Europe in April/May 2007

[chelle84]

Hi all, I am planning on backpacking around europe for roughly 6 weeks next year.. WE have done up a rough itinerary and so far have

Fly into London
4 days in London
2 days in Paris
3 days in Amsterdam
2 dats in Berlin
3 days in Prague
1day in Munich or Vienna (just a stopover on way to Venice)
2 days in Venice
2 days in Florence
4 days in Rome
2 days in Lucerne or Geneve
2 days in Nice
4 days in Barcelona

We are planning on flying out of Barcelona

Any advice/suggestions?

[pointofnoreturn]

Might want to add on 1-2 more days in Paris. 2 days isn't worth it alone. I'm staying in Paris for 4-5 nights. 4 days in London and Rome are good.

By the way, when you say "days" do you mean a whole day or just a night in general. I usually say "night" like 4-5 nights in a city.

Might be useful if you stated how you planned to get from one city to the next. Are you buying a rail pass? Flying?

P.S. Will be there in May with you!

[chelle84]

It is still kind of up in the air but that itinerary is pretty much what we have agreed on at the moment, possibly will not go to Berlin, Nice and Florence - those are the ones that are just "if we have time".

We are going to buy the Eurail Flexi 10-day pass and czech excursion pass - so training it between all the major cities. I thought about staying a bit longer in Paris but it really just Eiffel tower and a few other things we want to see there - we are going to be there by lunch time and then stay for 2 nights, so really only a day and a half actually in Paris.. It is a must see for me but my friend I am travelling with doesn't want to spend to long there (downside to travelling with someone!) I think it works out more like

5 nights London
2 nights Paris
4 nights Amsterdam
2 nights Berlin
4 nights Prague
1 night Munich/Vienna
2 nights Venice
2 nights Florence
4 nights Rome
2 nights Switzerland
4 nights BArcelona

the places in bold are the ones that are musts!

It is so confusing because every time we do a bit of research we just find somewhere else we want to go to as well as what we already have!

[chelle84]

I just saw your post regarding your itinerary will do mine like that

Fri 6 Apr - Depart Brisbane Aust (no time yet)
Sat 7 Apr - Arrive London (hopefully morning)
Sun 8 Apr - London
Mon 9 Apr - London
Tues 10 Apr - London
Wed 11 Apr - London
Thur 12 Apr - London - Paris (morning train will be there by lunch)
Fri 13 Apr - Paris
Sat 14 Apr - Paris - Amsterdam (hopefully early train)
Sun 15 Apr - Amsterdam
Mon 16 Apr - Amsterdam
Tues 17 Apr - Amsterdam
Wed 18 Apr - Amsterdam - Berlin
Thur 19 Apr - Berlin
Fri 20 Apr - Berlin - Prague
Sat 21 Apr - Prague
Sun 22 Apr - Prague
Mon 23 Apr - Prague
Tues 24 Apr - Prague - (say Munich)
Wed 25 Apr - Munich - Lucerne
Thur 26 Apr - Lucerne
Fri 27 Apr - Lucerne
Sat 28 Apr - Lucerne - Florence
Sun 29 Apr - Florence
Mon 30 Apr - Florence - Rome
Tues 1 May - Rome
Wed 2 May - Rome
Thur 3 May - Rome
Fri 4 May - Rome - Venice
Sat 5 May - Venice
Sun 6 May - Venice - Nice
Mon 7 May - Nice
Tues 8 May - Nice - Barcelona
Wed 9 May - Barcelona
Thur 10 May - Barcelona
Fri 11 May - Barcelona
Sat 12 May - Barcelona
Sun 13 May - Barcelona

So that is basically it, off the top of my head anyway I haven't got it near me atm sorry.. Unfortunately have to train it everywhere but that is why we have so many stops to break it up a bit at least.

[herrbert]

I think it looks good, you are taking enough time, and you take the time in your plans to travel. As I understood you don't have plans to really visit Munich, so I will not make any comments that you should need more time.

I will do so however on Amsterdam, in my opinion you don't need 4 days for Amsterdam. It's a compact city, so you can see a lot of things in a short amount of time. I would suggest taking the train to Berlin, one day earlier, and spend that time in Berlin.

Did you have a look into the nighttrains? It could give you some extra time in a couple of places. But they are more expensive (the money you save from not sleeping in a hostel, you lose because you need to reserve a bed) and you have to be able to sleep, otherwise it's crap.

[pointofnoreturn]

Definitely take one day off Amsterdam and apply it to Berlin. herrbert hit all the right points about Amsterdam being a compacted city. Everything's basically there and you can see everything in 3 nights maximum.

I might consider taking one day off London and applying it to Paris but you said that you weren't too sure but you might end up loving it and wanting to stay an extra day. Make sure there's a bit of flexibility that you can have the ability to do that.

Otherwise, your itinerary looks good!

[mikie]

Why London ? I suggest Manchester

[pointofnoreturn]

mikie said:

Why London ? I suggest Manchester

Manchester is so far up. I have family there and it's not exactly an exciting city unless you're a huge soccer fan.