Shraddha

Hi there,
My husband and I are planning our first 3 month trip to Western Europe with the itinerary below and would like to get your feedback:
- Is the time in each city too less?
- Am i missing any city/town that I shouldn't on anyone's first?
- Assuming all travel will be via train, are there any specific routes that I should book well in advance?
- Would you recommend against living in hostels (premium rooms) in any of the stated cities?
- Any other feedback welcome!

Day 1 London
Day 12 Paris
- - - Subtrips to Tours, Loire Valley, Eperney
Day 17 Madrid
Day 20 Seville
Day 21 Valencia (Simply as an entry port to Ibiza)
Day 22 Ibiza
Day 28 Barcelona
Day 32 to Day 38 Montpellier to Nice (Drive)
Day 38 Geneva
- - - Subtrips to Chamonix, Mont Blanc, Monterux
Day 41 Lucern
Day 44 Zurich
Day 46 Geneva
Day 48 Milan
Day 53 Venice
Day 57 Rome
- - - Subtrip to Naples, Amalfi Coast
Day 63 Vienna
Day 67 Innsbruck (via short stops at Linz, Salzburg)
Day 69 Munich
Day 72 Prague
Day 75 Berlin
Day 78 Frankfurt
Day 83 Brussels
Day 86 London
Day 91 Depart London

Mimar

Assorted thoughts:

What time of year is this trip?

Lots of time in cities, little time in the countryside.

Will you get the rental car in Spain? Dropping it off in another country will incur a big extra charge, like 200 or 300 euros.

Geneva is not my favorite Swiss city. The north shore of Lake Geneva is pretty. But have you researched the Bernese Oberland? Great access to mountains, little mountain towns and walks. Switzerland is one place where you can get everywhere by public transportation, so it offers a good chance to see the beauties of the country which are not the cities.

Lots of time in Milan, no time in Florence.

How many days for your excursion to Naples and the Amalfi coast? That can take several days, severely impacting your time for Rome. Which should get at least 5 full days on its own.

I'd substitute Salzburg for Innsbruck.

That's a lot of time in Frankfurt. Why? You could spend time on the Rhine north of Frankfurt and on the Mosel River, which is beautiful.

I'd skip Brussels and go to Amsterdam instead.

CathyM

Comments on Spain:
3 days in Madrid and 1 in Sevilla? Why bother going to Sevilla for only 1 day only to go all the way to Valencia the next day? Spend 4 nights in Madrid and do daytripsmto Segovia and Toledo. Skip Sevilla unless you find somewhere else to give up 4 days.


I'd personally find this exhausting and would find some way to spend a couple of weeks in one base city mid way through the trip just to slow down a bit.

StCirq

Only five days in Paris with "subtrips" to the Loire Valley and Epernay?

Only 1 day in Seville?

5 days in Frankfurt? I'd give it a total pass.

All cities?

I would never do a trip like this; I'd be dying to settle down somewhere and get to know a place. I'd rent a series of apartments in a variety of urban and rural areas and roam a bit from those. But that's me. If this is your travel style, go for it.

PalenQ

- Assuming all travel will be via train, are there any specific routes that I should book well in advance?>

Well with that much train travel I would look at some kind of railpass - a flexipass where you'd get 10 or 15 days of unlimited train travel to be used anytime over a 2-month period - use a day for your long train rides and once in a base just buy local transit tickets. In Switzerland a Swiss Pass has a lot more benefits than a Eurailpass - covering mountain trains that Eurail does not - a 4-consecutivbe-day Swiss Pass may be good for what I see you planning to do there.

Anyway for lots of great info on European trains and passes and such I alwayws spotlight these IMO fantastic sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com. None of your trains IME must be booked in advance as you can easily make Spanish and Italian mandated seat reservations as you go along. The only train I would book in advance is the Paris to Madrid overnight train - or Paris to Spain day trains as these book up and you may have problems doing them once there.

PalenQ

On several train routes you can take overnight trains - like Paris to Madrid and Rome to Vienna/Germany - with a railpass you'd pay for the sleeping accommodation as the pass only pays for the actual train fare. You can book private doubles or places in 4- or 6-person couchettes.

Olgavictoria

I recommend that you do your own search through several travel sites and decide where you want to go and for how long. Some people in this forum have huge "travel ego" (if that exists LOL) Some give you their absolute opinion instead of information where you can base your own one.
Every person/traveler is different, everyone have different expectations from a trip; for example unlike "Mimar" I found Salzburg a lot more interesting than Innsbruck, but still think it is worth at least a stop.
Some people like to settle in one place, others (like me) love the roads and little stops in different places.
Seville and Valencia are both absolutely worth a visit, search online what you can see in each place and decide for yourself if you want to and for how long. I have found the experts in this forum very helpful for specific questions, but to throw them your itinerary to "grade" will be very confusing.
(ay ay ay ay!!! how did I dare????)LOL

nytraveler

I agree on too many places and not enough time in some major ones.

Also - if you only like cities - that's fine. But for us - we do a combo of larger cities and smaller towns and countryside for our longer trips. But then we also drive - which gives you much more freedom to change plans as you go (for the day - not multiple days) and stop to see whatever fascinates you.

suze

For me, for a trip of 3 months duration, I'd want to build in at least a few times where I stopped traveling, and stayed in one place for a full week.

And a couple places the itinerary just seems confused. Like Switzerland, staying in Geneva two different times, seeing 6 different places in 9 days?

annhig

obviously you're going to get as many opinions as there are replies, and it'll be up to you to decide what approach you prefer - only you know whether you are a "roads and little stops" person or a "stay put for longer in a base" person.

personally, I would try to mix it up - with at least one long stay in a city - say Paris, - and another longer stay in somewhere a lot smaller so that I could enjoy a small town/countryside experience.

what I would NOT do is the type of itinerary you have posted, not because it's inherently bad, but because IME there is only so much art and culture that the brain can absorb. For example, you are planning to visit Milan, Venice and Rome within a few days of each other; unless you are an art expert I can guarantee that by the time you get to Rome, you'll have forgotten what you saw in Milan and Venice - was it Tiepolo or Tinteretto who painted that picture I liked? where IS the Accademia? who was Raphael, again?

What could make the city stays that much more memorable would be to intersperse them with activities or quieter times - biking, walking, whatever - which could be just as enjoyable and give you a different perspective on the countries that you are planning to visit.

it would be a shame to go home so tired that you need another holiday!

michele_d

I agree with mixing big cities with smaller villages/towns. On our three month trip we did that and it really made a big difference. You need little 'vacations' from your big vacation every few weeks or it can be tiring. Pick a small town and settle in for a week. The Dordogne, Berner Oberland and Tuscany are great for this.

Sassafrass

Some suggestions:

London:
Don't split time in London. Put all London time together at the end. Altogether, cut to 4 days for London and 3-4 for time in the countryside. Use all those saved days for Paris or other places.

Paris:
Go straight to Paris on arrival.
Not enough time in Paris for all you planned day trips.
Add 2-3 more days to Paris and include Versailles. Skip Tours.

Spain:
Great quick and easy day trips (by train or bus) from Madrid are Toledo (Don't miss the Toledo cathedral) and Segovia.
Add at least 1-2 days to Seville. Visit Cordoba from Seville.
Add Granada and visit the Alhambra - a don't miss it sight!

Frankfurt:
Skip Frankfurt and add those days to Paris and Spain and Italy.

Italy:
Milan:
Skip altogether or cut to one day and add time to the Amalfi Coast or some Tuscany hill towns.

Any interest in the Art of Florence? Could do it as a day trip from Rome. Could also do it as a stop on the way from Venice to Rome.

For a break from cites, you could also do a couple of days in the Tuscany countryside.

Amalfi Coast:
Too far for good day trip from Rome. Allow 3-5 days for the AC - actually a nice place to spend a week.

Personally would choose Amsterdam over Brussels.

Shraddha

Thank you all for your responses! We plan to leave for Europe in August so will be transforming this itinerary ASAP !!

We are also doing 2 months of South America after Europe

I am convinced about several things:
- Mix up cities and countryside
- Reduce time in some cities in favour of others
- Include longer stays in atleast in a few parts of the itinerary;
- Need to re-look at completely relying on a Eurorail pass for all train travel as this may not cover the country

I don't think driving around will much of an option except in the stated places as we don't have the budget for it.

Will post a more updated itinerary with more specific questions as suggested

Thanks again!

Mimar

If you are going in August, you'll finish this trip in November, when northern Europe has fewer daylight hours and worse weather. I'd be inclined to do the reverse of your itinerary, see northern Europe first, southern Europe later. However, some places like the Amalfi coast close down after the high season. And cities are good in all weather, lots of indoor sights.

PalenQ

Mimar makes a salient point - reverse your order and move south as the weather gets cold dark and dank up north.

I would not say however that the Amalfi Coast closes down after August - I was there one October and it was very pleasant - still quite a few tourists and rather warm. Actually I would prefer it then over hectic summer.

annhig

well said Shraddha - you've got the makings of a great trip. good luck sorting out your itinerary.

please come back and tell us how it worked out - few of us have the opportunity to travel for such a long period and we'd love to hear about yours.

BigRuss

First, where are you from? A multimonth whirlwind will be exhausting no matter what so if you're flying from the US (doubtful - can't get 3 months off unless you're teachers), which has easy access to Europe, then a less-is-more approach is good. If you're coming from some other place such as S. America, South Africa, Australia/NZ, India or East Asia, then I understand the three-month approach, but it will be a slog by the end.

Agree with "Skip Tours" - charmless and congested.

Is Frankfurt on your list because it's a sizable city? Never see any Germany fans touting it. Time in Prague is short, Germany fans may say the same about Berlin.

Do NOT get a car in one country and return it in another - the drop charge will be exorbitant.

If you actually have some limits on your budget, less time in Switzerland would be good - it's the most expensive country you'll visit. Don't understand two trips to Geneva either.

The Loire Valley could take multiple nights on its own.

Can't you fly open jaw, or do you have to backtrack to London? Not understanding how the backtracking will be less expensive . . .

michele_d

Agree with the north to south approach. This is what we did and ended in Rome on Nov 4th. Had beautiful weather in Italy for the month of October.

PalenQ

ttt

PalenQ

- Need to re-look at completely relying on a Eurorail pass for all train travel as this may not cover the country>

what country - except for the UK a Global Eurailpass covers every country in Europe and the vast majority of trains in any of the participating countries. A flexipass makes sense to use it for the longer trips between bases.