1st Draft Itinerary...Please Help...

[awluter]

My wife and I are headed to Europe for the first time this summer. We plan to spend about 50 days overseas; here are our first thoughts for an itinerary.

We hope to fly into Berlin and spend roughly 25 days in Eastern Europe:

Berlin (3 days)
Munich (1 day)
Austria (3 days)
Slovenia (2 days)
Croatia (2 days)
Hungary (2 days)
Romania (2 days)
Bulgaria (1 day)
Greece (4 days)
+ 5 days travel, etc.

We then hope to fly to London and spend 9-10 days in the UK and attend the British Open.

Finally, we plan to spend the remaining 15 days in Western Europe:

Amsterdam (3 days)
Paris (4 days)
Italy OR Spain (6 days)
+ 2 days travel, etc.

All suggestions (cities, transportation, length, etc.) will be extremely helpful. I realize I have mixed cities, countries, regions, etc. The main restriction we have is that we must hit the UK at the appropriate time because we plan to attend the British Open golf tournament.

I could particularly use some help with the Western Europe portion of the itinerary. From looking at the map, it would seem to be cumbersome (a lot of backtracking, etc.) to visit both Italy and Spain. Is this true? Should I try to fit both in? What would be the most efficient order for visiting these cities?

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

[Eagle]

awluter, Welcome to the Boards! I'll start with a few suggestions and comments, and some questions.

My first impression is that this Itinerary looks quite "busy", even for a trip of about 50 days. There are a lot of one and two night stops in cities that are quite geographically distant. My preference would be to structure this with fewer cities to allow for longer and more enjoyable visits, and more importantly some rest time from travel! While an Itinerary like this might be technically feasible, seeing so much of Europe only through the train window wouldn't be my choice. As you noted, the routing does seem a bit "cumbersome" in some ways. Especially as this is your first trip to Europe, I'd be aiming for the most enjoyable travel experience rather than a "blitz" through as many destinations as you can fit it.

I'm assuming that you're using open-jaw flights, into Berlin and home from another location England. That would be my recommendation. It would help to know where you're flying from?

Especially as this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door. It will provide you with a lot of valuable information on how to travel efficiently in Europe, and there's also a section there on Itinerary planning.

It would help to have some additional information on some of the items you listed:

> Munich - why only one day? There's a LOT to see in that area! Most people want to see the Castles in Fussen, tour Munich to some extent and of course the history buffs like to pay a visit to Dachau.

> Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria - which cities / areas do you want to see?

> Italy - which cities?

A combination of rail and budget airlines will be the best transportation method, but that can't be worked out until a definite list of cities and "order of visit" is decided. More suggestions on that in future posts.

To begin with, I believe you're going to have to reduce the number of cities considerably to a more "realistic" level. Trying to visit 10 -12 countries in 50 days is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Given the distances and transportation, I would certainly drop Bulgaria as the travel time to get there to only spend one day is not worth the effort IMHO. I'd also drop Greece this time, as it's somewhat "distant" from your other locations.

It would help also to have some additional information on what your interests are, and what type(s) of sights you most want to see - Museums, Art Galleries, historic sites, or ? Also, what type of a budget are you working with?

You'd probably find it very helpful to have a look at a few Guidebooks, as you'll find lots of information on sightseeing, lodgings, travel, money issues, etc. There have been a few spirited discussions here on which Guidebooks are best, and everyone has their own favourites. Do a search here if you want to see some of the posts on the subject.

One method you might consider would be to start your trip in Amsterdam, then travel to Berlin and make a "loop" through the other cities with Paris being at the end. From there you can take the EuroStar to London (St. Pancras) for the golf tournament.

I'm sure the rest of the group will have some comments shortly, and I'm sure I'll have further comments also.

Good luck with your planning!

[awluter]

Thanks for your thoughts. I will certainly look at eliminating some cities and will post a revised itinerary with more detail. I look forward to reading others' comments.

Also, I will certainly check out some of the guidebooks that you have recommended.

To quickly address some of your questions:
I am planning to fly open-jaw out of Birmingham, AL.
As for interests, I am most interested in historic sites/architecture. Museums/art exhibits would not be at the top of my list.
My budget is $10,000 to $12,000.

[awluter]

Ok...I have made some significant changes to my itinerary. Let me know if I am on the right track. As always, any comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I have decided to completely elminate both Italy and Greece; I will save them for a separate trip. I still plan to fly into Berlin and out of Madrid.

Berlin (5 days)
Prague (3 days)
Vienna (3 days)
Innsbruck (3 days)
Slovenia (3 days)
Croatia (4 days)
+4 days travel

UK (10 days)

Amsterdam (2 days)
Paris (5 days)
Barcelona (3 days)
Madrid (3 days)
+2 days travel

What does everyone think?

[herrbert]

It would still depend on the cities you are gonna attach to Slovenia, Croatia and the UK. But I think this shedule allows you to see more in the cities itself, instead of the train. In a way I think it would be easier to drop Paris and Amsterdam, and to fly from Croatia to Italy, spend some days there, fly to Spain, and from there to the UK. This can be done very economical with some cheap flights. If Paris is a must see, you could take the eurostar, and end you trip there. (making the UK, and London only visit, would save about 5 or 6 days).

If museums are not that high on you list, maybe you can eliminate one of your days in Paris. I would also make it 4 days in Vienna (possibility of 1 day in Bratislava as a daytrip, when you fear you will be bored in Vienna), and go for 2 days in Innsbruck. (1 day for the town, and another one to go up to the Hafelekar to enjoy the views, and to do a little bit of hiking.)

Think about flying Paris - Barcelona. by train it's a long stretch, and by plane you are there in no time.

For Madrid, please know that there are some interesting daytrips from here. (Toledo and Segovia). I would take at least two days to see the city, and one day to see Toledo or Segovia.