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Post by bcooke96 on Mar 10, 2009 1:44:32 GMT -5
Ok, so i am an 19 year old male who has finished highschool last year and has spent the entire year saving so i could go to Europe and travel! I am going with my girlfriend for 81 days. I am leaving end of April and return middle of july. We have just completed a rough Itinerary and are looking for some more experienced travelers to give us some tips and help us polish our itinerary  ! We are going to travel by train (majority of it) a few boats, and maybe one flight. Here is the rough itinerary: Fly into Frankfurt- 2 days Koln- 3 days (meeting a german friend) ( ) - 1 day Amsterdam- 4 days Brussels- 3 days Paris- 4-5 days ( Bordeaux?)- 2 days ?France somewhere? - 1-2 days Barcelona - 3 days Nice- 3 days monocco- 5 days Milan 1 day Venice 2 days Rome 4 days Naples 2 days ?? somewhere Italy - 3 days boat to greece Athens 3 days Greece islands 20 days turkey 2 days Switz. 6 days Munich 3 days Frankfurt leave to Canada So its pretty rough but it is the general route we want to take so if any one has tips on little towns and cities we must visit for day trips etc. Or countries we should miss out on! please let us know! we are leaving relativly soon so any help would be much appreciated!! |
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Post by Eagle on Mar 10, 2009 2:55:10 GMT -5
bcooke96, welcome! I have a few comments to begin with.
It would help to know where you're travelling from and whether you've bought air tickets yet? I always recommend "open jaw" flights as the most efficient travel method, however it looks like both your inbound and outbound flights use Frankfurt.
As you stated that you're leaving "relatively soon", it doesn't allow much time for the group here to help you "polish" your Itinerary. One question though - were you planning to visit each area in the same order you've listed?
If this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door before you get too much further in your planning. It's an essential pre-read for travelling Europe, especially for the first time.
A few comments on locations you've listed:
- Amsterdam: you could probably drop 1-day. herrbert will be able to provide some comments on that.
- Brussels: you might consider 1-day in Brussels and 2-days in Bruges?
- Paris: it's great that you've allowed 4-5 days for that, as there's LOTS to see!
- Monaco: 5-days seems a bit much - is there a reason for that?
- Rome: allocating 4-5 days here would be good - again, there's LOTS to see!
- Somewhere in Italy: you haven't mentioned the Cinque Terre? That's a popular area, so you might want to consider it.
- Athens: I'd probably drop at least 1-day there.
- Switzerland: You indicated 6-days - which part of Switzerland were you planning to visit? The Berner Oberland region and specifically the small village of Gimmelwald are BIG favourites here!
I'm sure the others will have some comments shortly.
Good luck with your planning!
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Post by bcooke96 on Mar 10, 2009 14:28:04 GMT -5
Thank you so much for your advice!!
And to answer your questions, yes we have purchased our tickets and had hoped to get an open-jaw ticket but my dad had purchased it with airmiles for a grad present and said that he could not find any reasonable open-jaw tickets. So its into Frankfurt out of Frankfurt. And for relatively soon it means about 50 days we are leaving.
We have already purchased Rick stevens through the back door book, and have also purchased Let's Go backpacking europe on a budget. And have spent some time reading both.
And Bruges could definately work into our schedule.. And about Monaco 5 days did seem a little much maybe more around 2-3, any advice on other cities or towns we should check out in France? And yes Italy has probably seen the least planning from us, but it is definately a place I would love to adventure around, Cinque Terre, I will for sure check it out! Switzerland has just recently been added to our itinerary, and I would love to hear more about some key spots in Switz.
Thank you very much for your quick and helpful response!
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Post by madamtrashheap on Mar 10, 2009 22:51:34 GMT -5
bcooke, along with Eagle's excellent advice, I have some thoughts on your trip. When you list "days" in each city, I'm assuming you mean full days, in which case 4 days in Amsterdam is a little much unless you'd planned a few day trips (tulips at Keukenhof?). Your (?) day beween Cologne and Amsterdam could be spent somewhere along the way (Bremen, Munster) or as a day trip to Heidelberg from Cologne if you can stay with your friend one more day. Brussels 3 days - you may want to make this Brussels 1 day and Brugge 2 days. I enjoy Brussels, but your first time to Belgium should include a pretty city like Brugge. France - you time in Paris is good, and as you have an additional 3-4 days to play with, I'd suggest you look at adding this time to include Madrid instead (fly from Paris), unless you really want to go to somewhere like Bordeaux (it makes the train journey long). You could also look at going to Lyon or somewhere else in the Burgundy region on your way down to Barcelona. Or take the time from Monaco (it's a Principality, not part of France) and spend it in Aix-en-Provence or Carcassone (on your way to Barca). Nice for 3 days will be good for day trips to places like Cannes, St Paul de Vence and you could also travel to Monaco from there if you decide you don't want to stay in the country itself. Eze is a pretty village halfway up the hill between Nice and Monaco, so add that to your list. Spain - see suggestion above. Italy - 1 day is good for Milan if you want to book to see The Last Supper, but you may find that the April/May allocation of tickets have sold out already. Otherwise, Milan for 1 day to sightsee, window shop and drink great coffee will be enough. Unless you have a super-specific reason for going there, you could use the day somewhere else in your itinerary. As per Eagle, I'm inclined to suggest Cinque Terre for 2-3 days and would also look at adding Florence for 2-3 days (knew I'd find a use for those "extra" days earlier in your itinerary!  ) Plus if you add either of these you'll be near Pisa so can have a quick stop there too. Venice for 2 days is good and 4 full days in Rome is good to explore the city. Naples for 2 is good, but I'd suggest you base yourselves in Sorrento instead and visit Pompei and Naples on your way there from Rome. Again, unless you desperately want to stay in Naples, you'll probably enjoy Sorrento more. Boat to Greece - the ferries from Italy to Greece leave from Bari or Brindisi, which are on the Adriatic Coast, ie opposite side to Naples. In this instance, I'd suggest you look at flying from Rome (you could go to Rome last in your Italy section) to Athens with Aegean Air or Olympic Airways (or Alitalia if they are out of the financial woods). Then depending on your islands, you could fly to the furtherest, ferry between and then either fast ferry or fly back to Athens from the last island. Turkey - 2 days in Turkey will only allow a minimum amount of sightseeing in, say, Istanbul. Is that where you were planning on going? It's a great country, and Istanbul is a great city, but it's a long way to go for only two days. How were you planning on getting there from Greece? Switzerland - again, what transport mode from Turkey to CH? Eagle's suggestions on CH are the same as mine so it will depend on your interests. Munich - 3 days will allow for city exploring and time to see Neuschwanstein as well as a half-day out to Dachau if they are on your agenda. Shame you don't have more time to visit Berlin (or even Austria), but there's always next trip! Happy continual planning!
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Post by Eagle on Mar 11, 2009 1:04:56 GMT -5
bcooke96,I have a few additional comments to add, based on your most recent post. Given that your flights are all arranged, it shouldn't be too difficult to structure this around arrival and departure from Frankfurt. It would help to know where you're flying from? If you make Munich your second last stop, it's relatively easy to get from there to Frankfurt (especially as FRA has a rail station - if you're checking schedules, look for FRA Flughafen). One thing to keep in mind is that if you're flying from North America, you'll lose your first day in flight times and time zone changes (arrival in Europe is normally the day after you depart). It's great to hear that you've read Rick Steves ETBD. It's probably not necessary to pack that along on the trip, but it's essential for planning. I usually pack along a few of the Rick Steves country-specific books (Italy, France, etc.), as they're excellent reference during the trip. I definitely agree with MTH regarding the Turkey segment of your trip. It's a long way to travel for only two days. My suggestion would be to leave that for the next trip, and increase the time in some of the other locations on this trip. You asked about locations in Switzerland. The Lauterbrunnen Valley (outside of Interlaken) is VERY popular with the group here, especially the small farming village of Gimmelwald. It's one of the locations that Rick Steves has made popular, so it gets a LOT of visitors! Have a look at www.gimmelwald.ch/en/index.htm for a look at the area. The Mountain Hostel has an excellent reputation, but there are B&B's there as well. Italy is one of the MOST popular countries to visit, and the list of places to visit there is almost endless. Which places to visit on your trip will probably depend on what you're most interested in seeing. Some of the places you might look at - Venice, Lago di Como, Florence, Milan (short visit only), Verona, Pisa (good for a few hours to see the Leaning Tower), Lucca, Siena, Orvieto, Rome, Sorrento, Positano, Naples and of course the Cinque Terre (have a look at www.cinqueterreonline.com/ for information). Regarding other places to see in France, there are also endless possibilities. MTH provided some great suggestions. If you're interested in WW-2 history, visiting Normandy would certainly be worthwhile. I'd recommend basing yourselves in either Bayeux (where you can see the famous Bayeux Tapestry) or Caen (which has one of the best WW-2 Museums). As the beaches and historic sites are quite "spread out" you may want to take an organized tour, as they provide all the transportation. I would highly recommend www.battlebus.fr tours. They're a bit expensive but provide an outstanding tour! There are other firms that provide tours, but I don't have much information on them. While in the area, you could also visit Mt. Saint Michel. It's unfortunate that you won't be able to visit any spots in the U.K. or Ireland on this trip, as there are so many interesting places to see there also. At the least, a short visit to London, Bath and York would have been good. Oh well, there's always next time...... You might want to visit your local Library or Book stores to have a look at a few Guidebooks. They should provide a few ideas on places that might interest you, places to stay, etc. Good luck with your planning!
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Post by bcooke96 on Mar 11, 2009 14:11:25 GMT -5
Wow, Thank you so much Eagle and MTH. You have provided me with a lot of useful tips I will be sure to use! I thank you both very much for the time you took to provide me with your knowledge of Europe! As I am just a rookie traveller, and was getting a little weary that I was going to miss things that I would regret.
I have another question about Transportation. We are thinking of buying a Eurorail pass for all of Germany, Amsterdam, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, and Switz. To get everywhere, Is there a better option? We are going to either fly or boat to Athens from Italy, and fly from Athens back to Switz. But after checking on the Internet recently I was having troubles finding a cheap flight? Would I just want to wait till I am there to get the best deal?
Thank you again for your help, as you truly have provided us with very valuble Information which we will use.
Getting excited.
B.
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Post by herrbert on Mar 11, 2009 16:20:54 GMT -5
There has been said a lot already, but I have some remarks. The one day you have between Köln and Amsterdam, could be a nice day to spend in Maastricht or Utrecht. I agree that 4 days in Amsterdam is a little bit too much. I would rather make a daytrip to Haarlem, than going to the Keukenhof, but that's my choice. If you go for a trainpass, that has Spain included it would be a shame to only go to Barcelona, on that pass. I suggest to fly from Paris to Madrid. (it is really far by train. and don't use Ryanair!) and make a visit to Madrid, with daytrips to Toledo and Segovia. If you can find the time, I would also suggest to make it to Sevilla and Granada (the Alhambra is beautiful). The weather in May will be perfect for traveling in Spain. I think that Monaco/Monte Carlo is more of a fun daytrip, than a destination on it's own. (too expensive, and on an afternoon, you can see most of the country.) My tip about transportation is to first see where you go, and than worry about that. (if you have you route, check www.railsaver.com, for a good advice.) |
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! We are going to travel by train (majority of it) a few boats, and maybe one flight. 
) Plus if you add either of these you'll be near Pisa so can have a quick stop there too. Venice for 2 days is good and 4 full days in Rome is good to explore the city. Naples for 2 is good, but I'd suggest you base yourselves in Sorrento instead and visit Pompei and Naples on your way there from Rome. Again, unless you desperately want to stay in Naples, you'll probably enjoy Sorrento more.