I have posted this here because it is about more than one destination!

I am from Australia and I am looking at doing 6-7 months backpacking through Asia and Europe from April to October 2017, ending up in the UK to work (I will apply for the youth mobility visa before I leave).

I really like planning and I am excited about my itinerary but it would be good to hear some different opinions on the whole thing.

Before I begin I will say that I like history, art, culture, music & theatre, nature, food, adventure and diversity!

This is what I am thinking of doing. I'd appreciate tips on anything.

April 2017 - Fly to Japan, spend approx. 2wks - Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Nagano, Gifu, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Hiroshima. Cherry blossoms!

Ferry from Japan to South Korea, train across South Korea, then ferry to Beijing

Beijing - about 5 days - Great Wall of China, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Purple Bamboo Garden, panda base, zoo & aquarium

Then I want to get the train from Beijing to Moscow, but I would make stops along the way. This should be the beginning of May.

Mongolia - one week - a couple of days in the capital and a short tour to Central Mongolia - I believe that the majority of hostels can help you arrange this. I will be quite early in the season though so I might try to pre-arrange something so that I don't miss out.

Ulan Ude - 2 days

Irkutsk and Olkhorn Island - 4 days

Yekaterinburg - 2 days

Perm/Kungur - 3 days

I would actually end the train travel in Vladimir, outside of Mosocw and see some of the Golden Ring cities/towns first. So Vladimir, Suzdal, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Sergiyev Posad.

Then I would do Moscow, Veliky Novgorod and Saint Petersburg.

Now it would be June.

I'd make my way through far Eastern Europe over 3 weeks.

Ukraine - 10 days - Kiev, Chernobyl tour, the tunnel of love in Klevan, Odessa, Yalta, Kamyanets Podilsky (I am presuming that Crimea will be safe by then)

Romania - 5 days - Sibiu, Transfagarasan, Sighisoara, Brasov, Bran, Sinaia, Bucharest

Bulgaria - 5 days - Koprivshtitsa, Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo, Nessebar

Then onto Turkey - Istanbul, Gallipoli, Troy, Ephesus, Cappadocia, then down to Fethiye.

At this point it should be July.

I hope to do a gullet cruise from Fethiye to Bodrum, then another from Bodrum to Mykonos. (I have researched a few options for cabin charters.)

Fly or ferry into Athens and spend a couple of days.

Then Croatia - mostly the islands, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Split, Krka National Park and Plitvice National Park. Apparently there is a classical music festival on in July also that I would love.

Now the next part doesn't make so much sense geographically, but it makes sense seasonally and timing wise. I want to avoid Italy in August - I hear it can be very hot and lots of tourists in the cities.

So instead I would fly to Switzerland and work my way east and north, taking about a month, progressively getting further away from the traditional tourist destinations.

So August would be:

Switzerland - 5 days - Berne and Interlaken. I understand it is Swiss National Day on the 1st so if my timing is right that could be exciting.

Train to Austria - seeing beautiful scenery along the way. 9 days in Austria - Salzburg, Admont, Linz, Vienna

Now I understand that the next part is a bit rushed but I sort of just want to see the main sites in these places:

Budapest - 3 days (pretty much just for the baths)
Krakow - 3 days (Auschwitz and salt mines)
Vilnius - 3 days - visit Trakai Castle and the hill of crosses
Riga - 3 days - visit Rundale Palace and Gaujas National Park
Tallinn - 3 days - visit Saareema Island or Lahemaa Park and the seaplane museum

Now we would be in September, and I'd fly back down to Italy!
Spend 2 weeks - Naples/Pompeii, Rome, Florence (Tuscany & Pisa), Cinque Terra, Venice. Maybe Milan.

Then Prague - 3 days

Then Germany - timed for Oktoberfest. And Autumn leaves in the forests. Spend 2 weeks - Berlin, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Munich, Heidelberg, Stuttgart and The Black Forest.

Now we would be in October.

Into France - just the south - 1 week - Strasbourg, Nice (with the Gorges du Verdon) and Montpellier (with Saint Guilhem-le-Desert). Maybe Carcossone.

The rest of October would be in Spain and Portugal, hopefully 3 weeks - Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Toledo, Cordova, Granada, Seville, Evora, Lisbon, Sintra, Obidos, Coimbra, Agueda, Porto, Guimaraes, Braga (Definitely need to narrow this down! Too many places to see!)

Finally fly into London. I would have spent 90 days in the Schengen area so at this point I will have to get out to wait for my 90 days to reset. I budget to have about $5000 AUD left when I get to the UK, so I don't starve while I find a job. Hopefully I will work there for about a year. And do some more travel. Maybe work in Ireland as well. Willing to do anything really, but I will have administration experience and qualifications so hope to utilise that.

Places that would be left on my list to see are:

Obviously England, Ireland and Scotland, Paris, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Finland and Lapland.
I would also revisit anything that I really loved during that first 6 months.

If I somehow got a well paying job in the UK, I would also keep some money aside to go to Africa before coming back to Australia. Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria (friends there), Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa. Possibly do some volunteering.

What do you think? Pretty elaborate and crazy, but for me it would be the trip of a lifetime and I could die happy after that.

Welcome to Fodors.

>>I have posted this here because it is about more than one destination!<<

Since you have detailed ideas and such specific destinations - you will get MUCH better response if you re-post over on both the Asia and Europe forums. Very very few members read/contribute on this more generic 'Travel Tips' board. On the Asia/Europe destination forums you can tag your threads for multiple countries.

Thanks for that. First time user, so wasn't sure

Your post is in the right place but unfortunately as janisj indicates, many posters here only look at specific sub-forums. I guess it's too complicated for them to do more than that.

I would suggest that is forum is not the best place for you to post in any case. Most Fodor's posters are typical tourists, not backpackers and have little knowledge of the differences.

I would suggest you post on the Lonely Planet Thorntree Forum which is the most popular forum for backpackers. You will get a lot more knowledgeable replies there.

Your itinerary looks quite good to me. You have done your research you know where you want to go and why. That puts you ahead of most.

The only thing I would suggest to you is that research beforehand is part of the fun but once on the road for an extended period, you will find that plans change. An opportunity presents itself and instead of going east you go west. Itineraries can put blinders on you to those opportunities, don't let that happen.

My advice is to buy your ticket to A and get on the plane. Then throw the plan out the window (figuratively) and wing it from there. The freedom to decide each day what you will do and whether you will move on or not and to where, is a big part of long term travel.

Thanks for your advice . I'll check out the lonely planet forum .

I do have a tendency to over plan so will try to allow for those opportunities and some spontaneity!

You can get lots of good advice right here on Fodor's, but agreeing with janisj, you need to repost in the various Destination Forums for the places you will visit during your trip.

Because about 3 people read this Travel Tips branch, and you've heard from all of us (lol).

suze: She did re-post on both Asia and Europe and was receiving lots of good advice . . but now her profile is gone. pfft . . .