europe?

So *tm* and I are doing the backpacking through Europe thing this summer. I sent out an e-mail to all of my friends asking for ideas of places to go and things to see. Here's a copy:

Hi everyone!
For those of you who don't yet know, I'm backpacking through Europe this August-Sept with my pal *tm*. I'm super excited and have been doing tons of research on places to see, etc. A couple of years ago I drove across country with my sister, and before we went, I e-mailed most of you asking for any ideas of places to see. We ended up seeing many great places that we would have missed had we not asked. So...I figured I'd try again!
We're probably flying in and out of Amsterdam, and then making a circular route through Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Czech Rep, Germany, Denmark, and maybe Austria, Luxem. and Greece. (I'm probably missing a few places in here.) We're doing it as cheaply as possible without sleeping with rodents- so the whole hostel, Eurail, backpack thing. If any of you have favorite places to visit, hostels to stay in (or better yet- know people who live there and would like some company!!!) or other insider info (tips on what to bring/not bring, etc), I would be so happy to hear it. Also, if any of you are looking for a place to vacation, I say go to Europe and we'll meet up with you! We'll be leaving here August 5,6,7th-ish, and staying for at least four weeks (hopefully more).
If you don't have Europe experience (at least of the backpacking sort) but know someone who does, please pass this e-mail along to them so they can share their wisdom!
I hope you're all doing well, and thanks for your ideas!
SCS

So anyway- I figured I'd post it here to in hopes of reaching a broader audience. (My friends are great, but haven't traveled as extensively as I'm sure they'd like!) I'm also having a huge problem picking out the best backpack for me. I'll talk more about that later.