From September 15 till October 02 of last year for a total of 18 days. Myself, my sister, her spouse with my 1.5 yo nephew and 3 other best friends went on an astounding Europe Travel. After my first time to Europe going by the most well known cities in Spain last 2014. All I was dreaming about was seing more of Europe the following year. My sister and best friends life-long dream was to travel Europe, so together we planned and arranged this 18 days of unforgetable Europe Trip moving in 6 cities of 5 distinct Countries. And by together I meant 90 percent me and 10 percent them.

As soon as 2015 started, We began checking the best Cities and Countries to go in Europe. Paris is everybody’s fantasy so it certainly made it on top of the list. I have read so many great reviews about Prague including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s admiration to this Fairytale City so we added it to rundown. After many months of tearing our hair out about this freaking itinerary, we finally came up with a consistent route that perfectly suited our desires. We came up with Netherlands – Amsterdam, France – Paris , Czech – Prague, Austria – Vienna, Italy – Venice and Rome.

Don’t let the fear of expenses get in the way of your trip to Europe. When done right, visiting Europe can be less expensive than traveling through the Gulf. Well, traveling isn’t cheap – for the most part, but if you plan your trip right, you can easily come out having some really amazing memories while still saving a few riyals. Like anything else, it’s all about budgeting.

Our travel expenses boils into four categories:

Air fare

Being a steady voyager, I know that airfare ticket next to accommodation will be our most prominent cost. Generally I arrange my vacation ahead of time no less than 6 months before my desired travel dates or when I see that the flight is as of now accessible.

I prefer to begin my search with a site that compares my full range of choices, my go to site is momondo.com. I use it only as a first step. Once I’ve zeroed in on which airline has the best deal for my trip, I check the airline’s own site to compare fares and book direct to avoid third party service fee. (Trust me, this is the means by which I scored a 190$ US airfare to Turkey! what a deal)

At this point we agreed to travel by September in a condition that we utilize our 4 days eid holiday falling on Sept 23 to 26. I realized that flying closer to these dates won’t favor us – so I hunt down a fare closer to these dates while having an adaptable destination. Attempting every single option course Doha – Paris – Doha, Doha – Amsterdam – Doha, Doha – Prague, Vienna-Doha and the rundown goes on. Trying all alternative routes Doha – Paris – Doha, Doha – Amsterdam – Doha, Doha – Prague, Vienna- Doha and the list goes on. Considering other factors like train transport from city to city I at long last came down to Doha-Amsterdam, Rome-Doha as the best course decision and booked that 2,090 Riyals airfare ticket.

Inter Country Transport

We initially plan to travel Europe with a rail pass as it will be more convenient for us. But while a rail pass is normally the brilliant approach to ride the rails in Europe, sometimes it makes more sense to purchase individual train tickets between specific destinations.

A global rail pass for traveling 15 days straight in one month cost 585 Euro, that alone considering we will just pay 1,861 Euro for 6 people if we buy a point to point ticket is a no brainer to me. As soon as I know we wont need a rail pass, I started my research on how to get a discounted point to point tickets. Cheap budget train fare is just a matter of booking in advance and knowing which website to use to book which journey. The Man in seat 61 was able to direct me to the correct website to book our train tickets below.

Here’s a list of national rail sites to check out:

Spain    : www.renfe.com

Austria : www.oebb.at

Italy : www.trenitalia.com

Czech Republic : www.cd.cz

Dutch Railways : www.ns.nl

Finland : www.vr.fi

Germany : www.bahn.de

Great Britain : www.nationalrail.co.uk

Hungary : www.mav.hu

Ireland : www.irishrail.ie

Poland : www.pkp.pl

Switzerland: www.sbb.ch

Another thought is picking between taking a train or flying. Although in most cases train transport is the most convenient way of traveling Europe – like everything else there is always an exemption. Utilizing a train as a part of getting to Prague from Paris would have taken  us more than 100 Euro in addition to the bother of moving into another train as there is no immediate train from Paris to Prague..

Our Inter Country Transport Cost table below (Cost in Qatari Riyals depend on conversion rate at the time of purchase)

Accommodation

Picking a lodging is a hard task specially if you have a financial plan to keep up. Be that as it may, nobody want to stay in a dirty Hotel and beyond any doubt there are a ton of tips online on the most proficient method to pick the right accommodation,  yet over the time of booking a lodging for my holidays my rule of thumb has dependably been booking in advance, 3 months at a minimum. I would normally book 2 hotel/hostel with a decent reviews, free cancellation and at a value reasonable to me. Along the way of finalizing I analyze reviews and measure which one I would scratch off – always worked for me. Although there are some awful decisions it was never that terrible at any rate :- ).

Tip*

Remember when researching on most major hotel reservation websites. The hotel results are often ranked by those that the website wants you to book. In most cases, these “page one” results are hotels that pay the site the highest commission. It’s in the website’s best interest to show you these hotels first. So always look past page 1 and try to read as much review as you can.

Our Lodging costs in the table beneath, These facilities are strategically placed in the Central part of the City.

Europe Attractions (Entrance Fee)

We enjoyed Europe without spending a fortune. Most museums offer free entry on particular days and we took advantage of it. The Louvre offers free entry on the first Sunday of the month for example, which can be a nice saving. If you can swing your schedule to allow for it, avoiding museum entrance fees is a great chance to save money. Lots of sightseeing is actually free, but you may still want to do some touristy things like ride a gondola in Venice, a visit to the Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam.

In total, we may have spend a figure of around 150€ ($173) on an average by visiting just the most well known attraction of one city.

The more I travel Europe, the more excited I get visiting more Countries. And I do think it’s an affordable option when planned right. I can’t say we have the least expensive itinerary, but we were able to experience the best of Europe the cheapest way we can  without sacrificing our convenience.

Amsterdam Central Station

The John Lennon Wall in Prague

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna Austria

Venice, Italy