Flights to/from Europe
Student/Youth Flights- There are a number of websites that specialize in giving student or youth flight discounts. The two major ones are Sta.com and Studentuniverse.com. Both offer similar prices, but from my experience the first almost always is ten or twenty dollars cheaper. If you are a student or under 26 it's highly unlikely you will cheaper deals on any other website. Anyone who has hawked regular flight prices understands there is a thing as buying too early, but student/youth discounts is an exception to this rule and its best to buy your ticket as early as possible, its never too early. Sta offers a list of current international deals from select American airports which may be your best deal if you can find cheap continental flights to the necessary airport. The otherwise expensive Lufthansa offers student prices at generationfly.com, but while cheaper they still rarely compare to sta and studentuniverse (unless flying into Germany).
Skyscanner- For non-youth tickets look no further than skyscanner.com. It has always given me better prices with no extra fees than priceline, kayak, or any others.
General
*For the cheapest ticket, buy a student/youth discounted ticket two months (if not earlier) out.
*Round-trips are cheaper, but you sacrifice some flexibility of your destinations in Europe. I'd argue the flexibility of when/where you will depart is worth the money.
Accommodations in Europe
Volunteer Exchange-
There are many online communities where you can exchange work for accommodations and food. Workaway.info(my personal choice) connects you with hosts in exchange for a few work hours per day (usually 25 a week). Helpx.net is its twin, and wwoof.net provides a similar opportunity on organic farms. There are thousands of possible hosts with multitudes of needs across Europe(and the globe) on each of these websites. I have seen opportunities including farming, vineyard work, hotel work, aupairing, language teaching, dogsitting, and housesitting small castles. I've seen everything from joining a boat crew to working with 200 huskies in the Nordic circle.
I spent nine weeks at three workaways in France and Germany and stayed with incredible hosts who provided amazing accommodations and spoiled me with food while only expecting 25 hours of work from me a week. That said, however, I have met other workawayers who had terrible hosts which were either rude or unfair and demanding(of course you are always legally allowed to leave). To avoid these situations simply do your homework! Don't just write to any host. I only messaged hosts who had many pictures and at least three references from previous workers. Carry a small ongoing dialogue with them over e-mail for a couple weeks to see if any red flags are obvious.
Hostels-Not much needs to be said about the most common accommodation tactic for youth. Hostels are fantastic, there isn't a pool and there may be 5+ more beds sharing your room but well rated hostels can usually be counted on for having cozy beds, hot showers, complimentary breakfast, free wifi, free lockers, and most importantly great atmosphere for meeting people. You can find anything from chill relaxing hostels to party pent house hostels.Hostelworlds.com is the unquestionable hostel locator for backpackers and also has a great app. Prices range based on season and location but can often be found for around $12-$20 a night. My most expensive hostel was Paris during "high season" which was $50 for the night, my least expensive was a nice hostel in Romania during November that costed $7 a night and included free breakfast and a complementary beer.
Couchsurfing- For those who haven't heard of this popular phenomenon, couchsurfing.org is an online community of people dedicated to traveling and hosting the world. You can find hosts in every country in the world who are willing to host you on their coach for no cost. They simply expect you to be a good guest and contribute to the sharing of culture. After you set up your account try to find a few friends to write you recommendations, profiles without any are often looked at skeptically. A fair warning, I had both my worst and my best host through couchsurfing, its the largest gamble.
AirBnB- Airbnb is a great option if you have 3-5 people traveling together. Airbnb is a website where people who are not home for whatever reason can put their home up for rent temporarily. With four other friends we were able to rent a very nice upscale apartment in downtown Paris for less than any hostel or hotel price.
Travel in Europe
Flights- Again, skyscanner.com. It has always given me better prices with no extra fees than priceline, kayak, or any other websites. Europe also has Ryanair and Easyjet. These two budget airlines are extremely cheap but pack light, because baggage fees are crazy. A quick google search will help you learn how to use these airlines without getting screwed over.
Train- Unless you have a car, there is no better way to see the scenery of Europe. I bought a Eurail student pass through Raileurope and its European site Eurail. If you are planning on training a lot through Western Europe, get a pass. They are expensive but trains in France and Germany are costly. If you plan on spending most of your time in Eastern Europe, buy individual tickets as the trains there are older and don't cost nearly as much. Rick Steves gives great advice on which train pass to get if any at all. I got the 10 days of travel in 3 months. I used these only on the long expensive days of travel, and I made the most of them. At one point a clerk at the train station said it was impossible for me to get to central Italy in one day, but I showed her.
As an american I made the stupid assumption that the trains in Europe were all centralized. Instead, they are all operated by different companies, have difference policies, and different websites. This causes many problems. There were a many times the French weren't able to look up the trains in Italy and had no idea whether I would be able to continue buying tickets with my pass once I cross the border. In fact I have a thriving vendetta against the French train offices which were never helpful.
You must be able to find your own route with your train pass. Often when you ask for a ticket from one city to another they will look up the straightest route and tell you its booked. You need to be able to find your own path. Thankfully, the Germans are the only country who has a helpful train company and whose website will let you know multiple paths from point A to point B. In fact there is a German Bahn app that will do the same. I could of never gotten around without the German Bahn app, ever. God bless the Germans.
Bus- A great cheap option. If you want to save loads of money by sacrificing leg space, this is it. On the continentent Eurolines is the only bus company. Eurolines also offers passes like the eurial pass. You downside is it only goes to the most major cities and doesn't go into some of the jewels in the East. The UK has Megabus which is arguably the ONLY way to travel there (the trains are...unbearably expensive). Also Megabus hits most of the stops worth seeing in the UK, unlike Eurolines. If you look early enough, about two months in advance, you can find train tickets for 1 pound. Again, no trains in the UK, just don't do it.
Carsharing- Many countries in Europe have websites to buy a seat in someone else's car. It works like this: Monsiur Lafayette needs to drive from Toulouse to Paris on Saturday at 2pm. In order to save on gas Monsiur Lafayette posts his trip on the French car sharing website offering a seat during the trip for a small fee to help with gas. The buyer pays for the seat online, and then once the drive is complete he gives the Monsiur Lafayette a code that lets him unlock the payment. The only problem you might have is these websites are usually in the native language, and they often expect you to have a cell phone in case they can't find you at the given meeting place. I had my French host set me up on a ride from Toulouse to Lyon for about 1/10th the price of a train ride. Along the way I made friends with a French and a Tunisian girl, all traveling for their own reasons.
Hitchhiking- This one you don't tell your parents. Is it potentially dangerous? Yes, traveling for free tends to have its complications. Hitchhiking alone is doable but maybe dangerous. Hitchhiking in pairs is much safer, but two guys have less of a chance being picked up. Don't look disheveled, and have a sign to say what direction you are headed.
Rental car- I know nothing about this other than I could never afford it. I did meet a girl who when traveling Australia bought a car, drove around for a month, and then sold it for more than she bought it for.
Helpful General Help
The two most helpful travel blogs for people trying to do Europe cheap are rick steves and nomadic matt. Rick Steves is more famous and targets many different types of travelers while Nomadic Matt aims directly at the backpacking audience. His destination guides are pricesless. If there is anything you can take from my post, its to read these two blogs.
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