Need Itinerary Advice Italy Sweden France Spain
 

Planning 3 weeks June 2023. Flying out of US City either Philly, Newark or Tampa to Italy. Want to see as much as possible during our 3 weeks Italy to Sweden, then France and lastly Spain and maybe Portugal. Looking for must see cities in each, flight recommendations, hotels, hostels, rental car or just use public transportation? Also could use ideas on daily excursions in each city and estimated daily spending money. Never been to Europe so any help would be appreciated. Thinking of booking everything ourselves but we would consider a travel agency if it’s prudent. Thanks in advance!

Hi johntimmons8029, welcome to Fodor's. I hope you get a lot of good advice here. I will start by suggesting that 5 whole countries in 3 weeks is ambitious, and following the weather, perhaps organising your journey from south (hotter) to north (less hot) could be a helpful idea, but more critical in the hotter parts of summer. We don't know yet what your interests are - must-sees aren't universal, so I will refrain from suggesting my own must-sees for the moment. If you are a beginner, then perhaps you want to see at least the capital cities...? In which case, 4-5 days in the bigger cities and 2 - 3 days for a side trip/s to a smaller city. That would allow well for three countries.

I also suggest you go to your local library and get out some guidebooks and do a bit of reading, and also invest in a good map that you can stick pins in (not the same on Google Maps). Your requests are still too high-level for us to do a great deal with yet. What countries are your choice if you had to narrow it down to 3 countries and what are your interests in those countries?

Lavandula

First tip. Step back. Slow down. Five or even four countries in three weeks will mean plenty of airports and not much else. If all you want to do is see planes go to your local airport . It won't be that much different.

Must see? The concept doesn't work. Instead think about what YOU personally are interested in. It doesn't matter what anyone else finds important.

Second tip be realistic. twenty one days spread over five countries is at most five or six stops. Very quick stops. It's likely six flight days. Almost a third of your trip. It's six check in and check out days. Six days just getting your bearings.

In short what are you hoping to see and do?

Welcome to Fodors :) Now, for the bad news :(

What you want to do is basically impossible. Firstly though -- what places do you hope to see in each country??

I'd think at minimum you would include Venice, Florence & Rome in Italy, Stockholm in Sweden, France - Paris, Spain -- Barcelona & Madrid. Even without Portugal lay it out by day and you will see this isn't a viable/doable list/itinerary.

3 weeks/21 days. Minus 2.5 days spent traveling to/from Europe. Minus 1/2 to 1 whole day travel time every time you move cities - so deduct another 4 to 6 days just in transit. You are now down to 12.5 to 14.5 days free for seeing and doing things. So let's call it 13-ish days to explore seven major cities - nope. Not going to happen

You'd need a private plane to manage this, and still wouldn't see much in any one place. You certainly couldn't manage anything like this by car.

Have you already booked your flights?

Three weeks could be a reasonable three country trip -- but that depends on how many places you'd try to hit in each country. For instance a basic Venice/Florence/Rome Italy itinerary would need about 10 days minimum. Whereas one city like Stockholm -- maybe 3 days total would work.

I agree with everything already said. Some specifics:

-- Please reconsider zig-zagging around Europe by plane. Europe has an excellent train system. Go here for lots of info on how to use it: https://www.seat61.com/european-train-travel.htm

-- Please reconsider zig-zagging by any means. Fly into Rome and out of Paris (no Iberia). Or into Rome and out of Madrid or Lisbon (only if you are traveling early in June). Forget Stockholm, which is better, and more coherently, visited as part of a Scandinavia or Scandinavia plus Baltics or Scandinavia plus northern Germany trip.

-- Definitely buy a paper map, and borrow some guide books. For us to help you we need to know why you want to visit certain places, and guide books will help you decide. Just because Florence, for instance, is on many tourist itineraries doesn't mean it needs to be on yours (I have been to Italy several times and have still not visited Florence).

-- If you really want the kind of trip where you just spend a couple of nights in a place, perhaps to decide whether you want to go back later for longer, a tour might work for you. A carefully chosen tour, that is - you don't want a cheapie with many hours on the bus and hotels out of town. This one, maybe: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/europe/europe-21-days

-- There is no need for a travel agent, once you've decided on flights book direct with the airline. Use booking.com for places to stay, although you can also try contacting hotels/B&Bs direct - they all have websites these days. And again, use guidebooks.

-- Budget is entirely up to you. You can still do Europe cheaply (although it helps to avoid expensive countries like Switzerland and Sweden), or you can spend a bundle.

I've always found the planning phase fun, good luck.

yikes