hpina25

Hi everyone! I'm planning a trip for next year to backpack Part of Europe. The cities I most definitely want to visit are; London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Barcelona, and Madrid. Other countries I would like to visit if time allows are; Belgium, Berlin, Prague, Florence, and venice. I am traveling with atleast one other and possibly as a group of 5. Does anyone have any itinerary suggestion with best ways to travel between cities. I'll be going for approximately 30-35 days. Also, with a group would it be wise to look into hotels? Or should we stick with hostels?
Thank you so much in advance!

annhig

Hi hpina - welcome to Fodors.

your post raises a number of queries, one of which is "what time of year"? that may effect the advice you get.

however, it looks as if you are a relatively young person, so hostelling would probably be sensible of you, plus looking at one of the rail passes that under 26s can get - see the Man_in_Seat 61 for further information.

the advantage of travelling like that is that you don't need to commit yourselves to your itinerary before you go, but of course you still need to decide where you are flying into and out of - and no, they don't need to be the same place. [you need to look for the "multi-city" button on the airline website - it shouldn't be much more than a round trip].

then you need to work out a route, particularly if you decide to use the train exclusively rather than to fly - for example, Rome to Barcelona is an easy flight but a terrible train journey. find a map, and start looking at where places are, then deciding where you really want to go.

hope you have a wonderful trip!

PalenQ

How old are you folks - if 30 or under hostels may be nice or youth hotels - get a copy of Let's Go Europe as it has a superb rundown of low-budget accommodations - cheap hotels, hostels, youth hotels in all those cities -

As for travel between cities trains are the best unless the distance is long then look at budget flights - there are also overnight trains lacing far-flung sections of Europe - save on the cost of an accommodation and travel time.

For lots of great info on European trains and railpasses (if under 26 you can get the bargain Eurail Youthass) check yes Man in Seat 61's site that annhig mentions - www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteve.com - all have a wealth of info for planning a rail trip.

hpina25

A little more Info:
I'll be 26 this month and my friends are around the same age as myself. As of now we don't have a specific time we want to go as long as it's between May and September. I've been looking online and am leaning more towards traveling end of May to end of June in order to see less crowds and not extremely hot weather. The plan I had was:
London
To Paris
To Amsterdam
To Berlin
To Prague
To Florence
To Rome
To Monaco
To Barcelona
End in Madrid

I wasn't sure if this was to many stops to actually enjoy each area and if we should plan for later on in the summer since we will be doing a lot walking I'm just trying to catch the best traveling time in regards to weather.

bilboburgler

Makes a bit of sense, but why go to Monaco? Nothing there apart from a casino. Certainly not on par with the other cities mentioned.

Have you thought of how many nights you intend to stay, it might help you firm up on a few things? A train pass might be a good deal and offers extra felxibility over cheapo airlines that need to be booked month in advance. Special attention to the train under the channel and the booking arrangements there.

I'd probably fly Rome to Barclona

nytraveler

In terms of weather the earlier the better. You can definitely start in early May and then won't have TOO hot weather in the southern areas. However I would do the trip in reverse to what you have listed - starting in the warmer areas and ending in the cooler. May is also great since tourists are comparatively few and there are more bargains in lodging to go around.

Note that there are some things you need to get in advance (as in 3 months) to get the best prices, including the places you will need fights (probably Barcelona to Rome) and the Eurostar (train from Paris to London - can be double or more if you wait until close to travel time).

Definitely look at Let's Go Europe to get an idea of best tips and hints and most important - what a realistic budget is. You can travel for a fairly modest budget - but that will mean hostels or B&Bs with probably shared baths, lots of picnics and food from markets/street food rather than sit down meals in restaurants. And most important don;t put yourself in the position of having to miss major sights (which can be 15 to 25 euros per person) because of not having enough money.

Finally - about Monaco - unless you have a real reason to go there it's not much - and what there is is VERY expensive. We have visited a couple of times from Nice - doing the James Bond casino thing - and it was fun, for us. But it is NOT cheap, requires proper attire and minimum bets are not low. (This is NOT Vegas with free casinos 24 hours a day, anything goes for clothes and slots for a few cents.) And most restaurants and shops are designed for the uber wealthy. And the harbor won;t be full of the mega yachts with the wealthy/famous at that time of year.

Sorry - and 10 places in 30 days is really just too many. The places you have listed are major tourist cities and 2.5 ays each is just not enough (you have to allow at least 1/2 day each time you travel from one city to another). You need to realize that each time you move it is a different culture, different language, different local transit, different rules for doing things and to reorient yourself so many times in so few days can easily result in your ending up with a very expensive blur.

My 19 year old DD and 2 friend did 6 weeks a couple of summers ago and they did 8 cities and after the trip felt that they had missed a lot they wanted to see and should have done fewer.

Kathie

The biggest issue you have is trying to cover too many places in too little time. This sort of trip ends being a tour of trains and train stations with a few airports thrown in. Remember that you lose at least half a day each time you change locations and that changing locations is costly. Fewer cities and you'll have more time in each and more money left to enjoy them.

Like others here, I'd begin by cutting Monaco. But next look carefully at your list of cities. In 30 days, I'd opt for maybe 6 cities. All the places you've listed could keep you busy and interested for weeks

Edward2005

No French or Italian hill towns? No mountains? No break time to do nothing?

An itinerary packed with big cities will grind on you, especially without a break. And you'll miss out on great stuff in the smaller towns. Italy is so very much more than Rome-Florence-Venice. You absorb only so many masterpieces and ruins in 30-day period. After a certain point, all you're doing is checking off things from a must-see list.

I'd scratch Monaco and two big cities and find a way to work in a nice 3-day break in the middle. In a place with no museums or must-see stuff. A beach or a small town in the alps would be perfect.

PalenQ

Or take day trips from big mega touristed cities to nearby smaller towns - like from Florence day trip to Siena, a hill town superb or from Paris out to Chartres and the world-famous Gothic cathedral or from Rome out to Tivoli and the Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa or to Viterbo or the Castelli Romani - like Frescati, etc.

Or London to Oxford or Cambridge

But how many of us on our first trip to Europe spent time in smaller towns but gravitated to the tourist meccas we've been dreaming about visiting for years. Very few I think. On a first trip yes it would be nice to experience the Europe outside of big tourist meccas which yes like Edward says can be tiring - and also smoggy and traffic-ful (Paris), etc.

PalenQ

I wasn't sure if this was too many stops to actually enjoy each area and if we should plan for later on in the summer since we will be doing a lot walking I'm just trying to catch the best traveling time in regards to weather.>

I think end of May to end of June is optimal - walking will be fine and flowers will be fresh - September in northern areas can be rainy and grim - days are much longer in June - crowds yet to materilize and you can more easily get budget accommodations like hostels.