jackd

Hi!
I am planning a backpacking trip and will be visiting these cities (not in any particular order):
Lisbon
Madrid
Barcelona
Milan
Manarola
Venice
Antwerp
Copenhagen
Vienna
Berlin
Budapest
Monte-Carlo
Amsterdam
Sveti Stefan
Zurich
Prauge

I am looking for 3 more cities to visit that aren't too far out of the way of these cities/towns that are worth spending 2-3 days in each!
Thanks!

Kandace_York

The overwhelming advice you're about to get is that spending 2-3 days in each of these cities will be exhausting and non-productive, because you'll barely have time to unpack before it's time to pack up and move on. You'll lose at least a half-day in travel time every time you go on to another city (probably closer to a full day, because even if you fly, you need to get to the airport 90 minutes to 2 hours ahead of time...and if you're planning to travel by train to all these places, even though I *love* Europe's train system it would get very old under this schedule).

And as a fellow backpacker, even if you pack light -- which I excel at -- moving constantly means many days that you'll have that pack on your back all day, and that wears on you, even with a high-quality backpack and a fit body.

StCirq

How much time do you have for this trek?

jackd

75 days

PalenQ

antwerp is close to Amsterdam, a mecca for younger folk and a gorgeous city with world-class museums, etc. for first-timers 3 days in most cities to me is enough -maybe a day or so longer in Paris or London or Rome. You are probably going by train and if going to half those places some kind of railpass will save you a lot of money - especially if under 26 so you can buy the Youthpasses (2nd class vs 1st class for those over 26 on most passes.

Anyway for planning the rail part of your trip check www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - check out the latter's free online European Planning & Rail Guide for suggested rail itineraries in every country to see where you can conviently add another city or two.

janisj

19 cities in 75 days is doable but you are going to eat up about 12-15 of those days just in transit. So you will have 3-ish days each. My guess is your head will be spinning after the 6th or 7th city if you don't build in some down time/longer breaks.

janisj

OOPS - didn't mean to post . . .

So -- Instead of adding three more cities -- take that time and add it to a few of the places on your list.

PalenQ

Different strokes for different folks - I tire of a large city after 3 days or so and am wanting to see more European cities - I love traveling and the first time I went (and I suspect most of us) we moved around rather fast - if young that is easier to do - so this is a subjective thing I find riding trains to be exciting - seeing the Europe between big cities.

But I also like base cities where I can do day trips to lots of nice smaller nearby cities - in that case I could spend a week in some place and doing mainly day trips after the first few days.

But I think you have enough cities really and stay in some a few days longer and do day trips - like from Vienna to say Bratislava - a new country Slovakia and just over an hour from Vienna.

Relocating does take up a lot of time so consider base cities too so you do not have to relocated so much.

PalenQ

Like Amsterdam - you can take any of a plethora of neat day trips to sees windmill complexes, cool old Dutch regional towns - like Haarlem or Leiden or Delft - so consider basing longer perhaps in some places rather than adding more stops.

PalenQ

Zurich?

the only place in Switzerland you want to visit - don't plan your trip by looking at places on a map - the wonder of Switzerland for the average first-time tourist is the Jungfrau Region just up in the hills from Interlaken - Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen are mountain towns with lots of backpackers - check out the Nature Friends' House in a chalet on a quiet street above the fray of tourisy Grindelwald - an all-ages type place - cook your own food:

http://www.naturfreundehaeuser.ch/en...lwald/welcome/

The Jungfrau Region has sheer peaks soaring thousands of feet above lush meadows - toylike trains and thrilling aerial gondolas going off in all directions - hiking paths from waltzing easy to strenuous - no special gear required for most - spend say 3-4 days here- lots of varied things to do - boat rides on the two lakes bookending Interlaken.

Zurich is an OK nice city but a big modern city void of the charm you'll find in the fantastic Alpine regions like around Grindelwald. Lucerne is one city that is super nice - maybe add that to you wish list along with the Jungfrau Region.

PalenQ

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+...HUipCzkQsAQIHg

The fabulous Jungfrau Region!