PalenQ

Florence makes a great base for day trips to some of the legendary Tuscan/Umbrian hill towns - buses scoot several times an hour at times to Siena and cost just a few euros - taking you right up to near the top of the hill, unlike trains which deposit you in the valley at the bottom.

san Gimignano is also an easy bus trip - Assisi and Perugia are easy trips by train.

azhawk08

great info.

Just booked my flight- I fly into Paris, and out of Madrid 52 days later. Looking into eurail passes now. any tips? I'm considering the global pass that allows me to travel 15 (non-consecutive) days over the course of 2 months, and then just purchasing outright the train tickets for shorter journeys (lucerne to zurich, or paris to strasbourg, for example).

some people say that a eurail pass isn't worthwhile. I've read the advice above, but I'm still on-the-fence. from what I've read in guidebooks and on these forums, a eurail pass seems worthwhile... especially because I want flexibility in my itinerary, with the ability to leave sooner/stay longer in a city if I feel like it. thoughts?

jujubean

I would have Siena as my Tuscan base. We stayed in Siena for less than we could stay in Florence and it was a quick trip in to the Florence. take the day from Salzburg - since you're already seeing Vienna (I loved Salzburg, but here it seems just crammed in) and add that day to Tuscany. Call Tours by Roberto for a great Tuscan day tour - think excellent Chianti wines. we used his business and loved it. You may be able to join a tour for comparatively cheap. I found him to be of good value for your money.

Also, reconsider Hallstatt. I was just there in December. While it's a beautiful location, it just doesn't seem to fit with your theme here. I recommend that you eliminate Hallstatt and add another day to Venice or somewhere else. I see that you're leaving from chicago, so if you've ever been to Rocky Mountain NP and seen some of the mountain passes there, you've seen the beauty that you would see in Hallstatt - in my opinion. I am envious - how decadent to be able to take such a trip!

azhawk08

I am very fortunate to be able to do this trip. I've been saving up for quite some time now, and I've been able to find some great student/youth rates for flights, and of course the eurail pass (if I end up getting one).

jujubean, I really appreciate your advice. this is exactly what I'm looking for- it's hard to know what to eliminate because it all looks so beautiful, and I'm one of those people who just wants to see everything I can.

Now that I've got my trip dates set, I know a little bit more about my time restrictions. Should I add days to the cities that are already on my 37-day itinerary?

Alternatively, I'm considering adding some of the following: Prague, Bavaria (Munich base), Bruges, Amsterdam/Haarlem, Seville/Granada. My biggest priority for this trip is seeing a wide variety of cultures, landscapes, and having a wide range of experiences (culinary and otherwise). I'm not big into museums, but I do like touring landmarks.

jujubean

I'm glad you're willing to ditch Hallstatt. Since I haven't been to Spain, I can't speak to it with authority. But I cannot imagine being in Spain and not seeing Alhambra.

My family was just in Bavaria in December and we loved it, especially Munich, but I've heard Southern Bavaria is overrun in the summer - perhaps Prague would be the better option here since it may be less crowded - and less expensive - or think of Prague as a split stop to Vienna. Also, what I appreciated about Bavaria was its natural beauty. You'll get plenty of countryside natural beauty with CT, Provence, Lucerne and of course Tuscany. Maybe save Bavaria for next time. If you decide to go to Prague at the beginning or end of your Vienna stay, then you can shoot straight down to Venice easily. You may be tempted to save time by taking an overnight train. If you do, that's fine - but you'll miss some amazing scenery.

be prepared and shop well for a place to stay, Venice will consume your budget in a blink. But I do agree with the other posters - stay in Venice, not on the mainland for at least 2 nights if budget allows. You really need to go to bed late there and rise with the church bells, there is just nothing like watching - and hearing - Venice wake up in the morning. Conserve cash by doing the usual - shopping for food at grocery stores and limit eating in restaurants. As you leave Venice, you might consider a day stop in Ravenna to see the Mosaics, then on to Tuscany.

Not to beat a dead horse, but seriously consider Siena as Tuscan home base - it is a university town and given your age, there's much to do. I'm sure that everyone has their favorite Tuscan town, a friend of mine lives part time in Lucca, so you can't go wrong no matter where you stay. And another hint for Florence, and again Tours by Roberto - he hooked us up with an expat American named Tiffany who is married to a Florentine. She got us right into both the Uffizi and Academia with out any wait at all. Also, since my husband is light on patience with galleries, she chose to show us 2 specific things; 1. the artistic development of Mary through the centuries and 2. the history of Florence through art. It killed me to pass by all of the other masterpieces, but it did make it small enough to digest. Sometimes it can just be so overwhelming.

if i think of anything else I'll let you know.

thursdaysd

Please, please go to Granada! And do the evening visit to the Alhambra - pure magic.

I'm sorry, but Prague will be impossibly crowded in the summer - likely worse than Bavaria. Try Budapest instead - grittier, but in my view better for it. For my pix of Budapest see: http://kwilhelm.smugmug.com/Travel/Europe-2007

I sort of agree with dropping Hallstat - very pretty, but very touristy. You might consider Zell-am-See instead - for pix see http://kwilhelm.smugmug.com/Travel/Europe-2006 - last gallery.

azhawk08

Thanks everyone!

As far as Sevilla and Grenada- I don't think they'll work on this trip. I'd like to spend my last few days in Madrid, and the days immediately prior to that are La Merce Festival in Barcelona. It won't make sense for me to go to Sevilla and Grenada before Barcelona, so I think I'll have to skip them.

I'll hopefully be hitting Bavaria and Prague at the very end of August, so maybe that'll help as the summer is winding down. My family is Czech, so going to Prague would be really great and Budapest won't be able to replace the sentimental value behind going there- but I do appreciate the suggestion!

I've been doing a lot of research and asking around, and it sounds like I should spend more time in northwest Europe than I'd be planning. with that in mind, I've changed my itinerary around a little bit, added some new places, and taken a few out. I think this itinerary is "do-able" but I'd love more feedback:

Paris: 4 days (including day trip to Versailles)
Bruges: 3 days
Amsterdam: 4 days (possible day trip to Haarlem)
Bacharach: 2 days (Rhine cruise up to Rheinfels Castle and back on second day)
Rothenburg: 2 days
Munich: 4 days (via Romantic Rd bus from Rothenburg. including day trip to Neuschwanstein)
Prague: 4 days (via night train from Munich)
Vienna: 3 days (via night train from Vienna)
Salzburg: 2 days
Venice: 4 days
Tuscany: 5 days (probably with Siena as a base, with day trip(s) to Florence)
Cinque Terre: 3 days (Vernazza as likely base)
Provence: 3 days (Arles? I need to learn more about the options)
Barcelona: 4 days (will be there for La Merce festival)
Madrid: 4 days

Is this feasible? I tried to add extra time to cities that would take a long day of travel to reach (Venice and Barcelona, for example). At this point, I've cut out Switzerland because it would've taken quite a bit of travel time to get there and back from any other point on my trip.

With this itinerary, it seems that the Eurail global pass for 15 non-consecutive days is the way to go- especially since I can get the youth pass. Any other opinions on this?

Some people have advised me not to plan my itinerary out this way, but since I'm traveling in busy months it seems like it'd be a good idea to have hostels/B&Bs arranged before I go. With that said, does anyone have any accommodations they recommend in the above cities?

Mimar

Sounds like a good trip. Still a lot of stops, but this is better.

As for accommodations, does your $5000 budget include airfare and the railpass? Be sure to include the expense of seat reservations on the faster trains.

Maybe start a new thread giving us your per night budget in order to get specific recommendations.

azhawk08

I agree! I was hesitant to start a new thread because I've grown so attached to you all in this one.

but- good advice. and the budget has gone up- I got my tax return and an early graduation gift, so that helps!

sweetsouthernbelle

Not sure if you're interested in hiking, but if you are, I'd highly recommend a little small town in the southern French Alps called Barcelonnette. It's about 40 miles (if I remember correctly) from Italy. It's a small town, so don't expect Paris, but for hiking, it's phenomenal! It's also not very far from Aix, if you want to look into that. When I went, we got there via an SNCF train from Paris to Gap, then car from Gap to Barcelonnette. Check out the ski lodge called Jean-Chaix. It's a really nice place that offers meals during your stay included in the price (and good ones!) and they are super friendly. Downside is that it's hostel-style (i.e. you share a bathroom with others on your floor), but if you're there when it's not as busy, you're like us, the only ones on that floor. http://www.premiumwanadoo.com/centre.chaix/ Side note, this town is also one place where the Mountain Guides (who have to know all the trails in France in order to graduate) do a lot of practicing and such. It's beautiful!!! There are a few small (non-rowdy) bars and restaurants in the town square, where pretty much the entire town congregates for evening to socialize. It's a very neat experience. There's also lots of cycling there (and cycling tourism).

PalenQ

Be sure to include the expense of seat reservations on the faster trains.>

Just 4 trains in the recently revised itinerary would require any seat reservation fees - those in Italy, France and Spain - so about 35 euros add onto the cost of a pass - not a whole lot on a pass that would cost hundreds of bucks and still IMO be a bargain for such a wide-ranging trip - and except on the few trains where seat reservations are required then the beauty of a pass IMO is that you can just hop on any of the zillions of trains in those other countries and the pass is also first class if over 25 - a big big perk IMO for the average traveler with luggage in tow.