We're 4 guys from India (23 yrs) planning a 25 day eurotrip and would like your suggestions on our itinerary, dates & hotels/hostels. Our budget is about 4000 euros each (everything inclusive). We love the beach and nightlife.

We have two options so far, but are open to changes:

Option 1:
Ibiza - 18th, 19th, 20th July
Barcelona - 21st, 22nd, 23rd July
Paris - 24th, 25th July
Boom (Tomorrowland) - 26th, 27th, 28th July
Amsterdam - 29th, 30th, 31st July
Berlin - 1st, 2nd, 3rd Aug
Prague - 4th, 5th, 6th Aug
Budapest - 7th, 8th, 9th Aug
Ios, Corfu & Mykonos - 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th Aug

Option 2:
Brussels/Antwerp - 24th, 25th July
Boom (Tomorrowland) - 26th, 27th, 28th July
Amsterdam - 29th, 30th July
Berlin - 31st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Aug
Prague - 4th, 5th, 6th Aug
Budapest - 7th, 8th, 9th Aug
Yacht Week (Croatia/Greece) - 10th – 17th Aug
Ios, Corfu & Mykonos - 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st Aug

Do you guys think Yacht Week is worth it? We definitely want to go for Tomorrowland.

We're open to both Eurail as well as flights.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Have never heard of Tomorrowland - so can't comment - except to say I don;t understand adults that go to amusement parks - versus seeing the reality of europe.

Although this trip is rushed (I think a first trip to Paris requies at least 4 full days/5 nights) it's not as bad as some I have seen. However, you haven;t left time to get from one place to another. The 1/2 or full day to get from one place to another has to come out of either the last day listed from the first city or the first day from the second city.

You need to check info on trains or ferries (which can be very time-consuming) and deduct that time from one day or the other.

Your first itinerary is very appealing, but Ibiza and Barcelona would be too hot for me during July. Corfu and Mykonos will also be very hot. I'm assuming your dates are set, but if they're not set, I'd try for times other than July and August.

I think I would choose the second option. It will still most likely be warm in all those venues, but since you like the beach, maybe the heat wouldn't be a problem for you.

I never travel without a guidebook or two, and I think that's what you need. One of those "best of Europe" type guides would be best, but you'd also need something for Greece. The right guidebook would give you suggestions in all cost categories for hotels and restaurants, but would also give vital information about transportation, sights, etc.

My other comment would be about the number of cities you are including in this trip. Eight cities or locations in 25 days would be too much for me. Are you including travel time in your planning? You will have to use 1/2 to one full day to check out of a hotel, travel to the next place, check into the new hotel, etc.

The Greek part of your itinerary would be very time consuming.
Corfu is located in the Ionian Sea , in the Western Greece, while Ios and Mykonos are Cycladic islands and located on the other side of the Greek Mainland....

From Corfu you will need to either fly to Athens and then take another flight or a ferry to Mykonos, or take a bus from Corfu to Athens and then ferry to Mykonos. ( which would take away 1 day of your time)

I would skip Corfu, and i would try to fly from Croatia to Athens in order to save time. ( as per your plan B)
I am not sure there are flights from Budapest to Corfu... so you may have to fly to Athens and skip Corfu again, for being too far away. ( as per your plan A)
IN both cases you will have to pass through Athens, so i would include it in your plans ( plus it has an amazing nightlife....)

I don't think "4 guys from India" will be too worried about the heat of southern Europe, lol! If anything, it will be cooler than where they are from!

Vedant0502, you need to look at the map and work out how to get from place to place. Although you have lumped some together, by my count you have 10 destinations in Option 1 and 11 in Option 2 (add Athens to that list, as you will have to go through that city at least once or twice). I would subtract one day from each destination to account for travel time, so that leaves you more like 14 or 15 non-travel days.

For Greece you seem to have picked a few party destinations without looking at the map. Ios and Mykonos are close together, but Corfu is at the opposite end of Greece, with no direct connections with Ios and Mykonos. I would cut that from the itinerary and spend the extra time on Ios and Mykonos. Not sure what you mean by a yacht week, but it could be lots of fun. Splitting the cost between the four of you may make the cost bearable.

nytraveller Tomorrowland is not an amusement park, it is a festival.

My only comment on either plan is you aren't allowing for travel between cities. In the second plan you should add another day to Amsterdam I think. Otherwise you have very little time there.

Go with Option 1 but check the diaries (on the city websites) in Ibiza, Barcelona and Lisbon for festivals around this time. You may find there is a serious attraction for moving schedules around.

Greek islands seem to suck in time, schedules change more easily in this part of europe and you could get stuck in one place when you want to be in another.

I might drop the greek islands and replace with Dalmation islands. Hvar etc.

If they love the beach and the nightlife, then i couldn't imagine a better place for them other than the Greek islands..

Ios and especially Mykonos have an amazing nightlife, that cannot be compared with islands like Hvar

plus they are easily accessible.... after visiting the islands for 30 years i was never stuck in one place when i wanted to be somewhere else....

Thanks for all the help guys. We have re-visited the itinerary and as of now it stands as follows:

1. Barcelona - 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th July
Barcelona to Ibiza (flight) - reach 21st early evening
2. Ibiza - 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th July
Ibiza to Antwerp (flight) - reach 25th late evening
3. Tomorrowland - 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th July
Antwerp to Amsterdam (train) - reach 29th afternoon
4. Amsterdam - 29th, 30th, 31st July
Amsterdam to Prague (flight) - reach 1st evening
5. Prague - 1st, 2nd, 3rd August
Prague to Corfu (flight) - flight is late in the evening so we get half of 4th in Prague
6. Corfu - 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th August
Corfu to Athens/Kos (flight) - reach 8th late afternoon
7. Athens/Kos - 8th, 9th, 10th August

Leave for India on 11th afternoon.
I know Kos is extremely far from Corfu but one of my friends really wants to go there so I have included it on the itinerary.

We have shortlisted hotels and hostels in all places as well and would like your views:

Barcelona - Pulitzer Hotel
Ibiza - Ushuaia Beach Club
Antwerp - Ibis Grand Centraal Station
Amsterdam - Flying Pig Downtown Hostel
Prague - Mosaic House Hostel
Corfu - Pink Palace Hostel
Still looking for Athens/Kos.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

A word of warning for Greek reservations: First 2 weeks of August is the absolute pick season on Greek islands and I think you need to look closely on accommodation and transport bookings! Note that parts of Corfu and parts of Kos are favored by many package tourists, so accommodation left is even more limited.
Of course the above reflects on rates too.
Have you decide on exact location on each place? I see you leave no space to explore Athens a bit and this is a petty! If you just plan to be there for your flights, there is a small hotel in the outskirts of Artemis/Loutsa town, 20 minutes away from Athens airport called Peri's. Depending on specifics they offer free transport from/to the airport. You save the hassle to go all the way inside Athens just to sleep but Artemis hold no particular interest. There is a nice beach though, maybe 2 kms away from Peri's. http://www.perishotelapt.gr/ To stay in down town Athens, there is a spartan but clean and tidy place literally 5 minutes walk from Syndagma Square called Hotel Metropolis http://www.hotelmetropolis.gr/ If it has to be a hostel, Athens Backpackers is a very well-located one and gets good feedback http://www.backpackers.gr/
I haven't been on Corfu since a good 6-7 years or so but if your aim is to party non stop, ok, I guess Pink Palace might do... It is located on Agios Gordios though and you may be tied on their own excursions etc for exploring other parts of Corfy... http://www.thepinkpalace.com/ Personally I would prefer to be based in Corfu town to enjoy the architecture and ambiance and feel more free to travel around but this is up to you. Clausar might be the person to ask for Corfu accommodation ; )
On Kos I liked to stay in Kos Town, but again this is up to why you want to go there. I am not aware of any hostel as such. A very basic but dirty cheap place is Hotel Veroniki located behind the port authorities office, a 10 minutes walk from ferry port, 2 minutes walk from the old harbor where all excursion boats depart.No website in particular but you may find it I think on booking.com .

@mariha2912 - we plan to stay at Iberostar Odysseus in Kos. Its a little away from Kos town, but not too far. We want to goto a nice place to relax and unwind on the last 3 days of our trip (that doesn't mean just stay in the hotel). But were looking at smaller places with nice beaches. If you have some other recommendations that would be great! Most of the hotels we've chosen dont have a cancellation charge. So we intend to book our hotels in the coming one or two weeks to be sure of getting rooms.

As of now, it does not look like we will be spending anytime in Athens. Our flights are about 4-5 hours apart so we'll probably grab lunch at a nice restaurant or something and head back to the airport if that is feesable at the time.

Hello again! Iberostar Odysseus is located in between Tigaki and Kos town. I like Tigaki and the beach surrounding it, it is a rather quiet village and less commercial to other places on Kos. As with said hotel, there are tons of huge AI/package hotels a few kms away which are great to relax and enjoy their facilities, but most of them are not a walking distance to everything else. If you are willing to hire a bicycle for a few days, you can cycle here and there as Kos is a very cycle-friendly island, there are separate bicycle lanes even inside Kos Town.So you may be able to visit Tigaki or Kos on a bike. Take into consideration August heat though and this might not be something to do every day. Bus network is excellent in Kos so you may be able to use this too. If you look to relax in hotel and go outside hotel only one or two times, Iberostar is fine. Actually they might have a shuttle service to Tigaki or Kos Town-require on that one! Just do not think that you can step out of your hotel and be in a "real" place. Only other beach hotels and the odd beach bar or car hike place around.

PS: With 4-5 spare hours, I vote for staying in the airport rather to go all the way to down town Athens. There are many restaurants and a small archeological museum among other things to keep you busy in Athens airport.

We were in Kos this past August and transportation from the airport was a bit nuts. If you plan to take a taxi I would highly recommend pre-booking if you can!

Thanks for the advice jamikins. Will keep that in mind! What was your experience like in Kos? How many days were you there for? Could you give me details about your trip? Did you visit other islands? If so, which ones? And which one did you like the best? Would you recommend Kos to others, or are there better islands that offer a relaxed yet fun experience?

We're open to both Eurail as well as flights.>

since you are under 26 you can get the Eurail Youthpass - much cheaper than a regular Eurailpass and use it around western and eastern Europe then maybe fly to Greece or if in Italy with that pass you could take ferries from several Italian ports to Greece and the pass would cover those in full - you can join the international brigade of young folk on board - party at night if you want in the lounge or sleep on the deck benches, etc.

You can get off these boats in Corfu, a mecca for young travelers who flock to this paradise to snorkel and just have a great time - then take the boats to Patras and head to Athens or nearby Olympia, etc.

And you can use overnight trains throughout Europe to cover long distances and also save the cost of a night in a hotel or hostel - again many young people take night trains.

With a railpass in most countries you can just hop on any train anytime (exceptions are France, Italy and Spain where you must get a seat reservation before boarding) - total flexibility in most other countries - full fare tickets that allow this flexibility can cost a ton of money so value the pass not only in terms of costs but flexibility it provides to just show up and jump on trains in most countries.

Anyway for young folks who are traveling extensively IMO the Eurail Youthpass is a no-brainer. For lots of great info on European trains and passes, etc I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com.

If doing the Eurail Flexipass route - which gives you X number of days of unlimited travel to be used over a 2-month period - nice for doing long train trips between bases where you may stay for some days - keep in mind the 7pm rule for overnight trains - if you board an overnight train after 7pm the following day is your unlimited travel day - you travel gratis from 7pm to midnight - thus you can cover very long distances and use up just one day on your pass.

For example you're in Amsterdam - you hop the overnight train to Zurich, Switzerland and then you have the whole next day to go onto say Italy - thus Amsterdam to Venice, Florence, etc may only use one day on your pass.

There are zillions of overnight trains going everywhere and again you saave daytime travel time and also save on the cost of a night in a hotel or hostel (even hostels these days run $20-25 or more!)