Changes to itinerary

[chelle84]

My very generous boss has agreed to let me take another week on my holiday.. our new itinerary so far is
06/04 Depart Bris
07/04 ARrive London
08/04 - 11/04 London
12/04 - London - Paris
13/04 - 14/04 Paris
15/04 Paris - Amsterdam
16/04 - 18/04 Amsterdam
19/04 Amsterdam - Berlon
20/04 - 21/04 Berlin
22/04 Berlin - Prague
23/04 - 25/04 Prague
26/04 Prague - Munich
27/04 - 28/04 Munich
29/04 Munich - Lucerne
30/04 - 01/05 Lucerne
02/05 Lucerne - Venice
03/05 - 04/05 Venice
05/05 Venice - Florence
06/05 - 07/05 Florence
08/05 Florence - ROme
09/05 - 12/05 Rome
13/05 Rome - Barcelona (fly)
14/05 -16/05 Barcelona

We do not have to leave Europe until 21/22 of May so any suggestions or advice would be great. Should we just add in extra days to places we are going or should we change the itinerary sligtly and add Budapest and Karkow or Vienna?

[pointofnoreturn]

Eh, I think you could add on more time to Paris and Rome but that's just my opinion. All the other cities that I am familiar with (Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Florence, Venice, Munich) seem fine enough.

Since you have an extra week to spend in Europe, why don't you go crazy and spend it in Greece? Go from Venice/Florence to Milan and spend one night there and take an easyJet flight to Athens and spend 1-2 days there and the rest in the islands?

But if you're not into that, I haven't got a clue LOL!

[herrbert]

One week extra.

You could do a lot of things. How flexible are you?

I mean if you want to add everything after Barcelona, than I would stay in Spain, and take a look at Madrid (daytrips Toledo and Segovia), Granada and Sevilla. (a big plus is the connection from Madrid to other airport in Europe)

I you can add it somewhere after Prague of Munich, then the Vienna/Krakow/Budapest plan could work (but maybe it's better to stick with two of them. I love Vienna, but of course that's personal).

The only city that I would add a day in your list would be Berlin. I think for the rest you are fine. You could also make the decision to take a rest in the middle of your trip. (now you only have big cities) - From Luzern (Lucerne) to Gimmelwald (see other topics on this board) or Cinque Terra in Italy.

But Greece would give your trip, something extra as well (at least the Isles are different from the big cities, you are travelling to during the rest of your trip).

honestly: I don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes.

[me]

Chelle,

with an extra week, i'd suggest going to Vienna from Prague, to Munich from Vienna, to Innsbruck from Munich, and to Venice from Innsbruck.

Luzern is beautiful, but Switzerland has pretty outrageous prices!

[chelle84]

Thanks guys

I'd really loooooooove to go to Greece and spend maybe 1 day in Athens then 3 or 4 days Santorini so we can chill out and relax - but the only thing stopping me doing that is that the Greek Islands are basically a holiday on there own and could easily spend 2 weeks just going from island to island.. oh well, I am meeting up with my friend on the weekend to discuss all of our options and hopefully come to some kind of agreement. She is a bit frustrating (i.e not listenting to me when I say that since we are going to be there for 6 - 7 weeks a eurail consecutive pass is not enough.. Would I be correct in saying that a flexipass for 15 days travel would be better?). There are just soooo many options to consider!!

[me]

chelle84 said:

Would I be correct in saying that a flexipass for 15 days travel would be better?). There are just soooo many options to consider!!

go to www.RailSaver.com and plug in where you plan to go, how many days in each place, etc. [omit the places you plan to fly] it should give a suggestion for economical railpass(es) to use.

hint: Greece might be best to fly. boats take a *long* time!

[chelle84]

Hey again guys, we have decided that with the extra week we are going to stay in Spain, maybe go to Ibiza for a few days and Madrid for a few days thanks for all your suggestions!

[me]

Seville is also an interesting/beautiful place in Spain. i understand Ibiza <never been> isn't cheap.

chelle84 said:

Hey again guys, we have decided that with the extra week we are going to stay in Spain, maybe go to Ibiza for a few days and Madrid for a few days thanks for all your suggestions!

[chelle84]

Ok Just to add to the confusion we have made yet again MORE CHANGES to our itinerary

05/04Depart Brisbane
06/04 Arrive London
07/04 London
08/04 London
09/04 London
10/04 London - Paris
11/04 Paris
12/04 Paris
13/04 Paris - Amsterdam
14/04 Amsterdam
15/04 Amsterdam
16/04 Amsterdam - Berlin
17/04 Berlin
18/04 Berlin
19/04 Berlin - Prague
20/04 Prague
21/04 Prague
22/04 Prague - Vienna
23/04 Vienna
24/04 Vienna
25/04 Vienna - Budapest
26/04 Budapest
27/04 Budapest
28/04 Budapest - Croatia
29/04 Croatia
30/04 Croatia
01/05 Croatia
02/05 Croatia
03/05 Croatia - Venice
04/05 Venice
05/05 Venice
06/05 Venice - Rome
07/05 Rome
08/05 Rome
09/05 Rome
10/05 Rome - Switzerland(undecided where in Switz)
11/05 Switzerland
12/05 Switzerland
13/05 Switzerland - Milan (either fly or night train to Barcelona)
14/05 Barcelona
15/05 Barcelona
16/05 Barcelona - Ibiza
17/05 Ibiza
18/05 Ibiza
19/05 Ibiza - Madrid
20/05 Madrid
21/05 Madrid
22/05 Madrid - Brisbane

Ok.. so any thoughts/tips/advice?

We are especially keen on any tips for Croatia

[madamtrashheap]

Great to see more progress on the itinerary chelle84! Here are a few other things to ponder:

Rome to Switzerland - are you flying or o/night train? I see the reason for your route, and I'm sure you want to include Switzerland in your itinerary, but consider perhaps going Venice - Switzerland - Rome then flying to Barcelona (Vueling, Air Berlin, Iberian Air)

Switzerland to Madrid via Milan - check Vueling and Iberian Air as well as a few recent posts on this topic. Unless you are going to Milan for a specific reason, perhaps check on flying directly from Switzerland to Spain with these airlines, depending on your decision on the above point.

Switzerland - you would have read a lot of posts on Gimmelwald recently. Eagle has just been there too, so he could offer some great information to help you decide where to stay. Most people suggest staying in/near the mountains around Lauterbrunnen/Gimmelwal/Murren as that is the scenery you want to experience. Plus it's within easy reach by train to Zurich or Basel for flights to other cities on Europe. Luzern (as per your original itinerary) is one of my favourite Swiss cities - pretty as the front of a chocolate box - but you might want to stay in the mountains. The Italian section of Switerland is also gorgeous, more lakes than alps though.

Ibiza to Madrid - are you flying or going ferry/train?

Ibiza - check pretravel.proboards1.com/index.cgi?board=CCadvice&action=display&n=1&thread=3781&page=1 for some further info.

Croatia - there are a few posts on the topic, just search back a little for them. Dubrovnik, Zadar, Zagreb & Split (some say it's great, others not impressed too much) are all worth a visit. The beaches there are lovely and there is hiking the national parks in the mountians (east of Zagreb and , but keep to the trails as there are still landmines in the forests from the war.

Hope that helps!

[chelle84]

Hi - thanks again!!!

Rome to Switzerland we were going to take an over night train. Actally I did think of going Venice - Switzerland - Rome but for some reason didn't pay much attention.. I think I will do that though. Tht other option is cutting off Switzerland altogether and I really don't want to do that. We are also thinking of Interlaken in Switzerland instead of Lucerne .

Barcelona - Ibiza - Madrid - will be flying hopefully! I have been a bit lazy and not really looked into that (not really that keen on Ibiza but my friend is) So basically if I can get out of it I will lol

And Croatia, I've done a quick search on here but haven't found the info I am looking for yet but i'll keep looking. We want to spend our time in Croatia along the coast.

Thanks

[madamtrashheap]

I haven't been to Croatia, but it's on my (long!) list. My best friend went this Summer and she really enjoyed Dubrovnik and Zadar. She said Split was good, but not as much as the other two. Although if you're into Roman ruins, Split is a good choice. You could consider visiting the islands off the coast near Zadar.

Here's the official Croatian website for inspiration: www.croatia.hr/English/Home/Naslovna.aspx

[herrbert]

madamtrashheap said:

Ibiza to Madrid - are you flying or going ferry/train?

Best flights I've seen from Barcelona to Ibiza are by AirEuropa UX 6055 16/05 10:55 11:50 (costs: Eur 33,61)

Ibiza - Madrid, is more expensive (as Vueling only starts this route on 1-6-2007), the cheapest direct flight is this one by Iberia

IB 727 19/05 14:25 15:30 (costs: Eur 92,67),

so if you want to cut off Ibiza, you can say it's too expensive, but there is also a route via Barcelona (Iberia), that is cheaper: (costs Eur: 68,66)

Ibiza, ba Barcelona IB 1765 19/05 14:25 15:15
Barcelona Madrid IB 2761 19/05 15:45 16:55

Personaly it would consider is going to Ibiza is worth spending at least 100 euros. I would suggest, to go to Madrid, and from there you can go to Salamanca for a few days, and then return to Madrid for the flight home. You could also stay in Madrid and see Toledo (1 hour by train), it's so beautiful. and see Segovia. these will also be days well spend. The choice is yours.

By Ferry it is a 9 and a half hour crossing (Barcelona-Ibiza). That you can do by a nighttrip 21.30 - 7.00 ... but I can't find a crossing for May (but it can also mean, that it's not yet available).

[chelle84]

Hey - thanks for that I have read on here that Ibiza is expensive but I didn't realise that it was THAT expensive - and that is just getting there!!! I am going to have a chat to my friend and see what she thinks about skipping it.

A friend told me that some airlines let you have a certain amount of "free" stopovers on the way to your final destination. We live in Brisbane and will by starting in London - but I was wondering if anyone on here knows about these sort of deals? I was going to see if it was possible to get 2 stopovers, 1 in Barcelona and another in Switzerland (will do Barcelona if only allowed 1) - I figure this way we can save on quite a bit of travel time. Anyway do you think this would work? I'm going to call the travel agent when they open this morning - let you know what they say :-)

[me]

the only places i've heard of this "free stopover" stuff is when getting tix with AAdvantage miles - on AMR, and i've also seen it on www.bestfares.com a Dallas based travel site.

chelle84 said:

A friend told me that some airlines let you have a certain amount of "free" stopovers on the way to your final destination. We live in Brisbane and will by starting in London - but I was wondering if anyone on here knows about these sort of deals? I was going to see if it was possible to get 2 stopovers, 1 in Barcelona and another in Switzerland (will do Barcelona if only allowed 1) - I figure this way we can save on quite a bit of travel time. Anyway do you think this would work? I'm going to call the travel agent when they open this morning - let you know what they say :-)