janisj

"<i>I wouldn't take this cultural tone deafness seriously.</i>"

I am definitely not 'culturally tone deaf'. Whether one is British and wants to see all of California in 6 days, South Asian and all of Western Europe in 20 days, or American and Thailand/Cambodia/Laos in 10 days - there is the misconception that "<i>They doubt they will ever want to take the long plane flight again, and they want to see as much as they can.</i>"

The more one moves around the <i>less</i> time one has to actually see and do things. So if one simply wants to tick sites off a list - take a group tour. They will handle the luggage, handle the hassles, and get you to all those places if not 'see' all of them.

But to spend all that time and money to travel from India to Europe - only to spend half your time and budget touring train stations and airports seems a REAL waste.

jamikins and Mimar have given you good options to work with.

PalenQ

alternate

Region/city Day
rome 1-4
pisa/florence 5-7
venice 8-9
zurich 11-13
lucrene 13-15
interlaken 16-18
dijon 19-20
Paris 20-22>

I disagree that this itinerary is too hurried as it is something like I do all the time and I, like Janisj, an not 'culturally tone deaf' - yet I find my culture not just in major churches or museums but also on the train and in train stations as well.

Tired of folks who think one type of 'culture' is better than another and who say you must spend a week in each place or it is a waste of money - each to his own.

janisj

Sheesh PQ (!) - "<i>. . . who say you must spend a week in each place or it is a waste of money - </i>

Who said <i>anything</i> about staying a week anywhere??

And yes, some are train 'geeks' like you and enjoy the train travel as much or more than <i>being</i> places. Only the OP knows if he/his family fit that description. If they don't - this could be an expensive and disappointing holiday.

PalenQ

and IF they do...

mamcalice

The OP is planning 22 days in Europe and doesn't like museums. Maybe they can follow PalenQs itinerary and see lots from train windows. However, if scenic beauty is the goal, they are spending time in a lot of cities. Consider, in addition to Switzerland, spending time in the Tuscan countryside instead of Florence. (It pains me to say that as, after Paris, Florence is my favorite city in Europe.)

suze

If you want to move at the speed and itinerary of an organized tour group, then I'd join an organized tour group. Not try to imitate their agenda on your own.

nytraveler

It is practically impossible for independent travelers to cover the same number of places at the same speed as a tour. The tour can do it because they know the ground intimately, have buses/drivers that can cover the ground at high speeds while the tour members stare out the windows - and they can make advance arrangements for entrances.

People traveling independently will typically take much more time - and usually do not want to spend 6 or 7 hours per days just sitting ona train most days.

If you want to just ckeck items off on a list - and spend most of your time in transit (anda lot of money on trains) do the trip as you have planned.

If you really want to see any of europe (not necessarily museums - but churches, castles, countryside or whatever - you need to allow time to do so. The itinerary you have planned won;t do that. In 22 days I would do 4 places - with some day trips to the countryside - assuming you are traveling between late April and October The rest of the year the countryside doesn't look like much in most places due to winter weather - no flower or leaves on trees.

But - it's you money. I just think you should look into this in more detail before you spend an awful lot of money seeing practically nothing.

Bhavin_Trivedi

Amalfi cost(Itly) & Nice(Paris),also place to include in ur itineraries!!!

PalenQ

I agree rather than adding the OP needs to subtract a few places from itinerary - Zurich and Dijon could be dropped to spread more time in cities where OP has little time - like 2 days in Dijon could be dropped and added to Paris or Italy.

Dijon itself is just another nice French regional town - perhaps you are going to Beaune and the Burgundy wine country but Dijon itself for two days would be a day too much for the average traveler IMO.

bilboburgler

There is some very good advice above and I think sandeep1967 you need to really chose where you and the girls want to be. The original plan is too much for me so I went back to it to see how it looks if you take the museum/art galleries out and forcus on the visual appearance walking about, taking cable cars and trams, walking in parks and such


Region/city Day, score out of 10
madrid 6
Barcelona 10
nice/ 6
Avignon 8
Pisa/ 8
Florence 8
Rome 10
Venice 12
Zurich 2
lucrene 6
Interlaken 6
Dijon 2
Paris 8

Then I tried to add in some of the other's proposals in the same score
Amalfi Coast 9
Beaune 7
Nice 2
And then my own thoughts
Sienna 10
Geneva 6
Prague 8


Based on that scoring you really want to drop out Dijon and Zurich.

Generally I'd try and take trains to get to most of these places. How often you move is up to you but assume you will lose at least half the day if not more in every move and you will get to see lots of countryside rushing by.

Bhavin_Trivedi

bilboburgler ,What about Bologna near florance(Italy).

Whats ur rating for this place???

PalenQ

Well me rating for Bologna is superb - way underrated city often not included in Italian itineraries it seems - said to have the most historic ancient buildings of any Italian city in its city center - i loved Bologna - simply loved it. Could be a day trip from Florence as I did it.

bilboburgler

I'm not sure about Bologna, I think Ferrara (just to the north of B but with walls, a castle, cathedral, parks, little shops and loads of bikes) would score a 7 or an 8. I'm told Bologna is like a big Ferrara, but without the "gem" like property.

nytraveler

Can only agree that you are trying to do too many places. And if you really want to see natural beauty - why are you spending all of your time in cities instead of touring the countryside?

Don't misunderstand me, we spend a lot of time in cities -b tu we love cities and want to see every museum, cathedral and art gallery that there is.

If you really want countryside I suggest you spend more time in the Swiss mountains, the countryside and small villages of the riviera or tuscany and the beautiful lakes of northern Italy.

That would easily take your entire trip - with cities just for landing and departure.

PalenQ

I loved Ferrara as well but to me Bologna would rate much higher than Ferrara - did enjoy jogging around the nearly intact city walls in Ferrara - just not as many monumental buildings, galleria, etc as in Bologna, which also features many covered passageways so makes a good rainy day destination.