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Advice Wanted: Our itinerary for 3 weeks in Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy)

Advice Wanted: Our itinerary for 3 weeks in Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy)

Old Mar 12th, 2016, 03:07 PM
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Advice Wanted: Our itinerary for 3 weeks in Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy)

Hello everyone. My husband and I will be doing a 3 week backpacking trip through Europe including Portugal, Spain, and Italy. We are looking for some advice and guidance because we have never been any of these places before. We are planning a lot of stuff to do. We are very active and can see things that take some people a half day in a few hours. We do understand we may have to cut some things out or short due to time. We are in our 20s so the goal of this trip is to see as much as possible and to come back at later dates to stay longer in places we really liked.

This is a rough itinerary and we are open to changes before and during the trip!

-Flight from US to Dublin (hoping for a long layover here to see the city, 9 to 20 hours)

-Flight from Dublin to Lisbon (1 full day and night)

-Lisbon to Algarve (1 to 2 nights)

-Algarve back to Lisbon then to São Miguel Island for 2 nights. *We are also considering adding 4-6 days onto the trip so we can spend more time in the Azores.

-Back to Lisbon and same day to Madrid (1 to 2 nights)

-Madrid to Barcelona (2 nights)

-Barcelona to Ibiza (2 nights)

-Back to Barcelona and to Venice same day

-Venice for 2 nights

-Day trip to Dolomites

-Venice to Florence (2 nights)

-Florence to Rome (2 to 3 nights)

-Rome back to Dublin for another long layover

Thank you for any and all advice!
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Old Mar 12th, 2016, 03:28 PM
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You won't like my advice I suspect.

You are spending more time moving than 'seeing'. You may like to travel fast -- but this is mainly seeing airports and buses.

This bit for example:

>>-Back to Barcelona and to Venice same day

-Venice for 2 nights

-Day trip to Dolomites Barcelona > Venice then want to spend the entire next day 'day tripping' to the Dolomites which will be at least 3 hours each way, so 6 hours of travel time.
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Old Mar 12th, 2016, 03:28 PM
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Well this is the antithesis of the way we travel so I won't comment on your itinerary. The only thing I will ask is if you have already timed out in detail all of the flights or trains from one city to another. I don't know off hand of any that are not possible - but you won't know until you have checked them all.
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Old Mar 12th, 2016, 04:18 PM
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Thank you for the advice janisj and nytraveler. It is much appreciated.

To answer the question about the transportation portion, we have roughly timed out planes/trains/buses. The only problem is we don't have our exact travel dates yet but we will by next week.

How much time do you suggest we add to our trip to make this more realistic? Right now we are at around 21 days. Do you think adding one more week would make it better?

Also, we are considering taking São Miguel Island off our itinerary and saving the Azores for a future island hopping trip. That would give us extra time to add onto other places so we aren't rushing as much.
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Old Mar 12th, 2016, 06:07 PM
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Too bad about dropping the Azores, our favororite spot, but you do need more for the main part of your trip. You can fly out to the Azores from Boston later.
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Old Mar 12th, 2016, 06:08 PM
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Adding another week will make it better--you could add a day to many of the 10 locations you will visit in 20 days. Following your current plan, you will be in airports every other day for the first 13 days of your trip.

Day 0 Flight from US to Dublin
Day 1 arrive Dublin (long layover)
Day 2 Dublin to Lisbon
Day 3 Lisbon to Algarve
Day 4 Algarve
Day 5 Algarve to Lisbon to São Miguel Island
Day 6 São Miguel Island
Day 7 São Miguel Island to Lisbon to Madrid
Day 8 Madrid
Day 9 Madrid to Barcelona
Day 10 Barcelona
Day 11 Barcelona to Ibiza
Day 12 Ibiza
Day 13 Ibiza to Barcelona to Venice
Day 14 Venice - Day trip to Dolomites
Day 15 Venice to Florence
Day 16 Florence
Day 17 Florence to Rome
Day 18 Rome
Day 19 Rome
Day 20 Rome to Dublin (long layover)
Day 21 Dublin to U.S.

You also might price multi-city flights, into Lisbon and home from Rome, eliminating Dublin. Add the money you will spend flying from Dublin to Lisbon and from Rome back to Dublin to your transatlantic flight budget.
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Old Mar 12th, 2016, 06:38 PM
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Bedar, I have heard nothing but great things about the Azores! If we don't go this trip, we plan to go on trip just dedicated to the islands for 10-12 days.

Eleenem, thank you for the itinerary edit and recommendations! It is very helpful! The Dublin layover is actually part of a multi-city flight from DC to Lisbon and then Rome to DC. We didn't plan on Dublin originally but figured if we got lucky and have a really long layover there then we will make the most of it.
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Old Mar 13th, 2016, 10:21 AM
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If you drop the Azores and add a week that would help tremendously. And, much as I love Dublin I would not waste 2 days on super long layovers there. If you search I think you can find much shorter layovers and avoid wasting 2 days there.

Doing that would give you 28 or 29 days so you could:

Actually spend a full day IN Venice (I would spend 2 it's so unique), a full day in Lisbon (not my favorite but at least see something of Lisbon and environs), add a much needed 3rd day in Rome (you have no idea how much there is to see/do there, as well as allowing time for some soaking up of the local culture with just exploring and relaxing in cafes/piazzas), adding a day to Florence (depending on your interests actually IN the city or as a day trip to siena or similar).

I may have missed it but I don't see when you are traveling. For me I would want to do May or late September to avoid the worst of the heat.
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Old Mar 13th, 2016, 03:58 PM
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After taking everyone's advice we redid the itinerary. We took off Portugal and The Azores and are planning a 2 week trip dedicated solely to those places next year.

New Itinerary:

May 17th - Leave DC

May 18th - 13 hour layover in Dublin

May 18th (late at night) to May 20th - Barcelona (This will give us 1 entire day in Barcelona)

---Leave Barcelona early May 20th and arrive in Ibiza by 8am

May 20th to May 23rd - Ibiza

---Leave Ibiza at 10pm on May 23rd & arrive in Venice at 830am on May 24th

May 24th to May 30th - Venice and Dolomites (We plan to rent a car and spend 2-3 days of this time in Dolomites)

---Leave Venice early and arrive in Florence around 730am

May 30th to June 3rd - Tuscany and Cinque Terre

---Leave Florence early June 3rd and arrive in Rome around 9am

June 3rd to June 6th - Rome

---Leave Rome early and arrive in Naples by 9am

June 6th to June 10th - Naples and Capri

June 10th - Leave Naples to fly back to DC (This includes a 21 hour layover in Dublin from 3pm on the 10th to 1pm on the 11th. We plan to get a hostel overnight.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! This has been so helpful to us!
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Old Mar 13th, 2016, 04:03 PM
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nytraveler, thanks for the tips. We added time to Venice and Rome like you suggested
As for Dublin, that layover cannot be avoided on our travel dates. We are really excited to see Dublin though! Only bummer is that we can't make it to Cliffs of Moher...
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Old Mar 14th, 2016, 08:25 AM
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rhianna,

One thing that really jumps out to me on your revised and more detailed plan is that you are counting on lots of overnight/early travel. Is this something you have done before? Can you sleep on planes? I can't so for your sake I hope you can! Otherwise you are going to be cranky and exhausted on this fast, early-risers trip with the added sleep deprivation.

Also, with the speed of your plans, you need to have a Plan B prepared. If just one of those flights is delayed, poof, there goes your day in Barcelona or where ever.
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Old Mar 14th, 2016, 08:39 AM
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A much better plan (I like azores but ... and algarve for 2 days..nah)

Your Tuscany/Florence bit looks messy (too much to do too little time). Florence may be a big part of your trip, if it isn't then get off the train in Tuscany and get to see the wonders of the countryside, Siena and all the hill cities. If Florence is the big draw then the countryside may have to suffer.

For instance Chiusi is on the train line and you can hire cars there, but there are plenty of other places. You want to avoid ZTL areas where cars are banned.
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Old Mar 14th, 2016, 09:27 AM
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for trains in general - you can book yourself discounted tickets for Spanish and Italian trains - www.renfe.com and www.tranitalia.com respectively but book really early as those discounted ducats are sold in limited numbers and sell out way early sometimes - they are also usually non-changeable non-refundable I believe so be sure of your dates. For general info on trains check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.
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Old Mar 14th, 2016, 02:27 PM
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Dayle, I am able to sleep just about anywhere haha I appreciate you pointing that out though because it will be a bit tiring.

bilboburgler, Tuscany is the main part of the Florence stop for us. The reason I mentioned Florence is because that is where the flights from Venice land. Then I was planning on go to Tuscany from there.
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Old Mar 14th, 2016, 07:52 PM
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Rhianna, have you checked for direct flights from Venice to Florence? Your best bet is the Frecciargento train, from Venice doorstep to Florence city center in 2 hours, leaving at 5:37 am.
You then have the rest of the day in Florence, June 1 train to Cinque Terre, stay 2 nights, June 3 get up early and train back to Florence then on to Rome, arrive 2pm??
No time for Tuscany...

Cinque Terre is 3 hours by train each way if you were to do a day trip from Florence, so not worth the bother, no time to hike, barely time to see the different towns after waiting for the busy train that runs between them.

Really consider this...I have young relatives who went on a whirlwind tour of Europe. They hated the Amalfi Coast, and hated Rome...How could anyone HATE the Amalfi Coast?? Being 2 of the most popular tourist draws, for good reason, I can only conclude that they hated those places because they only spent a day in each place...
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Old Mar 15th, 2016, 10:44 AM
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forget Venice to Florence flights - will take longer and be more expensive than the train - getting to Venice' airport takes about an hour in itself and in from Florence nearly another.

Book train tickets ASAP at www.trenitalia.com for deep discounted fares on high-speed trains.
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Old Mar 18th, 2016, 04:26 PM
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sundriedtopepo, thank you for all of the information!
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