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1st Eurotrip Itinerary - 12 days Backpacking in Europe

1st Eurotrip Itinerary - 12 days Backpacking in Europe

Old May 2nd, 2015, 12:28 AM
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1st Eurotrip Itinerary - 12 days Backpacking in Europe

My name is Lo and my sister and I are currently planning our first backpacking trip to Europe, so I appreciate any help/advice as we plan our trip. I know 12 days is not nearly enough to experience everything we wish to see, but sadly that's all the time we have.

Some background on what kind of experience we are looking to have: We're pretty young (in our twenties) but our focus for this trip is not crazy hard partying. Of course, we plan on going out to a few bars here and there, but not looking to get hammered every night or anything. It is our first trip to Europe and our first trip together as adults, so we are really looking to experience/appreciate the cultures and beauty of what each city has to offer.

Below is what we have on our itinerary so far, but nothing is set in stone other than our flight into Copenhagen from the US. I noticed on other posts that a LOT of people advised against cramming so many cities into a short time period and wanted to make sure that we are planning a doable trip. We will be traveling lightly (with just a backpack each) and staying at hostels for each destination.

Day 1: Arrive in Copenhagen
Day 2: Copenhagen
Day 3: Morning flight to London
Day 4: London
Day 5: Very early flight to Amsterdam
Day 6: Amsterdam
Day 7: Train to Paris
Day 8: Paris
Day 9: Paris
Day 10: Train to Barcelona
Day 11: Barcelona
Day 12: Barcelona
Day 13: Flight back to US

I know most people would advise to cut a destination or two out of this VERY packed itinerary, so please share your ideas on which country I should skip or if I should spend more time in one country over another. (My first time planning a Eurotrip so please be kind!)

I personally would not mind skipping Barcelona since it seems out of the way (and for some reason it has never really appealed to me), but my sister really wants to go and I don't want to miss out on an experience that I may be surprised to enjoy. All I have really heard about Barcelona is the crazy nightlife. I am paying for my sister's trip, so she has left the decision up to me. Please help me decide!

I also don't really know if Amsterdam would be worth it for just one day. If not, should we cut it out entirely or cut out London to go directly to Amsterdam from Copenhagen?

Thank you in advance for your advice/input!
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 03:00 AM
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I would cut Amsterdam and London. You can't do it all, so assume you will return and focus on enjoying what you are planning to see.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 03:00 AM
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You will have spent a lot of money on transportation and will have seen or experienced nothing.
Why Copenhagen, but it is fine if that is a cheap flight.
Cut out London and cut out Barcelona. You "might" have a chance of experiencing some of the charm of Europe.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 04:01 AM
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Are Copenhagen and Barcelona are set in stone because you booked your flights that way?

If so, I'd just do Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Barcelona. You can't really count day 1 or day 13 so essentially 11 days for the 3 cities.

If you haven't booked tix, I'd personally just do Paris and London w/ maybe a day trip outside each city.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 04:14 AM
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Agree with janis. What you have is an extensive tour of the airports and train stations of europe - and you will have next to no time to actually see/do anything.

And if there are any delays in transit - bad weather, strikes (not infrequent) your entire itinerary will be useless and you will have to reschedule everything on the fly - since you have NO spare time anywhere.

Also I don;t see that you have told us WHEN you will be going? This summer? If so you are very late planning (hostels fill up and some are much better than others - which can have drug and or theft issues).

Not sure how you can have a flight only into Copenhagen and not a return flight. You haven;t bought a one-way ticket have you? If so there are two problems - they are incrdibly expensive versus RT or open jaws tickets - and you might not be allowed into Denmark if you don;t have a return ticket to the US. In fact, without a return ticket you might not be allowed on a plane leaving the US (since the airline is reponsible to return you if you are denied admittance to Copenhagen).

If it were me I would do London, Paris and Amsterdam - into London and out of Amsterdam. Three cities is absolute max for the very few days that you have. If you do this you should get Eurostar tickets from London to Paris ASAP to get the best price.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 04:53 AM
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The Copenhagen flight in makes things a bit weird. Is this flexible?

If you are able to change it, a London - Paris - Barcelona or London - Paris - Amsterdam sequence is likely your best bet to keep moving at a fast pace but also get time to appreciate the culture and beauty you're after. The latter itinerary would keep travel time down (easy connections by train) - Paris to Barcelona is a bit more time eaten up by train, but does have TGV option or you could fly.

If you have to leave Copenhagen in and you haven't committed to where you are flying out from, I'd lay it out like:

Day 1: Arrive in Copenhagen
Day 2: Copenhagen
Day 3: Morning flight to London
Day 4: London
Day 5: London
Day 6: London OR Train to Paris
Day 7: Train to Paris OR Paris
Day 8: Paris
Day 9: Paris
Day 10: Train to Barcelona OR Amsterdam
Day 11: Barcelona OR Amsterdam
Day 12: Barcelona OR Amsterdam
Day 13: Flight back to US from Barcelona or Amsterdam

That gives you three nights in each of the larger cities, and one extra night to use somewhere (I'd suggest either London or Paris)

Also, what time of year are you taking this trip? That could influence some recommendations to focus on one city versus another.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 07:47 AM
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Thank you all SO much for your input. I have decided to add a day and save either Amsterdam or London for a different trip. Below are the two itineraries. Which city would be better to include?

London Option
Day 1: Arrive in Copenhagen
Day 2: Copenhagen
Day 3: Copenhagen
Day 4: Flight to London
Day 5: London
Day 6: London
Day 7: Flight to Paris
Day 8: Paris
Day 9: Paris
Day 10: Paris
Day 11: Flight to Barcelona
Day 12: Barcelona
Day 13: Barcelona
Day 14: Flight back to US from Barcelona

Amsterdam Option
Day 1: Arrive in Copenhagen
Day 2: Copenhagen
Day 3: Copenhagen
Day 4: Flight to Amsterdam
Day 5: Amsterdam
Day 6: Amsterdam
Day 7: Train to Paris
Day 8: Paris
Day 9: Paris
Day 10: Paris
Day 11: Flight to Barcelona
Day 12: Barcelona
Day 13: Barcelona
Day 14: Flight back to US from Barcelona
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 08:39 AM
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Both new options are an improvement! However, it would be far less hassle to take the train from London to Paris rather than flying.

A flight is about 1.25 hours, but add in the time and expense of getting to/from an airport and a flight will take longer, about 3.5 hours total. By train, however, will take 2 hours and you would leave and arrive near the city center.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 08:50 AM
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I would cut out London and copenhagen.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 09:41 AM
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All cities are not equal . . . You are allowing the same amount of time to Copenhagen as to London. Copenhagen is very nice, but London is enormous w/ probably 20X more things to see/do.

You definitely would want to take the train between London and Paris.

I'd still cut one city out of each itinerary. Either Copenhagen/Paris/Barcelona or Copenhagen/London/Barcelona. You are now talking about 12.5 useable days 'on the ground'. And the first day or two will be jet lagged. With the more than half a day you lose moving from city to city - the approx 11 days you'll have free is a bit rushed but OK for 3 major cities.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 10:20 AM
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You have not clarified if you have a return ticket yet. Be aware that without a return ticket to the US it can be very difficult to get into these countries as a tourist - esp for younger people.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 11:06 AM
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Since you said that you wouldn't mind skipping Barcelona, that's the one you should skip. That would make the traveling time much less, more so that any other city you could skip. I would add all the Barcelona days, plus the extra travel time, to London, which has much more to see than any of the other cities you're visiting. Amsterdam has some wonderful museums, If you want to visit more than one of them, I would modify that advice to add one more day to Amsterdam. However, if art museums aren't your cup of tea, I think one day in Amsterdam is sufficient.
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 09:35 PM
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I too would skip Barcelona - but even though you say you could skip it, you have included it in every proposed itinerary. So I assumed YOU could skip it, but it is where your sister really REALLY wants to visit so that's where you are going.

If Barcelona isn't a 'must' then skip it and you could actually fit in 2 nights Copenhagen, 2 nights Amsterdam, 4 nights Paris, 5 nights London. (Or skip A'dam and add one night to both Paris and London.)
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Old May 4th, 2015, 12:43 PM
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Thank you all again for your input! I will definitely be taking the train to Paris from London. Didn't know that was an option and I do want to minimize travel time between each city as much as possible.

I'll most likely skip Barcelona for a different trip, but wanted to speak with my sister about it first since it's the place she is most excited for. I wanted to keep it on the itinerary if at all possible but it is very out of the way from the other destinations.

@nytraveler I will be purchasing a return ticket before i depart. Thanks for the concern.

Thank you all so much!
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Old May 6th, 2015, 08:10 PM
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My sister and I managed to add more days to the trip and narrowed down our destinations! Below is the most recent rough draft we came up with.

In Ireland, we only want to spend one day/night in Dublin and spend the rest of our trip exploring some of the countryside. That will obviously take more travel time, so should we spend less days in either Barcelona or Paris?

Day 1: Arrive in Denmark
Day 2: Copenhagen
Day 3: Copenhagen
Day 4: Flight to Paris
Day 5: Paris
Day 6: Paris
Day 7: Paris
Day 8: Paris
Day 9: Flight to Barcelona
Day 10: Barcelona
Day 11: Barcelona
Day 12: Barcelona
Day 13: Flight to Dublin
Day 14: Ireland
Day 15: Ireland
Day 16: Ireland
Day 17: Fly back home to the States
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Old May 7th, 2015, 08:19 AM
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Hmmm... how did Ireland get in there? Choosing a country as destination #4 is obviously different than choosing a city. Are you planning on renting a car? Three nights to explore the country isn't much. Think about whether that makes more sense to you or whether it would be better to choose another major city like London.

You have 5 nights in Paris - that means just four full days. I certainly wouldn't cut any time from Paris. I haven't been to Barcelona, but I would expect that 4 nights/three days will give you just enough time to explore.
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Old May 7th, 2015, 08:44 AM
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I think you are mad to add Ireland.

You could fly into Barcelona
Then go on to Paris (by train or air)
Then on to Amsterdam (by train or air)
Then on to Copenhagen (by train or air)

Fly home from Copenhagen.

Or the reverse of course.

If you definitely want to do London, which does have a ton to see and do, then I'd make it London - Paris - Barca , or London - Paris - Amsterdam.
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Old May 7th, 2015, 08:45 AM
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PS Get open jaw tickets and do not do any backtracking whatsoever.
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Old May 7th, 2015, 08:46 AM
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And four cities absolute tops - 2 or 3 would be better tbh
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