eheather

I've been lurking travel forums for a while now, but I'm just starting to plan my first European trip and wanted some input from seasoned travelers. I'm 26 and I enjoy traveling by myself, but I've never done so outside of the United States so I'm trying to do as much research as possible.
I've always wanted to go to Europe and I figured if I wait for someone to have the time or money to go with me that I might be 80 by the time I get to go! So I recently decided it was time to start planning the vacation I've been dreaming about for years.

I'm planning on a 6 week trip through Europe (most likely it will be next spring, probably beginning in late April) with a planned itinerary of:
London - 6 nights
Amsterdam - 5 nights
Paris - 6 nights
Florence - 2 nights
Rome - 4 nights
Venice - 2 nights
Munich - 3 nights
Nuremberg - 3 nights
Cologne - 3 nights
Hamburg - 2 nights
Berlin - 5 nights

I plan to do some touristy things combined with wandering on my own around the cities. I've never been to Europe before and I'd like to spend this trip doing "traditional" city travel, and exploring less-traveled areas on later trips.
I don't plan to rent a car; I'd prefer to walk or take buses around the cities, and travel by train to the next city on my itinerary.

So I have a few questions because I'm starting to look at my budget for the trip.

1) do any seasoned travelers see any potential problems with this itinerary? I know I want to start in London and end in Berlin, but the order of other cities in my travel is not set in stone.

2) would train travel between all of these cities be best, or are there any cities I should travel between by air?

3) a lot of the train information I've found has been overwhelming. Are there any train travel segments I should buy as an individual ticket rather than making sure I buy a rail pass with enough uses? What I mean is, would any of this travel be cheaper if I bought an individual train ticket?

4) is bus travel safe in all of these cities? If not, what would a better mode of transportation be?

These are some of the general questions I have for the moment. My trip is in the early planning stages, so I'm open to suggestions.

Any other tips are welcome! Thanks in advance for your help.

Apres_Londee

I'm not one of the more seasoned travellers here, but I've travelled alone to some of those cities so will offer my thoughts until the experts chime in.

First, congrats on the trip! You'll have the time of your life!

I might do something like:

London
-train-
Paris
-train-
Amsterdam
-fly-
Florence
-train-
Rome
-train-
Venice...

...and then I can't really comment because I haven't been to those places in Germany so I'm not sure of the best way to plan them.

I feel like I want to advise you to spend more nights in Florence and Venice, if you feel okay sacrificing some time from Germany.

The conventional wisdom seems to be that buying point to point tickets is cheaper than rail passes. You can often buy them ahead of time and receive discounted fare, on the Eurostar between London and Paris, for example, and the Thalys between Paris and Amsterdam.

With the discount airlines, the fares are generally cheaper the sooner you buy them. They get more expensive the close to your travel date.

Public transportation in Europe is generally excellent, whether bus, subway/metro/tube, or tram. I wouldn't worry too much about personal safety as long as you use common sense (not riding alone at 2am completely out of your mind on alcohol or drugs, for example). Same for pickpockets- keep alert, keep your bag in front of you, don't fall for any tricks, and chances are you will be fine.

suze

That's a very ambitious 1st trip itinerary especially solo. I don't see any reason you couldn't do it, but you'll be moving around a LOT. With much time spent on trains (or busses or planes) and in the moving city to city. That also makes the budget more expensive than if you stayed in each place longer and went fewer places.

I'll use Venice as an example (a city I adore and would want to spend at least 4-5 days in myself!). When you say "Venice 2 days" you need to allow getting there, it's not exactly next door to Rome or Munich.

It's personal choice, but I'd cross 2, 3 maybe even 4 of the destinations off your list and up the number of nights in each of what's left.

suze

oops i forgot to say *congratulations* on the trip!!

regardless of the exact itinerary you choose, it sound like a great time and you'll be fine solo. Just keep your wits about you, be careful with your money/passport, common sense stuff.

sarahpoppet27

Hello from London. I don't think the trip is too ambitious (you will have the time of your life) but I do think you're concentrating on too many cities. I know you say you'd like to use this trip for just that, but it would be a great shame not to see some smaller places, as often each city can seem to blend into another.

I think 6 days in London is too much. Why not use the time to explore other parts of England? In 2 hours you could be in gorgeous Devon, or the Cotswolds or Cornwall. You could even take a trip to Avon (Shakespeare's home) or Cambridge - which is a city. I would also shave some of your Paris time and take the fast train TGV down to Nice or, even better, Aix-on-Provence.

Plus maybe some more time in Florence. Italy is very expensive though.

Finally I think you'll have no problems doing this by train apart from the Amsterdam-Florence leg. You can get rail passes from lots of London agents like STA Travel. You've also missed out Switzerland and Austria - the jewels of Europe! Salzburg, Innsbruck or Lucerne.. I could go on. I can't speak for Austrain trains but the Swiss train system will knock your socks off. It's as efficient as well, a Swiss watch.

Try bahn.de for train times as they have an English version. And check out the wonderful blog http://www.seat61.com/

Good luck!

eheather

I started out with 5 more cities on my itinerary, so I've worked on shortening my travel to a more realistic itinerary (at least, I tried!).
Also, I should have clarified that cities that show as "2 nights" will mean 3 days. However, I may be able to eliminate a couple more.
Germany is the primary focus of this trip (as though that's not obvious from the itinerary). My grandparents came over from Germany in the early 20th century and I've always had a desire to get more familiar with my roots.

I plan at some point to go back and visit Italy more extensively; my step family is Italian and they have some wonderful stories and photographs of their visits. Ideally, I would spend the entire summer next year in Europe and give proper attention to all of Europe. Alas, I work in corporate America and it's going to be a feat to get 6 weeks off; I imagine my boss would laugh in my face if I requested 3 months!

kybourbon

>>>>to start in London and end in Berlin<<<

Why? I like to travel the longest distance on my way over so I would probably start in Rome or possibly Germany or Paris. I would probably pick Italy for the start because it will have better weather at that time of year. I would then work my way north.

You have some very long train rides planned. That can be a bit of a problem when traveling alone as you have no one to keep an eye on your stuff while you use the facilities or go to the snack car.

I would think a mixture of passes and point-to-point rail tickets and a budget flight or two would work best (and be cheapest).

I would likely start in Paris (should be ok weather in April).

Fly to Paris
Fly Paris/Rome (Easy Jet from Paris Orly)
Train to Florence (cheap discount tickets on Trenitalia)
Train to Venice
Overnight train to Munich
Train between various German cities (check the German train discounts)
Train to Amsterdam
Train to London
Fly home

suze

Even with your current proposed itinerary (good for you that you already trimmed the wish list a bit!) I'd shave some time off London/Amsterdam and add it to Italy so that part wouldn't be so rushed. 6/5 seems like a lot in relation to the rest of your trip. But definitely keep 6 Paris!!

Apres_Londee

Or maybe eliminate one of the three Italian cities, so you have a bit more time in the other two?

Dayle

eheather,

I have some of the same thoughts as mentioned above. Your longer stays in London and Paris are good, but it seems you are shortchanging Italy for Germany. Your reasons for doing so make sense, so how you alot your time is your decision.

Personally, I would also try to cut a couple of destinations because you will discover even 2 nts stays end up feeling VERY rushed.

I have not experienced the long train trips you plan because my visits have all focused on 1 country for 3 - 4 weeks at a time. I have found train travel in France and Italy wonderfully easy, but I would agree to flying on a couple of of your longer moves.

My last trip was solo, but it was to Italy where I had visited previously. Moving from city to city solo is really the only part that you need to think about.

Travel VERY light - one small roller - so when you need a restroom break at the train stations, you can wheel it in the stall with you. If you were to stand in line to buy train/plane/other tickets, keep your bag in front of you. You need to have luggage that you can physically handle by yourself - lift to the racks overhead and up and down all the train stairs (steep) and station stairs (LOTS)!

You will need to be security conscious on your longer train trips. Perhaps a steel bike chain to lock your suitecase to the train rack would help. A moneybelt is a necessity. I like the type that is made to hang on a belt loop inside your skirt/pants. It doesn't get hot an sweaty like the waist style and is much more comfortable. On days when I am moving by train/plane, I make sure my important items are kept there - passport, credit cards (2), cash. Other times some are kept in the hotel safe.

I love kybourban's advice to consider weather in planning the order of your trip. May is a delightful month to visit Italy....

One thing I think you should consider. You have no DOWN time in a 6 week trip and you are doing all major cities. Even being young and on the adrenaline rush of your first Europe trip, you might find yourself seriously dragging on the second half, experiencing church burnout and museum overload!

I would suggest planning a couple of "breaks" along the way. 1 or 2 nts in a tiny hilltown, the Aps, or countryside just to slow down, sleep in, get some sun, not feel the pressure of (I'm here, I need to see this, and it's open....) The experiences outside the major cities are just as wonderful and just as important.

In case you can't tell, I'm one of those who likes both and balances my trips between cities/countryside.

You will find traveling solo a very rich experience! You get to do exactly what you want, when you want. Local people and fellow travelers will be more interested in talking with you and you will meet some fabulous people! You will also have a chance to take in so much more, because you will be more observant. You won't be wrapped up in talking with a traveling companion and relating to them, you will be looking at things around you and reaching out to new people.

Buon viaggio!

eheather

These are some great suggestions from everybody, thank you!

If I were to cut a city off of Italy, should it be Florence or Venice?

Also, I should note that I can get a good deal on discounted (and nonstop) air through my company if I fly into LHR, which is the main reason I'd like to start in London. There's also quite a bit that I'd like to see there, which is the reason that I planned for a somewhat extended stay. However, I might be able to cut a day off and add it to Italy.

I considered not spending my entire time in England in London, but felt like that would be even more traveling around. I'd like to go to Stonehenge, but that's really my only non-London MUST-do for this trip.

I like to travel each year, so once I get my bearings on Europe with this trip I feel like I'll be better prepared to do more extensive exploring on subsequent trips.

bobthenavigator

You will get tired of big cities.
I would spend half of my time in smaller cities and plan some downtime at a rural setting--like the Bavarian Alps.

suze

<If I were to cut a city off of Italy, should it be Florence or Venice?>

here I was thinking cut Rome, since it's geographically the furthest and by far the largest (size/population) And keep Florence & Venice.

nytraveler

I would change your oder - and f nights for a couple of reasons. You're better off doing the southern part of the trip earlier - when the weather will be warmer and the cities not so crowded - and save the more northern (and cooler) parts of the trip for later. Also - Do Florence, then Rome then Venice is too much bouncing around.

I would start with London then fly to Rome and train from there to Florence and Venice - then fly to Amsterdam and from there head east (by train) into Germany. Also I would cut a day out of Amsterdam and add to Venice which could use more time. Can;t comment on Hamburg since I haven't been there - but everyplaces else looks OK.

Traveling within cities shuold be by foot as much as possible (be sure to stay in central locations) - but public transit is safe everywhere - as long as you hang onto your belongings and are aware of those around you. (In more than 90 trips to europe I have never had a problem with theft or attempted theft. Violent crime is extremely rare - much less commn than in the US - but there are pickpockets in the places tourists are likely to be lest careful.)

justineparis

I am sorry, but Amsterdam gets 5 days,, and places like Rome get FOUR,, I think you should sit down and write down a list of what you expect to do or see in a city,, it might make you change a few things around .

I like Venice, and agree , when alone 2 days would be enough for me, too,, its not like you are planning on long romantic walks or moonlight gondola rides,, plus Venice is not a cheap city.


Daytrips from cities need to be considered, from London it would be nice to see Bath or Brighton, from Paris , well there are dozens, but perhaps topping list would be Versailles and Chartes, from Rome , I haven't done this myself, but I have always wanted to see Pompei,, etc.

So how long one stays in a place needs be considered carefully.

Finally remember this, two nights in any place means only one FULL day.. so I would keep most visits to 3 nights as most places deserve at least 2 full days for a taste.

PS. The more you more the more expensive a trip becomes.

msteacher

You are going to have a wonderful trip! Overall, you seem to have some good ideas and now just need to tweek according to your particular interests and travel style. My only advice is to consider the suggestions that others have made to try to work in some non-city destinations. Major cities will all start to feel the same after six weeks; build in some time for a beach, mountain hike, etc. There are amny beautiful outdoor destinations in Europe. Have fun!!

Sidny

I think you have a great plan in general. Unless you're really looking to settle into any of the first 3 cities, I would cut time from there if you find you need it later in the trip. You could easily spend a month in any of these cities, but I would take a night or two each from London, Paris or especially Amsterdam to add in elsewhere, or stop along the way. For example, you could stop in Switzerland for a couple of nights on your way to Italy.

Or to save some time, the idea of flying between two furthest cities makes a lot of sense. Take a closer look at your route. You could go Lon/Paris/Amsterdam via train, fly to furthest point south (Rome), then train to Florence/Venice, train to Germany. Remember that you could do an overnight train on a long-haul transport that will save you a night in a hotel and give you an interesting experience.

ira

Hi eh,

1) I would fly from Paris to Rome and then train to Florence, Venice and Munich.

What draws you to Nuremberg, Cologne and Hamburg that you would want to spend a week hopping from one to the other to the other? Have you considered Salzburg, Vienna and Prague?

mmyk72

Agree with Ira. I've been to Cologne and 1 night is probably sufficient, especially if that's an on-the-way to something else town.

Sidny

BTW..I forgot to answer your question about dropping Florence vs. Venice, if you have to. I think Venice is an incredibly interesting city and would encourage you to spend your time there. I've not been to Florence (but would love to), but in the long list of cities you're considering, I think Venice would stand out and be unforgettable.