32 Days in Western Europe

[brightlightbigcity]

Hi All!

My brother and I (and possibly a few others) are planning a 32 day trip to Western Europe beginning approximately May 16, 2011. Below is our tentative itinerary. We're not sure which order we should travel to each country, where to fly in, how to get from place to place (train vs. flying), which city is best to fly into from the US, and which city we should fly out of back to the US. We would love some suggestions on a possible route to follow and feedback about time spent in each city. Also, how realistic is it to add the Netherlands to the list of countries to visit? It's a great hub for flying to and from the US and a country several friends have told us not to miss.

Spain - 8 days
Madrid (possibly day trips to Segovia, Toledo, Salamanca)
Barcelona
Seville

France - 3 days
Paris (day trip to Versailles)

Italy - 10 days
Rome - 3 days
Venice - 2 days
Florence - 3 days (day trip to Siena)
Cinque Terre - 2 days (one day for hiking the 5 towns, 1 day to relax at the beach)
(I read that Milan is not worth your time)

Portugal - 3 days
Lisbon (day trips to to Sintra and Porto)

Would LOVE to figure out how to squeeze in the Netherlands! We are flexible on the number of days we can stay, but we're trying to stay within a $5000 US dollar budget including airfare to and from US.

Thank you all for your feedback!

[laurenc418]

Hello!

Well first the Netherlands is absolutely amazing. I only spent a couple of days in Amsterdam but it has become one of my favorite cities that I hope to return to soon. But if you can't squeeze it in, it wouldn't be the end of the world. I have never been to Portugal so I can't really give an opinion on that country, although many of the people we talked to in Spain, always highly encouraged a visit there.

For Italy, I think one day would be plenty for Venice. There really isn't much to see there. We just spent the day walking around the canals and popping into shopping stores. We actually had walked the whole city in about 3 hours and that was at a strolling pace! But Venice is gorgeous and it didn't smell as horribly as I thought, just when you get close to the water. Florence is gorgeous, absolutely a pleasure to walk around and the best gelato I had in all of Italy! I don't think 3 days will feel like enough in Rome though. It's such a huge city, with so many things to see, architecturally, culturally, and socially. It's a great night life in that city. Milan is definitely not worth your time. We spent half a day there and regretted it. It's only fun if you intend to do a lot of shopping with a lot of money. Cinque Terre! Oh my gosh, was that a gorgeous chain of towns. The water was so beautiful and the way the stores and houses were painted was so charming! We made the mistake of hiking though (accidentally) and were so angry and exhausted, lol. We don't do well with such rigorous hiking. Two days would definitely be good, make sure you book a hostel far in advance, they fill up fast!

3 days in Paris is plenty. But it'll be more like 2 days in Paris, 1 in Versailles. Some people may tell you half a day in Versailles is plenty but trust me, the time will fly by so fast and before you know it the sun is setting!

And in Spain we only spent 3 days there and they were all spent in Madrid. Although everyone we met on our travels told us we should have spent the time in Barcelona. I thought Madrid was gorgeous and you should definitely try to see a Flamenco show if possible!

I think 5000 US is definitely reasonable. We were gone for two months and only spent $6000 including air fare and train travel. Good luck on your travels!