UrekMazino

Hi everyone! I will be doing my first solo international travel next year in Europe which is also would be my first time over there. I'm nervous and excited. The countries that I choose to visit on my 35 days are Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy and Spain.
Here are the day I'm going to spend each countries:
- 7 days in Austria ( Vienna and Salzburg)
- 6 days in Czech Republic ( Prague and Cesky Krumlov)
- 7 days in Croatia (Split, Dubrovnik, Plitvice lake and Krka park)
- 10 days in Italy (Rome and Amalfi Coast)
- 8 days in Spain (Barcelona and Toledo)
What do you guys think of my itinerary? I have a question about the laundry. Is there a place outside the hostel that I can do the laundry?

Thank you

dreamon

All the places you have chosen are wonderful but they don't have any cohesiveness and it feels like you've picked them by randomly selecting nice places rather than a desire to get to know any particular area of Europe or following a particular route. Also, your travel times and travel costs will be very high. Unless you have specific reasons for picking these places, I suggest you select particular (preferably adjacent) regions to explore. I think I would feel cheated because I'd be skipping past so many other wonderful places in order to get to the next place on the list.

One possible way to see most of the places you've listed would be to (just as an example):
fly into Prague and visit Prague and Cesky Krumlov
take the train to Salzburg and onwards to Vienna
train to Zagreb, visit Plitvice, Krka NP and Split (skip Dubrovnik)
ferry to Ancona and train to Naples and onwards to the Amalfi coast
train to Rome
fly home (skip Spain)

This has some very long journeys but has huge variation in places visited (I'd still feel like I was skipping past too many wonderful places). Better still would be to decide on one or two regions/countries to explore (e.g. Czechia and Austria OR Croatia and Italy).

There are laundromats in major towns and cities, also some hostels. There's always the bathroom sink. As long as I don't smell, I'm happy to wear clothes multiple times. Pack as though you're travelling for a week (less is better and you can shop along the way if tempted). Try really hard to keep your luggage small and as light as possible. Two small bags can sometimes be easier than one larger one.

Traveler_Nick

Which hostel?

Most countries have various types of laundries. Ranging from full service to coin operated machines you need to watch. Often if you go to Google maps and find your hostel all you need to do is hit the search nearby option. Problem is Google isn't always 100% upto date so best to ask the hostel what's nearby.

When is this?

You seem to have a mix of long stays with bouncing around. I'm not sure I personally understand the reason.

For example Toledo isn't exactly near Barcelona and you'll likely have to pass Madrid. How long are you staying there?

Sassafrass

You need most, if not all, of a day for travel between each country. That adds up to at least four more days.
What time of year are you planning to do this trip?
What is your departure country?
Just curious, how did you come up with your choices?

mjs

I also find your choices a bit random. Where do you come from and what time of year are you planning for this trip? Also are you young or a student? How do you plan to move from location to location? Laundry is something you can do in your sink if you have time and the weather is right to dry them. There are also laundromats almost everywhere and you can do your own or often times leave them for the laundromat do do them for you. Charges often by weight if you leave them.

KayF

Have you already looked at transport options between these countries/cities? Flights between places might add up, cost wise, and can take up a day of your time, even if the actual flight itself is short. Travelling to countries/cities that you can travel between by train might be better. There is an excellent website on European trains if you are interested - https://www.seat61.com/

We usually wash out tshirts, underwear etc in the sink, drip dry overnight over the shower or bath. It's easiest if you have a few days in each place as most things won't dry completely overnight. Avoid taking jeans or heavy things that take forever to dry. Light fabrics that dry quickly and don't need ironing are best.

neckervd

Your 9 city trip, completed by 2 national parks and 1 hiking area is perfectly doable. I suppo0se you know that 8 of the places you plan to viisit belonged to the Austrian Empire until 1918.
I seems that you will fly to Vienna and back from Madird, although many other combinations could make sense. What ever you plan, you will spemd days with local transport.
Some journey times:
IEurorcity train Vienna - Prage: 5 hrs
Local train Prague - Krumlow: 3 hrs
Bus Krumlow - Salzburg: 3 hrs
Eurocity train Salzburg - Zagreb: 7 hrs
Bus Zagreb - Plitvice - Sibenik - Split - Dubrovnik: 15 hrs
Overnight ferry Dubrovnik - Bari: 8 hrs
connecting bus Bari - Naples: 4 hrs
train and overnight ferry Naples - Barcelona: 1 day plus 1 night
flight Naples - Barcelona: 1/2 day
train Barcelona - Toledo: 5 hrs

bilboburgler

Winter in Europe can be a bit chilly and the day light periods are short, so you have done well to choose some of the countries from the south where these climatic conditions are less obvious. If I was looking at this idea, I might go for
Croatia, Italy, France and Spain. But I would look at these countries especially their south. For instance Sicily is very different to Aosta in cultural, in food and climate terms. Southern Spain of which Grenada, Seville etc are a great example are unlike Madrid (Madrid is surprisingly high for a capital city so in December can be cold). The south of France is a good link between the two and worth time on this trip.

Nothing against Austria, but the clothing you will need and the conditions are very different.

When I go to the European continent for a holiday in December, I either fly over and go to North Africa (to Spanish islands for example) or I go to Sicily, Southern Portugal, Southern Spain. If I want wet, cold and miserable I can stay in the UK

UrekMazino

June to July
Vienna Austria
I love architecture and nature. And, I think those 5 countries fit well on the categories that I like,

UrekMazino

I'm from United States of America. I will be going in Summer (june to july). I'm young and I'm not a student anymore. From Vienna to Prague I'm going to ride a train. The same as to Prague to Croatia. Then from Croatia to Italy I'm going to fly. The same as from going to Spain.

UrekMazino

So, lets just say I skip Spain. How many days on those 4 countries I should stay, 8 days each? I'm going to use a backpack. I will probably going to bring 1 pants to go a club.

Michael

You sound young, so this might be up your alley for your travels:

https://global.flixbus.com/company/p...pe-for-99-euro

bilboburgler

I'd put more time into Italy, the density of little town gems is extraordinary and along with the islands there is a lot to see. I like Croatia has Dubrovnik and Split and Trogir and a few others but most are really ex-italian, ex-roman, ex-venetian places. I'd treat those two countries as one from a geographical/architectectural site. But then the south of Italy has a certain Spanish/Norman cast. You'll have a blast

UrekMazino

Ok. So do you have any advise, how many days should I spend in southern Italy? I'm thinking about 2 weeks. Because besides Rome and Amalfi coast, I'm thinking about going to Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Castelmezzano.

suze

More time less places is my best advice overall for a quality trip.

Using a backpack is fine. Don't pack too much. And staying in hostels read up on specific safety measures you might want to take there.

Yes of course there are laundry services of some type in any major city and most towns or villages (might be where you drop off and they do it for you, rather than coin machines you do yourself).

Michael

You can base yourself in Naples for a day trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum, which is what we did taking the local train.

https://flic.kr/p/a3gNTj
https://flic.kr/p/a3gM4d
https://flic.kr/p/a3e3LF
https://flic.kr/p/a3h3aG
for the entire album:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjvhZKSv

dreamon

"So, lets just say I skip Spain. How many days on those 4 countries I should stay, 8 days each? I'm going to use a backpack. I will probably going to bring 1 pants to go a club."

I don't think of days per country but days per place.

If you take your original wish list and overlay it with the possible route I suggested (skipping Spain) then you might get something like (minimum nights in brackets, noting that two nights gives you one full day and assuming you have 38 nights - your original post isn't clear whether 40 or 35):
- fly into Prague and visit Prague (4) and Cesky Krumlov (2)
- take the shuttle bus to Salzburg (4 nights including a day trip) and onwards to Vienna (3)
- train to Zagreb (2), visit Plitvice (1 as long as you maximimise your time there), Krka NP (2 if you'd like to also see Sibenik for a few hours) and Split (3) - if you'd like to visit one or more of the islands then perhaps islands (4), Dubrovnik (3)
- fly to Naples (or Rome if not available) and train/bus/boat onwards to the Amalfi coast (6) - Castelmezzano is going to take time to get to so maybe need to exclude this visit.
- train to Rome (4)
- fly home

Of course these are pretty much minimum times (almost no time in Zagreb because it wasn't on your original list) and the time allocation is highly subjective and will need to be tweaked for your own interests.

A backpack is good.

Useful transport websites: seat61; bahn.de; rome2rio; plus of course the websites for the transport services in each country. Think about door to door travel time (e.g. a two hour flight is never a two hour journey).

You'll have a wonderful time no matter where you go.

bilboburgler

Sardinia needs a week, Puglia 2 weeks and Sicily 10 days. But will this be your only visit?

Do you speak Italian or Spanish? In the true south that can be a little harder. If talking to 20s fine but you'll miss out talking to older people.

mjs

I did three two month back pack trips in Europe during my University days and would recommend a rest day every two weeks or so just to do laundry and just kick back and rest. Maybe more often if you are going to do a lot of clubbing. If you are under 27 you could also consider youth Eurail pass of some sort. There are a lot of 20-25 year olds traveling through Europe in the summer and we often changed our plans because something else sounded interesting.

NeoPatrick

Regarding laundry -- I agree about packing for one week. And I think a great idea is to take mainly clothes that are getting slightly worn or that you can live without. Then the last week you simply toss out clothes, which also allows you to have room for purchases of souvenirs.

I'd also take some comments with a grain of salt. People mean well, but many are coming from the idea that they go to Europe fairly often and really absorb places with long stays. That's indeed wonderful but this is your FIRST of many trips, hopefully. I envy you. I was 49 when I did my first MAJOR trip to Europe and it was 102 days visiting 14 countries mainly using Scandinavian and Eurail passes. Of course it wasn't an in depth study of any place, but it remains my most exciting trip to Europe -- having since gone many, many times, usually for up to 5 months and often with 1 or 2 week stays and sometimes month long stays in one place. But even on that first trip I made a rule never to just spend one night in a place -- generally at least three nights. I think what you're doing is exciting! Enjoy every minute.