions all over the place.

Ex. Cocktails in Berlin were $20, and that was 15 years ago.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by troutman

If you'd like to "spend as little as possible", I would recommend avoiding all the big cities. They can be very expensive. There is plenty to see in smaller cities and towns, and in the country-side. Aeneas could suggest some amazing itineraries for you. It is tempting to want to see all the major cities, but Europe has great attractions all over the place.

Ex. Cocktails in Berlin were $20, and that was 15 years ago.

And even if you only like culture a little bit, you'll really enjoy small towns. There's something about the small towns inland on the French Riviera that keeps me coming back. I don't care too much for the coastal cities except Nice. So much food, wine and history and relatively cheap if you go to less touristy places. Like I'm sure had been said though, everyone likes something different

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by troutman

If you'd like to "spend as little as possible", I would recommend avoiding all the big cities. They can be very expensive. There is plenty to see in smaller cities and towns, and in the country-side. Aeneas could suggest some amazing itineraries for you. It is tempting to want to see all the major cities, but Europe has great attractions all over the place.

Ex. Cocktails in Berlin were $20, and that was 15 years ago.

cocktails.....hehe

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

cocktails.....hehe

troutman had the cocktails, I stuck to beer!

[NBC]

I remember buying a 25cl glass of nondescript Swedish lager in Malmö at a restaurant bar in the mid-90s - 1996 to be precise. It was $8. It wasn't very good.

[driveway]

If you're looking for a good place to stay, I can't say enough good things about airbnb.com.

If you're not familiar with it, it's a website where people who rent out rooms in their houses as accommodation can post their availability.

In case you're worried about the reliability of the company, here's my experience:
I was doing a trip around Europe seeing friends and family and I had a weekend in Amsterdam at the end of my trip. I'd booked a room through airbnb and thought I was sorted. Then, I'm in Vienna and I check my email for the first time in days and I find six emails from Airbnb in my inbox, all of them sent over the course of a couple of hours.

The oldest was the woman I'd booked with cancelling on me, 48 hours before I was supposed to arrive.
The second was an apology from airbnb, a complete refund, and a 100 Euro credit.
The third was another email from Airbnb telling me they'd notified their network of accommodation providers about my situation.
The next three were all emails from providers offering me discounted rates on their accommodations.

Airbnb fixed my problem before I even knew I had a problem. I've used them in five or six different cities now and have always had a great experience. You also get the advantage of staying with a local who can give you tips and advice about their city. Great, great, great service. Love them.

[icarus]

I've used skyscanner.net to book flights for the past decade, you don't need to look anywhere else.

Be careful about where you go in August... some cities can be completely empty as the locals are all away on holiday and not even hotels and restaurants are open.

I've been all over Europe but my favourite city is Lisbon. Ticks all the boxes, and then some. Every night (especially Saturday) in the Bairro Alto reminds me of the Red Mile in 2004... just great partying in the streets. I can't recommend it enough, so much so I'm getting married there this summer.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by troutman

Ex. Cocktails in Berlin were $20, and that was 15 years ago.

Mr. Fancy pants was hanging out in West Berlin!

East Berlin was dirt cheap. Stay in East Berlin, and take transit over to West Berlin to see the sights, eat and drink back in East Berlin.

Same with Prague and Budapest. If you leave the old town, everything gets dirt, dirt cheap.

[NBC]

^ East Berlin, West Berlin? Have I missed something here?

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Mr. Fancy pants was hanging out in West Berlin!

East Berlin was dirt cheap. Stay in East Berlin, and take transit over to West Berlin to see the sights, eat and drink back in East Berlin.

Same with Prague and Budapest. If you leave the old town, everything gets dirt, dirt cheap.

Actually that cocktail bar was in what was east Berlin. We stayed in east Berlin, but it was in a friend's flat. That bar very likely was an exception.

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by NBC

^ East Berlin, West Berlin? Have I missed something here?

There was still an imaginary wall dividing the city when we last visited. Though much work has been done in the eastern half, you can clearly see the difference between the two.

Typical German argument:

West: we should put up the wall again.
East: yes, but higher this time.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by NBC

^ East Berlin, West Berlin? Have I missed something here?

Berlin offers you a compact summary of how the division of Germany still is very much apparent even today.

Germany has transfer payments, and a ton of cash flows West to East. There is still an infrastructure and social disparity between the old Soviet terriotory and the former West German territory.

In Berlin it's usually pretty obvious which half of the city you are in. The commie architecture is very obvious, the East is generally less affluent, and prices are lower because of it. Imagine buying a 6 pack of beer in a liquor store in Mount Royal vs Forest Lawn. I bet it's cheaper in Forest Lawn. It's more exagerated in Berlin, especially because of the tourist factor.

It's a really fascinating place to visit.

[OffsideSpecialist]

When's the best time to buy flights? The flight I was looking to take has gone from $900 to $1400 over the past couple of days...
Also, skyscanner doesn't seem to do multi-destination flights unfortunately, as they do seem cheaper than everyone else

[Bill Bumface]

It's almost certain prices for August will do nothing but go up. Usually the cheapest price on flights in high demand times are quite early and just go up as the plane fills.