Hello! I am taking a 22 day trip to Europe with two of my friends. I am looking for feedback on itinerary ideas:

We were able to get a really cheap flight into Dublin so we'll be flying in there, but will head on the cheapest flights to one of the cities we're interested in seeing. We are interested in seeing the sights, touristy stuff, good cheap food, etc. Our plan is to stay in hostels. These are countries/cities we would like to see: Spain (Barcelona or Madrid),Italy (Rome or Venice..maybe both? England (London) and France (Paris or ??). Although I know it probably isn't possible, we wanted to maybe squeeze a day or 2 somewhere in Greece.

I am looking for ideas for our trip, as well as suggestions on must see cities, as well length of time needed to see each place..and routes to go. I understand 22 days could be spent in each country alone, but we all have never been before and want to see what we can and still have a good time. Also suggestions on best way to travel from country to country, and city to city. I know this is a lot, any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

Budget?

Spending one day or two in Greece?
Yopu should perhaps start with studying a map, calculating the distances between countries/cities.

For budget I would say between $2500-$3000 (not including airfare)
Clausar, don't worry that is the plan. Greece is really something that we realize may not be possible, I'm just wondering if it is feasible.

I will add more details:

We are thinking to start in Spain, then Italy...France, London then back to Dublin (only to head home)

Potentially 4 days in each place (would love to stay more than 22 days but I can't afford it ha)

If you skip London, that should save you enough money to hit Greece. London is by far the most expensive city on your proposed itinerary.

Ooooh ok awesome, thanks for the suggestion. What about nixing Paris or do you feel that Paris is something everyone needs to see? I know it is different for every person, all suggestions are welcome.

We are thinking the best way to travel is by plane from country to country (like with Express Jet or Ryan Air). However, we have heard mixed reviews. The major places we want to hit are London, Paris. Rome, and Barcelona.

Look <b>very</b> carefully at the terms & conditions of the discount carriers so you are aware of the "hidden" fees (my favorite being the 35 Euro fee for them printing out your boarding pass instead of you printing it out at home).

And be prepared to travel light -- just one small carry-on -- so as not to incur expensive luggage charges. Check the airline websites for what they will allow on board.

Also note the airports used by Ryanair in particular. They're not the usual ones and are usually at some distance from the city destination. Like Stansted for London, Beauvais for Paris and Ciampino for Rome. For Barcelona they may arrive at Reus or Girona, both distant from Barcelona.

But there are many other small airlines in Europe. Look at whichbudget.com and skyscanner.com for airlines flying your desired routes.

Regarding hostels, here's an introductory page by Rick Steves: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/1198hostels.htm. Look at guidebooks like Let's Go and the Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet's website has a forum, the Thorn Tree, with lots of tips for travelers on the cheap.

Your budget is low. Will the cost of your flights between cities have to come out of that? In addition to the hostel, you'll have to buy food and pay admission fees. And public transportation in cities. The fewer places you go, the cheaper it will be.

Flying to Dublin when you do not want to visit Ireland may well be false economy. Depending on where you fly from and your arrival time, it may well end up costing you a as much for a hotel for a night, meals and an onward flight Ryanair or whoever, as it would have to fly to London to begin with.

If that is not already booked and non-refundable, I would suggest doing some homework to figure out the TRUE price of that idea and including the return to Dublin costs before the flight home as well.

At best, you are at least going to LOSE a couple of days out of your available time. How much is a day IN a place worth vs. a day lost getting from Dublin to A and a day lost returning to Dublin?

Better would be to fly to a City in a more central location relative to where you want to visit. Best would be flying 'open jaws' which is in to one city and back from another. So into London say and return from Rome for example.

At first blush, a 'really cheap flight' looks great. Then you discover what it will add to both costs in $ and time lost.

Regarding budget, you say it does not include airfare. Does that mean it does not include the flight from Dublin to London and the return airfare from wherever to Dublin?

Your budget looks like around 100E per day per person. That's quite doable using hostels, supermarket food and the odd museum entry but you need to have a clear picture of what transportation is going to eat out of that.

For rail travel read the maninseat61 website to get some answers on costs.

For hostels check the hostelbookers website.

There are no 'must sees' except those you decide are must sees. The term 'must see' is meaningless. It depends on the individual's interests.

Time in a place is the same but I would say there is a minimum time you should use as a guideline. Four nights per place is a good minimum. Received wisdom tells you that every day you move from one place to another will cost you double on average what a day spent IN a place will cost. So the less you move the less you spend on moving and have to spend IN a place.

Personally, I think you are trying to cover too much in too little time. That and packing too much are the two commonest mistakes travellers make.

You could save a lot of time and $ by only covering a smaller area. ie. Fly into Paris, travel by train within France, Spain and Italy and fly home from Rome.

I am really thankful for the feedback, especially the high costs of travel between countries (something I didn't really sit down and think about it). We will probably go back to the drawing board!!

dulcia makes some good points.

I have a friend whose daughter did something similar last summer. They had a great time.

The sooner you buy your tickets for your European travel, the cheaper it will be. So, a real plan is going to save you money over "winging it" as you go. (For instance, a flight from Rome to Paris on RyanAir might be E63 if you buy it now. If you wait until the week you want to depart, it might be E400.)

You can easily plan the trip. Get together with your friends and head to your local big box book store (or just grab your laptops). Look through the guide books to determine no more than 4 places you really want to see. I think London/Paris/Barcelona/Rome would be a great trip.

Seriously, if you do more than that, you will be in danger of remembering nothing from the trip except packing/unpacking/traveling.

We all understand the excitement of your first trip to Europe. If you are young, you will surely plan a return trip when you are better financially situated.

As dulci stated above, do read the fine print re baggage, etc. on these European airline sites. I don't know about the other airports, but getting into Rome center from Ciampino is not difficult. You can catch a bus for like E4. I suspect the other "outlying" airports also have bus service to "city center", etc. Just do your homework and you will be well-prepared!

Have a wonderful time! And do try to lay down a solid plan before going. Paying well in advance can save you tons of money. (For instance, if you decide to go to Venice from Rome, it is just under a 4-hour trip. If you buy tickets 3 months in advance, the cost could be E39. If you wait until the last minute, that ticket would cost E109.)

PS Flying between these cities is going to be the least expensive and least time-consuming. But if you want to do Venice and Rome, the train is better if you pay well in advance.

Have fun!

If you concentrate on 2 or 3 connected countries, you will be rewarded. My favourites are Italy, Austria, Germany.. are more economical... France-Switzerland- more expensive, Spain-Portugal.. again less expensive. Austria is a microcosm of Europe.. you can spend 10 days there or even more.. Same with Germany.. Italy has so much to offer, that even a month would be less. You may choose 3 country eurail pass for internal travel. You may also add a few overnight train journeys to stretch your budget and time. Dont pack too much.. you will not remember anything by the end of the trip.. Try to absorb rather than do sight seeing..

Thanks a lot Dulci as we all Sarge and everyone else. We literally want to plan almost everything, and I am realizing that is probably the best option.

The quickest, easiest way between London and Paris is the Eurostar train under the Channel. 2.5 hours city center to city center. This train can be expensive; buy the tickets as early as you can for a big savings.

In addition to money, consider time. The more time you spend on a bus traveling into town from a distant airport (never very good scenery), the less time you have to see the sights you traveled to Europe to see.