Hi,
I have done some initial research and need you advise before getting into the finer details of my trip. This will probably be our only Europe try and we are trying to make the most of it. Sorry for the long post.

Number of people: 2
Age: 30, 30
Flying from: San Francisco
When: Beginning of Sept 2010
Duration: 1 month (32-33 days including travelling time from SFO)
Budget: 10K Euro (about $15K inclusive of Schengen Visa, travel, food, stay, siteseeing)
Interests: Architectural and Cultural Highlights, if possible a short country side scenic drive. Mostly touristic places since this may be our only trip.

List of cities that are must see: Amsterdam, Paris, a couple of places in Switzerland, Venice, Rome, Athens, Prague,Berlin or Munich, Pisa
List of cities that are not must see: Cologne, Florence, Vienna
Mode of transportation: Train travel in Europe, can fly a low cost airline once if that can save time within Europe.

My ideal itinerary is below. I understand it is very aggressive, please advise if it is doable at all. The number within the brackets tells the day of the trip.

Fly into frankfurt (day 1, overnight at Frankfurt)
Train to Amsterdam and stop at Cologne to see the Cathedral for 2-3hrs(day 2)
Amsterdam ( day 3, day 4, 3 nights)
Train to Paris ( day 5)
Paris (day 6, day 7, day 8, 4 nights)
Train to Bern or Geneva (day 9)
Switzerland-day trips to Interlaken, Lucerne, one scenic train ride ( day 10, day 11, day 12, 4 Nights)
Train to Venice (day 13)
Venice (day 14, day 15, 3 Nights)
Train to Rome, detour to Pisa (day 16)
Rome (day 17, day 18, day 19, 4 Nights)
Train to Bari, ferry to Greece (day 20 overnight in ferry)
Athens (day 21, day 22, day 23, 3 nights)
Fly to Vienna (day 24)
Vienna (day 25, day 26, 3 Nights)
Train to Prague (day 27)
Prague (day 28, 2 Nights)
Train to Berlin (day 29)
Berlin ( day 30, day 31, 3 Nights)
Train to Frankfurt and Flight to SFO( day 32, day 33)

I am not sure what places I should visit in Germany and Switzerland.
Germany - A big city, an equivalent of what New York is to US. I want to see their awesome infrastructure ( public transport, roads, modern buildings).
Switzerland - Alps, and a day to relax and do laundry

I do want to visit a castle. Is there a nice castle that I can visit that fits into my itinerary?
Please throw any suggestions that you may have. I am totally flexible with the route and some places. Thanks for your patience.

Castle advice: Neuschwanstein Castle
"Best View Spots of Neuschwanstein Castle: You can get good pictures of the castle and waterfall from Marienbruecke (Mary's Bridge). Also, between the bridge and the castle is a view of Hohenschwangau castle."
http://goeurope.about.com/cs/germany...wig_castle.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle

You are lucky to visit in Sept. When we visited this castle in December, we were not allowed to walk the bridge. We are thinking of returning to Germany just to see this castle from the bridge!

First question: If you want to begin your visit with Amsterdam, why not fly directly from SFO to Amsterdam? Then connect the dots to Greece over your 33 days and fly home. (Use the multi-city option on an airline booking site to see how to avoid backtracking.)

It seems a bit of a waste to train to Bari to take the ferry to Greece--why not just fly from Rome to Greece and save 1.5 days of travel? (Is there a reason why you are limiting the number of times you can fly on a low cost airline? They can be cheaper than trains and save a lot of time on such and ambitious itinerary.)

As an american or canadian, I didn't think Schengen Visa was required.

Agree with flying from Rome to Athens (better yet, do you know about the Rome to Istanbul cheap airfare deal?) You can even see a whole new side of civilization!!!

As for Swiss Alps, make sure you do paragliding. It does hurt the wallet a little, but it definitely gives you a whole new way of looking at our lives. My trip would not have been complete without this experience!

Hello newbieeurope, you are flying from SFO but you mentioned the cost of the Schengen Visa so I am assuming you are not a citizen of the US but rather a citizen of a country that requires you to obtain a Schengen Visa as US citizens are allowed to spend 90 days without any required visa.

I too am wondering why you are not planning to fly SFO directly to Amsterdam as that seems to be your "starting point" for your trip. Also, as it appears you have not yet booked your airline tickets if you fly into one city and depart from another city which is known as a multi-city flight aka open jaw flight you will avoid backtracking to the airport where you first arrived from SFO.

It is late and I am off to bed so I will look at your intinerary tomorrow late afternoon but I am sure you will receive some good thoughts from various Fodorites during the day tomorrow. Best regards.

hobbitthefoodlover,thanks for the tip on Neuschwanstein_Castle. It seems to be off the route I plan to take. Would it be worth the time if I drive a small strech of the romantic road to reach the Castle? If yes, which would be a convenient starting point for the drive? Thanks for letting me know about paragliding. Will definitely work that out. I don't think I would have the time for Turkey, unless i knock out something from my list

ellenem, LoveItaly, the only reason for choosing to fly to Frankfurt was a cheaper airfare. Checking on sidestep, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference in fare. Thanks for pointing this out. I will fly to Amsterdam and visit Cologne cathedral enroute to Paris.

I am not US or Canadian citizen, hence need the Visa.

Unfortunately, my list of cities is such that no matter what I try, looks like I can't avoid backtracking. Is there is way to optimally cover Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Switzerland before moving on to Italy? That way I can fly back either from Rome or Athens.

I read somewhere that the ferry from Bari to Greece is a great experience. Initially, I was planning to fly roudtrip from Rome to Athens. Please suggest if the ferry is not worth the amount of time taken.

I was thinking for shorter distances train would work better. Getting to and from airport and the flight checkin time may all add up to about the same as a train journey. Flight delays could also cause issues(not sure if flights in Europe are susceptible to delays). Also, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of country side from the train. Is getting a Eurail Global pass a good idea? If there is not much of a fare difference between point-to-point tickets, would Global Pass be preferrable just for the ease of use?

We joined a one day tour (departing from Munich) to see the castle. I am sorry. I do not know the answer. Maybe someone can help with this?

I think your day from Venice to Pisa to Rome is a bit much. I agree with flying from Rome to Athens. Look at Aegean Airlines.

I have ridden the train from Bari to Rome. I would not consider this 4.5-6 hour trip of any exceptional beauty or interest. Your scenic train time would be better spent in Switzerland.

IMO , 3 days in Athens is too long relative to some of the other cities on your list ( unless you are planning on day trips to Delphi etc). I would either cut it back or skip it entirely since its out of the way or use it to see other parts of Greece (and add more time in Greece). Athens itself ain't all that great beyond the Acropolis....I would stick another day or two on Berlin or Rome or Paris, but that's just me.

To avoid too much backtracking you could do Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna,(Munich), Switzerland, Italy.

Thank you all for your excellent suggestions. Reason for spending 3 days in Athens was to use that as a base to make trips to see ancient Greek cities and also an archeological museum. I still need to work out sightseeing details. Based on your suggestions, I have slightly modified my itinerary. Please give me your suggestions/feedback on this to help me refine it further.

Fly into Paris (day 1)
Paris (day 2, day 3 day 4, 4 nights)
Train to Amsterdam (day 5)
Amsterdam ( day 6, day 7, 3 nights)
Train to Berlin ( day 8)
Berlin ( day 9, day 10, 3 Nights)
Train to Prague (day 11)
Prague (day 12, 2 Nights)
Train to Vienna(day 13)
Vienna (day 14, day 15, 3 Nights)
Train to Munich ( day 16)
Rent car and drive to Neuschwanstein, drive a small stretch of romantic road( day 17, day 18, 3 Nights)
Train to Zurich/Bern(day 19)
Switzerland-day trips to Interlaken, Lucerne, one scenic train ride ( day 20, day 21, day 22, 4 Nights)
Train to Venice (day 23)
Venice (day 24, day 25, 3 Nights)
Train to Pisa (day 26, overnight at Pisa)
Train to Rome (day 27)
Rome (day 28, day 29, day 30, 4 Nights)
Fly to Athens (day 31)
Athens (day 32, day 33, 3 nights)
Fly to SFO (day 34)