Planning a trip to Europe(Barcelona and Amsterdam)

One thing I can say is you have nailed mostly great cities there. I loved Barcelona (just do all of the Gaudi stuff like Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia) and Prague, and Berlin is mostly cool (though Munich is a bigger party). I heard great things about Budapest from a friend who lived there for six months. Amsterdam is kind of meh IMO and not really worth it unless you want to get high. I honestly don't think you need more than a couple days in each city, especially if you think it will give you another stop or two. If you had Paris in there, I might think otherwise. It's been a long time since I went, so I wish I could help more with the train details. Have fun.

Easyjet is great for budget travel. Take just a backpack and a carry on if possible. I did it for one week easy if you could wash and dry one load while there it's def doable. Easy jet only allows one carry on and backpack to get best price.

50 to 80 pounds round trip within Europe to most major airports.

I saved a bunch of money staying at hostel in Amsterdam which was actually pretty decent. Air bnb is also awesome option.

owl hotel in Amsterdam is nice/cheap and right off the square

LINK

Since you're flying into Barcelona and out of Amsterdam, I would probably suggest going to Paris and Zurich. Two awesome cities right between Barcelona and Amsterdam, which is convenient for you to take by train (Eurorail if you're interested). You can spend 3-5 days in each city and it would work out perfectly for you lasting 2 weeks. Depending on which cities are your favorite, you can stay longer at a particular city. I think the best 2 cities of the ones I listed are Barcelona and Paris, but Zurich and Amsterdam were also very nice. Should be a great time for you.

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Any general advice on some under the radar things in these cities

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I've spent a fair amount of time in Amsterdam and have some good "non touristy" places. Renting bikes is the best way to get around. Most bike rental companies have advertising all over them and scream "I'm a tourist" We always get "incognito" bikes that blend in with the bikes the locals ride such as This Place or This Place-We usually rent here Check out Vondel Park, sorta Amsterdams Central Park but not nearly as big. Go have a beer at 'T Blauwe Theehuis (The Blue Tea House) in the park. It sits behind some trees and is hard to see if you aren't looking for it. Tons of multilevel outdoor seating and great people watching. Another thing we like to do is get takeout pizza at Da Portare Pizza. We sit on the edge of the canal right out front, grab a beer from the bar next door....sneak it out...and watch the party boats cruise by. Just around the corner is an all dutch beer cafe Arendsnest that has a handful of tables out on the canal.
There is a neighborhood called The Pijp that not many tourists make it out to. Lots of cafes and restaurants in this area. Off on a side street is a great thai place Siriphon run by a thai family. Really good food.
Another funky area to check out is IJ Noord (north). It is across the IJ river and you can take the free ferries that leave from behind Central Station to get there. There are 3 or 4 different ferries that take you to different spots. The Westerdoksdijk ferry is the best one to take.MTV Europe is over there and some other funky, creative type businesses. There are some old giant ship building warehouses that are now artist studios. You can go in and just walk around and check out the wierd art. Noodrlicht cafeis our favorite spot to have a beer and sit outside on the water looking back at amsterdam. It is a funky, hippy spot but there are some cafes over there that looked like they had normal people hanging out.
I'm a craft beer guy so I hit places like Gollem cafe. They have 2 or 3 locations but the one on Raamsteeg is in old town/ central amsterdam and is a cool old bar. The have all sorts of hard to get belgian beers including Westvleteren....which costs between $15-20 but worth it if you like belgian beers. Another great place is a local brewery Brouwerij 't IJ that has a tap house/ beer garden underneath a giant windmill. There are several street markets around amsterdam. Albert Cuyp Marktis the big one and worth checking out. Grab a Stroopwafels or a smoked herring if you're man enough and walk around.

Barcelona is great. I went two years ago (when I was 25) with a couple of friends. Beautiful women everywhere. It's ridiculous.

Don't stay at Kabul hostel.

LINK This hostel was much better, even if not right on la rambla (overrated).

Do a bike tour the first day.

Gaudi stuff, especially Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell.

Be careful about where you eat. Plenty of subpar restaurants catered to tourists on the main streets serving the same food.

Also do research on where you go out. Different clubs have different nights. What might be a great spot on Wednesday could be dead on Thursday.

I just got back from amsterdam a couple weeks ago. Overtoom (street)is booming now with a lot of bars and cafes. Its an easy walk from Leidseplein if you want to get out of the tourist zone. De Ebeling cafe was rockin' on saturday night when we were there. For lunch Foodhallenis an indoor food court mall near Overtoom. It has probably 20 or so food kiosks run by local restaurants. If you are in old town, Maoz is a good falafel/ Mediterranean food spot. Another good beer spot is Brewery Troost in Westergas. Westergas is a fairly new area in a big new park. Lots of stuff has sprung up there since I was last in Amsterdam.