Where to go in Europe?

If you come through Hamburg/Lüneburg, I'll buy you 2 a beer.

nthdegx: I'm a gal but he's a guy so we'll just get a double room or a 4-person and share with other people.

I just came back from Belgium and, though it's a bit more touristy, I thought Bruges was nicer than Ghent. YMMV, but two days in Ghent seems about one too many (at least) for a trip of that length. Whatever you do, make sure you rent a bicycle whenever possible.

I spent most of my nights sleeping on overnight trains when I was backpacking with a Eurail too (WAAAAY back when). Get on the train early, find an open cabin, close the door, shut the shades, if you can pull the seat bottoms together do so and lie down feigning sleep until after the train moves. People will move to the next compartment unless the train is too full to do so. If the train is full you'll get less sleep... but hey, you're young and you're only there a week. It's an adventure, and adventure is what your holiday is all about. Also, as you travel you'll meet other travelers your own age. Ask them where they're going and where they've been. Be open to changing your itinerary and being spontaneous. You never know where it'll lead you. I found some of the cheapest and most wonderfully memorable experiences of my travels through cool people I met along the way. You just never know.

In response to the first comment, I would point out that the NY Times frugal traveller is sticking to 100 euro - or roughly $160 - per day for one guy, which for a two-person ten-day trip is a few times more than the poster's given range. I would definitely second looking at CouchSurfing - take a look at the site. The idea seems strange at first and your parents will probably be a little uneasy with it, but it works wonderfully. I have travelled with CouchSurfing and found very nice hosts with nice accomodations - I've even gotten free meals and rides. Just make sure to fill out your profile, start early requesting accomodation, send many requests, and be a little flexible. The cheapest lodging you'll find otherwise is going to be a couple beds in a youth hostel dormitory, which will run you at least 20 euro (~ $30) per bed per night.

everything you are going to buy, do, rent, consume will cost you twenty percent more than it currently does in the US, so assume you have something that feels a lot closer to $500-750 for comparison. I'm serious: a large hot chocolate at starbucks in amsterdam will set you back $7.80 at the current exchange rate (at least that's what my US credit card statement last week showed). ask yourself how long that would float you were you going on vacation in the US. transportation is going to wipe you out as-is within a week, staying in a large city is going to be very difficult (read: hostels and maybe only two, three nights) and so on. this is a tough time to travel to europe as a poor american. oh yeah, check out http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/inbruges/trailer1/, for obvious reasons.

If you are both female, and considering hostels, ensure they have all-female dorms with doors that lock from the inside. My sister would want me to mention that.

When you are traveling from country to country, get a sleeper car at night. While you're sleeping you might as well be getting somewhere and you make the train pull double duty as transportation and a hotel room. We rode overnight trains a lot.

C'mon, you have to go to Berlin. Berlin is the most fun city for young people in Europe - if you like partying!