Western Europe Summer 2012 Itinerary Help
 

I'm 18 and as a graduation present my mom and I are going to Europe from June 5th to June 26th of 2012. This will be both of our's second trip to Europe. We have booked flights arriving in London on June 5th and departing Barcelona on June 26th. In between we've planned 3 days in London, 3 days in Paris, 3 days in Venice, 1-2 days in Florence/Pisa, 1-2 days in Cinque Terre, 3 days in Rome, and 3 days in Barcelona. This leaves us with 3-4 days of unplanned travel. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of destinations to include or changes to be made to our itinerary. We plan to travel mostly by train if possible. Our budget is 8,000 to 9,000 dollars not including airfare.We're interested in architecture, history, natural beauty, and experiencing authentic European culture. We've also considered Porto, Portugal, the French Riviera, more time in France or Italy, or a quick trip through Germany. We're open to any suggestions though! Any advice would be much welcomed!
Thanks!

you have nothing like 3 - 4 free days. Especially if you travel by train. Some of those city to city trips will eat up an entire day.

Plus you probably need more time in London simply because your arrival day is usually eaten up just getting to the hotel and recovering from jet lag.

IMO you already have 2 to 3 too many destinations let alone adding more. Cut something (the CT for example) and add time to London, Paris and Rome.

Otherwise you'll have a "if this is Tues, it must be Belgium" type experience.

Here's what your current itinerary looks like when you set it out by day. You'll see that you do not have any additional days and you'll only have time to see a few things in London, Paris, and Rome. I would add time to these cities and eliminate Barcelona and CT.

June 5 – arrive London (at least 1/2 day to go through passport control, collect bags, travel to hotel)
June 6, 7, 8 – London
June 9 – travel to Paris (about 3/4 day)
June 10, 11, 12 – Paris
June 13 – travel to Venice (about 12 hours by train)
June 14, 15 – Venice
June 16 – travel to Florence (about 1/2 day)
June 17 – Florence
June 18, 19 – Cinque Terre (including travel time from Florence)
June 20, 21, 22 – Rome (including travel time from CT)
June 23, 24, 25 – Barcelona (including travel time from Rome - most of a day if flying)
June 26 – depart for home

Hi Charli!
Wow! You have quite an ambitious trip planned! I agree with janisj: it's better to focus on fewer destinations, and to have time to really enjoy them! Why not conentrate just on England and Spain on this trip? With all your interests, you would enjoy visiting large cities and countryside destinations in both countries, and having the time to really get a feel for them.
Enjoy your trip!

Congrats on your trip and your graduation and your inclusion
of your budget helps a lot.Have done similar journeys to yours
a number of times in the past find train overland during the day best to see the most.Good link for train journey.

www.seat61.com

Good route I have done personally

London Paris Geneva Interlaken alps Simplon pass

to Stresa/Baveno(Isola Bella) Milan Venice Florence Rome

then back up Med Coast www.lucca.info Portofino SanRemo

Nice Montpellier thenTalgo Med to Barcelona Sants

Great journey usually stay flexible on hotels

www.eurocheapo.com www.betterbidding.com www.booking.com

my top 3 sites... www.ricksteves.com good general info also.

www.skyscanner.net will have cheap flights but I always see

more with train in the DAY. Sleepers not great for me avoid.

Have fun!