I'm not sure if this is the info that you are looking for; but a friend and I backpacked through Europe a couple of years ago.

We started about a year before setting out by planning where we wanted to go. We only had about 2.5 weeks of vacation so we had to narrow down our choices of places to see (and we were sure glad we did).

As for cost, the most expensive things we purchased were the plane tickets and our railpass. My friend was 26 and I was 27 so we didn't qualify for student passes; so we sprang for a saverpass that covered the both of us since we would be doing our train travel together.

You may not need a railpass; but it came in handy when we got on a wrong train in Germany and had to switch trains in the middle of nowhere.

Neither of us were big on the idea of hostels and it actually turned out to be a little cheaper to just get a double room in a 1 or 2 star hotel. All the hotels we stayed in were decent and included ensuite bathrooms and tv equipped with CNN int'l.

We carried just one convertible bag (i.e. the bag that has the zip away straps); and we shipped any big puchases back home.

Sorry this is so long. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Tia (originally from Charleston, S.C.)