Planning a European Trip
 

Starting to put together a 15 day (excluding flights to and from home) trip to Europe. My friend and I are having a really hard time putting together an itinerary because this is both of our first times traveling to Europe and we have so many places we would like to see.

We already have booked flights from our home city in the US to Dublin and returning to our home city from Rome. Other than that the 15 days not in transit are completely up in the air. Right now our list of cities we would like to see are as follows (in no particular order and not limited to): London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague (excluding Dublin and Rome they are already penciled in).

We are both 23 year old men with no reservations on any activity really. We are very much interested in taking in historical sites as well as the great food and drink of these countries/cities.

Looking for guidance on our itinerary and how much time we should realistically plan on spending in each city/traveling to each city.

For 15 days on the ground I would recommend 5 cities at most, including Dublin and Rome. It is not possible to see all the big ones that you mentioned. Please understand that intercity transportation takes a lot of time, and European towns are not about 1 or 2 attractions each - they require time to walk around and explore. Especially if you want to enjoy great food and drink, which is available in ample here. 3 days in each city, including transportation time, is such a little to see their glory.

I do take into consideration that you are young and fit. If you were older, I would even reduce the number of destinations.

A classical initerary would be Dublin - London (flight), London- Paris (Eurostar train), Paris-Amsterdam (Thalys train, or flight), Amsterdam-Rome (flight).

If you're not agree with me and really want to stretch your itinerary, then by all means add no more than 1 city to that, which would shoot your budget up unnecessarily.

Right now our list of cities we would like to see are as follows (in no particular order and not limited to): London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague (excluding Dublin and Rome they are already penciled in).>

Impossible in 15 days for all that

more practical - Fly from Dublin to say London
take Eurostar train to Paris
fly or take an overnight train to Italy

end up in Rome

fly home from there

even that is very ambitious.

for lots on trains check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. Book Eurostar tickets way early to nab limited in number discounted tickets; www.skyscanner.net for cheap flights.

Your plan is certainly feasible. Fun, not in my book, but here is one way you could do it.

Day 1-3 Dublin
Day 3pm or day 4 am, fly to London
Day 4/5/6 London
Day 6 pm, train to Paris
Day 6/7/8 Paris
Day 8 pm, train to A'dam
Day 9 A'dam
Day 10, train to Berlin
Day 11/12 Berlin
Day 12 train to Prague
Day 13/14 Prague
Day 14 fly to Rome - visit Rome in a day.
Day 15 fly home

Perfect. I 'did' 14 cities in the US in 28 days. Tis itinerary is not worse.

Yes it is feasible and go for it if you like to move around a lot - I've done trips like that when young - you can incorporate overnight trains at some places to have more time in cities (like Amsterdam-Dusseldorf-night train to Berlin. there is even overnight buses between London and Paris for dirt-cheap prices.

If I were 23 I'd schedule more days into Amsterdam -if into night life for folks your age who flock there from all over Europe. Helps if into cannabis which is sold over the counter and consumed in dozens of coffee shops (as opposed to koffie shops that sell coffee!)- the Bulldog Palace is one of the most elaborate and appeals to a largely 20s crowd with many Americans.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bull...HR6VBZUQsAQIGw

https://www.google.com/search?q=aMST...Hbm6CpEQsAQIHA

Amsterdam also has world-class museums so it is not just a party but many youth hotels and hostels have bars to meet others your age.

And on a Tuesday they could pass thru Belgium to Amsterdam -maybe stopping off in Brussels for a few-hours en route.

23yrs old pal, not sure if they'll catch any of the references.

Nonetheless J62, one day in Amsterdam is hardly worth the effort. Fly between Amsterdam and Berlin to avoid a very long train journey.

What proportion of your 15 days do you want to devote to transit? The more places you go, the less time you have to see/do/experience. Also the more places you go, the more it will cost you. I'd rather spend my money on experiences in the places I've chosen rather than just going from place to place. But it's your trip - up to you!

When I was early 20s I took trains a lot -I loved the travel between sights as much or more than the sights- the Europe in between -train stations and towns, etc. But most would rather be in cities at museums or walking around.

Night train Vienna-Zürich (brochure in English)
www.oebb.at/en/angebote-ermaessigungen/nightjet

Timetables trains Zürich - Wengen: www.sbb.ch/en

Nonstop flights VIE-BRN
https://flyskywork.com/en/booking/flights

Example - random date in June:
https://skywork.worldticket.net/en/b...&&1=1,2=0,3=0&

michel- think you posted by mistake here - not relevant to OP's plans.

Every person has different tastes when it comes to choosing travel destinations. I would do the following:
Day 1 to 3: Dublin
Day 3 to 6: Edinburgh or London
Day 6 to 9: Amsterdam
Day 9 to 12: Florence
Day 12 to 15: Rome

Dublin and Rome are a bit far apart for 15 days, so you will need to fly instead of taking a train. If you have more than 15 days you could travel by bus during night and cover a long distance saving one hotel night.

J62's plan would only allow a few hours in Rome, arriving one day and leaving the next. Flights to the US leave early, and you need to be at the airport 3 hours in advance, so the only time in Rome would be after the flight arrival from Prague. It really would hardly even be worth going into the city.

I think your best option is to forget Berlin and Prague for this trip. You're young and this surely won't be your last trip to Europe. Plan another trip in the future that focuses on eastern Europe.

flying only between cities lets you see mainly tarmacs and airports and a few heavily touristed cities -an itinerary by rail with cities closer together lets you also see the Europe in between the tourist magnet cities.

You cannot even do a cursory visit to all your possible destinations in fifteen days. I also think you are missing the best part of Ireland, which is the countryside by concentrating on Dublin. Just Dublin, London, Paris and Rome is extremely rushed in your time frame

Another possibility:

Day 1 - Arrive Dublin - half-day in Dublin
Day 2 - 1 full day in Dublin
Day 3 - Fly to London - half day in London
Day 4,5,6 - 3 full days in London
Day 7 - Eurostar to Paris - half-day in Paris
Day 8,9,10 - 3 full days in Paris
Day 11 - Thalys to Amsterdam - half-day in Amsterdam
Day 12 - 1 full day in Amsterdam
Day 13 - Evening flight ot Rome - half-day in Amsterdam
Day 14,15 -2 full days in Rome

NOTE: I personally would find this much too rushed. With 15 days, a better plan would be:

Day 1 - Arrive Dublin - half-day in Dublin
Day 2 - 1 full day in Dublin
Day 3 - Morning flight to London - half day in London
Day 4,5,6 - 3 full days in London
Day 7 - Half-day in London - evening Eurostar to Paris
Day 8,9,10,11 - 4 full days in Paris - Sleeper train to Rome
Day 12,13,14,15 -4 full days in Rome (possible Florence day-trip)
Day 00 - Fly home

This gives you:
1.5 days Dublin
4 days London
4 days Paris
4 days Rome
1.5 days day-travel between cities

Day 8,9,10,11 - 4 full days in Paris - Sleeper train to Rome>

there is no longer a sleeper train direct to Rome but to Milan and Venice - connections for Rome but won't get there until late morning - OK but just to clarify -night trains Paris to Rome scrubbed a few years back.

Either the OP lost interest . . . or is waiting for a notification from Fodors.

Has never returned since posting five weeks ago.