3 Week trip to Europe! Need avice!

[jason50187]

Hi, I'm planning my first trip ever to Europe in May or June 2012. Since I've never even been outside the US before, I could use some advice. I'm from Dallas, TX, so I'll be flying out of Dallas. Here's my current itinerary so far.

Fly to London and spend 3 nights there
Train to Paris and 3 nights there
Train to Brussels and just 1 night there
Train to Amsterdam and spend 3 nights there
Train to Hamburg and 2 nights there
Train to Berlin and 2 nights there
Train to Munich and 2 nights there
Train to Prague and 2 nights there
Train to Warsaw and 2 nights there
Fly home from Warsaw

Any advice or feedback on this itinerary is appreciated. Also, I was wondering if maybe I should drop Warsaw and spend a couple extra nights in one of the other cities, and just fly out of Prague instead. What do you think?

Also, I'll be traveling alone, and I was wondering if it's better to do sightseeing on my own or go on a guided tour or a hop on/ hop off tour.

Also, for certain activities, should I book them ahead of time? Like, in London, I wanna go to the tower of London and the London Dungeon. Should I book the tickets for those online in advance, or just buy them when I get there? If I buy them in advance, what's the best website to buy them from?

I'm thinking I should be able to do this for about $4,000 and that includes air fare, trains, hostels, food, sightseeing, etc. Is that a reasonable amount? I would appreciate any input. Thanks.

[Eagle]

jason50187,

Welcome to the Boards! I have a few comments on your proposed Itinerary.

To begin with, it's great that you're getting an early start on your planning. That will give you lots of time to "fine tune" the details.

As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend pre-reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door before you get too far in your planning. That will provide you with a lot of good information on how to travel well in Europe. It's great that you're using open-jaw flights, as that's definitely the most efficient method.

A few questions and comments regarding your Itinerary:

> Be sure to allow for adequate travel time between each city. In some cases, this will only be a few hours, while in other cases it could be 4-6 hours (basically a full day).

> Have you considered visiting Bruges rather than Brussels?

> Could you elaborate on your choice of Hamburg? I'd probably consider dropping that and adding the time in Berlin and Munich.

> Have you allowed for the travel days in your planning? You'll arrive in Europe the day after you depart the U.S. and you'll spend the last day on the flight home.

Good luck with your planning!

[pkpled]

Hey Jason I also fly out of DFW so I can somewhat relate. I've been to those attractions in London and bought those att he location with no problem.

You might want to look at Berlin to Prague to Munich. It looks a little easier geographically and Munich is probably cheaper to fly home as it is a major hub. That would also give you a little more time to enjoy other locations of your choice while reducing train travel. I've never been to Warsaw I'm not sure what you'd miss by skipping that though.

[cristin]

About Warsaw, it’s kind of out of the way from the other places you want to visit. You’re going to end up spending a lot of time just getting out and there and getting back. It will likely be much more expensive flying out of there than a larger airport too. Prague is also a more expensive place to fly out of. Like the last poster mentioned, doing Berlin, Prague, Munich is probably your best bet.

I like sightseeing alone but I suppose it depends on what you’re comfortable with and what you’re going to see. Hop on, hop off city tours don’t really seem worth the money since European cities are generally easy to get around on your own. There are free guided tours in a lot of cities (I know Berlin, Prague, and Munich have them but I would bet most everywhere you’re visiting has one). The ones I went on were really great and I would definitely recommend them. You’ll probably find lots of info on them when you get to your hostels.

For attractions in London, there isn’t anything that you need to buy in advance, but you might be able to get a better price if you do. I was able to buy a half price ticket for the London Eye by buying in advance online. It also might be worthwhile to just do a search for coupons for things you are interested in. It seems like all the attractions in London are either expensive or free – there’s not much in between.

$4000 should be good for 3 weeks.

[jason50187]

Thanks for the advice! After consideration, I think I will drop Warsaw and add an extra day in Berlin and an extra day in Munich. There's not really much I wanna see in Warsaw. I think it would make more sense to go from Berlin to Prague to Munich, so I'll do that. Thanks!