28 days in Europe, 1 dream fulfilled

[pre1321]

Hello everyone,

My friend and I graduated college a few months ago and have saved up for a four week trip through Europe. We will be flying into Barcelona on May 18th and flying back out of Barcelona on June 15th. We combined our list of must see cities within a reasonable "circle" route so as to cover lots of ground and end up back where we started for our flight home.

Barcelona (May 18th, early AM arrival): 2-3 days
Zurich or Geneva: 1-2 days
Rome: 2-3 days
Venice: 2 days
Vienna: 2 days
Prague: 2 days
Berlin: 2-3 days
Amsterdam: 2 days
London(?): 2-3 days
Paris: 2-3 days
Barcelona (June 15th 11:20 am flight): 1 day

Which still leaves roughly 2 flex days to add on to certain cities. We realize that there will be a lot of travel time and that 2-3 days for the big cities isn't a whole lot, but we're willing to have a fast paced trip if it means we can see more cities. We're certainly not expecting a relaxing trip by an means. Also, we're planning on traveling at night whenever possible in order to save some time/hostel money.

Does this look like a reasonable plan or are we overextending ourselves? If I had to cut one out, it'd probably be Prague, then London since it is not included in our Eurail.

Thanks for any help!

[Eagle]

pre1321,

Welcome to the Boards! I have a few comments to begin with.

Does this look like a reasonable plan or are we overextending ourselves?

IMHO, you're definitely "overextending" yourselves! In reading over your proposed Itinerary, I don't see any allowance for travel times between cities and in some cases those times will be LONG. Dropping one or two cities would be a really good idea. Your suggestion to drop Prague and London is probably the most sensible, as those are about the furthest distance from Barcelona.

Rather than Berlin, you might consider Munich instead, as it fits better with the transportation to and from the other cities. Rather than Zurich or Geneva, have you looked at Lucerne? If possible try to increase the time in some cities. Rome and Paris both deserve (and need) more than 2-3 days!

In Paris you might consider a Paris Museum Pass (perhaps the two-day version), as it will reduce your time in queues, which at that time of year in the "spring shoulder season" could be LONG. Check their website for the details.

It would have been more efficient to use open-jaw flights, but I'm assuming you've already bought your air tickets to Barcelona.

Happy travels!