Hi Everyone!
I am looking for some help with my itinerary to Europe. My boyfriend/brother/and a friend are going to Europe from May 10 to June 30 (brother and friend will be coming from May 25 to June 21 and meeting us where ever we are at the time). That makes 51 ish days, taking into account travel days. We are all 21-23 year old university students. We originally had about 15 cities on our itinerary, but cut it down because we thought this might be too much travelling and not enjoying the places we were in. After looking at the itinerary, you may think there are still too mnay places... this is why I really need help and a push to cut it down!
We are interested in seeing the sites and experiencing culture. Churches/museums/castles are all great and we want to do that, but are excited about other activities (such as renting mopeds in itals etc.) and are having trouble finding those sorts of things.
Here is a general outline of what we think we want to do.
fly into London (2-3 days) -via eurostar - Paris (3-4 days) - via easyjet - Barcelona (3-4 days - this one may need to go... but I really want to go there!!!) - via easyjet - Venice (2-3 days) - train - Bologna (2 days) - train - Florence (2 days) - train - Rome (4-5 days) - via flight - Greece (either land in Santorini or Athens, Possibly go to Santorini, Mykonos, and Ios OR Paros) will travel between islands on ferries - 2 days in each island - Athens (3-4 days) - via Flight - Istanbul (4 days ish - I know this is the part of the trip that is so out of the way, but Istanbul is one of our main places we want to see... we are finding it is so expensive to get in and out though) - flight - Vienna OR Munich OR Budapest (3 days) - train - Prague (2-3 days) - train - Berlin (5 days) - train - Amsterdam (however many days are left...) (fly home from Amsterdam)

Another idea that we toyed around with was taking a train from Barcelona to italy via Montpellier, Nice, Monaco, Cinque terre etc. We have heard that is a beautiful area, but my boyfriend is concerned this may not be the "Europe" Experience we want. I dont know what that means so I guess it is up for interpretation. For me, it is between the French coast OR more germany/austria (maybe we wouldnt go to vienna or munich if we did this). My vote I think is for french coast...
I think this is a lot of travelling around, but it is so hard to narrow it down. We think at the end of the day we would enjoy the trip better if we did less moving around. The total we are spending on transportation works out to about 450E for the trip which is quite alot. We are students so obviously budget conscious.

There are a few questions I would like help with from this forum:

1) Opinion on the itinerary - specifically which cities to include/cut or any other suggestions for cities we may enjoy more

2) Other fun activities we can do in the places we are going... not just castles/museums but things alot the lines of renting bikes and exploring etc.

3) Any transportation options that may be cheaper. I have looked at air carriers like ryanair/ easyjet/ vuelingair/ olympic/ aegean etc. and trains are fairly cheap in italy. Specifically Istanbul - I am having problems getting in and out (from Greece, then to austria, germany or hungary) are there any ferries that could work?

4) How much can we expect to spend on hostels/hotels in various places? On hostelworld it seems like everything is per person, about $25-45 per night, and you have to put a deposit down when you book. Just by looking at hotels in Istanbul I have found cheaper ones (and they look nicer than the hostels). I guess the idea with a hostel is that you meet other people? Any other places I can look for hotels/hostels? Also, should we be booking in advance or just showing up and finding one there... I am a huge obsessive planner and this concept terrifies me... although the other travelers are fine with it..

Thanks so much for your help!!! Feel free to comment on any part of the trip that you know of, and I can piece these things together as I go.

There are lots of other activities that you can do but you need to realize that

1) many are out in the countryside and you are focusing on large cities
2) some are quite expensive

You can head into the countryside from many of thee cities for hiking and or biking if you want more physical stuff. Other activities - balloon rides, etc - are big $.

As for hostels - have a look at the student guides - Let's Go or Rough guides. yes - they are $25 to $40 per night per bed. Hotels are NOT less - they are more. You are looking at Turkey - which is the cheapest place you will be going - major european capitals will cost at least twice as much. And do realize that you need to research hostels (some are really for partying with serious drug use) and the good ones (atmosphere and location) book up early.

You don;t mention what your overall budget is - but based on your comments I would be concerened that you have underestimated the cost of such a lengthy (5 1/2 weeks) trip. (My daughter, 19, and some friends took a lengthy trip last summer - and it cost each of them in excess of $8000 plus airfare. And they were traveling carefully - no fancy restaurants, limited nightlife, public transit and discounted train fares.

I need more time to read over the full post -- but at first glance it looks to be a bit too much. Not sure if you've figured in the travel time between places (when I re-read it I can do a calculation and see for sure)

But if you haven't included the intra-Europe travel -- then figure all your 2-day places will net between 1 and 1.5 days actual free time. The 3-day-ers = 2-2.5 days, and so on. You lose between 1/2 and one full day every time you move. And w/ hostels sometimes more since some have specific check in/check out periods..

It seems like you have 16 destinations-London, Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Greece-Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, plus 1 more island-Istanbul, Vienna/Munich/or Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam. Whew-I got tired just typing it!!

IMO I think you should pick 10 places Since there are 4 of you, each could pick their top 10, and you could settle on the ones with the most votes. Maybe you and your bf could pick a few for your time from 5/10-5/25 when there is just the 2 of you? Since you all are young you most likely will return to Europe in the future. When picking, take into account the weather, how expensive the place is (maybe pick some places that are cheap and a few that are more pricey?) what things the area has to offer-museums, hiking, etc.-ease of transportation from place to place. I believe you all will enjoy your trip. Remember-sometimes less is more.

Whatever you all finally decide I hope you all have an AMAZING time!!

Thanks everyone for the help. Janisj I look forward to your next post! nytraveler, our budget is about 50-60E per day plus transportation espenses between cities. I have a few friends who live in europe and travel OFTEN and they say this is for sure possible.

I basically need help specifically narrowing down places to go... we have never been to europe before and there is so much info on the internet, everyone has a favorite place. We cant seem to narrow it down. honestly after planning such a long trip, everywhere seems to blend in and look the same on paper. Any help on specifically where is cheaper, whats the best to see, and what to do in these places would be great.
Thanks!
Tess

Everyone has their favorite places. My first inclination would be to suggest you spend more time in London (something like 3-5 days) as it will be your first stop and you will likely need some time to get over jet lag. London is a nice introduction to traveling abroad as you can speak the language, yet it is very different and exciting.

Since you mention Vienna or Munich or Budapest my guess is that those cities aren't priorities so I would cut them. Personally, I would probably also cut Bologna unless you have a specific interest in going there. Figure that you will be back to Europe!

I would get a student oriented travel book and read up a bit on the places you've mentioned to try and figure which ones are your "must sees" and narrow your list to your top choices. Travel between cities is time consuming and expensive. If you allow yourself a little extra time in some top locations you can then venture out into the countryside for a variety of activities.

You might decide to allow a "vacation" from your trip and spend several more days at one of the Greek islands (for example) mid-trip doing very little except relaxing and recharging.

Hope this helps. Happy planning!

Your boyfriend-slash-brother....yikes!?!!

On a more serious, topical note...when I backpacked Europe I took a train from Athens up to Thessaloniki (greek macedonia) and loved it up there. Great city, nice people, history and fantastic beaches out on the peninsulas to the SE! Then I took a train into Istanbul, spent 5 days there and them flew into Munich. The one concern is the train ride into turkey was sloooooow. And most curiously, right before the Turkish border they made a large group of the turks get off and walk alongside the train, then the turks made a large group of greeks get off and walk! Guess there's a tad bit of animosity there! The lesson is, if they have a high speed train...take it!

Hi Everyone;
Thanks so much for your comments.
KTtravel; yes I agree a few more days in London to help get adjusted would be a great idea, as well as a few more days in greece. great ideas.
Chris45ny: yes i agree picking the top places is a good idea. I spoke with my brother and his main priority was cheap... which traveling to many cities is not, as you mentioned. So I have changed my order of cities:

London-paris-istanbul-athens-greek islands(2)-rome- florence - Bologna - Venice - Vienna/Munich (i will pick one)- Prague (will possibly cut this)- Berlin - Amsterdam

We also planned for an entire week in rome and we can do day trips from there - possibly to naples if we want?

Any thoughts?