5 months in Europe
 

One way ticket to London...now what? If you had this amount of time...what would be your route and your must sees.....also include how you would travel-rail, flight, car...etc.. I am a over forty female flying solo. Budget accommodation ideas would be great too!

Well I couldn't do it - since as an American I can only stay in Schengen 90 days and don;t know where I would spend the other two months. Also - I can't get the time off, not could the DH.

If I could get that much time off - and could somehow manage the Schengen thing we would probably do apartments for a couple of weeks at a time in favorite cities. In between do train or take road trips covering countryside and smaller towns.

If you're going soon, I think you should start south and move north as the weather heats up.

I think first you have to decide where you want to go and then you can choose means of transportation depending on your itinerary.

Make sure you have the whole Schengen country stays figured out. No more than 90 days in Schengen countries for your entire trip.

We spent three months on our last trip: England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. Had a lease car for two months. Really liked it.

Rented apts for one weeks stays in many locations. REALLY enjoyed that. Have picnics and do most of your own cooking to save money.

You will need to have longer stays in places to keep your sanity. Picking up and moving every few days will get old real quick.

I'm American...so I need to consider the Schengen Agreement as well...I am leaving on July 11th...so pretty soon. I know I would like to go to England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Czech Rep, Netherlands, and Ireland. Others I would like to visit...but may be too much-Spain, Greece, Turkey, Isreal, and Egypt. I do have some friends to visit in Ireland...and they prefer me to come in September if possible...but other than that..I'm open to where the wind blows.

Wow what a dream :-) Id fly by the seat of my pants, find out of the way places, 'live' in cities and towns for longer than the usual 'Its Tuesday so this must be London' tour itinerary.... I'd use trains between big cities but hire cars to see the back roads and the small places. Enjoy!

For starters you can only be a total of 90 days in the majority of your list. So you'd need to spend a lot of time in the UK/Ireland/Middle East. Start from that given and use it to design your itinerary

Janisj...can you come in and out of Schengen zone? Ex..July in England...August in France and Italy, September in Ireland, October in Netherlands, Germany, Czech Rep, November in Hungary, Austria and Switzerland.....

yes - you can enter/exit Schengen. But the total days spent inside Schengen must be no more than 90. The clock doesn't reset when you exit the zone.

You could always apply for an extended holiday Visa...I'm not sure if they exist, but it's worth a shot..!

Ok...thanks so much for your information. Going up to my last post of a general route...Does that plan look doable? What about the weather in those countries during those months? What is the best way to travel? I am guessing mostly rail. I'll check into an extended holiday visa and see if it's an option.

"<i>You could always apply for an extended holiday Visa...I'm not sure if they exist, </i>" . . . the short answer is . . . they don't.

You need no visa for up to 90 days. For longer you'd need to apply for an extended stay visa from one of the countries. They don't give those out for vacationing.

"<i>Going up to my last post of a general route...Does that plan look doable?</i>"

I don't see a plan really - it is a list of 15 countries. Each of those have several/many major cities, scenic regions, tourist areas, so what specific places (or types of places) interest you?

90 days in Schengen every 180 days.

There are a couple of maps on this link so. You can arrange your schedule to spend two of your months non-Schengen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

Are you sure you'll be granted entry to the U.K. without documentation (return or onward ticket) evidencing your intent to leave the country within 6 months?

And evidence of sufficient finance?

Be careful. UK, though not part of Schengen, often police people's stay in Schengen, and if they exceed 90-in-180 days allowed, they are refused entry into UK. Their rationale seems to be, if they flout one set of immigration rules, they can't be trusted not to do the same in UK.

You may have trouble entering the UK with a one way ticket and no set plans to leave. We are really clamping down on immigration here and it would look like you could be planning to stay indefinitely. Be sure that you have the address and details of your hotel and a plan of when you are going to leave. It old be best to plan that part and be able to advise how you are leaving...

How can I thank you all enough for your input? I didn't buy a return ticket because I wasn't sure where I would end up...but I definitely plan on leaving at the end of November/early December....So I guess I can't just "play it by ear" as much as I would like. So here is what I have planned...but not sure if or how it would work and would love to see what ya'll think:

July 11-31 UK-London, 3 days: London, Bath, Cotswolds, York,
Edinburgh,Stratford, Warwick, Blenheim,North Wales, Wells/Glastonbury/Avebury

Aug 1-31-France-Paris, Versailes, Normandy, Lorire
Spain-Madrid, Barcelona
Italy-Milan, Venice, Florence, Cirque Terre,Siena, Sorrento, Rome, Tuscany

September1-30-Ireland

October 1-31-Netherlands-Amsterdam
Germany-Munich, Black Forest, Bavaria, Berlin


November 1-

Sorry didn't mean to send: Continued:

Add to October 1-31-Czech Rep-Praque
Hungary-Budapest
November 1-28-Austria-Innsbruck, Salzberg, Vienna
Switzerland, Lucerne, Bern, Interlaken

That won't work. You are only spending 50 days out of Schengen and 121 in Schengen. You can only stay in Schengen 90 days in a six month period. Scroll down on the link I gave to the second map. You have to pick non-Schengen countries for 81 days of your stay (your total stay seems to be 171 days). 90 days Schengen, 81 days out of Schengen.

I would switch France/Italy from August (too hot) with the Oct. itinerary (Germany too expensive for Octoberfest if you are on a budget).