5 weeks in spain,italy,prague,france,belgium,amste

[bcasper1]

Hey everyone, I am proud to share my final itinerary with all of you and hopefully get some feedback regarding anything. All of the flights have been booked, but the trains have not. I was wondering if it was common to just book the train tickets as we enter the city? We wont be getting a rail pass by the way because the total individual tickets for italy, france, and belux are almost = to the three country flexi youth pass. is this the right choice?


May 30 - Leave from JFK
May 31 - Madrid
June 1 - Madrid
June 2 - Madrid
June 3 - Madrid -> Barcelona (fly-$55)
June 4 - Barcelona
June 5 - Barcelona
June 6 - Barcelona
June 7 - Barcelona
June 8 - Barcelona -> Rome (fly-$82)
June 9 - Rome
June 10 - Rome
June 11 - Rome
June 12 - Rome
June 13 - Rome -> Florence (train-$44)
June 14 - Florence
June 15 - Florence
June 16 - Florence -> Venice (train-$53) early
June 17 - Venice -> Prague (fly-$47)
June 18 - Prague
June 19 - Prague
June 20 - Prague
June 21 - Prague -> Paris (fly-$122)
June 22 - Paris
June 23 - Paris
June 24 - Paris
June 25 - Paris -> Brussels (train-$130)
June 26 - Brussels
June 27 - Brussels -> Brugge (train-$20)
June 28 - Brugge -> Amsterdam (train-$63)
June 29 - Amsterdam
June 30 - Amsterdam
July 1 - Amsterdam
July 2 - Amsterdam
July 3 - Amsterdam -> JFK

thanks for any responses!
-Brett

[herrbert]

Hi Brett,

It looks great. (although it would be a short visit to Venice, but as you are flying and the tickets are already booked, I wouldn't change anything there).

If it would be possible I would spend 2 nights in Brugge instead of 1, and 1 in Brussels instead of 2.

I think you also want to doublecheck on the costs of the train from Paris to Brussels. If you are traveling with the Thalys, then choose a 2nd class ticket, that should result in a price of 78 euro (105 dollars, not 130). Even cheaper would be to get a bus. Check www.eurolines.com if you would like to do so. (I believe it takes around 4 hours this way, but would save you some money).

I think your assumption that you don't need a pass is correct, but you can always double check at www.railsaver.com

[bcasper1]

Thanks Herrbert,

Yeah the Venice days are already locked in, but form what we hear its an expensive city and were just poor old college graduates. But what you mentioned about brugge and Brussels is possible and actually we already discussed that very possibility. and thanks for the tips on the train or bus from paris to belgium. I will definitly look into that.
thank you