Europe has a reputation — sometimes deserved, sometimes inflated — for expensive travel. The €18 schnitzel dinner. The €4 coffee. The €200 per night hotel five minutes from a major train station. These prices exist and you will encounter them if your research is thin. With good research, Europe on $70-100 USD per day for a solo traveler is achievable in most of Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, $40-60 is realistic. Here is the structure, including the safety considerations that apply specifically to Black travelers that generic budget guides omit. **Accommodation: The Budget Tier** Generator Hostels across Europe ($25-45 USD/night in shared dorms): consistently well-rated, well-located, social, and safe. The Generator brand specifically recruits diverse staff and has a better than average record on hostile-free common spaces. My experience across Generator hostels in Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Berlin was uniformly positive. Airbnb private rooms ($35-60 USD/night): read reviews specifically for mention of diverse guests and hosts of color. Hosts who have diverse guest reviews in their profile are demonstrably more comfortable hosting diverse travelers. This is a screening tool that works. Couchsurfing: I have used this once in Europe and met a genuinely generous host. I have also heard enough uncomfortable stories from Black women hosts and guests to recommend it only with thorough profile research, reference reading, and a clear exit plan including a pre-arranged alternate accommodation. **Transportation: The Interrail Alternative** A European Interrail Global Pass gives unlimited train travel across thirty-three European countries. For a two-week trip, the adult second-class pass runs approximately $320 USD. This is competitive with booking individual trains when you are crossing multiple country borders and dramatically more flexible, since you can change plans without rebooking fees. Budget airlines (Ryanair, Wizz Air, EasyJet) are sometimes cheaper for specific routes but their pricing model front-loads the cheap seat price with checked bag fees, seat assignment fees, and priority boarding fees that can turn a €19 ticket into a €70 experience. Calculate total cost including all fees before booking. **Safety: The Budget-Safety Intersection for Black Travelers** The safety concern specific to budget accommodation is neighborhood proximity to far-right activity and the correlation between cheaper city neighborhoods and elevated discrimination risk in certain European cities. This is real but manageable. Research tool: the ILGA Europe and Show Racism the Red Card country indexes can be cross-referenced with major cities to understand which countries and regions have higher documented discrimination rates. Eastern European countries, particularly Poland, Hungary, and Russia-adjacent regions, have documented higher hostility toward Black travelers. This does not mean those places are impossible to visit — it means budget accommodation should be researched more carefully for neighborhood context. Practical safety habit: identify a "rally point" within ten minutes of any accommodation — a cafe or public building you can walk to if you feel unsafe at the hostel or in the immediate area at night. Have the local police non-emergency number saved. Know the EU emergency number (112). **The Food Budget** The market lunch principle works across Europe. Every European city has a local market with a prepared food section that runs at lunchtime at significantly lower prices than restaurants. Do not eat lunch at a restaurant within 200 meters of any major tourist site if saving money is the goal — the tourist premium at those establishments is real and consistent. Local supermarket dinners assembled in the hostel kitchen: a €4-6 self-catering meal versus a €15-25 restaurant dinner, multiplied by seven nights, is the budget lever that pays for two additional nights of travel.