dritchie10

Was just wondering what everybody thinks about this, any places I should stay longer? or cut shorter? any specific places i should visit? Also was wondering about Switzerland, and Jungrfau ? Also Cinque Terre, would it be easier to go there from Venice? and how would I go about that?



• LONDON
o Arrive July 1
o July 2nd
o July 3rd
o July 4th – depart London, arrive in Brussels (4 hours 13 mins)


• Brussels
o Arrive July 4th
o July 5th
o July 6th – depart Brussles, arrive in Amsterdam (2 hours 14 mins)


• Amsterdam
o Arrive July 6
o July 7th
o July 8th
o July 9th depart Amsterdam, arrive in Berlin ( 6 hours 10 mins)

• Berlin
o Arrive July 9 th
o July 10th
o July 11th
o JULY 12th depart Berlin, arrive in Prague ( 3 hours 34 mins)

• Prague
o Arrive July 12th
o July 13
o July 14
o July 15 depart Prague, arrive in Munich (3 hours 37 mins)


• Munich
o Arrive July 15th
o July 16
o July 17th , depart Munich, arrive in Jungfrau Swizz ( 4 hours 51 mins)

• Interlaken, Switzerland - Jungfrau
o Arrive July 17th
o July 18th
o July 19th depart Jungfrau, arrive in Venice (5 hours 26 mins)



• Venice
o Arrive July 19th
o July 20
o July 21st


• Cinque Terre



• Rome
o July 22
o July 23
o July 24th


THANK YOU ALL!

Woyzeck

Well, I think it's a little bit of a shame to have nearly 4 weeks in Europe and to use it as kind of a superficial flyover of European capital cities. In most of these cities, 2 or 3 nights is pretty paltry.

If this is your first and possibly last trip to Europe and you're trying to see as much as you can, I'd say go with it. You might have more fun if you cut a couple of the locations or tighten up the distances travelled and just hang out in a few places for a little bit longer (even just 4 or 5 days each). Consider why you have chosen these places and what you like to do for fun?

Also, I notice your transfer times are driving times. Are you renting a car? If you are actually taking a train, you'll find that some of your estimates are way off. Rail transportation between Prague and Munich, say, is rather inefficient. On the other hand, you'll find the train trip between London and Brussels to be quite a bit faster than 4 hours.

adrienne

How are you going from Berlin to Prague in 3.5 hours? You're not taking a train nor driving with that short time. The same for Prague to Munich.

It's too much of an itinerary. 23 days and 10 destinations plus travel time. That gives you 1.5 to 2 days per location when you factor in travel time. And travel time is not just the train/drive/fly time; you have to pack/unpack, check out and check in. If you take a train/bus you have to get to the station/depot on both ends.

<< Also Cinque Terre, would it be easier to go there from Venice? >>

As opposed to going to the CT from where else? Were you thinking of going to CT from Interlaken and not going to Venice? It's a long trip from Venice to CT - 6 to 7 hours by train. From Interlaken 8 to 9 hours by train.

sparkchaser

How is this backapcking? That you're carrying your clothes in a backpack?

I agree with the others -- your itinerary is too much. Unless you only want a "taste" of each place, in which case it's fine but you're not going to really see much.

hd6524

agree, you need to be a bit more 'linear' and also a lot more flexible i think. Sounds like you're going to waste a lot of your trips travelling rather than seeing and not only that if you are 'backpacking' you're going to waste a lot of your budget too!

millie2112

i disagree. if this is your first trip to Europe, and these are the cities that you want to see then this is a perfectly doable itinerary.
the only problem i see is Venice to Cinque Terre and then to Rome. I think it will be easier to go from Venice to Rome.
Maybe instead of Cinque Terre, you could catch a train from Rome to Naples and look at Sorrento/Amalfi Coast/Positano and then back up to Rome.
However,you really do not have enough time to do this.

Have a great trip - it will be tiring but fun.

kappa1

> i disagree. if this is your first trip to Europe, and these are the cities that you want to see then this is a perfectly doable itinerary.

Yes. Posters here are no backpackers and (much) older. Style of travelling differs. To have different points of view (maybe better adapted to your travel style), why don't you post on Thorntree - Lonely Planet forum? There seems a lot of backpackers there.

Although your itinerary looks exhausting (to me), I understand if you are young, energetic and wish to do a tasting tour of Europe. You might find one of the places particularly pleasing to you and might come back there for a longer stay in the futur.

sparkchaser

Thorn-tree definitely caters more to the backpacker crowd.

skatedancer

I don't care what kind of traveler you are, you are trying to fit in too much. You really are not giving enough thought to how you will spend your time in each place and how much the constant traveling will take out of you -- and the time it will take not only on the train but in getting to and from your accommodation, getting the lay of the land in each place, etc. You are leaving yourself no time for a bit of discovery and adventure in each place.

Part of the fun of backpacking is the meeting up with people and seeing what happens as you wander. Be advised, too, that hostels fill up pretty quickly. You can make reservations online. A great way to travel, too, is to couchsurf. My D did this twice, and not only were the hosts very friendly, they took her and her friend around the cities and ensured they had a local's perspective. (if you are traveling alone, I might not advise couchsurfing, just in case you end up somewhere sketchy -- but it seems the review system does seem to guard against this.)

At a minimum, I would cut out Brussels.

What age group are you in? If you are in your 20's, then I would strongly suggest you add more time to Berlin. My D, her friend, and so many others find it their favorite city. I think it is because of the energy and the vibe of the city.

skatedancer

If you do the math, you will see that you are taking up almost half your trip with train travel. As someone noted above, the duration of the train ride does not account for the entire time of travel, and you really should consider those days primarily travel.

Do you really want to spend almost half your trip coming and going? Or, would you rather see less, but do and experience more?

skatedancer

As beautiful as Switzerland is, I would cut that out, too, particularly if your intention is to see the Jungfrau. That is logistically time-consuming and if the weather is not good, then you won't get to see the peak, anyway. To spend all that time to see one mountain is not worth it IMO. I've been there and loved the area, so that's not the issue.

hd6524

If you're looking to stay in Hostels along the way try Europe's Famous Hostels, they have one hostel in a lot of main european cities and have a very good rep. Hostels are usually the best way of meeting people and socialising whether you're young or old!!

adrienne

<< Posters here are no backpackers and (much) older. Style of travelling differs. >>

Even when I backpacked I never had a schedule like this with short stays in major cities.

PalenQ

If you are doing all of that by train then some kind of railpass may be well worth it since you are taking trains so much and except in Italy a pass lets you hop on any train anytime with very few exceptions in the rest of the countries - fully flexible - look at a Eurail Select Pass where you can chose your countries to be covered.
For lots of great info on European trains and passes check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. For Chunnel trains London to Brussels www.eurostar.com and the early bird gets the worm on that one.

Woyzeck

Instead of Prague - Munich - Switzerland - Venice, consider Prague - Vienna - Salzburg/Innsbruck - Venice.

You'll save several hours on transportation, position yourself better for the trip to Italy, and still see both a lovely city (I think Vienna has a little more to offer than Munich) and you can experience the Alps around Salzburg/Innsbruck (and perhaps on the way to Venice).

You should really consider the mode of transportation, because unless you're driving, many of your estimates are way off.

Woyzeck

You could also easily cut Brussels and give yourself more time in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, etc...

PalenQ

Cinque Terre - no way can do on a day's travel between Venice and Florence - well theoretically possible but not practical.

oedipamaas

Leaving aside the philosophical differences in travel style for the moment, here are some concrete suggestions:

- Add at least 1 night to Berlin and subtract from Prague.
- Scrap Brussels and stay a couple of nights in a smaller city like Ghent or Antwerp - add 1 night to Amsterdam to allow for day trips in Netherlands or 1 night later for more time in Munich/Bavaria.
- Switzerland is a train detour. Stop in Austria instead en route to Venice.
- Skip Cinque Terre, add at least one night to Rome.

PalenQ

any backpacker on a backpacker budget will find Let's Go Europe the ultimate good guidebook to have along - Harvard Student Agencies written by college kids for their peer age group - tremendous coverage of hostels and low-cost accommodation.

sparkchaser

Plus lots of bars and nightclubs are listed.