Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Venice, Rome too much for 15-20 days?
 

I'm in the beginning stages of planning my trip to Europe for next Summer. I have the freedom of summers off (teacher) so I can spend up to 3 weeks with some wiggle room.

Cities I'm currently planning on going to:
-Paris
-Amsterdam
-Berlin
-Venice
-Rome

Cities I'm interested in but are a bit out of the way:
-Athens
-Madrid
-Barcelona

What cities would you seriously suggest? Is 5 cities in 3 weeks adequate? Anything I should add on or take off?

Five cities in 3 weeks is plenty - don't try to add any more cities. Remember that you will lose much of a day each time you change locations, so it takes 4 nights to get you three days in a city. If you have 20 nights on the ground in Europe, you could spend 4 nights (three days) in each city. Is that enough time for you? If not, cut one city, and you can get four full days (5 nights) in each of 4 cities. Fewer cities means more time for sightseeing/experiencing the places you have chosen.

I would encourage you to add some smaller places besides these huge cities to your itinerary (Venice isn't that big but is very busy and touristy.) Over the years, I've found I like the smaller towns a lot better, actually. I suppose if you want to spend most of your time in museums you would have your fill with all of these places...

I also think your first list of five cities looks good to me. Four nights in Venice might be a bit much. You can't beat Paris and Rome. You can see our trips on my website - www.rimerson.com
Rob

Andrew, I was thinking of that. Any particular suggestions for smaller towns? I don't mind cutting out venice if need be. Maybe rent a car from Venice to Rome to see the country side a bit?

Also, I've always wanted to go to spain but was forgoing it because of it's distance away. If I don't do venice think barcelona or madrid is doable/wise?

Venice is a mixed bag. On one hand, it's incredibly beautiful and unique. On the other...during the day, it's a nightmare of crowds, lines, and big tour groups - like Disneyland. Venice is amazing at night and early in the morning, though. My preference is to do day trips from Venice and come back at night. You can day trip (by water bus/vaporetto) out to the islands like Murano (actually really close, not much of a day trip) and Burano. You can day trip by train easily to nearby towns like Vernoa, Padua, and, Bologna.

All of the big cities you mention have different appeals. Venice has museums...but the highlight is its incredibly beauty in my opinion. Berlin is the opposite: it's not a very attractive place, full of construction cranes and new projects and very spread out, but it has a lot of history, and it has a thriving nightlife, supposedly (I visited Berlin but didn't explore the nightlife).

I think most people would recommend driving in say Tuscany around the countryside but, otherwise, sticking to the trains especially on a solo trip. Italy has a fantastic train system, and there are fast trains between Rome and Venice.

If you wanted to Italy and say Paris-Amsterdam, those are basically two corridors well connected by train. You could fly between say Rome and Paris or Rome and Amsterdam to connect the two areas, then take the train between Paris and Amsterdam. You can certainly do day trips from Paris and Amsterdam - e.g. from Paris out to towns in say Normandy. Berlin doesn't fit in easily with the other two regions unless you fly.

I haven't been to Spain myself, can't help you there. But I imagine it's not really too difficult to fly between Italy and Spain if that's what you want to do.

One of my favorite spots in Italy is the Cinque Terre, a group of five villages on the NW coast of Italy (Italian Riviera, basically) that seem almost built into the sides of the hills - very unique. The big experience is hiking from town to town, through olive groves and fields, with breathtaking views down on the ocean. This is a nice contrast with everything else on your trip, but it's a ways from any of the cities on your list. If you were taking the train between France and Italy it might be a waypoint. The Cinque Terre is also incredibly touristy now, though, too, and I imagine it's a zoo in the summer.

Thanks for the information! I definitely need all the help I can get ha. The more I'm looking at it I might consider stopping somewhere in the alps/switzerland for some sightseeing/hiking. Not sure if I can fit all this into my 3 weeks or if I'd have to push it to 3.5 weeks, like I said, I do have some wiggle room.

If budget allows, go for more time in Europe. It's far easier to extend your trip by a few days than to come back again for a second helping. If you decide to squeeze in Switzerland, recommend the Jungfrau Region near Interlaken. I've only been there for skiing, but the scenery is stunning.