Hey all. I am really hoping to get some clutch tips for this trip. This and shoestring are my favorite sub-reddits so had to post here

Basics about me: 26, male, very low-maintenance, graduate student in LA, travel regularly to cheap/developing countries on school breaks but never to expensive places

Planned itinerary:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Schengen visa area: May 12th- July 17th

Rome- 4 days

Florence- 3 days (hopefully couchsurfing)

Venice- 2 days

Ljubljana- 3 days

Budapest- 3 days

Bratislava- 3 days

Vienna- 2 days

Poland (I really want to see Aushwitz which seems very hard to reach)- 2 days

Prague- 7 days

Berlin (crashing with friend)- 5 days

Munich (crashing with friend)- 4 days

Hanover (crashing with friend) – 4 days

Amsterdam (crashing with friend)- 7 days- May be 1 day in Rotterdam with another friend

Brussels (hopefully crashing with friend)- 3 days

Paris- 4 days

Lyon (crashing with friend)- 3 days- planning a day trip to Geneva on 1 day

Barcelona (probably crashing with friend)- 3 days

--- I have 62 days of my allowed 67 days planned but I am leaving some space as I feel like I will end up staying an extra day or 2 at the places I really like. Might just fly to whatever country makes it to the world cup final for the final.

Eastern Europe (a lot more flexible plans)- July 17th- August 7th:

Albania(?)- 5 days (flexible)

Macedonia(?) 5 days (flexible)

Serbia (most likely Belgrade) – 10 days (flexible)- Serbia is the only country from these 3 that I plan to visit for sure. The rest are subject to change if I find better plans.

UK- August 7th- August 15th to 20th London: 3 days (couchsurfing) Wherever else I can couchsurf in the UK – 5-10 days. I would ideally like to visit Scotland and Northern Ireland (can’t go to Ireland with my visa) but I will decide that based on what my bank balance looks like in August. I do have some friends in England (in the south) that I can stay with for 2 weeks if it comes down to that.

Tricky Citizenship and visa situation::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I am a Bangladeshi citizen residing in the US as a graduate student so I need a visa for visiting almost every European country and getting immigration is usually not very simple (have to show all my flights and hotel reservations for things I haven’t planned). But I am determined to make this childhood dream come true and make this Euro Trip happen (assuming nothing goes wrong in the next week). My flight to Rome arrives on May 12th. My UK visa expires on August 21st so I will be back before that.

Schengen visa: May 11th- July 17th . Initially wanted to spend a full 90 days in the area to keep things simple but messed up during the visa application. Hence, I got a--

UK visa: July 17th- August 21st

Countries where visa-free travel is possible (for having a US visa): Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro. Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina- I plan on visiting some of these countries after getting out of the Schengen area and before going to UK. I didn’t know I could go here before getting my UK visa. Otherwise I would have skipped the UK entirely.

Budgeting:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I am on a very tight budget given the number of places I am going. I have saved up $3000 for this trip but realistically will probably exceed the budget and hence will be using my 0% APR credit cards as much as possible from the start to avoid being short on cash (I should be able to pay my credit card bills when I start getting grad school stipends again in late August). I have done around a dozen shoestring 1-4 weeks trips to Central America and Asia, but I realize Europe is much harder to do on a budget.

Transport::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

All my flights are being paid for with direct credit card bonuses and airline miles (from credit card bonuses). I have also designed my route so that I am sticking to 2-4 hour flixbus rides for the first 67 days. I will be on the Skyscanner, Skiplagged and Rome2rio apps regularly to make sure I’m getting the best deals as well.

Accommodation::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hostels unless staying with friends. I also have $300 in hotels.com gift cards, (also from credit card bonuses). I will be couchsurfing in every non-central European country to save money. Thankfully have some good friends in Germany, Netherlands and France. Will also try to use the CS app in Italy and other places if I am exceeding my budget.

Primary interests:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Visiting historical spots. I am a big history nerd, everything from the Roman empire to World War 2. Experiencing local food and coffee (i.e if the places have famous coffee). Partying with other broke backpackers (drinking grocery store wine at hostels with new friends)

QUESTIONS that I have:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

1) What tours/tickets should I book in advance for the cities I mentioned? Looking at Italy, a lot of people are saying to buy the Colosseum and Vatican tickets in advance for 6 extra euros, but I am torn between doing that to skip the line or just visiting at the least busy times to avoid having to pay these extra charges and not face terrible times. If there are any other tours that you strongly recommend getting online, please do let me know. For most places I am often content just walking around the city center and going on free tours 😊

2) From experience, do you recommend spending more/less time in some of these places I listed? I am skipping some places I would like to spend more time in (think Vienna and Paris) because they are on the pricy side. And some places (think Hanover) I am visiting only because I have friends there and don’t need to pay for accommodation.

3) How would you recommend traveling to the following Eastern European countries for 20 days: Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro. Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. This part of my schedule is still up in the air but I thought it would be reasonable to try to see 3 of these countries and save the other 3 for a later trip. I want to go to Serbia but I haven’t finalized the other 2 countries yet. I don’t know too much about these countries so advice is greatly appreciated

4) What food place is a must-visit in any of the cities I have listed?

5) Aside from regular pick-pocketing and scams for tourists like stealing debit card info, are there any cities that I listed where I should be worried about violent crime? I am an amateur videographer so I will be travelling with a $2000 camera and my laptop. In the past, I have only travelled with a few tshirts and shorts so this is something new I have to worry about. I did get insurance for baggage theft.

6) Do flixbus/bus/train prices jump by a lot 2 days before the trip date? I think I will have to book most of my ground transport tickets a day or 2 before I get on them, but am not sure how much extra that will cost me. I will book my flights a month in advance

7) What free locationa/event should I try out in any of these cities?

8) This is cliché, but any out-of-the-ordinary travel hacks on saving money when backpacking Europe is more than welcome

Thanks in advance :)