nolab

London 10 nights - have to have this amount if time here due to Taylor Swift concert Aew wrestling etc
portugal 7 nights
Seville Spain 4 nights
Gibraltar 4 nights
Rome 4 nights
Malta 7 nights
Munich 3 nights fir Oktobefest. Will fly to Portugal from London then bus/train for Portugal/Spain. Fly from Gibraltar to Rome . Fly from Rome to Malta. Fly from Malta to Munich. Is this itinerary ok? Thanks Am open to suggestions.

J62

It looks to me like you took a map of Europe, put on a blindfold and threw darts at it.

Without knowing your intentions it is impossible for me to say it’s ok or not.

Jean

You must love airports...

Check that "Fly from Gibraltar to Rome." I don't see any direct flights or what I would call a reasonable one-stop option.

janisj

Welcome to Fodors. Who knows if this is OK or not?? You've listed a couple of whole countries plus individual cities in other countries. Why did you pick the places you did? (other than London and Munich - the why's for those two seem pretty clear).

Assuming this trip is starting in August and not June to be in Munich for Oktoberfest (TS's London concerts are in both months)

SusanP

I agree. It's certainly far-flung. Do you have specific reasons for each of these places? You will spend a lot of time in airports and on trains/buses. The logistics of getting from one spot to another take longer than you think, and you have some long distances involved. The one good thing is that you don't have a bunch of two-night stays.

SusanP

Jean, Janis and I were posting at the same time. 😊

janisj

AFAIK one can only fly from Gibraltar to the UK and any flights from Malaga would require transiting somewhere else.

Soooooo . . . IF you are keeping this list of destinations -- it would be easier to rearrange the order and fly from the UK to Gibraltar, then travel to Seville, then to Portugal then fly to Rome . . .

nolab

Hi! Thanks for replies and welcome. Yes sorta of thought itinerary was too random. I chose these places as places of interest woukd like to visit. I am from Australia and am used to travelling long distances . After Munich will be also be travelling for another 4 weeks where will follow a smoother itinerary flying out of Paris visiting czech republuc, krakow germany.etc Guess I'm trying to fill in time after london and before oktoberfest. Have been to Italy before hence only 4 nights there in Rome. Thanks

Sassafrass

No idea what one would possibly do in Gibraltar for four nights. A few hours is enough to see the important stuff, and IMHO, even that is not worth the time and effort to get there when there are so many other truly amazing places you could visit. Have you been to Spain before?

nolab

[QUOTE=Sassafrass;17554678]No idea what one would possibly do in Gibraltar for four nights. A few hours is enough to see the important stuff, and IMHO, even that is not worth the time and effort to get there when there are so many other truly amazing places you could visit. Have you been to Spain before?[/QUOTE Hi haven't been to Spain before, was tossing up idea of doing Gibraltar as daybtrip from Seville. Thanks for advice

janisj

That is not what your OP says -- maybe I'm confused but you posted:

Seville Spain 4 nights
Gibraltar 4 nights

Which appears to be four nights in Seville AND four nights in Gibraltar. Before anyone can give you useful advice -- what interests you, why did these places seem attractive? What sorts of things do you want to see and do? And what are your arrival and departure dates (home from Paris?? )

P_M

Janis, you're not the only one who is confused. I also read 4 days in Gibraltar.

To the OP, I hope we can help you when we have a better idea of what you want to do.

nolab

Hi Janis sorry to confuse you re Gibraltar. I was originally thinking day trip to Gibraltar . Then thougt 3 nights would be give feel of place. Then it was posted one day was enough. so it got me umming and aahing. I'm travelling with 2 older sons aged 35 andv21. Like visiting historic sights the sons want to see games of thrones movie sites and in Seville where bit of star wars were filmed. Happy to wander around to just wander soak up the atmosphere and go wow at tourist attractions.. Am happy to chop change itinerary. Was planning to book accommodation etc along the way

Travel_Nerd

If you're planning on Oktoberfest, there is no booking accomodations along the way. In fact, you need to be booking that now.

I strongly advise you and everyone traveling with you to focus. Identify the must sees and also research transit times between them. Identify when certain museums are closed. Many landmarks may need to be booked in advance to avoid long lines or may even be required. Get some guidebooks and really fine tune everything you want to see.

You lose sightseeing time everytime you go in transit. Depending on what you want to really see, you may find you need more time in some places.

Sassafrass

Spain is a really beautiful and interesting country with amazing architecture and history. Do a bit of research and consider Cordoba and Granada rather than Gibraltar. Gibraltar is not a good day trip from Seville. Also consider Malaga, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Barcelona, San Sebastián, and some coastal areas for beaches.
Will you be renting a car?

janisj

At that time of year there is no way you can book accommodations along the way. August and September are the highest of high season in some of those places. For example many hotels in Munich book up months ahead for Oktoberfest. And one absolutely 100% needs to pre book for London. A party of 3 adults would have to book even farther ahead since triple rooms are less common and otherwise you'd need two rooms.

Well at least the Game of Thrones partly explains Malta and Seville. Surprised you didn't include Scotland (Doune Castle) and Northern Ireland and Iceland (several sites in both)

bilboburgler

As much CO2 pollution as Swift but without even the "offsetting" she claims to do, this tour of airports would be a waste of a life let alone a holiday.

That you are used to something does not make it a good foundation for a holiday, slow down and enjoy what you find.

Tell us a little about yourself and why coming to Europe feels right for you

KayF

You have a reasonable amount of time but the trip plan sounds exhausting. Too much flying. Even with a short flight, you lose at least half a day. You could try taking a couple of countries out of the mix and see more, maybe by train, within each country.

J62

The additional info from the original poster (OP), nolab helps with context.

I have done several long trips to Europe, but never the 2-3 mo that you are planning... One thing I have learned for myself is that I remember experiences far more than I do any actual sight / attraction / building / ruin / or even city. Wowing at tourist attractions soon turns to yawning at yet another one. So for me, my preferred style is to immerse myself in one location for a long time. If I had 2-3mo as you do, constantly moving around even with 4 to 7 or 10 days in one location would end up exhausting me. As I've aged, I've also learned that cities wear me out. The hubub can be invigorating for a short time, but what energizes me is being out in quiet nature and limiting my city/town time to small villages. So knowing that you want to see many varied places, but adding in my own experiences, I would make for myself an itinerary something like this:

1. after London, pick a cluster where you can base yourself for about 2 weeks. Maybe that's Spain/Iberia, with 2 or 3 home bases. You'll lose time moving from town or city to city, but you won't kill entire days flying to another random spot on the map.
2. pick a smaller destination (as in small village with nearby countryside & places to visit on day trips for one full month. For me that might be an apartment somewhere in Italy, or Germany where I could split my time between relaxing, enjoying countryside walks, hiking, and biking, local cafes where the owner recognizes, farm markets or a cooking class, etc.
3. Mix in a week to Malta, if that's high on your list.
4. Munich for Oktoberfest (which is 21-Sept to 6-Oct this year). I'd base myself in rural southern Bavaria for a few weeks before (to build up stamina) or after (to recover)...

basingstoke2

Confine this post to Gibraltar having been there twice. Both times I drove from Rota, Spain and both times I was with one of my kids in early teens. We went the first time because I was curious about the place and frankly my son anted to see the apes. We drove into Gibraltar and parked commercially. The second visit was with my daughter who also wanted to see the apes. This time we were smarter and parked on the Spanish side of the border and walked in which was much easier.

There are things of interest to do in Gibraltar although IMO one night is sufficient. With my son we took the cable car to the top of the rock and spent the day hiking in the nature reserve and visiting St Michael's cave and the war tunnels. We hiked back down to town. The views are excellent, even spectacular in places. The cave is a good one though quite commercialized. Getting our car out of Gibraltar was a hassle and took well over an hour getting through the customs point. I do not know if that is usual.

My daughter did not want to hike so we just rode up and back by cable car and saw the apes. Both kids got a kick out of watching the ape's antics.

Gibraltar itself was interesting to see and more British in character than Spanish. The restaurants we visited were fine and also British in style. The fish and chips were good as would be expected.