Our Very Quick Trip!!!
 

Alright, Alright I know this itinerary is really crazy, but we are trying to make do with what we have as far as time goes. Us 20 something's aren?t allowed much vacation time these days, so we are making the best effort we can to see Europe in a whirlwind. We are fast moving people and really don?t take the time to wander through museums or anything like that. Your constructive comments will be helpful. I know many of you are going to say we should skip London and spend more time in Italy, but we want to see both London and Italy so we are making the best of it.

Wed, July 28th Leave Detroit 6:20pm on British Airways to Basel, Switzerland via London, Heathrow. Take the train from Basel to Freiberg to meet my Sister.

Thursday, July 29th Spend the day in Freiberg, Germany (we are meeting my sister who will study there this summer)

Friday, July 30th See the Black Forest, maybe a day trip somewhere.

Sat, July 31st Spend more time in Freiburg. Maybe do a few hiking trails, rent bikes in the mountains. Depart for Lucerne, Switzerland on an early evening train. Stay the night in Lucerne.

Sunday, Aug 1st Spend the day in Lucerne. Take the overnight train to Florence via Milan.

Monday, Aug 2nd Arrive in Florence. See Florence.

Tuesday, Aug 3 Day Trip to Rome or Cinque Terre.

Wed, Aug 4th Day Trip to Rome or Cinque Terre.

Thurs, Aug 5th Depart for London, England from Pisa Airport at 11:35am. Wake up early to maybe catch a glimpse of the Leaning Tower.

Friday, Aug 6th London, England. Maybe a train ride to Oxford.

Sat, Aug 7 London, England.

Sunday, Aug 8th Back to Detroit and back to work!!!

Yes, it is a really crazy itinerary. But what kind of constructive comments are you looking for? You obviously aren't interested in museums - so what ARE you interested in that would make you choose this route? You're going to arrive in Florence after spending the night on a train and "see Florence" in one day, then take a "day trip" to either Rome or Cinque Terre? Wow is all I can say. I guess maybe if I were in my 20s this might make some sense.

Go for it!! Just think. You will be able to go to cocktail parties in the future and tell everyone how you went to Rome one day or Florence one day and saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa at daybreak one day. Take lots of pictures (800 speed at least). How else you gonna remember anything from such a blur of a trip.

I wish I had your energy. It just might be lots of fun for you..........and exhausting but have fun anyway.

Larry J

Suggestions: Skip Lucerne. Skip the day trip to the Cinque Terre.

i'm not sure you can do it as you have written it....you will see very little....i suggest you cut it back and relax a bit...

Do either Rome or Florence. Forget the day trip to CT. You will make yourselves nuts otherwise. I think you are underestimating the amount of time it actually takes door to door. Far from seeing Europe in a whirlwind, all you will see is the whirlwind. You may be able to remember you had a meal in this city or woke up in that city, but is that really experiencing anything?

You will be in Florence on a Monday, which is a day that I believe most of the major sights are closed (double-check that). If you go to Florence and don't see David, or the Uffizzi, or the Baptistery, or any of those other wonderful sights, I would question going there at all. You could just as easily spend 2 days somehwere and be much more relaxed.

I understand the young-people-rushed-itinerary idea, I really do, as I've done it before with little regret. But I think your plan really derails with Italy. I woudl just go straight to Roe and dspend 3 days there...then you will have time to see everything that needs to be seen in Rome.

Hope you're packing light! I did the city-every-other-day thing after graduating college and yes, you'll be tired, but it's still fun and will give you a taste of Europe. One question... are you the same person who was traveling with your mom, who wanted to see Florence? Will she be up to this? Anyway, I think alloverEurope's right about the museums on Mondays so you might want to rethink that part. I'd also nix the Oxford sidetrip. By the end of the trip, you'll want to slow down a little, maybe buy gifts/souvenirs or whatever. London will give you more than enough to do in 2 days anyway.

Go for it; we have done a lot of such crazy running up and it has its own pleasant time with luggage being a curse. Self-driving is highly recommended. The surprise element in such planning is we tend to miss the traveling time between these places, which some time take away a large of the day and you end up watching TV.... enjoy your trip.

I can understand what you're dong. I did something very similar between school and uni when I was 18 - interailing around Europe for 1 month on NO budget (very popular activity amongst European teenagers). I saw 7 countries in 3 weeks, including a day in Venice, day in Milan, day in Vienna, day in Amsterdam... etc you get the picture. It felt like a great adventure BUT it didn't leave me with a great impression of some of the places I wizzed through - how would YOU feel arriving on an overnight train into Venice, spending one day there in the rain with no money to speak of, then getting the overnight train out again. It left me feeling very disappointed with Venice, Vienna and Amsterdam - all places I visited later, spent more time (and money) in and came to love. So just be sure you don't dismiss a pace because you've whizzed through on a wet day. Treat it as a scouting mission for later trips. But moving citites everyday? What a pain! Cut out a couple of places at least.

To prove you're right....

Skip London. And kill this dumb adolescent nonsense about "We are fast moving people and really don't take the time to wander through museums or anything like that"

You've another 60 years or so of travelling ahead of you. You're bound to need to pass through England again. The real way of doing quick trips to London is to see bits of the British Museum as a break while you're trying to sell hi tech exploration kit to BP, or to go to the National Theatre while you're advising Glaxo Smith Kline on US patent law.

Concentrate almost all your time in Italy (and drop Cinque Terre. Save this for a proper week-long walking holiday next year).

Since you're on a BA deal, you'll presumably be changing at Heathrow. Use this as an opportunity to learn about the things you can do on extended stopovers at Heathrow. For example:
- If you arrive reasonably early in the morning, and can catch a 6 or 7 pm flight to the US, hire a car, drive to Stratford and see a matineee. Or get the bus to Oxford and bus back.
- If you've less time, get the local bus or a taxi to Windsor (tourist shlock in my view, but...) or next-door Eton (whose college chapel is one of the sublimities of English church architecture)
- or train or tube into London, and go round one of the museums close to South Kensington tube. Though you'll need to save this till you grow out of your prejudices.

Now you've "seen" Europe about as much as I "see" the US if unfortunate enough to change at LAX en route from Europe to Australia

Dear jvrab,

I also urge you to reconsider. There is no need to see Europe in a whirlwind. You will get there again.

Since you seem to be forced to go to Freiburg, why not spend the rest of the time in Germany?

Since you are returning via London, why not spend the rest of the time in London?

Your Italy itinerary is, in my opinion, a waste of money. The Accademia, the Uffizi, the Cappelle Medicee and the Bargello Museum are closed on Monday.

I know that you wrote "We are fast moving people and really don't take the time to wander through museums or anything like that", but I must ascribe that to the pressures of trying to please too many people. You can't be that smugly shallow.

IF you are really determined to do this, then go for it. But why are you doing 2 day trips out of Florence? Forget about CT and do an overnight trip to Rome. Then fly out of Rome to London.
Then in London, I'd forget Oxford and enjoy seeing what you can in LOndon.
Do the city bus tours to see as much as you can.
Good luck.

Why do you keep posting this wild itinerary, getting posts from those who have experience suggesting you simplify the itinerary and then post an even more hectic version? If you want our thoughts, listen! If not, go on your own hectic way. I went to Europe the year between my junior and senior years in college and visited 11 countries in 4 weeks. We were exhausted and missed so much. Why not at least give a couple of wonderful places enough time so you will remember them after the trip is over. If you travel according to your present itinerary, I fear you will be one of those posters who returns from a trip and wonders (on this board) what all the fuss is about in Florence or London or the Black Forest.

Geez, I never realized how rude some people in this world can be! All I am asking for is your CONSTRUCTIVE input, not someome telling me that I am stupid!
Thank you to those who gave their opinion in a polite but assertive manner.
I think this Fodor's board needs a moderator to kick off all the absurdly rude people here.
I hope I don't run into some of you in my travels to Europe.
Just because we are not doing the trip the way you woudl plan yours doesn't give you any reason to be rude.

Hi jv,

You should have seen the comments before registration was required.

I'd just go for it. Truth of the matter is that you'll probably get somewhere and have a few new places or things you want to do on the spur of the moment that are not known yet. Pack you bag light. Don't over think it. Be flexible to change and not be married to some rigid plan than can not be changed a day here or there. You'll have a great time.Personally, I'd spend more time in Germany, England, or Switzerland. Or I might throw in a little Amsterdam&Paris. Myself, I'd spend less time in Italy...but hey..that's just me!

Freiburg is right next to Strasbourg, France. It's about an hour or less by train so there you can visit both Germany and France.

Is there a reason I missed as to why you are flying into Basel from Heathrow just to board a train to go to Freiburg? Is it just to see the scenery between Basel and Freiburg? Why not fly into Frankfurt or Munich to begin with?

You said you are looking for CONSTRUCTIVE comments, so I would have to say that you really are trying to do way too much and everything will end up being a blur.

Germany is a charming country. I suggest you spend more time there seeing the Mosel and Rhine areas. It's a short trip to Lucerne from Freiburg, so I think that would work for you too. But I definitely would not try to do Italy on this trip.

Jv, if you're still even checking this... I've argued before on this board about whirlwind trips. I did one myself and wouldn't change it for the world. If this is your only chance to get to Europe for a while and you want to see certain places, see them.

Having said that, although I support your idea, even I think it would be difficult to do a day-trip to Rome from Florence. The way read your itinerary, you're basing yourself in Florence and you'd like to see Florence in a day, Rome in a day, and CT in a day. Each of these places in one day is possible(though I will admit I would have liked more time for CT), but you do have to factor in travel time. From what I can remember, Florence to Rome is at least three hours via train, and Italy trains are not always reliable when it comes to the schedule... Also, I don't know what time the earliest train leaves from Florence for Rome, and when the last train leaves Rome... But you may end up with only a few hours. Just something to consider. Maybe a better choice would be to overnight from Lucerne to Rome, spend day in Rome, late train that night or early next morning to Florence, spend day there, and then same thing to CT, spend day there. I think the train from CT to Pisa is something like and hour and a half, maybe you could catch the last one out...

Finally, again from an empathetic point of view, if you're going to skip one of these cities to make it work, skip Florence. If you're not interested in museums, there's really no point in this city. You're going to be going off of fast first impressions, and Florence may be a disappointment on a one day trip. This is definitely a city for art-and-architecture lovers, and if you don't have at least two days, you won't get much out of it. Rome and CT will provide you with stronger images and memories. Just remember to take each day in each place with a grain of salt - my whirlwind was a taste-test for me, and I have decided to return to each and every place I visited!

But do pack light...