appetence

Hi, I will be travelling solo before I start school in September so this is my last summer (in a long time) for me to have the time to travel. I haven't booked anything, so anything can be changed. I just tried to get an idea of train timings, museum hours, etc. I also tried to limit travel days but in some places I just didn't find that much to do (Belgium) without feeling overwhelmed by too many museums, especially since I will visit a lot toward the end of the trip and those are the ones I am most interested in. In the other cities I mostly just want to wander around, take photographs, admire the architecture, people-watch, eat local cuisine rather than spend all day in a museum. There are still a lot of museum visits in Benelux that I listed but aside from a few must-sees, the rest are if I am in the mood that day.

What I need help with:
1) Please critique the itinerary - anything you feel is too much, too inconvenient, poor planning please tell me.
2) I really need help budgeting this trip. So far I have accounted for $1300 flight, $230 Russian visa, $450 transportation (incl. flight from Amsterdam to Riga). Normally I can get by on $70/day, but I'm expecting expenses to go up in Russia due to all the attractions. I'm hoping to not go over $2000 (~70/day) because that's all I'd have after the previous 3 cuts are made. I will be staying in hostels, but I'm not sure how much they will cost.
3) I am worried about the train ride from Tallinn to Saint Petersburg but I can't find any other scheduling and if anything goes wrong (lost, train issues, transportation to hostel). For anyone who has taken this train before: How is the train ride? The border? The arrival?

July 19th
Day 1: Arrival in Luxembourg (W.20 @10:30 am)
- Bock, Le Chemin de la Corniche, Petrusse, etc. explore the city
Day 2: Luxembourg -> Brussels (R.21 @ 4:07-7:04 pm)
- Mudam
Day 3: Brussels (F.22)
- Grand Place, Atomium, Horta Museum
Day 4: Brussels -> Bruges (S.23 @10:16-11:29 am)
- explore Bruges
Day 5: Bruges (U.24)
- Flanders Fields Battlefield Day Tour
Day 6: Bruges -> Antwerp (M.25 @ 10:26-11:42 am)
- Grote Markt, Antwerp City Hall, Meir
Day 7: Antwerp (T.26)
- Rubens House, Middelheimpark
Day 8: Antwerp (W.27)
- ModeMuseum, Kloosterstraat (Ra, Labels Inc, Magazyn)
Day 9: Antwerp -> Amsterdam (R.28) (10:50-1:36 pm)
- Canal Cruise
Day 10: Amsterdam (F.29)
- Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum
Day 11: Amsterdam (S.30)
- Sex Museum
Day 12: Amsterdam (U.31)
- Jordaan 9 streets shopping

Day 13: Amsterdam -> Riga (M.01 @ 10:20-1:35 pm)
- Old Town
Day 14: Riga (T.02)
- Art Nouveau Museum
Day 15: Riga -> Tallinn (W.03 @ 10:00-2:25 pm)
- Tallinn Old Town
Day 16: Tallinn (R.04)
- Kadrioru Park
Day 17: Tallinn -> Saint Petersburg (F.05 @ 4:35 -11:17 pm)

Day 18: Saint Petersburg (S.06)
- city centre - Nevskiy prospekt, Palace Square, Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, etc. Summer Garden, Peter and Paul Fortress
Day 19: Saint Petersburg (U.07)
- Dostoevsky museum, Faberge Museum, Swan Lake Ballet at Hermitage Theatre
Day 20: Saint Petersburg (M.08)
- Peterhof
Day 21: Saint Petersburg (T.09)
- Catherine’s Palace & Pavlovsk Palace
Day 22: Saint Petersburg (W.10)
- Hermitage/the Gold Rooms
Day 23: Saint Petersburg -> Moscow (R.11 @ 9:35-1:35 pm)
Day 24: Moscow (F.12)
- State Historical Museum, Kremlin, Red Square, Kazan Cathedral, Lenin’s Tomb
Day 25: Moscow (S.13)
- Park of the Fallen Heroes, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Pushkin State Museum?
Day 26: Moscow (U.14)
- Kolomenskoye
Day 27: Moscow (M.15)
- Novodevichy Convent, Cemetery
Day 28: Depart Moscow (T.16 @ 9:30 AM)
August 16th

PalenQ

Very well done- excellent!

I might suggest adding a day or two to Amsterdam as it has a ton of neat museums besides the famous ones and has easy day trips by train to sweet regional towns like Haarlem or Leiden or Delft- Amsterdam is also a meeting place for youths from all over Europe - well largely because of the legalized marijuana sold over the counter in coffeeshops - but it has a lot of inexpensive youth hostels and youth hotels- the Sex Museum is in the heart of the Red-Light district which will open anyone's eyes upon first encounter.

Now for train info - check these informative sites- www.seat61.com (may have info on Tallinn to St Pete - bus may well be best; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Don't consider any kind of Eurailpass but do investigate the Benelux Railpass, valid on trains in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg- lets you hop on any train anytime (except Thalys trains that you do not need to take.

Again a pretty impressive itinerary and explicit things to see! Well done.

jan47ete

Q is always right on target but I wanted to add some things I had thought of since you were very clear on wanting advice.

Been to StP and Moscow for 10 days each in 2011. Going to StP and Tallinn on cruise in May and heading to Belgium in Sept 2017 and am very detail oriented so plans are in place and planning ongoing.

$1300 airfare: don't know where you are coming from to know if good or not and why Luxembourg and not Paris?

From my research on Antwerp, it seems like quite a few days there just at a cursory look but it may be you have a great deal of interest in the city.

Letter and number by each day--what does it mean?

Visit rome2rio.com as I got $118 air from Amsterdam to Riga.

The Russian visa fee is about $200 but a hassle and my perception is if someone woke up on the wrong side of bed how picky the processor wants to be. But going through an agency would be another $100 or so.

StP-Moscow--I didn't believe that there would be nothing to see between the cities but there is nothing to see. Consider the overnight train and that would save on one night's hotel since you are on a tight budget.

Day 27: convent is lovely and cemetery impressive.

Hermitage: crowds are AWFUL. I bought a 2 day pass. First day went early and had to deal with the crowds, 2nd day went at the end of the day and had the place to myself.

Weather: we went in Sept, weather was brisk, heavy jacket, scarves and gloves and loved it. For the length of time you will be gone, I'd plan for rainy day activities as well.

Enjoy.

kja

Should be a wonderful trip!

I must admit that I wanted a bit more time in Amsterdam, but aside from that lovely city, and charming Bruges, I haven't spent any time in Benelux and so will refrain from commenting.

I think your plans for St. Petersburg and Moscow make a lot of sense! My one comment is to encourage you to think about adding a bit of time to this part of your trip. My reasons are that (a) your plans are potentially do-able, but a bit ambitious in terms of timing, (b) once you pay for the visa and transportation to get to Russia, it might make sense to be sure to see everything there that you might want to see, (c) it will likely be substantially easier to return to Benelux than Russia. So, for example, you might want to add time to Moscow to visit Sergeyev Posad or time in St. Petersburg to visit the Russian Museum.... And I sincerely regret that I didn't leave myself time to stop in Novgorod between St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Hope that helps!

PalenQ

Called the most beautiful street in Antwerp Cogels Osylei is known for its many art-nouveau edifices - not far from Middleheim so can twin that wonderful art museum and contemporary outdoor statue garden with a look at this street (very close to Berchem train station).

https://www.google.com/search?q=Coge...HZQJBGoQsAQIGw

danon

Your time in Moscow seems tightly packed...it is a BIG city...I was surprised how long it took to get places even with metro.
lineup for Kremlin tickets can be long, as well for entrance to buildings inside the walls. Don't miss the famous GUM store on the Red Square.