4 Months of European Backpacking

[Mikul]

I am in the very early stages of planning a backpacking trip to Europe. As of right now, I have a rough sketch of what I would like to visit, which is pretty much everything! I know I will probably get need to get a visa, as I will be barely going over the 90 day limit. Some days I am outside of Schengen countries, so it is possible I might not even need a visa. I would love as much input as possible. I am aiming to start my trip in early June.

Amsterdam - 3
Bruges - 3 (Daytrip to Gent/Antwerp?)
Brussels - 1
London - 4 (Fly to Dublin)
Dublin - 3
Edinburgh - 4 (Daytrip to Loch Ness)
Bergen - 3
Oslo - 2
Stockholm - 3
Turku - 1
Helsinki - 4 (Ferry to Tallinn for 1 night.) Night Train
St. Petersburg - 4
Moscow (Fly to Krakow) - 4
Krakow - 3 (Nigh train)
Berlin – 5
Prague - 3 (Fly to Dubrovnik)
Dubrovnik - 3
Mostar - 2
Sarajevo - 3
Budapest - 3
Vienna - 5 (Daytrip to Bratislava)
Ljubljana - 3
Bled - 3
Salzburg - 2 (Daytrip to Werfen)
Munich - 3 (Daytrip to Dachau and/or Neuschwanstein)
Interlaken - 3
Gimmelwald - 3 (Paragliding?)
Venice - 2
Rome - 6
Sorrento Naples - 3 (Daytrip to Pompeii)
Capri - 2
Florence - 3
Cinque Terre - 4 (Go to Pisa before arriving)
Milan - 1 (Fly to Athens)
Athens - 3
Santorini - 4
Crete - 2

Maybe:
Cairo - 14?


Edited to fix a couple of additions (Russia) & repeats.

[herrbert]

We spoke before I presume

A few points:

Türkü is not worth 3 days. I spend two half days there. (so 1 whole day) I think that one day is enough to spend there. The Castle and the Cathedral are worth a visit. Also on the Cathedral side of the river, you can climb up a hill (on the hill is a park, a school), where you can have a nice look over the town. In these two half days I even had time to buy new shoes. (I needed to as I noticed in Helsinki, my old ones had holes in the soles.)

the trainride to Helsinki will take 2 hours.

I presume the daytrip to Salzburg from Vienna is a resumé from an older version, as you visit Salzburg a few days later.

To me Tallinn - Krakow - Berlin - Prague seems more logical, but it could well be that the logistics work out better in your order. (you can also do Tallinn as a daytrip from Helsinki, and fly Helsinki - Berlin (or Krakow/Katowice)? Check Blue1 or SAS on possible flights.

(Paragliding?)

ask Eagle ...

[Eagle]

Mikul, Welcome! That's an ambitious Itinerary!

One comment about the Russia portion of your trip. It's a bit more difficult to travel there, as you will need both an invitation and a Visa. Also, Moscow is a VERY expensive city so be sure to budget for that.

As herrbert mentioned, I was Paragliding in Gimmelwald during my trip there. The flight is actually from Murren, which is the next village up. Of course, these are "tandem" flights with a Pilot and from Murren it lasts about 20 minutes. There's also the option of taking a flight from the Schilthorn (10,000 feet) which is about a one hour flight and considerably more expensive (there were some Gliders taking off while I was visiting the Schilthorn - the wives of those taking the flights were watching very nervously).

As you're planning to travel in early June, you'll need to work out the details fairly quickly as that's only about four months away! It could take some time to get the Visa for Russia. Also, be sure to check the expiry date of your Passport, as some countries won't allow visitors to enter if there's less than three months remaining on their Passport.

Cheers!

[Mikul]

Hey Eagle! Thanks for your comments. It is definitely not going to be this summer, more like in 2 years after I graduate college. This summer I will be spending 4 weeks in Spain studying and 5 nights in Paris and 2 nights in London. However, I would like to start planning this trip now, as I will need considerable time figuring out what I will be doing in each town and figuring out how much money I will need (probably as much as I can save). I do realize that Russia is going to be a lot of work to get into and so will as Egypt (probably not as bad).

I would love to do paragliding and will be looking into that.