Europe May 2007 - will my itinerary work?

[ryfig]

Hi, We will be backpacking Europe in May 2007 and would like to know if our itinerary, listed below, is possible. We will be using a Eurail pass and will be travelling on night trains on long distance trips (Tips?).

May 3 - London
May 6 - Paris
May 10 - Madrid
May 13 - Barcelona
May 15 - Bern/Lucerne
May 16 - Rome
May 19 - Florence
May 21 - Venice
May 23 - Munich
May 25 - Amsterdam
May 27 - Luxembourg
May 28 - Brussels
May 29 - Paris
June 1 - London
June 2 - fly back home

Are we spending sufficient amount of days in each city? enough to see the major attractions?

Thanks,

Ryan

[herrbert]

It depends on what you call the major attractions, but for me it would be way too fast, you are giving yourself in most place only 2 days. I would rather skip a couple of places. (Are you sure about Bern/Luxemburg/Brussels?)

I would also take a low budget flight in some cases, rather than a nighttrain. In a lot of cases it can also work out a lot cheaper. (just to give you an example Vueling and Easyjet fly from Paris to Madrid for 45 euro's, in under 2 hours (including check-in/bagageclaim etc 4 hours?), and the train takes between 13 and 15 hours).

[ryfig]

i was actually thinking of not going to Brussels/luxembourg. And taking a plane to Madrid would save us a lot of hours. Thanks!!

[madamtrashheap]

herrbert said:

It depends on what you call the major attractions, but for me it would be way too fast, you are giving yourself in most place only 2 days. I would rather skip a couple of places.

Ryfig/Ryan, this is a valid point that Herrbert makes. You'll be spending more time travelling than sightseeing. I know it's so tempting to cram as much in a possible while you're there, but don't do it at the expense of not really seeing anything. Looking into the budget flights, as you're doing for Paris-Madrid, is a very good start. Not sure how fixed your route is, but can I suggest flying Barcelona to Rome, then continuing Florence, Venice, Munich, Luzern/Bern, Amsterdam. It makes more sense geographically and will free up some time in each city. The overnight train from Basel (an hour from Bern or Luzern) to Amsterdam will fit in with your plans too, otherwise there are cheap flights from Basel to Amsterdam with EasyJet.

You could fit Belgium (Brussels/Brugge) in as an overnight/2 night stop between Amsterdam and Paris if you have to return to Paris and find you have an extra day or two freed up by incorporating flights into your travels. Otherwise flights from Amsterdam to London (fly to Gatwick airport if you can, easiest/most convenient access) are also very cheap (EasyJet).

Let us know what you come up with. Happy planning!

[ryfig]

Thanks so much. I checked the Easyjet flights from Barcelona but they don't happen to have a flight going to Rome. Do you know of any other cheap airlines flying out of Barcelona to Rome? With this itinerary, would you suggest buying a Eurail Youth pass or a Eurail Youth Flexi pass?

[pointofnoreturn]

ryfig said:

Thanks so much. I checked the Easyjet flights from Barcelona but they don't happen to have a flight going to Rome. Do you know of any other cheap airlines flying out of Barcelona to Rome? With this itinerary, would you suggest buying a Eurail Youth pass or a Eurail Youth Flexi pass?

Check out this thread. I just posted a reply that has a list of all budget airlines flying out of Barcelona to Italian cities, including Rome.

pretravel.proboards1.com/index.cgi?board=intinary&action=display&n=1&thread=7150

[herrbert]

ryfig said:

Thanks so much. I checked the Easyjet flights from Barcelona but they don't happen to have a flight going to Rome. Do you know of any other cheap airlines flying out of Barcelona to Rome? With this itinerary, would you suggest buying a Eurail Youth pass or a Eurail Youth Flexi pass?

Vueling Airlines are the cheapest for flights between Barcelona and Rome (40 euro, on a random day, on saturdays and sundays, they are little bit more expensive).

[madamtrashheap]

Herrbert took the words right off my keyboard!

EasyJet don't fly that particular route, but Vueling (super cheap horrah!) and Iberian Air (also cheap) are the two that I'm aware of that fly this route. Check them both out for dates/prices.