jlptravelbug, welcome to the madhouse!
Around Europe in 80days - how cool! I'm sure you're aware that you're travelling right across peak season so it will be hot, busy and buzzy, but that doesn't mean that you won't enjoy it! To add to
Herrbert's points:
Yep, this draft is ambitious, but better to start off with lots of ideas, then they can be moulded into the best itinerary for you and your friend. As was pointed out, you might want to re-work the direction in Italy and even consider flying between some destinations (saving time). I see you've noted that you'll hire a car for Sicily which is a good way to get around and to the smaller places (like Agrigento, Piazza Amerina, etc).
I agree with
Herrbert in that Frankfurt isn't really a great place for sightseeing, so go (fly) straight from Amsterdam to Berlin. I do, however, think you should leave Sicily in as it's worth the journey, just be aware that Italians take their holidays in August (all of them) and many travel to Sicily and along the Italian coasts, so you might want to schedule your trip to not be there then as it's mighty crowded (I'm taking nowhere to lay your beach towel-crowded!). And you'll need time to see the island, so this will need a little more planning/research.
Also, add more days to places like Munich (3 days will allow for a day trip to the Castles, Dachau and to explore the city), Rome (needs at least 4 full days - you could visit Pompei on the way to the Amalfi Coast from Bari if you still drive, but see further for suggestions), London (4 days), Dublin/Ireland (combined you have 6 days which will only really allow for Dublin, Galway, Dingle/Western Peninsula and back, so it depends on where you'd planned to visit). I also noticed that you're not including Vienna - any reason?
A suggestion, based on the places you've listed plus other ideas is:
Amsterdam 3 days (allows for jet lag)
fly to Berlin (3-4 days)
train to Warsaw (2-3 days)
train to Krakow 2 days)
train to Prague (3-4 days - will allow for day trip to Kutna Hora)
train to Cesky Krumlov or Plzen (Plizen is easier for trains, but up to you) for 1 night then sightsee in afternoon/morning.
train to Munich (3 days)
fly to Crete (3-4 days)
fly to Athens (3 days)
fly to Santorini (3 days)
then perhaps Mykonos for 2-3 days with a day trip to Delos
back to Athens to fly to Corfu (3 days)
ferry Corfu-Bari (ferry is o'night, then perhaps 1 night in Bari) then ferry Bari-Dubrovnik (again o'night ferry)
Dubrovnik (2 days - you could even visit Mljet island from here rather than the islands off Split)
train to Split (2-3 days including a trip to one island, eg Hvar or Brac)
now here's where you can choose according to the time you have vs method of transport:ferry Pula to Venice (the Split-Venice ferry hasn't operated since 2005) - this would mean travelling another day to Pula (train, look at
www.hznet.hr/ENG/index.htm ) but it's only between 3-4 hours to Venice from Pula.
I can't find flights from Croatia to Venice, but I can find them from Croatia (Split) to Rome with Croatia Airlines.
Up to you how you want to tackle this as you could get to Venice and then fly to Sicily and continue from there, but I'd suggest flying to Rome from Split, spending a few days before heading south to Sorrento (visit Pompei from there or on the way), 2 full days here (allows for time in Positano or Capri) then a quick train up to Naples for the overnight ferry to Catania then spending time in places like Taormina, Siracusa, etc and if you hire a car you can get over to Agrigento, Marsala, etc then catching the ferry you've listed from Palermo to Sardinia, then on to Livorno which is just outside Florence (an easy train or bus ride to the city).
(continuing...)
Florence (4 days)
train to Venice (2-3 days)
train to Pisa (stop for a few hours) then on to Cinque Terre via La Spezia
Cinque Terre (3 days)
train to Nice (2-3 days will allow for trips to Monaco and Cannes by train as all are only 30mins from each other)
train to Barcelona - this will take around 12hours and there is no night train so be prepared to spend the day looking out the window, or even stop in somewhere interesting like Montpellier or Narbonne overnight then continue to Barcelona. Up to you.
Herrbert will fill in anything I've omitted or incorrectly suggested, but...
Barcelona (3 days)
o'night train to Granada (1-2 days)
Seville (2 days)
Lagos (you'll go through here on the train, 1 day)
Lisbon (2 days)
Madrid (4 days)
(you'll use up a lot of days here as there's a lot to see in Spain/Portugal cities - perhaps consider skipping Portugal if there's not enough time. You'll also see that I've left out San Sebastian as I'm thinking that so you can fly Madrid-Toulouse (about US$50 with EasyJet and 1hr) spend a night then travel on to Bordeaux with the TGV (1-2 days if you want to visit a vineyard), then perhaps spend at day at Mont San Michele (TGv to Tours then slow train) then go on to Paris.
If you want to leave it in, then the train journey is again long, but look at stopping along the way if there are no suitable connections/nighttrains.
Bordeaux (1-2days)
Paris (5 days - allows trip to Versailles)
Thalys fast train to Brussels (1 day; it only takes about 1hr30 from Paris)
train to Brugge (2 days) then back to Brussels to fly to London.
NOTE: if you decided to, back at the start you could instead take the train Amsterdam-Brussels, visit Brugge then go back to Brussels for the night train to Berlin, that way you can fly Paris-London with a greater choice of flights.London (4days which allows for a day trip to Oxford)
train Bath via Stonehenge (1-2 days)
train to Bristol (1-2 days)
fly Dublin & rest of Ireland (see note above)
fly Dublin to Amsterdam with AerLingus (1 day)
After all that I haven't even counted up any days so have no idea if I've gone over your limit, but this should give you an idea as to what's possible. As you've done a lot of research already, you know what to look for and can play with routes/directions to suit your plans. What are your main interests btw (beaches, museums, cafe life, all of the above)?
NOTE: just found Wind Jet
w1.volawindjet.it/default.aspx?lang=IT which seems to have some ridiculously low prices on flights so see if they fit into your itinerary anywhere.
