First Time Backpacking Itinerary

[lissurlalunes]

Hi. I posted on this awhile ago and I thought I had things all worked out. The one of my roommates whose been all over Europe with Disney on Ice got me wondering again.

A friend and I are going to Europe for three months in 2008 from April to June. We both will be 20 and I know I prefer more history/culture then the party life. We originally had this itinerary:

Ireland: Dublin (5 days)
Wales: My friends place, can't think of the name now (8 to 10 days) - I can't drop the time here because she will be getting married and I am to be the Maid of Honour.
England: London/Stonehenge (5 days)
France: Paris (5 days)
* Belgium: Brussels or Brugges (2 days)
* Netherlands: Amsterdam (2 days)
Germany: Berlin (4 days) Munich (3 days)
Poland: Krakow (3 days)
* Czech Republic: Prague (3 days)
* Austria: Vienna (3 days)
Italy: Florence (4 days) Venice (3 days) Rome (5 days)
Greece: Athens (4 days) Santorini (2 days)
*Turkey: Istanbul (3 to 4 days)

* = Are countries that I don't care if we go to.

I was thinking of taking train to the western part of Europe. Fly from London to Paris, fly from Rome to Athens, and places in Eastern Europe.

We fly from Vancouver. She flys back there after the trip and I fly out to Australia.

My roommate wondered if we were being to ambitious, that we would blow through Europe not really seeing it and then have to go back later. She also said I would see more of Europe if we stepped off the trail. Thats what I would like, to step off the trail and really see Europe, so if you have any suggestions of places like that I would love to hear it.

So im all confused now..im wondering if we are rushing europe to much and that i wont join the authentic experience. Definitely would love to hear peoples opinions.

[herrbert]

If these are days you can really spend in these cities you are not rushing it.

It depends on what you are calling the trail. It is true that these cities are kind of the usual cities people tend to go to, when they are in Europe. But ofcourse there is a reason because people go there ... they go there because there are interesting sites & attractions. You could obviously have a great time visiting other cities, or going to the countryside in several of these countries. (you can't judge a country, by visiting one city. but unfortunately in a lot of cases we only have time to do just that)

Working and living in Europe, like your friend did, is a different way to see and experience Europe, than to travel it as a tourist, and he/she will have been to places, you would not consider, but could be pretty or beautiful.

[pointofnoreturn]

You can't spend 2 days in Santorini. It's the furthest Cyclade island from Athens. You could take a flight from Athens using Aegean Airlines. There are 4 daily flights I believe, the two earliest being at 5-6 AM and the other late morning flight around noon or so. It'd take about 45 minutes. Ferries are 9 hours.

You could spend two full days in Athens and 4 days in Santorini. I'd probably just take a day off Florence and add it to Greece.

I heard there Turkey might not be safe.... depending on the current situation. You need a visa I think. Check with your embassy.

[herrbert]

I heard there Turkey might not be safe.... depending on the current situation. You need a visa I think. Check with your embassy.

It's only the eastern part of Turkey (that borders with Irak), that is not safe, if you are staying in Istanbul, it 's perfectly fine (but use your moneybelt etc).

[madamtrashheap]

I agree with Herrbert in that your itinerary and number of days allowed in each place is pretty much on track, except I'd perhaps look at PONR's suggestion and reverse the days in Santorini and Athens, or even do 3 and 3 in each. And I'd fly to Santorini if you can, the ferry is great for lying on the deck and sunning yourself, but is a major time-thief. In fact, if you are in Greece, and have the time, why not spend 2-3 days Athens, 4 days Santorini and perhaps another 3 days on say Mykonos or Paros?

A few other things:
Ireland- perhaps split this to 3 days Dublin and 2 days Galway or Dingle/Western Peninsula
England- a day trip to Bath and Stonehenge (and even Windsor if you do an organised one) from London could easily fit in here. Or to Leeds Castle if you prefer.
France - 5 days in Paris is perfect as there's so much to explore and experience. Depending on the route you take, you could even explore places like Nice/Riviera/Provence, Normandy, Dijon...
Belgium - as much as I enjoy Brussels (the city not the sprouts!), choose Brugges over Brussels if time is limited, and 2 days in Brugges is perfect, especiallyif you're passing through on the way to Amsterdam. If you have more time, then go to Brussels, and perhaps even Ghent.
Netherlands - 2 days in Amsterdam is spot on (note, flights are scarce to Berlin from here but they do exist, check other posts; the night train goes through Brussels and Cologne, so that may change your direction a bit in this area). If you have one more day, you could do day trips to The Hague, Delft, etc.
Germany - mumber of days in each city is good; from Munich you could also do a day trip down to the Romantic Road castles (Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, etc). Consider also a city like Dresden as it is v interesting and would fit in with the other cities you've listed in terms of route.
Poland - good number of days in Krakow; have you considered Gdansk or Warsaw? Not absolute musts, but if you have time then see if they fit in.
Czech Rep - 3 days in Prague is a good minimum; look at a trip out to Kutna Hora for a day or even one day in Cesky Krumlov.
Austria - 3 days in Vienna is a bare minimum as it's a beautiful city; have you considered Innsbruck or Salzburg (or both) as they are easy to reach from Munich?
Italy - perhaps 2 days in Venice, but the time in other cities is great. From Florence, you could do a half-day trip to Pisa (for gelati and photos of the Tower), or a day in Siena, San Gimignano or Montepulciano as they are gorgeous Tuscan towns. Rome has so much to see so 5 days is spot on - you could fit a day trip down to Pompeii, but this would take a full day away from Rome, up to you. Cinque Terre is another area worth spending at least 3 days in. Sicily is also an amazing place and would be just right in April or May (weather -wise), as it would be on the Amalfi Coast (Sorrento/Positano).
Greece - as above
Turkey - Istanbul for 3 full days would be fine if you need the extra day somewhere else. It's a fab city to explore though. Are you flying from Greece to Turkey?

What were the other places you were thinking of now that you've talked to your roommates? What about Spain, Switzerland, Croatia? Have you looked at open jaw tickets or are you flying back out of London at the end of the trip? This will determine the best route to take. You have three months to play with, so that's a good start and hopefully the suggestions will allow you to "step off the trail" a little (although that's getting harder and harder!).

[pointofnoreturn]

You said you wanted to fly Rome-Athens... Aegean Airlines flies this route but it's 39 euros without taxes (prob. between 60-80 euros total). If that seems a bit too much,you could start your Italy portion of your trip in Rome, make your way up north to Florence and take a flight out of Milan to Athens with easyJet which is cheaper than Aegean Airlines but you'll have to factor in the transportation cost. You could go about this route:

UK/Ireland
Paris
Italy
Greece
Eastern European countries
Germany
Netherlands/Belgium
Back to London to go back home to Vancouver?

Kind of a circular route thing... Check out skyscanner.net and whichbudget.com for flight routes. Keep in mind they're for budget airlines, not country airlines but it's a good resource for figuring out routes and finding out what airline in each city flies to.

[lissurlalunes]

Thanks! This was really helpful.