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Post by madamtrashheap on Sept 14, 2011 22:51:26 GMT -5
Great info on your Blog, WT! Thanks for posting - might have to plan a trip to Vancouver now, lots to do!
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Post by madamtrashheap on Sept 8, 2011 1:34:46 GMT -5
You would be best to check the dimensions of your backpack with the baggage section of each website of the airlines you're looking at. (Look under Carrier Regulations on the EasyJet site). Off the top of my head, you might have trouble with the height, but the other dimensions are well below the suggested (usual) limits.
As for your second itinerary, omitting Paris, it would be possible to visit all three places, but you will be a little rushed if you spend a decent amount of time in each place:
Prague - 3 full days (4 nights) Vienna - 2 full days (3 nights) Budapest - 2 full days (3 nights)
So perhaps look at the things you want to see in each city (the figures above are without any day trips outside the cities). You may have to drop one of the cities. And don't forget that train travel between Prague and Vienna takes around 4hrs 45mins, while train between Vienna and Budapest takes just under 7hrs, so factor this travel time into your time left in each city.
I'm a little confused by your last Post - you are now talking of flying to Paris from Budapest, yet I thought you were dropping Paris to visit Prague-Vienna-Budapest instead? And why are you returning to Dusseldorf at the end of your trip?
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Post by madamtrashheap on Sept 7, 2011 3:08:44 GMT -5
Wow katejing, your plans have changed, but that's not a bad thing as you'll have time in each place to explore and also to do a few day/overnight trips. As has been mentioned, make sure you pay attention to the luggage weight limits set by RyanAir - they are very strict with checked baggage weight (the bag that goes under the plane) as well as with the size (not weight) of any carry-on bags. And if you have extra by the time you get to the airport and haven't pre-booked it online, you'll pay a lot more for bags, so plan ahead well. Düsseldorf - that's great that you have a place to stay already. Your friend's relatives will be able to suggest things in the city and region to see and do. The old town of Düsseldorf was rebuilt after WWII but it still looks "old", plus you could take a day trip (by train) to Cologne (Köln in German), head down to Bonn and take a short cruise on the Rhein, as well as the few days in Amsterdam. I would take the train to Amsterdam - will be about 2-3hrs by train, so better than flying. Prague - I would fly this route as you can look at flights from Düsseldorf airport with Czech Air (CSA) or Lufthansa, but book this flight NOW as the further ahead you book the better the price. You could also look at flights from Cologne/Bonn Airport (30mins from Düsseldorf by train) with GermanWings. A train Düsseldorf to Prague will take around 10 hours. Then from Prague to Paris, fly with Czech Air (you can book all legs online with them if the prices are suitable), EasyJet or SmartWings. Make sure you fly into Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) or Orly Airport (ORY) and not Beauvais as that will take far too long to get into Paris, whereas the other two airports are much easier to access. You won't be doing a lot of train travel between countries, so perhaps look at a German Rail Pass only, or even see if your friend's relatives can book ahead for cheaper rail tickets, esp to Amsterdam. Don't purchase on the day of travel as it will cost you more than if you purchase a few days in advance. Check the Deutsche Bahn website www.deutschebahn.com/site/bahn/en/start.html for times, prices, etc. Now that you have your travel dates, make sure you book your flights right now as the longer you leave it the more expensive they will become. From Paris, you could take the Eurostar back to London (if that's your final destination), but again, book in advance (that it, now!) to get the better prices. If you are travelling to Manchester from Paris, look at flights instead. Once you've booked the flights, let us know and we can fill in some information on things to do/day trips for the other destinations.
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Post by madamtrashheap on Sept 4, 2011 22:57:19 GMT -5
kmacadventure, welcome to GFE.
Good that you're planning your trip now as before you know it you'll be on your way. To get you started, first look at a map of Ireland to get an idea of the majore centres, distances and where other places are in relation to each other. Then, start listing the places you'd like to visit. From there, a route will start to form and you can list your first go at an itinerary back here for us to look at and fill in the blanks.
Ireland isn't that big, so one month of travelling around will give you lots of time to explore. Are you planning on visiting anywhere else other than Ireland?
As for transport, if you are backpacking and on a budget, you'll be looking at a combination of trains and busses around Ireland. Once you've worked out an itinerary, what style of transport to take on which route will be able to be answered.
Budget is always a hard one - the short answer is to save up as much money as you can. If you are staying in Hostels and B&Bs, you'll be looking at around Euro70/US$100, which is the average amount for travellers per day. Euro is the currency of Ireland (the Republic of). Of course some days you may spend more, some days less, but use that as an average for your budget aim.
If you know the exact dates of your trip, you can start to look (and book) at flights from wherever you are to Dublin. In fact in this case, I would recommend flying in and out of Dublin rather than in to Dublin and out of Shannon. Unless the answer to the above question is that you are travelling somewhere else other than Ireland. At any rate, start to look at flight costs to get an idea of dates and rates for your flight.
Have a look through the Posts on these Boards as there are many referencing Ireland. That will give you an idea of what others have done, but you don't have to base your trip soley on that - remember, it has to be your trip and to see/do things that interest you. For additional research, look up websites like the Irish Tourism Board, TimeOut Dublin, Lonely Planet and even Rick Steve's for some ideas on places to visit.
Once you've had a look through that information, start to plot a route and re-post here for additional suggestions. Happy planning.
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Post by madamtrashheap on Aug 31, 2011 20:33:06 GMT -5
Big Yellow are usually used for larger items/household goods/office storage, hence the large space available. As you are flying out of London (I'm guessing Heathrow) you should look into the Excess Baggage Company which has branches in some of the terminals at Heathrow. Try www.excess-baggage.com and click on the Storage Services section for options of leaving your bag at the airport office or you could store it (and even ship it home) at their large warehouse. I've used this company for shipping several times and they have been very good on all occasions. Luggage storage anywhere is not going to be cheap, so choose the one most convenient and with the better options for you.
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Post by madamtrashheap on Aug 25, 2011 22:31:34 GMT -5
That's pretty much it, sarahizzie. You usually find two single beds in budget hotels for twin rooms, whereas you may get lucky and find two queen/double beds for a twin room in some places, but that's not usual. Have a look at www.eurocheapo.com for hotels and hostels of varying price ranges and you will have a better idea of what you're dealing with in terms of price, location, facilities, etc for different types of accommmodation. For hostels only , try www.hostelworld.com for an idea of rooms, locations, etc. Don't forget, you may get a cheaper place that's further out of town, but you'll have to spend more on transport to the sights rather than perhaps being able to walk in some cities. Lots to weigh up, but if you plug in a sample city (Madrid, Barcelona, Paris or Amsterdam will do) to each site, you'll get more of an idea for your budget and requirements. Happy planning!
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Post by madamtrashheap on Aug 25, 2011 2:10:10 GMT -5
Lille was a suggestion from a friend, and Rotterdam has been on my radar for a while due to a tennis tournament played there. Lille is definitely not necessary-would there be another city between Paris and Rotterdam that could serve as a sort of midway point? The journey from Paris to Rotterdam by train isn't long at all, around 2hr30mins on the direct Thalys train, so you don't need a "midway" point if you don't want one. That direct no changes service runs every 2 hrs from Paris Gare du Nord, so you'll have times throughout the day to chose from. Like I said, nothing wrong with Lille for a day, so if it's on your list and sounds interesting, then do a little more research on it (not just Wikipedia!) and go for it. Otherwise straight through to Rotterdam is possible, and that way you have a day extra for Paris (always a bonus). Eagle's answer to your hotel/hostel question is spot on - don't just go for hostels thinking they are the cheap option, but by the same token, understand that it can be difficult to find a triple room in hotels in Europe. For that you'll have to plan and book well ahead, and some hotels don't even offer triple rooms.
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Post by madamtrashheap on Aug 19, 2011 3:34:32 GMT -5
ickiskrumm, I'm going to make what I consider an obvious point: accommodation in Munich during Oktoberfest is going to be all but booked out by now, especially if you haven't looked into any yet. If you have scored some, then awesome! But from your post I get the impression you haven't. That's something I'd get on to first thing tomorrow (hangover or no hangover, consider it practice for travelling!), before you look into the Hostel membership, as that won't help at this stage. Neither will thinking you can just lock your bags in the Munich train station and spend your days sleeping where you fall - Germans are pretty tolerant, but around O'fest time, that tolerance is limited, so sleeping rough isn't an option. Do look into Munich first, you may get lucky, but be prepared to book somewhere else (as mentioned above) and travel by train to O'fest. Start here: www.eurocheapo.com and plug in Munich, then you can see what's available in your price range. I understand the placement of Germany/Munich in your itinerary for the dates of O'fest, and I guess that has to stay as is. But the rest of Eagle's suggested itinerary might work better, esp if you go from Germany to Croatia (it all but shuts down in terms of full on nightlife after Summer is over) so get there after Germany, then maybe fly to AMS then France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain. Of course, this will depend on flights to/from Croatia, but they can be found, you'll just have to trawl a bit. And in the spirit of Oktoberfest, I'm off to drink beer...Prost!
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Post by madamtrashheap on Aug 19, 2011 3:19:03 GMT -5
Thanks for all the help by the way! Pleasure! Thanks for filling in some of the blanks sarahizzie. Ok, with 20-30 days and more of an idea of the places you want to see and why, this is a skeleton of an itinerary for you to build on: (not sure where you're flying from,n this may have a bearing on the better-priced city to fly in to) fly into Madrid Madrid - stay 4-5 nights (3-4 full days - allows for jet lag and some day trips as well as time in the city) train to Barcelona (fast-train called AVE in Spain, will take 3hrs) Barcelona - 3-4 nights (2-3 full days - allows for beach time as well as sightseeing and nightlife) fly to Nice (check Iberia Air as they have cheap and direct flights between Barcelona and Nice, train takes 12 hours and is during the day = monumental waste of precious time in this instance) Nice - 3 nights (2 full days will allow beach time plus a half-day train visit to Monaco as it's just up the hill from Nice). train to Paris (the TGV fast train in France will take 5.5hrs or you can fly, but that won't save much time on this route) Paris - 4-5 nights (I know it's not on your list, but it should be! Unless you've both been here before. You don't have to overdose on museums, there is plenty to see/do/eat/drink without setting foot in one museum if you don't want to). Lille - not sure why you chose Lille, it's not everyone's ideal European city...but it is good for shopping! You could easily do Lille as a day trip from Paris, or train from Paris and stay overnight before continuing on by train to the Netherlands, specifically Rotterdam then Amsterdam - I know, not on your list either, but stick with me. In fact, let's go with that option...) train Paris to Lille - the TGV runs this route to Lille in an hour, so you can have an overnight stay in Lille, then catch train to Rotterdam early next afternoon to allow for sightseeing train to Rotterdam - train will take around 3hrs; again, not on everyone's radar, but still a good town to visit nonetheless. Spend a night here, and you'll have time to explore the city centre and sights, then catch a train to Amsterdam the next afternoon as it's only around 1hr away. train to Amsterdam - 3 nights (again, lots to see and do, esp Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, the odd bit of nightlife to be had!). fly to Copenhagen (look at KLM or Norwegian Air for flights - book far enough ahead - min 3 months - and you'll get good prices) Copenhagen - 3-4 nights (unless there is something specific, 2 full days will give you time to explore the beautiful Tivoli - best seen in Summer and you could easily spend one whole day here - Strøget, the pedestrian street in the city centre, and the harbour area - Christianshaven) fly homeAs you can see, just that area covers around 25 nights, so not much room for additions, but if you area stretching out to 30 days then you might be able to do more time in some places if you need. I've listed the ideal amount of time (for you) in each city, the idea is that you'll have time to explore and not rush too much, but if you want more time in some cities then by all means adjust. Or if you're thinking of adding one more city in because you have 30 days, then look at somewhere in Belgium (eg Brugge, Brussels, etc) as the train from Lille to Rotterdam will require a change in Antwerp, ie Belgium, so that would be easy enough to throw in. I've put Spain first and Denmark last as the weather in late June or July will be perfect in Copenhagen, but in Spain and Nice you will still have great beach weather at the start of your trip. If you don't want to add Paris and/or Amsterdam, let me know why. I'm also curious about your choices of Lille and Rotterdam - nothing wrong with them, would just like to have more of an idea as to why you chose them. The Open Jaw flight ticket is just that - fly into one city and out of another, as shown above. It may cost a little more than say flying in and out of the same city (eg Madrid), so look into it, but it's worth it to save time (and flights). A travel agent may be your best bet for this as you're not familiar with the ticket type. As for train passes, not sure you're going to get much value out of one for this trip, but again do look into one which covers France and the Netherland (and Spain if it's worth it) and compare to just purchasing tickets in advance on the legs you're looking for. Unless you're heading into a public holiday on the days you travel by train, you can usually purchase tickets for your next leg on the day you arrive in the city. Eg for Nice to Paris, you could purchase that when you arrive in Nice, then travel a few days later. However, look into pre-purchase, esp for the TGV, as this may well save you money. And remember Copenhagen isn't a "budget" city. It's a little more affordable that it's Scandi cousins further north, but it's still not Spain, so budget more for accommodation and food there. If you could sift through those details and let us know thoughts/adjustments/additional information that will help with further suggestions and in planning your itinerary. Once you've sorted cities, you can sort accommodation (plenty to choose from in most places, esp hostels and budget hotels) and transport properly. Some sites which might help you with planning: Trains: www.deutschebahn.de and click the English flag at the top right; this is the German train site, but covers all of Europe and is very user friendly. Otherwise go to the train sites for each of the countries you're travelling in, particularly if you speak the language. Flights: www.expedia.com www.skyscanner.net or any of the other search engines for flights to see all of your options in one place.
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Post by madamtrashheap on Aug 17, 2011 1:47:25 GMT -5
Welcome to GFE, sarahizzie.
You've provided us with a little information about what you are looking to do for your trip, but there are a few more blanks we'll need filled in before we can offer advice to help you plan.
1. "various places" in France and Spain needs to be narrowed down. If you could list the cities/towns you're considering, that will help. 2. Train travel in every place you've listed is certainly easy, however for some legs you will be better served flying, thus your trip will involve a combination of train and air travel. Which sections requiring what type of travel will only be determined once you have your route mapped out. 3. "Summer time" - got specific month in mind? 4. Budgets - for travel, accommodation, sightseeing etc. If you can give us a rough idea of your budget, or style of travel, that will help with recommendations. 5. Interests - do you enjoy museums, historical sights, eating and drinking, bars/nightlife, quite villages, busy cities? Again, if you can fill in the blanks that will help with recommendations. 6. Open-jaw airline tickets - this is something you can look into and work out once you've arrange a start and end point of your itinerary. This means, you fly into one city and out of another, negating the need to backtrack to the starting point for a flight and squeezing the most out of your 20-30days.
If you can fill us in on the above points, and anything else you think we should know, the suggestions will flow.
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Post by madamtrashheap on Aug 9, 2011 20:57:23 GMT -5
To add to all of Eagle's excellent advice: Munich during Oktoberfest: you will be lucky to find accommodation anywhere close at this late stage, however try The Tent as they sometimes keep a few places open until a few weeks before the start. www.the-tent.com/Or you could plug in the dates you're planning to be in Munich into a hotel search such as www.eurocheapo.com and see what's still available in your price range. Otherwise areas/towns to look at in the vicinity include: Salzburg - trains are frequent and run until late Augsburg - again, frequent trains Garmisch-Partenkirchen - pretty village at the foot of the alps going into to Austria, trains are frequent enough, but won't run super late. Fussen - would be a great place if you are planning to visit the castles (Neuschwanstein, Lindau, etc), a 2hr one way train ride will be necessary daily (same for Garmisch) and the latest train back is around 9.30pm. Suburbs/outlying areas of Munich - Neufahrn, towards the airport, is on the S-bahn (fast train) line and has a few hotels, pensione, etc; or try Freising, also on the way to the airport just past Neufahrn; Herrsching (am Ammersee) which is at the end of S5 line and on the Ammer Lake; Starnberg, on the northern end of the Starnberg Lake (Starnbergersee). Munich Airport hotels - there are a few out here and transport is available. Where you choose will depend on where you are going to as your next destination in terms of convenience. Plus how many days to you intend on spending in/around Munich to sightsee. And worth noting - Eurorail is a type of pass, there are no trains specifically called "Euro Rail" so don't go asking where the Euro Rail train is at stations! You'll come across different types of trains (EC = Euro City, IC = Intercity, R = Regional, etc) so do a little reading that Eagle has mentioned so you know when you'll need reservations and what trains will suit you best. A good all-purpose train timetable site which might help you plan your journeys, distances, travel time, etc is the Deutsche Bahn site www.deutschebahn.com/site/bahn/de/start.html It's the German train site, but covers all destinations in Europe. Just click the English flag on the right and plug in destinations to help plan your travel. Another note: Greece. As Eagle noted, by the end of your trip, ie November, things on the island will have all but shut down. Greece isn't warm much past the end of September, so if you were planning on visiting any of the islands to lie on a beach then you'll be disappointed. The season runs from May to September, after which things get very quiet and some (not all) businesses close down for Winter. If you are only planning on visiting the mainland, then you'll be fine as things continue as usual throughout the non-Summer months. Croatia will be a similar situation if you were looking to spend quality beach/boat time, but sightseeing can certainly still be done in the off-season. Scandi - if you end up only having 2 months to travel, then drop Sweden and Denmark this time around as they will eat into your budget very quickly and will be getting rather chilly (even by DC standards) and wet in October. Not that weather is going to be fab everywhere else, but it may help with your route and budget to leave them out this time. Switzerland - if you are planning to hike here, then best you place it at the start of your itinerary. Snow in the better hiking areas (ie Berner Oberland, around Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Gimmelwald) can start to creep down the valley in October, so perhaps move Switzerland closer to the start to allow for slightly more conducive conditions for hiking. Even just before or just after Octoberfest might work. Spain - for warmth, well relatively speaking, and a bit of a relax at the end, place Spain last on your list and look at flying out of Madrid back to DC. That is, an open jaw ticket. This doesn't have to be done, but just a thought for your itinerary order.
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Post by madamtrashheap on Jul 24, 2011 21:48:18 GMT -5
elle116, welcome to GFE.
It's a good thing that you have your accommodation for Munich during Oktoberfest already booked - things are already booked out in some sectors - and Munich Airport is fairly large with a good selection of flight destinations, so keep that in mind if you have to rearrange the order of your itinerary. And you'll be happy you have booked an open jaw ticket so you don't have to backtrack to fly home, nice work.
Your itinerary looks fine at first glance, just a few questions: 1. How are you getting from London to Paris? If you haven't already, book the Eurostar asap to get the best ticket price. It's quicker and far more convenient than flying that route. 2. AMS - BER - would you consider flying this route? I ask because it may save you a little time. Check Transavia for flights. 3. BCN - MAD - again if you haven't already, look into pre-purchasing tickets on the express train on this route, just to sneak a little more time in. It's also quicker than flying this route. 4. Day Trips - you've noted that you want to visit Stonehenge from London, which is certainly possible. Look at a combination of Stonehenge and Bath with a tour company (Evan Evans, etc) to save you the hassle of trains and busses. Unless of course you only want to visit Stonehenge, in which case you will need a good half-three quarters of a day with train to Salisbury, bus to Stonehenge, then return. Paris - the day trip to the Champagne region is again doable, but you may find that you want to stay in Paris instead as there is so much to see and do. Are you considering Versailles as well? If so, that will need half a day. And if you are going to the Champagne region for tastings, then take the train to the town of Reims and visit Veuve, Moet, etc in the town itself as well as see the cathedral (it's impressive) and have lunch. Or you can visit the Musee du Vin in Paris where they have a museum of wine making on one side and a restaurant on the other offering tastings (of wine and cheese!). Munich - make sure you arrive at the Theresienwiese (Oktoberfest grounds) first thing in the morning (before 10am) if you want entry to one of the more popular tents/halls. If you get all 'Fested out, consider a half day trip to Dachau for a little history, and don't miss sitting in the Viktualienmarkt (market in centre of town) under the Oak Trees with a beer and a bratwurst to escape the O'fest crowds. Madrid - one one of your days you may be able to fit in a day trip to either Toledo or Segovia.
Other than that, the trip looks great and you are pretty organised, which can only be a good thing. Happy travels!
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Post by madamtrashheap on Jul 13, 2011 19:43:59 GMT -5
Bonne Fête Nationale en France!
If any GFE travellers are there, I hope you enjoy the atmosphere, are drinking champagne and don't get crushed by the crowds on the Champs du Mars!
For those of us not there today, there's always Veuve and brie to console us! ;D
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Post by madamtrashheap on Jul 13, 2011 19:36:54 GMT -5
katejing, I think by "MU airport" you mean Munich airport. If this is so, I'd suggest, to avoid confusion, you refer to it as either Munich or MUC (that's the office airport code).
So, from what I can make out of your adjusted itinerary:
fly Manchester to Munich fly Munich to Zurich train Zurich to Lucerne train Lucerne to Basel fly Basel to Venice Florence Pisa (NOTE: this can be done as a half-day trip from Florence) Rome Athens Milan Paris Berlin Cologne Munich
For ease of reading and understanding your current plans, can I suggest you do the following: 1. list out, in order and in full names, the cities you're travelling to 2. write next to each city the number of nights you plan to spend there 3. list the travel method (fly or train) between each city
The more logical and clear you are with your information, the easier it will be for everyone to give you advice. It's hard to follow plans when they aren't listed out clearly and because the cities keep changing.
If the cities I have listed above are the correct ones, then as you've noted, there is backtracking here and I think you are still trying to fit too many places in to your itinerary for one month. I would suggest removing Milan (unless you plan to shop or book ahead to see The Last Supper) and Cologne. If you want to add Amsterdam, that is possible, but will mean taking time away from another city. As has been mentioned, there is no need to fly into and out of the same city (eg Munich). If you want to save time, then fly into one place and out of (that is, back to Manchester) another one so you don't need to backtrack. Flights are cheap enough in Europe that there is no need for a ticket that goes into and out of the same place.
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Post by madamtrashheap on Jul 5, 2011 4:26:41 GMT -5
I see you've now added more of Greece than just Athens, which is what I was suspecting and I should have mentioned earlier that Greek islands begin to close down for the season by the end of September, so if you do keep Santorini in (and 3-4 nights there would be good) I would recommend starting in Greece while the weather is still warm and things are open. Crete, of course, is a much larger island so doesn't close down as such, but does get quieter and less beach-like weather after the end of September. Perhaps consider flying from Manchester to Athens to start your trip in Greece, then ferry or fly to Santorini, back to Athens and do a little more research as to why you are going to Crete. Your itinerary is already very long (as you know) so you will need to cut some places out.
Germany - keep in Berlin (3-4 nights), Munich (3-4 nights including day trip to Neuschwanstein castle) and Cologne (1night only is fine), ditch Frankfurt completely. Cologne sits at the northern end of the Rhein, so you could do a very short 1-2 hour cruise in Cologne of the Rhein to see the scenery. But trying to fit the Black Forest (Schwarzwald is German for Black Forest) in as well will take more time from other places. NOTE: Oktoberfest is on in Munich from 17 September to 3 October, so accommodation will be VERY HARD to find if you plan to be there during these dates. You will need to book ASAP.
France - Paris is good as show. I would skip Nice if you are going to Santorini as it will be getting cooler and the beach won't be as nice. Provence is beautiful, but where to go will depend on the other cities nearby that you choose - that is, what transport is available between cities nearby.
Italy - Rome as per Eagle's suggestion. Venice for 2-3 nights is good. Florence for 3 nights and you can do a half-day trip on the train (1 hour by train) to Pisa. Cinque Terre needs 4 nights to appreciate and you may run out of time in your month of travel, so decide if you really want to visit this time around. Milan is not worth going to on this trip unless you want to shop at the designer stores. I would stick to Rome, Venice and Florence for this trip.
Switzerland - Luzern/Lucerne is pretty and you can access several mountains from here: Mt Pilatus, Mt Stanserhorn or Mt Titlis. All are reached by train to the bottom, then cog rail/cable car depending on the mountain.
Prague - it's a great city, but if you find you are running out of time (and I think you will) then skip it this time around. The reason it has been referred to as a "backpacker's heaven" is because about 10 years ago it was still very cheap for accommodation and food and drink, but now it is the same price as many other European cities. Still lots to see, but research a little more as to why you want to go there.
Have a look at the places mentioned again, decide on what you are all interested in and you will be able to select the cities to visit from there. Let us know when you have re-done your itinerary and we will be able to offer more advice.
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