Two and a Half Month Trip

[snpr520]

This is the 4th time I have posted my Trip on here and Its changing everytime, but The time is getting closer and It will almost be reallity.

My Dates are solid May 9th to July 28th. The plane tickets are bought and non-refundable

Also the first 4 destinations are solid dates with confirmed Hosts or booked Hostels.

All Travel is Via Train besides the Noted Plane trips (We are thinking 10 day 2 months pass)

HERE WE GO!! PLEASE COMMENT ON ANYTHING!!

May 10-25 Staying at Friends Condo (But not accompanied, We are on our own and will visit Rome on Day trips)
Natuno-Itlay

May 26-29 Booked Hostel (pans to visit Pompei and the island of the coast)
Sorrento

May 30-June 7 Staying with Friend ( he is in Charge of Reforrestation, Im sure we will see ALL!!)
Corsica

June 8-12 MY GF's GodFather
Mont Pellie

All the rest have flexable dates and destinations

June 13-19
Barcellona


June 20-23
Velencia


June 24-29
Madrid


June 30 July 7
Paris

We plan to try and Fly to Amsterdam but the Summer Flights are not out yet, anyone have a idea of how much it would run two of us from Paris to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Prauge?

These are the longest Train rides and I think the planes might be affordable.

July 8-12
Amsterdam

Plane?

July 13-16
Prauge

July 17-20 I picked Budapest Because By the map it look as if you dont have to travel though the Mountains and should be a reasonable trip. (I NEED ADVICE HERE FOR SURE)
Budapest


July 21-25 (GF's Dad says Venice is overrated but I dont think I can just take his word for it)
Venice

July 26th
Day trip to Florence

July 27th
Rome and Flight home on 28th

[pointofnoreturn]

I don't think you'll be able to take a day trip to Florence from Venice...

For Paris, 4-5 nights was good enough for me and you can easily cover Venice in 3 nights so you could make room for Florence? It's so worthwhile to visit Florence. Not to mention, not everything is open on one particular day so it helps to be there at least a day so that way you get to see more of stuff.

[WillTravel]

I also hope you can find a way to get more Florence into the trip, although I also think Rome might be a challenge if you're mostly visiting it by daytrips.

If you do decide to do a daytrip with Florence, take the earliest possible train out of Venice. Store your luggage at the Florence train station (the storage fills up quickly, hence the importance of being early), see a few major sights, and take a late train that night to Rome. It's hard to see the Uffizi and the Accademia (where David is) without making reservations, so see some other threads about that.

I thought Venice was great, but I visited in December when it's less crowded. I have read it's incredibly crowded in July, but so will Florence and Rome be.

[francefiend]

Question: if you are going to purchase a rail pass, why is the price of the train between Paris and Amsterdam an issue? The strength of the rail pass is its ability to save you money on long, expensive journeys by prepaying. I understand why you want to fly to Prague, but Amsterdam is only 4h11 hours from Paris (if you take a Thalys train with no connections). True, you only have 10 days in 2 months on your pass, but it might be worth it to add a few more days to cover that large trip. I'm sure you've heard the spiel about how trains are more convenient because they take you from city center to city center blah blah blah... I just wouldn't be so quick to rule out trains in this case. Of course, I might be wrong

[WillTravel]

Amsterdam to Prague - I think if you act quickly when the schedules come out, you can quite likely get this in the 50-Euro range for a flight.

Amsterdam to Paris - I think a train is best. See my other thread about all the different options I considered. But bottomline, particularly since there are *no* budget flights on this route, spending 70 Euros on the train is a pretty good deal. The other option is a bus ride which is a lot longer. If your pass will cover this trip, then great, but carefully consider whether it's a good value.

[herrbert]

For sure fly Madrid - Paris, it just takes too long by train. (check Vueling, and skip Ryanair on this one!!)

You are asking about a flight between Paris and Amsterdam. The only company that was flying this route was Vueling, but I don't see it in their shedule anymore (maybe it will show agian in the summer shedule??), and with a trainride of only 4 hours, I don't think that you would have saved any time. (as a general rule: I usualy start to look at flights, if trains can't make it in 5-6 hours, or if the trains are very expensive.) Francefriend (welcome btw) makes the point already, if you take a flight you need transport to/from the airport, be there way in advance for check-in, etc.)

If I remember correctly SkyEurope flies between Amsterdam and Prague.

Going to Budapest worries me a little bit on a logistical level, if you look at the map you will see, that it is way out. That of course doesn't need to be a problem if you really want to go there, but if it isn't a must-see for you, you can find a couple of very good places to visit between Prague and Venice. (Cesky Krumlov (CZ), Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck (AT), or maybe Bled (SLV), and why not Munich (incl. the Castles near Füssen)?

[snpr520]

Thanks for all the comments. I will definatley take the train to Amsterdam. I didnt know it was that short of a trip.
Does anyone have the website of train timetables? I can't seem to find it.

I just noticed that Budapest does not work with the train ticket we are purchasing so some of those stops are somthing Ill look at.

Does anyone have a place within Western Europe that is not on my list of places to visit that they think is a must see? Im thinking about droping Budapest and Florence.

Thank you all for helping me out and lending your knowledge on this subject!

[me]

snpr520 said:

Does anyone have the website of train timetables? I can't seem to find it.

this is the one i use: www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml

it is surprising to me that you plan 4 days in Venice and just one in Rome. Rome is the most important city in the history of Western civilization!

like your GF's father, i wasn't all that impressed with Venice. but, others seem to find it more enchanting.

- d

[francefiend]

You can also look at schedules (and purchase tickets) at the SNCF website. Be sure to select "Young Adult" to get the discounts if you are under 26 years old.

Die Bahn is great for browsing, but sometimes they don't allow you to purchase tickets for trains outside Germany.