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-   -   European Tour Itinerary (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/european-tour-itinerary-1047579/)

noniid Jun 8th, 2015 06:53 PM

European Tour Itinerary
 
Hello I am planning a european tour some time next year (maybe around march - may?) My working itinerary is as follows:
(Btw I am planning on taking the train to visit these cities)
Berlin
Prague
Krakow
Vienna
Bratislava
Budapest
Ljubljana
Venice
Florence
Pisa
Rome
Naples

Ride a plane to:
Paris (then continue on to the following cities by train)
Luxembourg
Brussels
Amsterdam
Munich

I plan on staying in hostels in each city and getting a global eurail pass.
my question is, how much should I save up and is one month enough time to travel to all of these cities?
plus any tips for a first time traveller?:D
Any suggestions, comments are highly appreciated.

Kathie Jun 8th, 2015 07:40 PM

The usual beginner's error is trying to cram too many places into too little time. Each time you change locations, you lose from half a day to most of a day in transit from checking out of one hostel until you are settled into the next. I don't know how much time you have, but lay out your plan on a calendar. Figure that anything you get to do on a travel day is a bonus, three nights in a place means you have just two full days there.

Take your time and enjoy the places you have chosen.

thursdaysd Jun 8th, 2015 08:24 PM

Seventeen cities in thirty-one days? Absolutely not.

Suggest you start by reading "The Rough Guide to First Time Europe" and "Europe through the back Door".

kybourbon Jun 8th, 2015 08:42 PM

>>> is one month enough time to travel to all of these cities?<<<

Not if you want to see anything in any of them. You have more than half your time as travel days. Some cities (many) deserve several days. You will also need to allow time to do laundry several times.

janisj Jun 8th, 2015 08:50 PM

>>> is one month enough time to travel to all of these cities?<<<

>>Not if you want to see anything in any of them. <<

And it may not be possible to even get to all of them in a month (let alone <i>see</i> anything). One missed flight, one rail strike, one missed connection and you are SOL.

Sorry, but this would be nuts in 2 months and impossible in 1.

W/ 17 destinations you are looking at more than 10 days just in transit. So does 17 cities in less than 20 days sound like fun -- Didn't think so.

Back to the drawing board and cut your destinations nearly in half . . . .

bilboburgler Jun 9th, 2015 12:57 AM

You know that March is still winter? So short days, grey skies, rain, snow, slush in a lot of these.

It depends, some people really do like to rush into a room, look round and rush out, others like to look out of the windows. Given that life is "but a flight of a bird across a feast" who can tell?

kleeblatt Jun 9th, 2015 05:03 AM

You forgot Zürich

Sassafrass Jun 9th, 2015 05:36 AM

Your trip looks to be between 10-12 weeks, allowing for travel time between cities.

To get started, pick only your top four or five. Get some guide books. Look at all the things you want to see in that city. Don't make it just a drive by kind of trip. If you do, everything will be a blur in the end, with no experiences to even differentiate one place from another. Decide on how much time each city deserves or needs for you to see it. Some cities, like Rome, have days and days worth of stuff. Some smaller places may need only a day, depending on yoir interests.

Get a map, so you are not backtracking. Figure out travel time between cities. Add in time getting from your hotel/hostal to the train station and time getting from the train station to,your hotel/hostal. Train may be, say 3 hours, but add another half hour at each end, making the total journey 4 hours - one whole morning.

Now that you are putting together how things work, start adding cities that will work with your first pick of four or five. In a month, 8 is probably a max. You might be able to do a day trip or two or make some stops along the way on your travel days.

PalenQ Jun 9th, 2015 06:23 AM

With that many trains some kind of railpass is IME a no-brainer - for lots of the literally dozens of various railpasses and a lot of good stuff to plan a European rail trip check these informative sites: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

You could take overnight trains sometimes to cover long distances and also save on the cost of a hotel.

annhig Jun 9th, 2015 06:31 AM

You are very lucky to be able to spend such a long time away, but IMO long trips require a different approach if they are to be really successful.

Depending on the exact length of your trip [I month, 6 weeks, 2 months] I would suggest picking between 2 and 4 hubs, which you use as bases to explore particular regions.

Given the time of year, I would think about starting in the south [Andalucia in March should be warm] and pick somewhere e.g. Malaga, which you can use to explore that area. Then perhaps move to Barcelona for a few days, then fly to Rome, again using that as a base for a couple of weeks, before....

you could probably rent a room or small apartment in most these places very cheaply at that time of year, using it as a base for day trips, or even longer overnights. This means that most of the time you travel light, don't have to worry about luggage, spending time checking in and out of hotels [a real fag IME if you have to do it too often] and you begin to have a sense of coming home, having your own neighbourhood, people in cafes and shops recognising you and saying hello, all the things that help to make a trip pleasurable, rather than "if it's Tuesday it must be Paris".

not quite the trip you imagined perhaps, and it doesn't have to start in Spain, it could as easily be Italy or Greece, or...


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