Critique my itinerary (London > Paris > Amsterdam > Prague)
 

This will take place in OCTOBER. I am in the planning stages and flexible, meaning I can add/subract a few days for any country. Trip will be half sight seeing/half partying.

Summary: 17 nights, 4 countries (possibly 5)
London: 4 nights
Paris: 5 nights
Amsterdam: 3 nights
Prague: 5 nights

Is the amount of days in each country enough? Is Bruges as a day trip from Paris too ambitious? Any other recommendations?


3 Oct - Fly from JFK to London 3
4 Oct - Arrive to London in AM.
5 Oct - London
6 Oct - London
7 Oct - London
8 Oct - Travel to Paris in morning via train (2 hr 16 min)
9 Oct - Paris
10 Oct - Paris
11 Oct - Paris
12 Oct - Paris/ Bruges day trip?
13 Oct - Travel to Amsterdam via Train (4 hr)
14 Oct - Amsterdam
15 Oct - Amsterdam
16 Oct - Fly to Prague via EasyJet (1 hr 30 min)
17 Oct - Prague
18 Oct - Prague
19 Oct - Prague
20 Oct - Prague
21 Oct - Fly back to NY from Prague

London is Europe's biggest city, as large as the other 3 together and you've given it the jet lagged few days....

Just check the total flight time to Prague is faster(total).
You could take the night train.

Hi daviddavis6579, for your day in Bruges I just did a quick check on the trains. I would stay in Bruges that night. The trains are either a Thalys from Paris Nord to Brussels South (Bruxelles-Midi, Brussel-Zuid) and then a local IC train to Bruges (Brugge), or a TGV to Lille Flandres (which is just the edge of France) and then change to local trains (IC), changing again in Kortrijk for Bruges. The trains will take anywhere from 2.5 - 3hours - that train via Lille is a bit on the slow side.

I'm suggesting you stay in Bruges because you make up much of the distance to Amsterdam. Backtracking to Paris would be a waste of time. Also Bruges is quite good at night. When the tour buses all leave, it is better to see the city then. You might have guessed there are a lot of tourists in Bruges but many are day trippers. I know it's a one-nighter and you are probably trying to avoid it, but a five to six-hour trip on one day plus whatever time it takes to get from Paris Nord to your hotel .. well, no thanks for me.

Then the next day, you have a few different options: you can either go back to Bruxelles-Midi with the local IC trains and transfer to a Thalys to Amsterdam, or you can go by local IC trains to Ghent and change for Antwerp, then catching the Thalys from Antwerp, or you can catch IC trains the whole way - Brugge to Antwerpen, and then change to an IC that will take you via Breda and Rotterdam to Amsterdam. This is the cheapest and will take you a bit more than 3 hours. Thalys is comparative luxury; if you go first class, the train staff bring you a hot meal at midday and the seats are like big armchairs.

Do play with timings on www.b-europe.be which is the Belgian railways website for international trains.

I think your other timings (number of days) is OK. Fly or train between Amsterdam and Prague? Train is greener, plane is faster, your choice.

Lavandula

Agree with Lavandula. Stay the night in Bruges (or possibly, Ghent). Because I really like Ghent, I would probably go that route the next day and stop for a few hours if I could make the train times work. If not, as Lavandula suggested, play around with the train possibilities. BTW, Bruges has a very, very touristy vibe (of course it would because it is so picturesque), but Ghent has a young, lively vibe, lots of music, busy cafes and restaurants along the river. I found that more interesting and exciting than Bruges. I like both places more at night than during the day.
Your trip sounds pretty good to me, though I would no doubt take a day from Prague and give it to one of the other cities, but that is not based on knowing Prague, as I have not been there. It is based on visiting all of the others numerous times and always needing more time. Prague seems to have a young vibe though and might be good partying for someone much, much much younger than me. Your trip sounds well thought out.

Thanks for the replies. And staying in Bruges for the night is definitely an option. Also, have heard great things about Ghent.

This is completely subjective but I think I'd skip Prague and add that time to your other destinations, especially as reports are that flying is a bit fraught at the moment. We really enjoyed Prague (at New Years) but preferred the other places you're visiting.

Unless you've been to London and Paris before, I'd want more time in London and Paris than in Prague, but that's purely personal preference. I also wouldn't add any more airports than absolutely necessary, but again personal preference.

I, too, would agree that of the four main places you have mentioned, Prague was my least favorite. Prague is certainly worth a visit but, perhaps, it should be included in your next trip unless you have a special desire to visit it now. I haven't been to Bruges.

Unless you have been to London before I would add 2 nights from Prague to London. I agree that I would spend the night in Bruges if you were going to visit.

Again I agree you need more time in London, and in Paris, and maybe in Amsterdam.
If you have to include Prague take the night train. Take at least a day from Prague and add it to London.
Flying sounds great but it isn't. I doubt things will have improved much if at all by October. Easy Jet has stingy luggage allowances and charge for everything. Schiphol is reducing the number of flights it can take, and intra Europe flights on the likes of Easy jet are the easy ones to get rid of.
The night train is cheaper than a hotel, ad greener than a flight.

Agreeing with all the others that you should seriously consider removing one of the four stops on your itinerary and going for 3. Given that Amsterdam only has 3 nights that would be the one I would lose. Add 2 nights to London and one to Paris. You could use this day for your day trip to Bruges or enjoy a trip on the St Martin's Canal in Paris instead.

Alternatively do as others have suggested, drop Prague and add in a night or two in Bruges. That cuts down on the overall travel and makes more sense in terms of the trip as a whole as you will be able to spend more time in London and Paris.

Prague had a great vibe after the fall of Communism in 1989, but now the touristic center feels well-worn, the chain stores and tourist shops dominate, and the locals you'll see have gotten a wee bit jaded by the non-stop, and all too predictable tourist throng, none of whom can even muster a common greeting in Czech.