Wendy19

A friend and I are planning to explore the following European cities:

London, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent , Oslo, Barcelona, Madrid, Florence, Verona, Venice, Rome, Paris, Lille, Scotland

within 30-day period, most likely late July until the third week of August,

Appreciate comments/suggestions for itineraries. We are thinking of buying the global flexi eurail pass. Will it be worth it given that for some legs we got to travel for more than 20 hours (at least Belgium to Oslo)?

Thanks in advance.

mjdh1957

Unlikely that a pass will make much financial sense.

For advice on train travel see http://seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurai...m#.UwNbbOJtXaE

You have a lot of travelling in your 30 days and you may need to fly some of the longer legs. I certainly wouldn't try and do Belgium to Oslo in one go by train.

Wendy19

Thanks for the link. Finally a beginner's guide on Eurail. My head is spinning as it is, info overload.

Rubicund

This plan really makes no sense at all. You'll be constantly travelling and seeing nothing. You have listed 14 cities and vague references like "Scotland". London, Paris, Barcelona and Venice all need a minimum of 4 or 5 days each.

You need to rethink this and I'd omit, at the very least:


Bruges, Brussels, Ghent , Oslo, Lille, Verona and Scotland.

Your route would then be:

London
Paris
Madrid
Barcelona
Venice
Florence
Rome

Fly into London and out of Rome. London to Paris via Eurostar, to Madrid by air. To Barcelona by train. Venice by air, then train to Florence and train to Rome.

That's still seven places in your trip and very busy.

mamcalice

Despite the fact that 30 days seems like a long time, IMO, you have too many stops and too much traveling between stops to make for a good trip. You will be on the go to and from train stations more than you will be enjoying the locations you have chosen. When you account for travel you will have about 2 days in each place. That is not nearly enough for wonderful cities like London, Paris, and Rome.

I would choose no more than 8 stops - even then you will be rushed. Your head will be spinning once again. Do some research and eliminate a few stops. As they say - less is more.

dwdvagamundo

Rubicund's plan is good. An alternative would be to split the trip in two and do northern Europe this time and southern Europe (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Venice, Florence and Rome) another. You're visiting summer, so Spain and Italy are going to be very hot.

But to steal a frequent comment on this board, your original plan looks like a very good tour of European train stations and airports.

janisj

That isn't an itinerary - it is a list.

14+ cities, 30 days, minus all the travel time will leave you approx. 1.5 days per city . . . AND if your 30 days includes travel to/from Europe you will have barely 1 full day in each city.

scrap this and back to the drawing board.

vinoroma

I like rubicund's list but would reverse it - travel in spain, france and italy,esp in the big cities that are listed, will not be very enjoyable in august. Hot, humid, and with many closures (not the tourist sites, but the restaurants etc).

ssander

13 cities plus "Scotland"...you won't actually see anything except for trains, stations and airports.

Another vote for rubicund's plan.

Use plane, hi-speed train or sleeper train for Paris-Madrid
Use plane for Venice-Barcelona (I don't think there is a sleeper)
Use train for the rest...very fast, city-to-city:

• Paris-London ~2:30
• Barcelona-Madrid ~2:30
• Rome-Florence ~1:30
• Florence Venice ~2:00

These train tickets can be bought online at really great prices, provided you buy well in advance. Fodorites can guide you through the process when the time comes.

• Example: Florence to Venice in 2:05 by high-speed train for €19.

Do some research to decide how many days to spend in each city...it's really a matter of taste, and each city can merit a lot of time, especially London, Paris and Rome.

Assuming this is your first trip (based on your understandable desire to cover a lot of ground), you need to trust us and pare down your itinerary...you'll have a great time and see so much more.

SS