Itinerary advice needed ;)
 

Hello Everyone! I just discovered and joined this webpage and find it really interesting. I'm a girl from Argentina, 24 years old and planning on traveling on my own to Europe. I've never been there before and I'm going on my own, so I'm a bit scared. The trip will last two whole months, I'm arriving in London July 3rd. My idea is to visit at least the following countries: London, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Germany. What is the best option as regards the order of the countries? ways to travel? I was told buses are really cheap.. thanks in advance!!!

Oh I missed the Netherlands!

That's a lot of traveling - about 5 days per country. Suggest you narrow your expectations since you will not be able to see any of those countries in 5 days.

Regarding the order of the countries, you should take a look at a map and see how the countries relate to each other. For instance, you would not visit London, Greece, Spain, and Ireland in that order. A logical order will be evident once you see where these countries are located. I'd prefer to teach you to fish than to present you with the fish on a plate.

Buses are usually the cheapest travel mode but also take the longest. You don't have time to waste if you want to complete your itinerary.

If you're on a budget then doing this much traveling will certainly put you into a higher spending category.

Nine countries in two months unless your plan is just to travel straight through each one to the next means losing up to 9 full days of travel, so instead of 60 days of travel, you've got 51, which is about 5.5 days per country - do-able, but do keep in mind you're talking about entire countries!

I hope you have an ample budget - travel, even by bus, costs.

You need a map of Europe to plan your route. I would fly into your first destination and out of your last to avoid backtracking.

Since you're going to need to travel by rail sometimes you should get familiar with the website www.seat61.com, which is a comprehensive rail travel website.

It sounds like you've already bought your plane tickets from Argentina - is that correct? And if so, are you flying into London and then back from London, or are you flying back from somewhere else?

If you haven't bought your tickets, definitely do a multi-city itinerary when you do. August is a prime vacation month in Europe, so it might be better to start in the south with Italy or Greece and make your way north to Edinburgh or Ireland.

And I agree - you're going to need some down time on a two-month trip, and I think you'll be happier if you cut out at least one or two countries. Don't think in terms of countries - think in terms of cities or areas. When you say Italy, do you mean Rome, Venice, Florence, the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, the lakes, Cinque Terre... you get the idea.

I second the above advice on order and on the idea that you're trying to do way, way too much. My spouse and I spent a month just in northern Italy several years ago and just scratched the surface. This spring we're taking our second trip to the UK--two weeks this time and two weeks the last, and we've time to see very little. It's that important sights are much, much more heavily concentrated in Europe than in the Americas.

Price Eurail and Britrail passes. As you'll be traveling alone, take the train unless you can find some very cheap flights to cover long distances (i.e. Rome/Madrid.) You don't say where you're flying out of, so I'm going to assume you are flying out of London. If not, then adjust this.

So (and this is just a suggestion): cut your list of countries in half. As you're from Argentina, you will want to see Spain for sure and probably Italy. Add France and the UK and you've got a much more doable itinerary--one where you will actually be able to see some of the most important things and soak up the atmosphere rather than hurrying from one train station to the next.

This gives you roughly two weeks in each country which is enough to start. Begin in the UK (England and Scotland) as that's where you'll land. At least a third of that should be in London.

Then fly to Madrid. For a first trip, I'd concentrate on Madrid/Toledo area and Andalucia (i.e. southwestern Spain), before heading up to Barcelona on your way to France.

From there, train across southern France (a week) and then to Italy for two weeks. Rome/Florence/Venice are the big tourist areas and for a reason: they've got lots and lots to do, but there are also many smaller places that are worth a look.

Then train or fly back to Paris and you will have another week in northern France--and can even squeeze in a brief trip to the Netherlands and Belgium before taking the train back to London. You may be able to get a ferry across from Rotterdam to England.

Me parece un viaje encantadora. !Buen viaje!

Utilize the train in France as much as possible, since bus service isn't great.