d00d

So I am leaving with a buddy of mine, maybe two of them in mid July to arrive in London for the week, then we are going to northern Italy, and travel to Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany in the next 20 something days. We have decided to go with the Rail pass and hopefully get to see some great views and hopefully save money that way. We have wayyyyy too many questions and far too many unanswered ones. I guess we are just really excited to spend the time there, and are looking to just be as spontaneous as possible. Can't wait to hike, and see everything we can. We just need some tips from more experienced people on things we worried about. We wandered about the trains and how many small trips like from little city to little city would our pass cover? General info on hostels, tips, tricks and geez, we aren't really even sure how much money to have. With all the flights, train, food/drink, and other fees we couldn't guess any number between 3500-5000. Any tips and advice is greatly appreciated, THANKS!