Hello,
I'm completely new to traveling abroad. I bringing a backpack and will be jumping around Europe for 4 months by myself and would appreciate any advice or help. Here is the tentative itinerary I made through the bit of research I've done via friends and travel books. Again, any help would be greatly appreciated and I won't take any offense to "This schedule is dumb you stupid naive American boy." Thanks in advance!!!

3/26- 4/8 SFO->London (2 weeks)
4/9-4/25 Fly London-> Berlin (2.5 weeks)
4/25-5/3 bus/train Berlin-> Amsterdam -> Ghent->Brussels (1.5 weeks)
5/4-5/11 euroline bus or rideshare Brussels->Paris, France (1 week)
5/12-5/31 fly or overnight train Paris->Spain--- Barcelona->Madrid->Lisbon (Salamanca/Toledo/Avila if there is time)--3 weeks
6/1-6/13 Fly/ train Lisbon->Rome, Italy, train ->Florence and Milan (2 weeks)
6/13-6/30 fly/ferry ->Greece (2 weeks)
6/30-7/14 Fly Greece->Milan, scenic train -> Vienna->Budapest->Prague (2 wk)
7/15-20 5 extra days for flexibility in travels-maybe back to Berlin.
7/21-7/24 back to London->SFO/Home

It actually doesn't look bad at all. Your connections all make sense and the amount of time looks reasonable. The only thing that hit me was it seems like a disproportionate amount of time in Berlin. And I think a bit short on Italy. But that could just be my perspective (Berlin is the only place on your list I haven't been to, and I love Italy).

Have you booked your flights (Lon to Berlin, Paris to Spain, etc) yet. The earlier you book the cheaper, especially on carriers like Easyjet. So leaving flights till the last minute to see how long you want in a place will end up costing a lot. Probably best to book those now and then your flexibility for the areas in which you are traveling by train/bus. Also, while it does limit your flexibility, booking some of your accommodations ahead of time will also save money. Especially by mid-May and on you are in high season and the best value places book up. If you want some flexibility you can do things like book the larger cities, the places you are more likely to do day trips from and leave a few others open.

The first thing you need to realize is that as an American citizen you are only allowed to stay in the countries you've chosen, all in what's called the Schengen Zone, for a maximum of 90 days out of 180 days, and that 180-day clock begins ticking the minute you reach your first destination. Leaving the Schengen Zone and returning does not reset the clock.

Actually he's planned it pretty well. In Schengen from April 25 - July 21 - so just under 90 days.

I didn't go by the dates, I counted 17 weeks, plus or minus. That's a total of 119 days.

I calculated 88 days in the Schengen area. Cutting it close...I know, haha. From what I've researched UK and Ireland don't count.

Oh wait...crap. Miscalculated 2.5 weeks in Berlin = puts me over the limit....hm................

OOPS -- I counted you leaving London for Berlin on Apr 25 - but re-reading it looks like you meant Apr 8. Nope--you need more time in the UK at either the beginning or end or both.

One thing I would consider is putting Spain, Greece and Italy at the beginning of the trip, followed by Paris, then Brugge, Amsterdam, etc., with all the London time at the very end. I would do this to avoid the extreme heat in Spain and the Southern countries in late June & July.

What Sassafrass said, but other than that and the fact you need to recalculate the dates a bit, I commend you on a well-thought-out trip (way more than many/most on this board). Have a ball!

Uk and Ireland are <I>not</I> part of the Schengen zone, so plan your time there so you have 90 days remaining for the other countries. You could also include another non-Schengen country, e.g. Turkey, in your itinerary, and the 90 day clock will pause while you are outside the Schengen zone.

You may also look at the possibility of an open-jaw ticket so you don't have to start and finish in London.

I'm assuming that you won't spend all your time in the cities on your itinerary, but will be exploring the areas around them as well. You may want to move on from Berlin to other parts of Germany, for example, and do the leg to Amsterdam from, e.g. Munich, Frankfurt, or another city.

Overall I like your itinerary. Four months in Europe will be a wonderful experience!

Thanks for all the comments. I'm honestly shocked my itinerary is getting such positive feedback, its making me significantly less anxious about traveling.

I put Amsterdam towards the beginning because I want to be there for Queen's day (April 30th), and didn't want to backtrack if I went to Spain/France first. I figure, the most logical would be to move counterclockwise.

According to weather reports, Spain becomes unbearably hot in June/July, which is why I scheduled it for end of May. Although I trust your personal insight and experience more than my research.

Anyways...this is my edited schedule. I guess I'll be exploring Ireland. Puts me right at 89 days in Schengen.

3/26- 4/2 SFO->London(1 week)
4/3-4/14 Train London-> Ireland (1.5 weeks)
4/15-4/25 Fly Dublin-> Berlin (1.5 weeks)
4/25-5/3 Bus/train Berlin-> Amsterdam -> Ghent->Burges->Brussels (1.5 weeks)
5/4-5/11 Euroline bus/rideshare Brussels->Paris, France (1 week)
5/12-5/31 Fly/overnight train Paris->Spain, Barcelona, Train -> Madrid->Lisbon, Portugal(3 weeks)
6/1-6/13 Fly/overnight train Lisbon->Rome, Italy. Train ->Florence and Milan (1.5 week)
6/13-6/30 Fly/ferry Milan->Greece (2.5 weeks)
6/30-7/14 Fly back->Milan, take a scenic train -> Vienna->Budapest->Prague ((1.5 weeks)
7/15-7/24 Prague-London (2 weeks)
7/24 London-SFO HOME!!!

I am tempted to spend the last 2 weeks somewhere else other than London...maybe Kiev, but that might be a bit ambitious/exhausting. Although, I don't know if 3 weeks in London is overkill.
Thanks again for all the input and advice for this traveling newbie.

Sounds busy but good.

Don't worry about the extra time in the UK - there's a lot more to the UK than London and it would be very easy to fill two weeks!

What do you mean train to Ireland? If it's possible, I'd consider flying into Ireland (Dublin?) and leaving all your time in the UK to the end.

Also consider flying from Greece directly to Vienna, rather than back to Milan.

You're covering a lot of ground so transport costs will be high - you'll have to factor that into your budget.

Have fun!

Taking the train & Ferry to Dublin from London takes you through some lovely countryside & through Wales where the ferry leaves from. Take a look at the website seat61 it gives you some great advice on trains throughout Europe and covers that trip. Remember to book in advance on line.

The Olympics start in London on July 27 and rooms are at a premium. This will probably mean that wou will pay more for what is available, if available at all.

Thus, you may consider changes.

Great sites for planning the rail portion of your trip - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. And consider some kind of Eurail Flexipass - especially if you don't fly Italy to Greece but take the overnight ferries from Italy to Greece as these are covered in full by a railpass and could save you lots of money if you cannot get a cheap flight.

Do you have to fly in and out of London? When coming from the states, I try to book the longest distance so I have a long overnight flight and get some sleep. Perhaps you are not familiar with open jaw tickets (flying into one city and home from another). When looking at flights, check the multi-city function.

>>>4/25-5/3 Bus/train Berlin-> Amsterdam -> Ghent->Burges->Brussels (1.5 weeks)
5/4-5/11 Euroline bus/rideshare <<<

Are you adding buses to try to save money? Trains would be better for most of these routes.

I would reverse some of your trip as you are criss-crossing Europe twice (Ireland to Germany back west to Spain/Portugal back east to Italy/Greece/Prague which is a waste of time and money.

I would definitely reverse the Barcelona/Portugal (again, fly your longest distance). I would also think about flying to Greece from Spain (or from Portugal if you don't reverse this part). You could add Italy after Greece and work your way to Vienna/Budapest before going back to London. There are a lot of budget airlines from many of these cities.

www.whichbudget.com
www.skyscanner.com

Maybe I've miscalculated, but I'm coming up with 92 days in Schengen area. The day you first arrive in Schengen (even if it's a minute before midnight) counts as a full day and the day you leave (even if it's a minute after midnight) also counts as a full day.

From Prague I'd be inclined to fly to either Glasgow or Edinburgh then meander my way down to Brighton to spend a few days at the seaside to decompress/unwind/let the trip digest before flying home.

Sounds like a great, well-planed journey -- hope you have a fantastic time. As others have said, you will save money by booking your rail and air segments in advance. That said though I think leaving some flexibility open on a long trip is also a good idea. Who knows, you might hook up with some people that you want to hang with and/or decide to take off on a little sidetrip to somewhere you had no idea existed.

There might be some concerts, festivals or other events that interest you along your path so you might keep an eye out for them using a website like http://www.whatsonwhen.com/

Sometimes it a hassle to document a trip via photos/video/journal but don't forget to do it the best you can -- someday you'll be very happy you did.

Bon voyage!

You could do Scotland for at least a week at the end...

No amount of time in London is overkill or too much. But there is absolutely no reason to spend all your time there if you don't want to. That is like someone vacationing in California for 3 weeks and spending the entire time in San Francisco - reasonable but there are sooooo many other options.

How about a week in Edinburgh/Glasgow and a week exploring Hadrian's Wall and Yorkshire? Or A week traveling from Inverness to Edinburgh and then back to London?

I'd also explore open jaw tickets -unless you've already booked the flights.