http://tiny.cc/t0lrx

This is the plan I've made for me and my friend for our Europe trip from June 22nd to July 26th. Could you guys evaluate it and give me hints on anything I need to improve, or anything that I've done well? It is coming up very soon and we were kind of late on even coming up with the idea so it's been a little hurried. If you could give some advice it'll be greatly appreciated.

Also, and a question.
It is to my understanding that two "discount" cards are offered throughout Europe. Through my research, I've found the ISIC (International Student ID Card) and the EYC (European Youth Card). Which would be better for us to pursue? Is it even worth pursuing? Are we even able to pursue this? Please let me know ASAP.
http://www.eyca.org/
http://www.isic.org/student-card/the...dent-card.html

And please, if you have any advice about Europe traveling in general, please please let us know!

Thanks!

You want to visit 8 places in your first 6 nights, traveling all the way from Madrid to Milan. That is one big, WOW! An exhausting start that will have you on your heels, I think.

If you decide to trim overnight stops somewhat, I don't think I would be alone in suggesting that Cologne and Brussels could be sacrificed to feed Florence, Vienna and Prague and get them up to at least 3 nights each.

No smaller towns to help you recharge a little?

Aramis,

Thank you so much for the response. Do you really think it'll be that exhausting? I guess I forgot to mention we're both very energetic, scouty folk. But I do kind of agree. The Bern-Interlaken-Jungfrau combo would really count as 1 wholesome trip, don't you think so? So possibly giving us 4 cities instead of 6? Would pointing that out change anything?

I do agree, though. We were worried most about spreading too thin in the precious one month of traveling we had so I guess I ended up going the other way. I'm not too sure.

Thanks.

Just a quick comment to help you decide what you need to cut (and you DO need to cut things)

1 night somewhere does not equal one day, and 2 nights doesn't equal two days.

With all the travel/checking in/checking out, 2 nights usually nets between one full and 1.5 days in a city. It doesn't matter how go go go/active you are. The logistics are just what they are. So I'd go back over your plan and cut several destinations.

janisj,

Thank you for your response and I really appreciate the critical feedback. Which cities in the itinerary do you think would be good to cut? We originally DID start with fewer cities; however, it is when we realized how far apart the cities are, we started to add more cities to serve as "midpoints" of the two major spots (say, Switzerland to Florence seemed too far away to pile on top of the long trainrides already in store, we felt Milan was a decent place for us to stop by for a night to head to the city). I suppose that wasn't too good a decision, but please help! Thank you so much!

I'd start by cutting Spain especially with only 3 nights there. Zurich in Switzerland has some great flight options you can fly into there and actually see Switzerland (spend at least 2-3 nights somewhere there in the mountains, probably Interlaken).

I would skip Cologne and night train from Berlin to Amsterdam. We stopped by there and it is really a 1/2 to 1 day city and with such a packed schedule, I would skip it this time.

Don't forget everytime you move you have to pack, checkout, get to train station, ride train, get to hotel, checkin, unpack, etc. This is a very long process and even with a 2-3 hour train ride will take up 1/2 to most a day.

When we travel I range between 2-3 nights in small cities and 4-5 nights in larger cities like Berlin/Rome/Vienna/Paris/London. We are in our 20's and active but giving yourself the time to see a city is well worth it.

I forgot to add, with your schedule, you might look into a Eurail Pass (if you are from America) for trains. It is the best deal if you are 25 or under when traveling as you can get a youth pass at a discount.