Help with itinerary, please!
 

I desperately need help with my itinerary. A friend and I are studying abroad this summer in Spain. This will be our first trips to Europe ever, so we need a little help with planning. After we are done studying, we want to take an extra 16 days to travel Europe. Some of the places we would like to go are: Paris, the French Riviera, Munich, Lucerne, Florence and Rome (maybe Venice), and possibly Greece. We plan on getting Eurail passes before we leave, and we already know that we want to travel at night and sleep on the train to save sightseeing time. <BR> <BR>Taking all of that into consideration, is this plan possible? If so, can anyone give me some suggestions of how much time in each place to spend? <BR> <BR>Any suggestions are appreciated...thanks!! <BR>

You're pretty desperate, alright. <BR>

This seems awfully ambitious for 16 days. May I make a suggestion, please? Go to your library and check out some books. Or go on the web, or just spend hours on this site studying. After you've done that, you need to figure out what your interests are and what you REALLY want to see. Then work on paring your itinerary down. The way it is right now, you plan on being in 5 countries and 8 cities/areas in 16 days. And this doesn't include travel time between stops. Paris, Rome, and Florence can easily fill 16 days. (As a matter of fact, I've already spent 16 days in Florence alone, and plan on going back next year!) Then, after you've gotten it down to a manageable few places, come on back. There is always somebody here who will be happy to answer your questions.

I am actually desperate for help...I don't know anyone who could help me, and someone suggested this site...I would appreciate actual feedback, instead of speculations that I am a troll... <BR> <BR>All I want is some help...

&lt;&lt;If so, can anyone give me some suggestions of how much time in each place to spend?&gt;&gt; <BR> <BR>You should already have answered your own question with some simple math: 8 places, 16 days - that gives you one day to get to each place and one day to spend there. If you travel at night for 8 nights, you'll be so beat you won't know what you're seeing. Best of luck. <BR> <BR>

My son has been in Madrid all winter semester long. Check with your university. There will be MANY long weekends and days off. You will be able to see a great deal during the school session. Have fun.

Another good site for information is www.eurotrip.com, it tends to be a little more student oriented. A great resource for first time travelers is Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door. You may also want to look at his web site at www.ricksteves.com <BR> <BR>You'll probably want to spend 3 days in Paris and 2 each in Rome and Florence. I'd choose Venice over Lucerne. I don't think you'll have time for Greece. You may want to fly home from one of the cities to save time traveling.

No, it is not possible to do all that in 16 days. I would recommend spending at least 3 days at any stop; otherwise you will just feel exhausted from travelling all the time and hardly have time to see anything. Bigger cities like Paris and Rome deserve more like 5 days. I think the absolute most I would recommend doing in 16 days would be 5 days in Paris, 3 days in Venice, 3 in Florence, and 5 in Rome. Save the rest for another time. The Greek islands are fabulous, but if you decide to go there, I would just spend all 16 days island-hopping if I were you and don't go anywhere else. Good luck and have a great time.

Clearly, people on this forum have forgotten what it was like to be a student and how much energy one has at that age, especially when the adrenalin is flowing during a first visit to Europe. Forget Greece, go to the other 7 places, 3 days each for Paris and Rome, 2 each for the Riviera, Florence and Venice, 1 each for Munich and Lucerne, leaving 2 days to be spontaneous. Pack bread, cold cuts, cheeses and wine for the overnight train trips. Have fun.