Critics for the itinerary of a first time traveler
 

Hello.

I'll be travelling with a friend around Europe for 14 august to 17 september and after a lot of time studing I make this tentative itinerary:

_Madrid ::: 3 days (night train to Barcelona)
_Barcelona ::: 3.5 days (plane to Prague with SkyEurope)
_Prague ::: 4.5 days (morning train to Berlin)
_Berlin ::: 5 days (night train to Amsterdam)
_Amsterdam ::: 4 days (morning train to Bruges)
_Bruges ::: 2 days (morning train to Paris)
_Paris ::: 6 days (night bus to London)
_London ::: 4.5 days (plane to Madrid with easyJet)
_Madrid ::: 1 day and back to Buenos Aires

First of all I have to say that it is my first travel in Europe and that I'm 28 year old. The very long distance I'll be flying, the distances that are about 7 hours I'll be doing at night and the very short distance (for example, 4 hours) I'll be doing early in the morning.

Do you think the cities are well choiced, or may I should skipping one that doesn't worth? And what about the days for each city???

Henry

ttt

I'll bite - I think overall your itinerary looks pretty good; flying and taking sleeper trains for the long distances really helps.

Of course there are so many places to go and your choices seem well thought out, but I'm wondering why you opted not to try Italy? Is it too awkward with the rest of your itinerary?

Personally, I'd say if you can manage to get to Florence, it would give you a good taste of the country and a large dose of amazing art. (You could do Florence in 2 days or so.) I'm not sure if you need 4 days in Amsterdam; I've never been to Bruges, but that would maybe be one to cut out (take an overnight train to Paris instead).

Okay, there's my 2 cents - anyone else out there care to provide feedback? ;)

I would probably not try to go to all of these different countries but concentrate on, perhaps, one less. I would rather see more in each country I did visit. For instance, I would recommend Oxford and the Cotswolds along with London, or a country bed and breakfast in the Loire Valley or Burgundy along with Paris. Not only would you achieve depth over breadth, but you would get out of the big cities. Personally, I'd skip Berlin. But that's just me. Bruges is amazingly beautiful, by the way. I loved my two days there.

I am older then you, however, and probably don't need as much "excitement."

Hi,

I think your itinerary sounds great. You are definitely leaving enough time for each city, so you won't feel rushed. And you picked excellent cities for a young person travelling! You can easily fit in day trips to surrounding areas from those larger cities; often, it is harder to find hostels, budget lodging, etc. in smaller surrounding cities.

However, if you're of the energetic, "on-the-go", busy-body type, you could fit in a lot more cities, and Italy, as ggreen suggested. It depends on what approach you'd like to take to travelling, and how relaxed you'd like to make the trip.

I'm only 24, and personally, I would fit more cities in--I like to see a lot fast and keep moving. (and I usually need a vacation to relax after my Europe vacation, hehe).

I find Bruges an odd choice, given your other cities (as it isn't one of the "most popular" cities to hit for young first-time travelers, unlike your other choices). Any particular reason?

Oooblyicious makes a good suggestion. Daytrips to surrounding towns and countryside would work well toward helping you see more places and getting out of big cities.

I think it looks great. Not too rushed. Perhaps take the train down to Setges when you are in Barcelona for just the day. Get out of the big city.

Hey,

Check out Iberia airlines website for cheap plane flights from Madrid to Barcelona. It's better than the train and may even be cheaper.

Antwerp is really a great place for young people, so I would suggest substituting that for Bruges, maybe with a daytrip to Bruges (there is no nightlife there). But if you just want Bruges, make it one day and give the extra day to London.

Even if you spend two nights in Belgium, I would take one day from Paris or Berlin and give it to London, unless you already know you dont want to spend much time in London. The problem is London is so big, it's hard to see in a short time. However, London is also expensive, so an extra day there will cost you. But I would just try to eat cheap and go to the free museums.

Good trip!

Looks like a great trip. My only suggestion would be to take a day or two from Berlin and/or some other city and add them to London. It is a large city and, as others have said, is also a good hub for daytrips.

Thanks to all for the replies.

For those who suggested Italy I have to say that you are right but I think Italy is worth when you can spend more than 3 days in Rome and 2 days in Florence for example. And it presents a logistic problem cause it's in the very south part of the continent.

With my friend we prommise ourselves to do Italy (Rome or/and Florence) in our next trip, perhaps in 2008.

I like big cities. For the travel, I like watching people, walking at day and at night, moving throught the city and going to some pubs.

espagnabound: I'm a bit afraid of Brugges. I think it can be a bit bouring although it's a very beatifull town. May be I do Antwerp instead.

oobylicious: do you think that I can put another city to my itinerary? I'm energetic as you say, but, I think another city will be a lot for 34 days. I think 8 cities for 34 days is the right number for a first time traveler.

Thanks to all again... another suggestion :-)

Hi H,

Very good plan.

Have a nice visit.

((I))