7 countries in 15 days, is it possible?

Old Oct 19th, 2009, 07:46 AM
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7 countries in 15 days, is it possible?

My friend and I are planning a holiday trip to Europe. Could it be possible to travel by train to cities below for sightseeing in full 15 days? We will start our journey from Vienna and fly back home from Rome (or actually Vienna since we fly Austrian Airline).

(Not necessary to be in following order except starting the trip from Vienna and end at Rome)

Vienna / Budapest / Prague / Salzburg / Innsbruck / Munich and/or Frankfurt and/or Cologne / Paris / Lausanne / Milan / Verona / Venice / Florence / Rome

As much as possible, we would like to travel overnight in a train as to save our budget. Could you pls. recommend the best route and what types of train ticket/pass should we buy?

Many thanks,
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 07:50 AM
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Light the blue touch-paper and stand well clear.

Open the popcorn, sit back and wait for the hundreds of replies ;-)
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 07:55 AM
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A Eurail Pass (if it still exists) may be the best bet. But it might not apply to Hungary or the Czech Republic. As for the vest itinerary, take a map and start connecting the dots.

If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 07:58 AM
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Go online and buy postcards from each. You won't see much more of the cities than that.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 07:59 AM
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Actually, I'll revise that. Because you plan to sleep on trains, you may have to criss-cross the continent. A train ride between Vienna and Salzburg would hardly be long enough for a catnap.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 08:24 AM
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Doable, but why?
Pick 5 from your list and enjoy your trip.
I would do Vienna, Salzburg, Venice, Florence and Rome.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 08:28 AM
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Of course it's possible to visit 7 places in 15 days but why would you want to do something like this? You will have about 1 day per town for sightseeing. The remainder of the time will be spent getting to and from train stations and hotels, packing and unpacking, and trying to acclimate yourselves to the town.

The towns you've chosen are rich in history, museums, cafe life, shopping, churches, walking tours, theatre, concerts. Most of this will be outside your reach as you won't have time for it. You'll be packing your suitcase and on your way to the next place.

Choose a reasonable itinerary such as Budapest, Prague, and Vienna or Rome, Florence, and Venice or Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Munich and enjoy your trip. There's more to Europe than trains and train stations.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 08:29 AM
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Bob has it right. Silly to try to do all that--drive by touring. I would even leave Rome off.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 08:38 AM
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It's possible - i have done, when younger, many such train zombie trips and loved it - so to each their own travel tune - but you still in 15 days should hone it down a bit and come up with some kind of straight line with a few zigzags north-south travel- like eliminating Frankfurt and Cologne (cities that many find not so romantic) and Budapest and Prague - then you still have lots of trains to take. I love overnight trains and still do a zillion but it's not for everyone - i have little problem with the inevitable track noise, etc. but some can't sleep. Anyway for tons of info on planning a European train trip for novices i always recommend: www.budgeteuropetravel.com (download their free and superb European Planning & Rail Guide that contains lots of sample itineraries); www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com for starters. And yes some kind of railpass is in order for any such wide-ranging train trip.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 08:43 AM
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Oh goodness. That is a LOT.

OK. Think about the time needed to get to the train station, take a train, find your hotel/hostel and check in every day (because with this itinerary, you'd be doing that just about daily. If you want to actually see anything in these cities, you REALLY need to cut your list down to about five or less. (Even five would be moving pretty quickly, but doable.) Do some research into what you would actually want to see in each city, and prioritize. Then take a realistic look at train schedules and a map. For example, Paris is somewhat removed from everything else on your list. Do you want to go there badly enough to justify the time it would take? Think in terms of cities, not countries.

Definitely get open-jaw plane tickets - for example, fly into Frankfurt and out of Rome, or something along those lines depending on your final itinerary.

I'd skip Cologne, to start. It's nice enough but for a trip where you're already trying to cram in Paris and half of Italy (not to mention most of Austria), I wouldn't.

When will you be going? That could make a big difference.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 08:53 AM
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Why don't you apply for that TV show where crabby people compete aginst blonde women.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 08:54 AM
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Yes, a ride through is possible, but will you remember much more then the rides?
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 09:10 AM
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Why don't you apply for that TV show where crabby people compete aginst blonde women.>

get off your high horse and lose the attitude IMO - over and over again a first-time poster poses a question and is met by such boorish comments - yes the OP has posted an impossible, practically, itinerary and it's fine to say that but all too often first-time posters are met with such snide remarks they simply shrink away - afraid to post further questions in fear of such IMO totally asinine comments. IMO you owe the OP an apology!
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 09:24 AM
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Just think--that is less than 2 nights per place. Most people recommend at least 3 full days per place. That means choose 5 from your list.

I love overnight trains, but when you need this many they don't save the budget much.

I suggest you prioritize your list, research train routes, and start over. good luck!
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 09:28 AM
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As everybody else suggested, skip half of your destinations and enjoy the remaining ones better.

BTW, overnight trains are a torture.

For train routes throughout Europe, use this site:

http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 09:36 AM
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If you are travelling a long way and especially if you think that it may be your only visit to Europe, it must be tempting to try to fit in as much as possible.
I'm with bobthenavigator on this one. Visit Salzburg and then concentrate on Italy, visiting Florence and Venice and finishing in Rome.
If you fall madly in love with one city, then stay there longer and enjoy it.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 09:59 AM
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It is possible to get to all of those countries in 15 days. It will not be possible to see anything. You will have a tour of the train stations of europe.

In 15 days you should stay in no more than 4 places at most if you actually want to see anything and not spend all of your time looking out of a train window. The largest cities need at least 3 or 4 days (4 or 5 nights to see much of anyting). And night trains won;t work for many of those cities, since they aren't far enough apart and trains either don;t run at night, will have stops/changes in the middle ot the night - or will have you arriving someplace at 4 am.

You really need tolook at a map adn at the bahn.de website (best for trains thrughout europe).
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 10:09 AM
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One of these posts again, whenever I read these posts I am convinced that the op has done no research and often has little geographical knowledge of Europe. Which is why they post a ridiculous itineray.

Is it doable? yes, if this the type of trip you wantbr /> www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7CpkzJU9kA
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 10:11 AM
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Palenque
Maybe the OP has a sense of humor.
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Old Oct 19th, 2009, 10:28 AM
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PQ aside (must be back on the paint) - this is really not doable.

You have 15 days and want to visit Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Paris, Lausanne, Milan, Verona, Venice, Florence, Rome and back to Vienna again.

That is 15 destinations. Even if you take out the two "and/or" cities it still leaves 13 cities. 13 cities inn 15 days leaves LESS than one full day in each place. Even w/ some overnight trains (and more than one or two sleepers will probably be too much for comfort) you still have less than 1 full day per city. Packing, checking out, checking in, unpacking, and traveling to/from train stations will eat up almost as much time as some of the rail journeys.

Remember - one night in a place does not usually equal one full day there. Even w/ an overnight train - you arrive in the AM, have to get to your accommodations, check in and get acclimated. So mid morning is the earliest you could be out and about. Then you'd leave the next morning for the next city (or even worse - leave that night on another sleeper train). Just to get a bit over one full day in a place, you really have to stay 2 nights.

No one wants to rain on your parade - but unless you enjoy trains more than places this is just not workable - because you'd spend more time on trains and in stations than seeing anything.
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