Need help planning 25 days Europe Trip

[tajhaslani]

I am looking for assistance in planning my Europe Trip for approx. 25 days in June 2012.
I want to visit following places:

London
Paris
Barcelona
Lisbon
Rome
Florence
Venice
Zurich/Geneva/Lucerne (one or two of these)
Back to EWR

I would love if you can add some more cities I can visit without wasting too much time.

I want to start my trip from Newark (EWR) Airport and return to EWR
I want my trip to be approx. 25 days long
Some places I would like to take trains and few places I would like to drive (where there is not much traffic)
Fly if train/drive is more than 8 hrs.

Can someone help with planning?
This is our FIRST TRIP and don't have much knowledge of countries and cities we MUST visit.

[Eagle]

tajhaslani,

First of all, welcome to GFE!

As this is your first trip, my first suggestion is to read Europe Through The Back Door before you get too far in your planning. It provides a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe.

The number of destinations you've listed are somewhat "ambitious", even for a time frame of 25-days. Each time you change locations, you'll need to allow at least half a day, and in some cases this may require the better part of a day.

If you haven't booked flights yet, I would highly recommend using open-jaw flights so that you don't have to spend the time and money to return to your starting point. This is sometimes called "Multi-Destination" on websites.

You didn't say what kind of a budget you were working with, but one point to keep in mind regarding London is that the Olympics will be taking place there in only a few short months. I've seen some reports that room prices have escalated sharply over the last few months, so you'll have to budget accordingly.

In most cases, travel by train will be the best method, but in looking at your list there are a few places where budget airlines would be better. I wouldn't recommend car rental, as you could encounter some "difficulties", especially on a first trip. Some examples of the issues you could face: high fuel costs, high CDW cost, need for an IDP in some countries, tolls, fines, parking, vandalism, tax vignettes required in some countries, high drop fees if you rent in one country and drop in another and finally the dreaded ZTL areas in Italy.

There are some "issues" with trains also, especially in Italy. Those who fail to validate tickets on Regional trains may face severe fines, which are collected on the spot! Reservations are compulsory on some trains, and those without appropriate reservations for a particular train may be fined on the spot (and the fines aren't cheap!).

One important point regarding budget airlines is that they often operate on a "sliding scale", with prices increasing as the flight fills. Therefore, early bookers get the best price.

In addition to the Guidebook mentioned above, you may want to visit your local Library or larger bookstores and have a look at city or country-specific Guidebooks. They have lots of information on sightseeing, transportation, hotels, restaurants, etc. in each place you'll be visiting.

You'll probably find that it will be necessary to drop at least one of the locations on your list. I'll have a closer look at it later and will try to suggest an efficient route. Hopefully MTH will spot this post as I'm sure she will have some good suggestions.

As you plan on travelling in June, you'll need to get some plans in place QUICKLY, and start booking Hotels.

Good luck with your planning!

[carox]

These are top 10 places to visit in Europe, so you can add some of them which is not in your list:

Milan, Italy
Brussels, Belgium
Berlin, Germany
Munich, Germany
Istanbul, Turkey
Manchester, England
Athens, Greece
Seville, Spain
Edinburgh, Scotland
Marseille, France