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Prague - Salzburg - Vienna - Krakow - Budapest - Madrid - Salamanca - Seville - Cadiz

Spent several hours today compiling my expenditure for the trip and guess what, I only exceeded about 7% of what was budgeted. Not bad, huh? And that excess was purely due to unforeseen circumstances such as change of flights (thanks to Ryanair*) and overindulgence on food :P

On an average, our spending was as follows:

RM75 per day per person on accommodation (approx. USD21 or EUR15)
RM85 per day per person on food (approx. USD24 or EUR17)
RM120 per day per person on local tours/inland transportation (approx. USD34 or EUR24)

This was based on the fact that we managed to stay in a 3 star hotel towards the end of the trip, and indulged in restaurants every now and then (mostly in Spain). Also we did not join tour in every city. Most of the time we did our own exploring, and just paid for the train/bus tickets. And the cost above also include cheap opera tickets, entrance fees to various museums/cathedrals/castles and even a spa session! ;)

So yes, it IS possible to travel on a shoestring budget. There really isn't a need to spend so much on the food if you aren't picky. There are plenty of cheap local delights available if you keep an eye out for them. And if you don't mind having a snoring roommate, sharing rooms in a hostel isn't too bad an idea. More good news - most of the cities provide FREE use of bicycles for at least an hour, which means you can save time, $$$ and energy moving around in a big city.

So much for now, will post more details about my trip soon.