30 day Multi-Country Europe Trip in June- PLEASE HELP WITH ITINERARY!!!
I am planning a 30-40 day trip around Europe next summer (dates around second week of June to second week of July). The countries/cities I want to visit include:
London Barcelona Paris Brussels Croatia Prague Amsterdam Berlin Budapest Rome Zadar, Vis Island, Croatia Ljubljana, Slovenia The plan is: London to Paris; Paris to Barcelona; Barcelona to Rome; Rome to Croatia; Croatia to Slovenia; Slovenia to Budapest; Budapest to Prague; Prague to Berlin; Berlin to Amsterdam; then home. We are planning on starting in London, were we have a free place to stay, and do day trips around England, maybe into Ireland if we have time. Then from there go to Paris, Barcelona, and Rome (with any side trips if we have time, also). In Amsterdam, we will make that home base and do a day trip to Brussels. I know I have too many places in too short a time to visit them all, unfortunately. I do not know which to cut out, because I want to visit them all. I could really use some advise on places to visit in each place (especially the not as well known places that are amazing). I would like to narrow the list down to closer to 6 or 7 instead of 10, because I want to stay for longer than 3 days in Paris, London, and Barcelona. The plan is to travel by plane if it is in a similar price range to train, or train if it is way cheaper. Going to be staying in dorm room hostels and maybe couch surfing, if we find trusting places. We are 21/22 and students, so planning on discounts there, also. Also, what beaches would you suggest? I plan on going to the beach in Barcelona, but where else? Also, know of a good place to kayak? If the order of countries is better off in another order, feel free to move them around. I just need advice, so anything is greatly appreciated!! THANKS :D |
Some of the places I have done preliminary researching on are below. If I spent 5 days in London, Paris, Barcelona, Budapest, 4 days in Rome and Amsterdam, and 4 days in Croatia/Slovenia? Then do either Prague or Berlin for 4 days? Does that sound reasonable or too rushed?
Belgium Brussels: Cantillon Brewery (7) http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_2 Mini Europe- if still open (14,30) Peeing Statues- three, girl, boy, dog Royal Palace (July) Croatia Dubrovnik: Dubrovnik- beach Plitvice Lakes National Park Vis Island: Blue Cave (Bisevo) Kayaking- http://www.alternatura.hr/offer/sea-kayaking/ Zagreb: Zadar: Ferries for Islands (Bac): http://www.bracinfo.com/brac-ferries/ http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel...pping-croatia/ Czech Republic Prague: France Paris: Eiffel Tower (5-15) http://www.toureiffel.paris/en/prepa...onditions.html Arc de Triomphe (5) http://www.arcdetriompheparis.com/visitor-information The Louvre (Fri 6-9:45, free; 12) http://www.louvre.fr/en/hours-admission/admission#tabs Notre Dame Versailles Champs de Elysees Catacombs of Paris (8) http://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/vi...seum-admission Musee d’Orsay (8,50) http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/visit/a...sion-fees.html Shakespeare and Company Bookstore England London: Big Ben Tower of London (17,60) -includes much more! http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/...ondonadmission Buckingham Palace London Eye (20,95) http://www.londoneye.com/TicketsAndP...s/Default.aspx Natural History Museum (0) Germany Berlin: Berlin Zoo and Aquarium (15 both, 10 zoo) http://www.zoo-berlin.de/zoo/visit-t...ssion.html?L=1 Berlin Wall Hungary Budapest: Szechenyi Baths (40 min massage 5450 ft, $22) http://www.szechenyibath.hu/prices Budapest Zoo (1900 HUF, $8) http://www.zoobudapest.com/en/plan-y...it/buy-tickets Thermal Springs Cave Church Wine Labyrinth House of Terror Central Market Margaret Island Opera House (~10) http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel...st-what-to-do/ Miscolc: Italy Capri: Blue Grotto Baunei: Cala Goloritze- beach Cala Mariolu- beach Rome: Colosseum (12) http://archeoroma.beniculturali.it/e...ite/colosseum# Trevi Fountain Sistine Chapel Catacombs (8) http://www.catacombe.roma.it/en/info_biglietti.php Pantheon Netherlands Amsterdam: Reg Light District Anne Frank Museum (9,50) http://www.annefrank.org/en/Museum/P...-ticket-sales/ Sex Museum (4) http://www.sexmuseumamsterdam.nl/index2.html Slovenia Waterfall Savica (2,50) http://www.slovenia.info/?vintgar=1734 Skocjan Cave (12) http://www.park-skocjanske-jame.si/e...t_tours.shtmlc Triple Bridge Postojna Cave (18) http://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/visitors/individuals/ Ljubljana: Dragon Bridge Lake Bohinj Bled Castle (7) http://www.blejski-grad.si/en/price-list Rappelling in Bled, Slovenia Spain Barcelona: Guell Park (0) Las Ramblas (0) Basilica of the Sagrada Familia (18,50) http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng...TarifesInd.php Casa Batllo (18,50) http://www.casabatllo.es/en/visit/prices/ Picasso Museum (7,50) http://www.bcn.cat/museupicasso/en/museum/times.html Beaches! Ciutadella Park Catalonia History Museum (0 Sun and Mon; 3,50) http://www.en.mhcat.cat/content/view/full/83 Madrid: |
You say 30-40 days. Which is it? It makes a big difference.
You have a list of twelve places/countries in your first post, then you add a few more in the next. That's a lot. They are of course not all equal in size. But it still looks like a bit too much. Have you accounted for travel time between places? At least half a day will dissapear each time you move, unless you take night trains. And of course some distances are too short for night trains. Flying will be faster for some distances, but you have to add the waiting time at the airport, too. Do you actually want to experience the places on your list or only do a quick 1-2 day highlight visit? Most people here will tell you to slow down. I think the trip sounds like a rushed whirlwind, but maybe you like that sort of thing. I'm feeling exhausted just looking at the list of places. |
30-40 days sounds like a lot - until you actually start to plan things out. As you already noted, you just have too much. You have listed more than 10 'places' and some of your places are entire countries (eg Croatia) which are not as tiny as they may look on a map!
Your biggies, and the ones you mention more than once are London, Paris, Barcelona and Spain. Seriously, you need a minimum of 4 days/nights for each. Because 4 nights really only gets you a little more than 3 days for actual sightseeing/being there. Travel time between places REALLY eats up a lot of time. There are various cheapo airlines to fly between places in Europe, but Easyjet has the most destinations. So I usually try to see where I can combine via Easyjet to determine the order I do things in. And you really just have to spend some time on the computer comparing and contrasting flights vs trains for price and time savings. The benefit to trains is they go city center to city center whereas the airports are always a ways out and you need to factor in the transportation into the city center - which can often be MORE than the flight itself - in both time and money. Not to mention that flight times are the time in the air, not counting getting to the airport two hours ahead. One possible itinerary would be London - fly easyjet to Barcelona - fly easyjet to Paris - train to Brussels - train to Amsterdam - fly easyjet to Rome. I would allow a minimum of three weeks for that portion, assuming you don't want to do any day trips. In your second list you have all kinds of places listed that are no where near the cities you originally mentioned. You cannot do Madrid as a side trip from Barcelona, or Capri as a side trip from Rome. If you want to see other places in Spain/Italy/France/England then you can - but then you'd need to forget about Croatia/Slovenia/etc. You could easily do the entire 30-40 days in England, Spain, Italy, France and Netherlands - and in fact that's what I would suggest. It will save you a LOT of money and time over going all the way to Eastern Europe. Save that for another trip. If you really, really want to go to Croatia, etc then you will need to limit what you see in those first countries to just the one major city each. And even then I don't think you can fit in all of what you list - those areas are bigger than you think, transportation options a little more difficult. |
Several of the night trains have been removed with more to come it seems.
For budget airline flights look at www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.com With this much travel you need to consider the use of a multi-country rail pass, also. |
Isabel, the list of places I meant to take off some of those. The only side trips I am planning on is one or two at most from London, and maybe see somewhere in Belgium from Amsterdam, and Croatia and Slovenia will be covered by overnight trips (possibly, planning that part with a friend who went there last summer).
I only plan on going to Barcelona in Spain, Paris in France, and Rome in Italy. Is this a little more reasonable: Day 1: Fly into London Day 2: London Day 3: London Day 4: London or day trip Day 5: Travel to Paris Day 6: Paris Day 7: Paris Day 8: Paris Day 9: Travel to Barcelona Day 10: Barcelona Day 11: Barcelona Day 12: Barcelona Day 13: Barcelona Day 14: Travel to Rome Day 15: Rome Day 16: Rome Day 17: Rome Day 18: Travel to Croatia Day 19: Croatia Day 20: Travel to Slovenia Day 21: Slovenia Day 22: Travel to Budapest Day 23: Budapest Day 24: Budapest Day 25: Budapest Day 26: Travel to Berlin Day 27: Berlin Day 28: Berlin Day 29: Berlin Day 30: Travel to Amsterdam Day 31: Amsterdam Day 32: Amsterdam Day 33: Amsterdam Day 34: Go home I might take out Berlin and extend Croatia/Slovenia, just do either Croatia or Slovenia (talking to my friend before decision) or extend Paris or Barcelona. Or does this still seem to rushed for people who have been to these places? Ignore the first comment where I put the list of places, didn't meant to put everything. |
>>The only side trips I am planning on is one or two at most from London<<
You haven't allowed enough time to see <i>London</i> let alone one or two day trip. If you take one day trip, then you will have 2 full days plus a few jet lagged hours on your arrival day. London is enormous. >>Day 18: Travel to Croatia Day 19: Croatia Day 20: Travel to Slovenia Day 21: Slovenia<< This part makes no sense at all. All that travel to net one day in Croatia and maybe 1.5 days in Slovenia. Why? |
I suggest you plan to use London, Paris, Barcelona and Rome as bases for a week each. Spend maybe 5 days in each of the cities and 2 days on trips outside. It's a clear itinerary, leaving several days for travel between and time to enjoy each of them. Count on returning to Europe, almost everyone does, for the rest. Do 4 well, instead of all at a run and likely remembering little of it.
|
I can't imagine a Pan-European Trip without Greece. I mean you can't say you've seen Europe if you haven't been in The Parthenon or in a Greek island, it doesn't make any sense. My advice is to drop Belgium and Slovenia and add Greece instead, much more interesting in every aspect.
I think an ideal Itinerary to see Europe is: 1) Barcelona 2) Paris 3) London 4) Amsterdam 5) Berlin 6) Prague 7) Vienna 8) Budapest 9) Dubrovnik 10) Rome 11) Athens 12) Istanbul Then Home Spend 3 days in each city and there are 36 days in total. |
I can't imagine a Pan-European Trip without Greece.
Well, I can and obviously the OP has also. besides, there isn't even a Scandinavian country included as well as Portugal and all those Baltic nations. I think the idea of basing oneself in one city for each of the weeks may work if you are content to do day trips. You are always going to get somebody who tells you about the "depth" thing as in, you aren't spending enough time in _______ or in _________. You've made a start and you can certainly try to see everything on your list. That's one good way to learn self-limitations. |
I think your revised schedule is doable, if you realize it will still be only a 'taste' of those cities and that some day you will return. Except for the Croatia/Slovenia part. I agree with the others, it makes no sense. Have you planed out how you will get there and get around? If you scratch Croatia/Slovenia (and I loved visiting there but it took me two trips of more than a week each and I didn't come close to even covering all the 'highlights') and add those 4 days to London, Paris and Rome you will have a pretty good "Intro to Europe" trip.
|
"Spend 3 days in each city and there are 36 days in total."
Next post Petros will reveal the secret of teleportation between each of those 12, thereby actually giving you 3 days in each place. |
Pretty ambitious, but you clearly want the big city Europe experience, so let's work from that. Apart from thinking that you won't have time for a day trip from London (check again after you list all the things you want to see in London and try and fit them into less that 3 days), your Croatia and Slovenia leg looks like the only logistical issue; 4 nights of "stay" with either very long days of travel (Rome - Dubrovnik, I presume, and Dubrovnik - Ljubljana) or 2 of the 4 nights spent overnight on a ferry and trains.
Day 1: Fly into London Day 2: London Day 3: London Day 4: London or day trip Day 5: Travel to Paris Day 6: Paris Day 7: Paris Day 8: Paris Day 9: Travel to Barcelona Day 10: Barcelona Day 11: Barcelona Day 12: Barcelona Day 13: Barcelona Day 14: Travel to Rome Day 15: Rome Day 16: Rome Day 17: Rome Day 18: Travel to Croatia Day 19: Croatia Day 20: Travel to Slovenia Day 21: Slovenia Day 22: Travel to Budapest Day 23: Budapest Day 24: Budapest Day 25: Budapest Day 26: Travel to Berlin Day 27: Berlin Day 28: Berlin Day 29: Berlin Day 30: Travel to Amsterdam Day 31: Amsterdam Day 32: Amsterdam Day 33: Amsterdam Day 34: Go home |
Revised again. I might take out one city and split the days between the others. I plan on flying to the different cities instead of taking a train, since it is half the time (unless the train is a lot cheaper, but in my initial price checking, it will be around the same price.) And we will be going back to London because we have a friend their who is letting us stay with her, so we want to see her before we leave.
As much as I want to see Croatia and Slovenia, I will probably just have to go back another time for those countries. June 10 Day 1: Fly into London 11 Day 2: London 12 Day 3: London 13 Day 4: London 14 Day 5: London 15 Day 6: Travel to Paris 16 Day 7: Paris 17 Day 8: Paris 18 Day 9: Paris 19 Day 10: Paris 20 Day 11: Travel to Barcelona 21 Day 12: Barcelona 22 Day 13: Barcelona 23 Day 14: Barcelona 24 Day 15: Barcelona 25 Day 16: Travel to Rome 26 Day 17: Rome 27 Day 18: Rome 28 Day 19: Rome 29 Day 20: Travel to Budapest 30 Day 21: Budapest 1 Day 22: Budapest 2 Day 23: Budapest 3 Day 24: Budapest 4 Day 25: Travel to Berlin 5 Day 26: Berlin 6 Day 27: Berlin 7 Day 28: Berlin 8 Day 29: Travel to Amsterdam 9 Day 30: Amsterdam 10 Day 31: Amsterdam 11 Day 32: Amsterdam 12 Day 33: Travel to London 13 Day 34: London July 14 Day 34: Go home Thank you all for your advise. If you know of any places you recommend in Barcelona, Paris, London, Amsterdam, or Berlin, I will gladly take suggestions. Beaches, museums, churches or other architecture, markets, food places, parks, zoos, bars, clubs, pubs, etc... |
BINGO. Routing is good and if anyone tells you 4 or 5 days in each city is not enough, ignore them. Of course it's not, and it also is..... It all depends on how long you want to stay in them.
|
You have plenty of time to think more about it.
Really consider carefully how much time you are giving each city and which ones have good day trips where you might want more time. They are not all equal in what they have to offer, but that also depends on what you want to see and do in each. I would certainly give more time to Rome and less to Barcelona and Budapest. As a matter of fact, early on, you mentioned day trips from Rome. I would cut a day or two off other places and add them Italy, but all depends on your personal interests. |
Go to Budapest a day later and give that day to Rome.
|
>> I plan on flying to the different cities instead of taking a train, since it is half the time<<
Not necessarily for a some of your transfers. City center to city center is often a lot faster than flying. You need to look at each specific city pair to see which is best. For example: London/Paris is MUCH faster/easier by train. Get on train at St Pancras, 2.2 hrs later you are Gare du Nord in the middle of Paris. Probably a little over 3 hour door-to-door depending on where you stay. Flying - you have an hour out to LHR, 90 minutes or more AT LHR, the flight to CDG, another hour from CDG to central Paris. Be sure to factor in getting to the airport and advance check in. It would be better to fly between a few of your city pairs, Like Barcelona > Rome for sure. |
First - fly open haws into your first city and out of yor last - in order to avoid wasting a full day returning to London.
Second- look at train times versus flight times (including getting from city center to and fro airports, time at check in and security - and od look at the requirements for discount airlines - they often allow only minute luggage and have very stringent check=in requirements - often at airports very far from the cities they serve. Frankly - for anything 6 hours or less by train air will most probably take longer. Third - start building a budget now - a realistic budget, incluidng local hostel costs, meals, in-city transit and sightseeing. My DD - then 19 - went for 5.5 weeks with 2 friends 2 years ago and spent about $8k (PLUS plane fare) living modestly - no shopping and only student cafe/pub nightlife (uber cheap wine and beer) |
nyt - which countries? That's $205/night - that's not a "modest" budget unless you're in Scandinavia!
|
All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:23 AM. |