Solo traveler needs help planning!

[dumbdiety]

Greets all,
I'm finally going to do it. ;D
The planets are aligned, I'll have no job till August, no house till June, and I'm not living with my parents 'till my house is built. So, off to Europe!
My parents are going on a European cruise to Italy, so my sister and I will be going on the cruise with them, so most of Italy and Greece will be with them, then we'll leave for the rest of Europe.

So far, this is my schedule:
The times listed to the next destination were gotten from raileurope.com.

Madrid (2)
Barcelona (2) <--9:00 from Madrid, make it an overnight
Lyon (2) <--Anyone know how long?
Geneva (1) <--2:00 from Lyon
Florence (3) <--8:00 from Geneva, probably make it an overnight [Pisa]
Munich (2) <--8:30 from Florence, probably another overnighter [Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles]
Vienna (2) <--4:40 from Munich
Prague (2) <--5:00 from Vienna
Berlin (2) <--6:30 from Prague
Paris (4) <--11:35 from Berlin. It'll be an overnight
London (4) <--2:40 from Paris
Fly home from London

Now I know there are other ways to travel, but I have no idea. Anyone help?
That's 26 days so far. I'm looking for suggestions about where to go and whatnot. I'm not into clubbing or partying, and I'd love to hit some castles while I'm there. Any suggestions on where to go, what to do?

Thanks for any help!

Doug

Edit: Updated the schedule to include Castle tours and Dachau in Munich.

Edit: Added travel estimates between cities, Warwick Castle, and Liverpool/Holyhead.

Edit: Since my sister is now going with me, I updated to reflect our new schedule.

[jennifer]

Hi!
Well, here's what I know about some of these places!

Munich (2) I think you will have enough time to explore munich in 2 days unless you take a day trip to Dachau, the concentration camp or a day trip to Fuessen with its fabulous Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles! They are stunning !

Paris (3). You will likely find that 3 days in Paris, minus the travelling time is very little as there is so much to do, but you can in fact see the main sites within these times!

I'm sorry, I've been to totally different places from these so I can't give you much advice on these places, but I strongly suggest maybe cutting out one city or two and really concentrating on staying a little longer in certain places like Paris, London and Rome!

xoxo
jen

[dumbdiety]

jennifer said:

Hi!
Well, here's what I know about some of these places!

Munich (2) I think you will have enough time to explore munich in 2 days unless you take a day trip to Dachau, the concentration camp or a day trip to Fuessen with its fabulous Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles! They are stunning !

::smacks himself in the head, then looks at the posters of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castles hanging on his walls::
Maybe I should be looking around my room more often...
Thanks Jen! I don't know HOW I missed that!

Doug

[jessica]

Do you only have 24 days for your trip? Or is that just all you've thought of?

If you have more time, I would suggest going to see castles in Wales. Evil Edward Longshanks built a ring of castles to subdue the Welsh, many of which are in near perfect condition, like Conwy and Beaumaris. Also nearby (in England) are Warwick and Kenilworth castles. Warwick is a huge tourist draw, but Kenilworth is much less visited, although it's my personal favorite because one of my heroes lived there long, long ago.

And then there are the "native Welsh castles", built before Edward, like Dolwyddelan, but they're in much worse shape than the Norman castles.

As a Welsh History student with a medieval specialization, I'm probably biased, but I think the castles of Wales are some of the best castles in Europe. They really are beautiful!

[dumbdiety]

24 days is all I thought of. So far. I think my max will be about 40 days. Can I fit those castles into the schedule? Don't have a map handy right now.

Doug

jessica said:

Do you only have 24 days for your trip? Or is that just all you've thought of?

If you have more time, I would suggest going to see castles in Wales. Evil Edward Longshanks built a ring of castles to subdue the Welsh, many of which are in near perfect condition, like Conwy and Beaumaris. Also nearby (in England) are Warwick and Kenilworth castles. Warwick is a huge tourist draw, but Kenilworth is much less visited, although it's my personal favorite because one of my heroes lived there long, long ago.

And then there are the "native Welsh castles", built before Edward, like Dolwyddelan, but they're in much worse shape than the Norman castles.

As a Welsh History student with a medieval specialization, I'm probably biased, but I think the castles of Wales are some of the best castles in Europe. They really are beautiful!

[jessica]

OK, it's been a few years, but I think it takes about 4-5 hours total driving time from Beaumaris to London. It's the furthest away, in Northwest Wales. Then about 45 minutes east to Conwy, 3 hours east to Warwick, which is literally like 10 minutes from Kenilworth, and then an hour, hour and a half to London. But keep in mind those are driving times accomplished by a friend who had racing ambitions. I have no idea about the train.

Also, about Stonehenge, I think it took us about 3 hours to get to Salisbury from London. (Stonehenge is outside of Salisbury) If you plan on going there, make sure you go to Salisbury Cathedral. And climb the tower, unbelievable view!

[jennifer]

hehehe, don't worry! No matter how hard you plan, you always end up forgetting something you really wanted to see, or you just plain have to cut it out cause there is too much you want to see!

[dumbdiety]

heh...my sister will now be joining me, and I WILL be going on that cruise with my parents, so everything changes. heh heh
Our current list of "Have to See" are Lyon (Glay), Paris, London, Munich, and Florence. The "Want to See" list is Barcelona, Prague, Geneva, and Monaco. I'll update the schedule a little later.

Doug