first-time backpacker itinerary

[milliken]

Alright, so this is my first time overseas and I need some input. I'm there for 23 days at the end of sept. until beg. of Oct. My itinerary is outlined below, any thoughts on whether it's possible:

London - 3 days
Amsterdam - 2 days
Berlin - 3 days
Prague - 2 days
Munich - 2 days
Zurich - 2 days
Geneva - 3 days
Paris - 4 days
Back to London for departure

Any feelings on whether Vienna should be in there over another city?
I was also told that you need a special travel Visa to get into Prague, any word on whether this is true or not? How would I get to Prague since the Eurorail pass does not go through Czech?
Any help would be amazing.
Cheers.

[me]

there's always point-to-point tix to get to get to Prague. if Eurail is the only way you plan to get around, how will you get from/to London? a Eurailpass isn't valid in UK.

Vienna is one of my favorites. Salzburg is also fun, though to a lesser extent than Vienna. Innsbruck is amazing if you like mountains, as i do. [hint: Austrian & Italian Alps are just as beautiful as Swiss Alps. but, Switzerland is much more expensive. as Italy isn't on your list, so i'd suggest Austria as a cheaper alternative to Switzerland. (Austria is also a German language country, but Italy is a favorite, as well)]

and, a very important bit of advice: plan to get back to London a few days before your flight home. if there are transport problems getting there "just in time," it could be *very* expensive to change your ticket home.

[spymoose]

Seems like you have good time in some places and maybe not others.

London, Berlin and Paris look great.

Switzerland is very expensive and most people here say they weren't 'Wowed' by Geneva or Zurich. To save some money, and because I think Austria is has more to offer, I'd suggest swapped Zurich for Salzurg and Vienna or Geneva, then just fly from Vienna to Paris.

Also, you only have 2 days in Prague? Doesn't really seem worth it to me. Munich is almost the same if you plan to take the daytrip for castles as that will only leave you with 1 full day in the city. Enough for some people though. It looks like you have saved 2 days for travel, hopefully at least one to be added to London? (your plan counts to 21, you said you have 23) I personally would add a day to Prague at least and possibly move 1 day from London to the end, so you'd do 2 days at the start and 2 at the end, just to be safe as David mentioned.

[milliken]

So I'm getting the idea that Austria is a better scene than Switz. I'm definitely going to take that into consideration.
How much would it cost to fly from Vienna to Paris? Is it possible to just book that flight when I'm there or should you do it in advance?
I'm not sure yet, I might just leave my flight open so I could fly out of Paris rather than London which would give me a couple more days of travel.
By the way, thanks for all the help.

[spymoose]

In London out of Paris would be ideal!

www.skyeurope.com has Vienna to Paris (you take a shuttle bus from Vienna to Bratislava included in the plane ticket price) The shuttle bus varies in the time you have ahead of your flight, so ideally you'd probably like to take the shuttle (takes 1.5 hours) early in the morning, arrive mid-morning for an afternoon flight type of thing. Just so you have time in case of mixups. Anyway, this flight in early Oct is about 35 - 50 Euros before taxes, about 50-75 Euros with tax.

And yes, most prefer Austria as there is more to do in say Vienna than Zurich/Geneva. Also, Innsbruck has amazing views of the Alps so if that is a reason you wanted to see Switzerland, you could always use Innsbruck rather than Salzburg (both are great towns)

Oh and book the flight in advance. You 'can' book while there but the price will go up the closer the date comes.

[me]

but, on www.airberlin.com you can fly VIE - CDG for as little as €67, total. this includes about 2 hours in the air, and little transport time to the airport. (the airport is 15 mins from central Vienna station on "City Airport Train."

this is at www.cityairporttrain.com/citycheckin/airlinecheckin :

> Check-in for all NIKI and Air Berlin flights is possible at the "Wien-Mitte" railway station in the
> City Air Terminal from 5.00 am to 9 pm, and from 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm the night before your flight.

Edit: you might be able to book a flight after you get to Europe, but the price would probably be much, much higher. i'd strongly suggest booking as soon as you're reasonably confident of the dates you'll want to fly.

[spymoose]

Ah yeh, figured someone would know a better flight option but I figured I'd post Skyeurope anyway to give an idea on price, etc. Thanks David

[me]

my pleasure. advising as best i can. ;D

spymoose said:

Ah yeh, figured someone would know a better flight option but I figured I'd post Skyeurope anyway to give an idea on price, etc. Thanks David