I am a Georgetown student looking to travel as much of Europe as possible. My plans are to study in Barcelona, Spain from early January to mid May 2012 and then to work in London (paid maybe $2500ish/month) in the summer (June-August). I will have thursday evening to sunday nights free in Spain and friday evenings to sunday evenings free in London.
I would like to visit Madrid, Salamanca, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Lisbon, Casablanca (not technically Europe I guess), Geneva, Prague, Vienna, Rome, Naples, Athens, Oslo, Copenhagen,Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Reykjavik, and Zagreb.
I will have a free place to stay in Paris, St. Petersburg, and Rome (friends studying there). I would like to know, is this agenda possible for 8 months weekends? (32ish weekends total) Also, I am extremely financially conservative and plan on cheap hostels and either cheap flights or a youth eurorail student pass. What kind of costs can I estimate? Additionally, I am not opposed to packing lunches, etc. Basically, the free things interest me (the sights). What kind of cost could I be looking at? Sorry if this is sketchy, it is still 9 months away and I will book all of my flights in October to save on costs and most likely go with a eurorail pass. Any tips to get me started in the right direction would be much appreciated. Thank you very much.
Reply to this Hi, within Spain from Barcelona you can go by train (I also recommend Granada), but it is too far to reach any of the other destinations during a weekend. However, there are cheap airlines you can use: Vueling is maybe the best bet but there is also Ryan Air and many others. From London it is very easy to visit Paris using the Eurostar train. The other places by plane, if you are going for a weekend. Check different airlines, even the "normal" ones have offers if you book well in advance and don't mind flying weird hours (early morning for example, or very late at night). I definitely think your plan is doable, and these weekend trips are usually great fun. Don't book up all weekends though, because Barcelona and London have so many sights you want to check out too. As for cost, calculate 25-50 Euros for hostel/hotel per night. Trip from airport to city center can cost quite a lot so do check out on each airport site what local transport alternatives there are. Sometimes it adds up cheaper to take a more expensive flight to a more central airport. Entrance fees to museums can be quite expensive, check on the internet, you may also want to pre-book for some of the more popular places.
Reply to this 
