My Euro Itinerary - Please critique!

[Plym]

I've finally decided a route for my trip next month.
Does anyone mind taking a look and giving feedback or tips (or criticism!)

July 20th Fly from Glasgow:
PISA 1 night
FLORENCE 2 nights
ROME 4 nights
VENICE 2 nights

VIENNA 4 nights

BRATISLAVA 2 nights

BUDAPEST 3 nights

KRAKOW 4 nights

PRAGUE 4 nights

BERLIN 4 nights
HAMBURG 2 nights

AMSTERDAM 3 nights

PARIS 5 nights

Length of time in each city can be completely altered!
Gracias!

[WillTravel]

I didn't get to Bratislava when I was in Vienna, but from what I've read it may not need two nights. If you have a specific reason you want to spend more time there than just a daytrip from Vienna, by all means do it, but it might be a place to cut.

If you choose to spend the night in Pisa, another option is to visit an additional Tuscan town like Volterra as a daytrip or half-day trip. I haven't been there myself, nor tried this, but apparently Volterra is popular now because of "Twilight" and it's relatively easy to get there from Pisa. (I should say Volterra was quite popular well before "Twilight".) Alternatively you could just do the tower and then proceed to Florence that evening after you arrive.

Looking at your itinerary, once you nail down the times, I'd personally choose to book the following ahead of time, if you haven't opted for a rail pass. I'm not sure if steep discounts are still available like they are 89 days in advance, but it's worth a try. If there are any discounted tickets right now, they're probably disappearing by the moment.

Berlin to Hamburg - try www.bahn.de
Hamburg to Amsterdam - www.bahn.de
Amsterdam to Paris - www.tgv-europe.com or voyages-sncf.com or www.thalys.com

My inclination would be to take the two nights from Bratislava and 1 night from Hamburg and redistribute them. Italy can always use more time. Another night in Amsterdam could be good, and then you could do one or more daytrips.

[madamtrashheap]

I'm with WT on many of the points:

Pisa - unless you plan to explore the other sights on the Field of Miracles (including the Duomo, Baptistry, Monument Cemetery and smaller museums) or the University, Pisa only needs a few hours. Remember to book ahead if you plan to climb the Tower.

Florence - if you take that night away from Pisa, add it to Florence as this you give you 2 full days (rather than 1) and a little time either side of arrival/departure. Again, book ahead for the Uffizi and Accademia if you plan to visit them.

Rome - you'll have a little time on arrival day, as well as departure day, if you're using the Eurostar Italia train rather than the Regional. This means you'll be able to cram more in to your 3 full days by sneaking a stroll in the historical centre on your arrival night to get your bearings and see the town lit up.

Venice - 2 nights means 1 full day plus the afternoon of arrival, so that will be good to see the main sights and have a little wander or two

Vienna - 3 full days is a good amount of time here.

Bratislava - as per WT, unless you want to see specific things and really explore, a hovercraft trip from Vienna for lunch/a day trip would be a nice amount of time here. That way you could add the extra time to another city. If you had, however, planned to see a lot here, then it's only a quick trip from Vienna, so maybe one night would be enough.

Budapest - good amount of time

Krakow - as above

Prague - as above

Berlin - as above, although adding another night here if you alter your itinerary would be no bad thing.

Hamburg - one night would be enough as the train from Berlin isn't that long (about 2hrs) so you could explore the city, take a habour cruise, etc on arrival day as well as the next morning before continuing to AMS.

Amsterdam - 2 full days would be perfect. Plus the train to Paris is under 4hrs so you have time on the day of departure too.

Paris - 4 full days is a good amount of time.

[Plym]

Thank you all so much for the comments.
I have been researching alot and have now narrowed it down to this:

July 20th Fly from Glasgow:
PISA straight to
FLORENCE 3 nights
ROME 5 nights (day in Pompeii)
VENICE 3 nights

VIENNA 3 nights

BUDAPEST 3 nights

<I have a spare night for the time above as I need to be in Krakow on the 6th. Any ideas?>

KRAKOW 4 nights

PRAGUE 4 nights

BERLIN 5 nights

I have a couple of days spare in the 2nd half of the list too. I figured Paris was too expensive. Any ideas where else would be good?

[allsf]

Plym,

on your researching.. what have you found to be the best/ most economic transportation for your trip??

[Plym]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that helped me on this board!!!!
It was a BIG help!

I went to all the places I said I would and I loved it and can't wait for my next trip!!

[WillTravel]

Excellent, Plym! Thanks for reporting back. I'd love to hear more.

[Eagle]

Plym,

Glad to hear that you had such a good trip! Be sure to Post a "Just Back" report, as we'd like to hear the details.

Cheers!