60 days in europe?

[jbk]

Greetings everyone. I am traveling to europe for 2 months on a whim and just started a rough planned itinerary and was looking for any suggestions or comments. I will be traveling with my friend as well. We are stuck and was wondering if this itinerary was possible.
We are trying to hit up Amsterdam/Germany/France/Spain/Italy. The original plan is to spend roughly 2 weeks in each country. We are thinking about getting the 4 Country Eurorail Pass.
We are trying to get all our train rides in the morning and hopefully reserving sleeper night trains for the longer distance ones.

Arriving Feb.7th

Flight from NYC to Amsterdam
Amsterdam (2 nights)
Arriving IN germany
Train to Koln (1 night or day)
Train to Hamburg (1 night or day)
Train to Berlin (2-3 nights)
(overnight train?)
Train to Frankfurt (1 night or day)
Train to Munchen (3-4 days)
Leaving Germany
Arriving in France
Train to Strasbourg (1 night)
Train to Paris (3-4 days)
Train to Lyon (1-2 days)
Train to Avignon (1 night or day)
Leaving France
Arriving in Spain
(overnight train)?
Train to Barcelona (3 nights)
Train to Madrid (2 nights)
Train to Seville (1 night/day)
Train to Granada (Day trip?)
Train back to Madrid
Flight Madrid to Nice
Arriving in Nice, France (2-3 nights) Including day trips in Provence area)
Leaving France
Arriving in Italy
Train to Torino (1 night/day)
Train to Milano (2 night/day)
Train to Verona (1 day/night)
Train to Venice (2 night/day)
Train to Florence (2 night/day)
Train to Rome (3 night/day)
Train to Naples (2 night/day)
Bus to Positano (1-2/day)
Ferry to Capri (1 day)
Back to Naple
Flying Naples to NYC

Total Days I have 60
Total days in cities 38
Leaves 22 days for traveling purposes.

Is this a good estimation?

Thanks for listening and any feedback.

[madamtrashheap]

jbk, welcome to GFE.

A quick glance at the number of days/nights allocated in some cities prompts me to suggest a few alterations:

If you are only travelling to Köln and Hamburg as a way to get to Berlin, then consider flying Amsterdam-Berlin instead (check Transavia). If, however, you want to visit both cities (and they are worth visiting), then keep them as shown as they are compact and the time allotted will be fine.

Berlin - you may find that you need 4 nights (3 full days) are there is much to see and do.

Frankfurt - again, unless you are visiting for a specific reason (mine was always to visit friends and go to Sven Väth's club), no need to keep in your itinerary, simply fly Berlin to Munich or train it.

Paris - 4 days will be best, depending on what you want to see.

Lyon & Avignon - great cities, highly underrated, so good to see you're travelling to both. The are both easy to get around in terms of size (even though Lyon is France's 2nd largest city, the centre is compact and there's a metro system) and not far from each other, so you may find taking the TGV (fast train) from Paris to Lyon is not only an experience, but also gives you more time in the city. Then Avignon is only just down the tracks, so 1 night would be plenty if you arrive before lunchtime. The good hostel in Lyon (HI in Old Town) books out well ahead, so if that's your accommodation choice, try to book it asap.

France to Spain - I believe you'll have to take a regional train from Avignon to Montpellier or Perpignan (more underrated towns) and then the fast train to Barcelona. All up this will take around 6 hours - trains from France to Spain are always longer, but it's worth it.
Another thought or two - you could travel from Avignon on to Nice, thus altering your itinerary, then take a flight from Nice (look at Iberia for Madrid or Vueling for Barcelona) to, say Madrid, then on to Sevilla, Granada and Barcelona before flying back to Nice to continue by train on to Torino/Turin or skip Torino and fly direct Barcelona-Milan (with Vueling). Or reverse the order of Spain and fly Madrid-Torino with Iberia (avoid Ryanair at all costs from "Barcelona" which is actually Girona, over an hour north of the city).

Italy - you may find that 1 full day in Milan is enough. Torino is a pretty city, but again 1 night would be enough and you may even look at removing them both from your itinerary unless you have specific sights to see (book online and well ahead for "The Last Supper" tickets). You could even replace them with time at Lake Como, much prettier and relaxing.
Verona - great town, 1 full day is plenty, unless you're a shopaholic.
Venice/Venezia - 2 nights, or 1 full day, might need to be adjusted to 2 full days, especially if you plan to visit the outer islands (eg Burano) as you'll need half a day for that.
Florence/Firenze - 2 full days will allow for the city only, so if you'd planned a quick trip to Pisa (1 hour by train) then add a day as you'll need half a day there and back.
Rome - 3 full days is the minimum amount of time to explore Rome, but at least the Eurostar (Italia) fast train from Florence to Rome is only 1hr30mins, so you can get a jump on your day and sneak in an extra half day either in Florence or in Rome.
Naples/Napoli - I'm a fan, but it's a chaotic city in which you need to keep your wits about you and make sure you know which areas of the city are off limits (get away from the train station as soon as you can). 1 full day would be good as you can visit the Archaeological Museum, take the Circumvesuviana train to Pompei and back and spend the evening eating great pizza and watching the world walk by. Then you'll have the afternoon and evening on the day you return from Positano before your flight the next day. Don't try to do Positano-Naples-flight in one day. Besides beginning your flight tired, you also risk falling foul of the snap strikes than can happen in Italy (I spent a whole year being followed by snap transport and museum strikes in Italy - spent lots of time in cafes and bars!), having issues with trains and bussess and generally creating stress where there doesn't need to be stress. Spend the night before your flight in Naples to ensure you make it in plenty of time and don't have any last minute hassles.
Positano - the bus ride (SITA bus, around 2hrs depending on traffic and number of stops, unless you find the direct bus which is elusive outside summer) is spectacular and a little white-knuckle in some parts, so that's one option. The Circumvesuviana train can take you to Sorrento, then a bus will go on to Positano, but a more spectacular and slightly easier way might be to take the hydrofoil from Naples (again, watch your possessions around the habour) to Positano which takes just under 2 hours and see the coastline from a different angle. However, I have just seen that you are travelling in February/March, so I don't think the ferries along the coast will be running by the time you get there (they are high season operations, check www.metrodelmare.com/ ) so the SITA bus is your best option.
Capri - again, even in April, things are pretty quiet on Capri and the water is still quite chilly, so perhaps take the morning ferry over and come back to Positano on the 2pm (if it's running, the schedule may still be on "winter) boat, which will allow a visit to the Blue Grotto (depending on tides), a funicular ride up to Capri town and lunch, then spend the afternoon wandering Positano or take the public bus up to Sorrento for a stroll and aperitivo before returning to Positano.

Happy and fast planning.