12 night itinerary for college students; advice needed!
 

Hi everyone,

My friend and I (both college students) are planning on doing a 12 night trip to Europe in May, and we wanted some advice.

We want to do 3 cities max, and are wondering which ones we should do. The cities we are considering are Rome, Venice, Barcelona, and Prague. Which combination of cities would you recommend?

We love good food, would like nightlife and enjoy walking around (architecture and culture come to mind as well). Not huge museum or art people.

All help is appreciated. Thanks!

How do you plan to get from city to city? That alone will determine which cities you best fit.

Other questions: what is your budget? Where are you flying in from?


The below itinerary assumes flying in an out of different cities and travel by rail:

Day 1: Arrive Prague
Night 1
Day 2: Prague. Prague has a great nightlife.
Night 2
Day 3: Prague
Night 3
Day 4: Prague and perhaps a day trip somewhere
Night 4
Day 5: Morning train from Prague to Venice (aprox 13 hours travel) and arrive in Venice in the late evening
Night 5
Day 6: Venice
Night 6: Venice
Day 7: Venice
Night 7
Day 8: Train from Venice to Rome
Spend remaining days in Rome and fly home from Rome


Now, if you wanted to fly, I'd do Prague, Rome and Barcelona.

I have been to all of the places you mentioned and hands down Rome and Barcelona were my favorite. Everyone is different, but here's what I have to say about each.

I think Rome is a must see for anyone's first or only trip to Europe. Beautiful city and some of the best history in Europe.

Venice is beautiful too but very touristy and not great nightlife.

Barcelona is not as old as Rome, but has some amazing sights as well and has the best culture in my opinion. The people are fun and friendly and the nightlife is great.

Prague is pretty, but doesn't compare to Rome in beauty. The nightlife is good, but I think it could be saved for another trip.

If you really want good nightlife and fun things to explore I would recommend Budapest or Amsterdam.

We plan on and are okay with flying and it's interesting that you bring up Amsterdam, so I guess that's Rome and Barcelona for sure, but Prague vs Amsterdam is hard.

Rome, Venice, Barcelona, and Prague.>

Yes way too much for 12 days- concentrate on say Rome and Venice and perhaps Paris - an overnight train ride from Venice.

Yes Amsterdam is nightlife central in Europe and a lovely lovely city too.

In any case fly into one city like Rome and out of another like Prague or Paris.

Trains are great - check out www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com for lots of great rail info and itineraries.

And I think Venice can be left for a different trip.

Get a copy of Let's Go Europe- the best IMO guide for young Americans traveling - written by folks your age and superb coverage of cheap accommodations and nightlife.

http://www.letsgo.com/product/lets-go-europe-2016/

Okay thanks for all the help. Barcelona and Rome are must go's on our list but we want a third city, so if you had never been to Prague or Amsterdam which one would you go to first? Again thanks for all the help everyone, I really appreciate it.

If proximity of the cities doesn't matter, I would choose Amsterdam or Paris to go along with Rome and Barcelona (love them both). Although Prague is nice, I think, Paris and especially Amsterdam, have more of what you are looking for. I preferred both cities over Prague. Venice is someplace to see once, but it has become so touristy. There seem to be very few locals left on the island and little if any night life for you young'ns! I am afraid you might be disappointed with Venice. Thinking back a few years to my twenties, I would say Amsterdam. My husband and I got back from Amsterdam in May and talked about how young and vibrant the population seemed to be and how we enjoyed even more than we expected. Happy travels!

Everyone has their own favorites - I would drop Barcelona as an outlier. And for so few days (are you really on the ground 12 nights or is it 10.5 days?) I would probably stick with 2 places, which for me would be Rome and Prague.

I would

Check airfare options for where you will be flying from - a very large part of your budget

Check the Let's Go Student Guides to see which cities really speak to you and what sights you want to see there

so if you had never been to Prague or Amsterdam which one would you go to first?>

Amsterdam for sure - so many neat youth hotels and lots of nightlife and if you smoke cannabis sold over-the-counter in hundreds of coffeeshops- young folk from all over Europe flock here for various reasons - also one of the most gorgeous cities in the world - architectually. And nearly everyone speaks English.

Your cities are far apart so check cheap flights- www.whichbudget.com and www.skyscanner.net are two sites to search.

Wow seems like a resounding yes for Amsterdam, so I guess Amsterdam it will be in that case. Thanks for all the help everyone. This plan isn't final yet, so if someone has any suggestions for 12 nights in Amsterdam, Rome and Barcelona, or a different city to check out please do comment!

12 nights is really 9 days figuring travel in between and for that that is enough just for the three cities. I'd put more days into Rome and less in Barcelona.

consider doing day trips from Amsterdam or Rome to see smaller towns and a more real Italy or Holland.