NEED HELP BIG TIME!!

Old Jul 26th, 2010, 09:29 AM
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NEED HELP BIG TIME!!

Hello everyone!!

Me n my husband n 2 friends (a couple too) are planning our honeymoon trip to Europe. Its going to be our first time n we r soo excited!!
We plan on leaving mid Sept, for around 3 weeks n would like to visit these cities (in order) :
Day 1&2 : Amsterdam
Day 3 : Amsterdam - Cologne - Prague (Cologne to prague taking the night train)
Day 4 : Prague (day tour) - Vienna (Prague to Vienna taking the night train)
Day 5 : Vienna (day tour) - Munich (Vienna to Munich taking the night train)
Day 6 : Munich (stop by just to drink beer haha) - Neuschwenstein castle - Interlaken
Day 7 : Interlaken (Jungfrau day trip) - at night go to Lucerne
Day 8 : Lucerne - Milan
Day 9 : Milan
Day 10 : Milan - Venice
Day 11 : Venice
Day 12 : Venice - Pisa - Florence
Day 13 : Florence - Rome
Day 14 : Rome
Day 15 : Rome - Barcelona (by plane)
Day 16 : Barcelona
Day 17 : Barcelona - Lourdes - Paris (Lourdes - Paris taking the night train)
Day 18 : Paris
Day 19 : Paris
Day 20 : Paris
Please let us know is this itinery doable or its to hectic?? Planning to use train as our main transportation... Any suggesstion are highly appreciated as we r totally blind in this!! We need some serious insights n advices!! Thanks in advance
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 09:35 AM
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I was tired by day 6.

Do you plan to see anything whilst traveling?

This is your honeymoon? I hope your nighttime activities are not as ....quick.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 09:35 AM
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Am I reading this right- 3 overnight trains in a row? Hope you're getting a sleeper with a shower. No hotel for 3 days?
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 09:46 AM
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I don't know why tomboy is interested in your sex life or what she or he has against fast sex and why any of would care, but your itinerary is really not wise. Even if you have lots of stamina, you are not factoring in the fact that you don't know where you are going, will need time to buy learn your way around, find the sights you most want to see, wait on some lines, wash some clothes at some point (you can't drag that much luggage that fast).

I understand you want to see all those places. So do I! But two things occur to me:

You could have a really beautiful 3 week stay in Europe if you lingered in three or 4 fantastic destinations, especially if you didn't have to fly between them.

You and your friends probably won't have fun honeymoons being together ALL the time -- and you will have to be together ALL the time if you move this fast. If you stick to one place for 5 days at a time or 7 -- you can take some breaks from each other, rather than having to all hold hands 24/7 because you've only got 90 minutes at the museum before you need to pick up your luggage at the hotel to race to the train station -- you get the picture.

Decide which 2 or 4 areas of Europe sound most fun for you, and focus on making them suit the needs of all 4 of you.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 09:50 AM
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I am sorry, this trip is just too schizophrenic for me to provide any comments that make sense.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 09:51 AM
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Sometimes 'less' is more. You have a lot of 'more' here
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:04 AM
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Think about the places you would like to visit the most. Then narrow the list down. You will probably be going back to Europe many times. Everyone always thinks that they will be taking the trip of a lifetime. Well, that's what I thought back in 1983. Now I can't even keep track of the times I have been. Some number over 60. If you love Europe like most of us do, you will make a point of going back.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:06 AM
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oh my God is my itinery that horrible??

Well me n my husband n my couple friends too like to travel a lot too, so sex will not be our priority in this travel haha..
We waited too long for this trip n now when we actually can do it, we want to see lots n lots of Europe.
Is it really doesnt make sense? Think of us as adventurers not honeymooners
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:08 AM
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They have more travel breaks on "The Amazing Race" than this.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:11 AM
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This reads more like a FEDEX delivery schedule than a vacation itinerary. 20 days is a good amount of time for 3 destinations, not more. Do not underestimate what these locations offer individually.

One full day in Rome is simply not sufficient to see much of anything. 3 days in Paris will barely scratch the surface. You´re going to need an additional vacation to recover from the hectic pace of this one.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:12 AM
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Re-think the 3 overnight trains. Even as a young person I would not have done that.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:13 AM
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You are not going to see a lot. You're really not. You are going to see a bus tour idea of Europe. There is a huge difference.

If you run from one guidebook city and sight to another, you will see tourist eye-candy rather than Europe. You'll see Europe for tourists -- and Europe is so much more interesting than that!

You are going to spend all your time in transit and on lines waiting for the fun ride -- and it will be over in 3 minutes before you get on the next line.

You can go on the fun rides -- but you should also leave time to walk around the back side of the amusement park of Tourist Europe (which is the stupidest Europe you can possibly experience). The real Europe is incredibly beautiful. It can change the way you think about everything.

It really doesn't make sense what you are planning to do. It has no more adventure in it than a package bus tour for 80 year olds, all the famous sights in a row for five minutes.

My advice: Rent a copy of "Before Sunrise" and get a feel for how romantic Europe can be for young people.

Then rethink this trip.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:18 AM
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"oh my God is my itinery that horrible??"

Yes, it is.

"Think of us as adventurers not honeymooners"

This itinerary is not adventurous, it is frantic.

The first ten days are a blur, with no time in these beautiful and important cities. Why even bother?

You need to cut out at least half of these destinations if you have any desire to see anything but train stations and hotel lobbies.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:21 AM
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I am a train fanatic and have traveled the rail of Europe with railpasses for decades -just to state my bias clearly but i think for such a wide-ranging trip previewed - and one of the type i always do - taking the train makes sense simply because all your stops are big cities where cars are a liability - wide swatches of city centres are off limits to private vehicles - parking can be problematic and expensive - $30 day or so in Amsterdam last i looked - besides $7-8/gal fuel charges and excessive drop off charges if not return the car usually in the country in which you picked it up.
And yes if traveling that much consider some kind of Eurailpass - there is even a car and drive pass where you pick up your car at a train station - drive it thru some bucolic rural area without good rail service - drive it to another station and drop it off and get back on the train to speed to a distant city.
Anyway for loads of info on planning a European rail trip i always spotlight these Wunderbar links - www.seat61.com - especially good on outlining types of berths on overnight trains in your case - www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download the latter's free and superb IMO European Planning & Rail Guide that has suggested itiraries - chapters on each country's rail system, etc.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:26 AM
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There is an extensive (95 posts so far) thread called First-Timer Help that has information you will like. I suspect that much of the same content will be posted here too.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-timerhelp.cfm

DaveMM
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:27 AM
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Meihan83, I am assuming you are serious and are not trying playing a joke on everyone here. So here is my best, heartfelt advice:

Please let us know: is this itinerary doable or its too hectic??

It is doable only insofar as it is "physically possible" to touch down the 18 or so cities you have mentioned.

However, It is way, way, WAY TOO HECTIC - to the point of being pure punishment and no vacation.

For three weeks you should stay in a MAXIMUM of four cities with perhaps a day trip from each bringing your grand total to eight places (a grand total of four different hotels). Again, this is the MAXIMUM I could recommend to you in good conscience.

You are thinking about this trip ALL WRONG. You really to think of this as the first of many trips you will take to Europe in your long life (I assume you are somewhat young and have at least another 40 years or so in you...).
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:28 AM
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Yup, it's pretty horrible. It's not even adventurous.

It's a combination of the rush of a "it's tuesday, this must be Belgium" guided tour with the stress and planning of individual travelling. More or less the worst of both worlds.

If you were doing these Top 15 of Europe as a guided tour tour, you'd at least not have to worry about luggage, transfers to/from airports/train stations, etc.

For example, day 6:
You travel all night, arrive in Munich in the morning, but for no other reason but to catch the next train to Füssen, visit Neuschwanstein, and get from there to Interlaken.
You invested around 15 hours of travel to see exactly one castle for 30 minutes. That is not a great return on investment.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:32 AM
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Are you carrying everything in a backpack? Otherwise, the way your itinerary runs, you are going to be dragging around suitcases everywhere. Have you thought about laundry? 20 days means at least a couple of laundry runs.

Do you enjoy train stations and airports? I'm not being sarcastic, just realistic, because you are going to spend a lot of time there. You are showing 13 locations in 20 days.

We get these same kind of itineraries all the time on the board. Those of us that travel alot will usually say the exact same things. Yes, we were young once and could go like crazy. But even then, we usually had an idea on what we wanted to do.

Do I think this is a good plan you guys have? Not at all. Can you do it? Absolutely. Will it be fun? Who knows. Are you spending a ton of money and not really getting your money's worth, probably.

dave

Consider check out times and check in times for hotels. How long do you usually have to wait on a plane before takeoff or baggage after landing?

Europe is a continent and you are talking about crossing a majority of it in a fairly short period of time. What exactly do you want to see and do? Think of Clark Griswold and the Vacation movie. Yep, there's the Grand Canyon, let's go.

Night trains might make sense, but depending on the train and car arrangement, you will find you don't have Orient Express queen sized suites. Instead, you may find you are crammed into a small compartment with fold-down bunk beds. It'll be night, so you won't see anything either. And I like night trains.
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:32 AM
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I hope that doesn't come across as harsh, I just wanted to convey the severity of your miscalculation.

You did get one this right, the subject title: NEED HELP BIG TIME!!
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Old Jul 26th, 2010, 10:34 AM
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1. If you are really going this September, you have no time to lose in making your air and hotel reservations. DO IT ASAP.

2. You don't have three weeks. Your schedule lists 20 days, but your first day is shot on jet lag and your 20th day is shot checking out and getting to the airport.

3. Since you have only 18 days of actual time on the ground, I would pick 3 (or four AT MOST) places to stay for 5-6 nights each, get acquainted with the city, spend some time just strolling and, if you feel the need, take day trips to surrounding areas. Even five days in such cities as Paris, Barcelona, Rome and Florence barely scratches the surface. I suggest something like Rome, Florence and Paris, or Rome, Venice, Florence.

4. Each time you move hotels, you lose approximately one full day just in checking out of Hotel #1 and locating and checking into Hotel #2, not to mention the actual time in transit from H#1 to H#2. Fewer moves means more, not less, time for fun and enjoyment.

5. Convince yourself (and your travel companions) that you can and will return to Europe in the future and need not try to see it all this time.
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