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A two month Eurrail ticket or it's equivalent will set you back about 1200 euro if you have student ID. If you don't it will cost more.

Hostel costs vary depending on the country you are in, I would say 10-40 euro, averaging around 20 if you share a room. If you insist on sleeping in a private room you pay upwards of 40 euro and would nealy be as well off staying in cheap hotels. At that rate, your accommodation costs will be 2240 euro.

If you eat food from supermarkets rather than restaurants you can save a fortune. Budget on 10 euro a day for food, not eating at restaurants - 800 euro.

So that's over 4200 euro before you consider entry costs to different attractions, going out for dinner, going for a drink etc.

At todays rates, thats an absolute minimum of US$5,740, not including your airfare.

I'd recommend you share your hostel room with as many people as possible to cut down on costs by up to 75%. You'll also get to meet more people. You could also book a lot of sleeper trains to save time and money - don't book cabins, book couchettes (sleep sitting up). Rail travel in Eastern Europe can be cheap - investigate this before you buy a monthly ticket as you may be able to save money. Get an up-to-date copy of "Europe on a Shoestring", it's an excellent guide for the financially challenged. Travel off-peak (October - April) and you may half your travel/accommodation expenses.

You got a lot of good advice from Priscilla Duck - just a few points to consider. On the trains, booking a cuchette is not the cheapest sitting compartment. A cuchette will be a shared room with either 4 or 6 berths. There are often discounts available on the night trains if you book individual tickets in advance. Sitting is cheaper, but there's a lot to be said for sleeping in a bunk. You're already saving money by taking the night train and not spending money on a hostel that night. A sitting compartment is okay if it's not full, but if you're in a compartment with 5 other people who talk through the night, you won't be very rested in the morning.

It's often cheaper to get point-to-point tickets rather than using a Eurail pass. With the pass, you'll still have to go to the station and book reservations/pay supplements for most trains other than the slow regional trains. Here in Italy that can range from 5 euro for an intercity train to 25 euro for a Alta Velocita train. The night trains require a supplement if you're using a Eurail pass. You should try to plan your trip ahead to some extent to determine whether a pass is worth the money. mWhen you do this - don't price the individual tickets on the Eurail site or similar sites. Prices are cheaper if you go directly to each national train website. You can find them by searching for "trains" and the name of the country you're interested in. A couple of good ones are: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, http://www.oebb.at/en/, http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoi...

you can buy one train pass which you can use all over europe getting on and off at will, sort of pricey, check that out when you arrive.