Europe in 36 days itinerary help!

[appleguy2k]

Hi guys,
I will be leaving for Europe for 38 days (2 of which are travel days) at the end of April 2013. This will be my first time in Europe so any help would greatly be appreciated. Please take a look at my tentative itinerary and make suggestions! I basically took Rick Steve's 2 month itinerary and trimmed many places to make it fit so it might be overly ambitious. Thanks!

London (5 days)
Paris (3 days) then 2.5 hour flight to
Madrid (2 days)
Barcelona (2 days) then 1.5 hour flight to
Cinque Terre (2 days)
Florence (2 days)
Tuscany & Umbria (2 days)
Venice (2 days)
Rome (3 days) then 1.5 hr flight to
Vienna (2 days)
Prague (2 days)
Munich (2 days)
Rothenburg/Romantic Road (1 day)
Rhine (2 days)
Berlin (2 days)
Amsterdam (2 days)

I will mostly be traveling by train. A rough estimate shows about 2-4 hour ride between most cities. I am wondering if I should cut out Tuscany & Umbria and also Rothenburg and extend a few other cities? Any help would awesome! Thanks!

[madamtrashheap]

appleguy2K, welcome to GFE!

A few points/questions on your itinerary as it stands:

London (5 days) - good amount of time to explore the city as well as perhaps time for one (only one) day trip to say Stonehenge/Bath or Oxford, or even Leeds Castle, if any of them interest you.

Paris (3 days) - hmm, unless you've been to Paris before, and of course depending on your intersts, you may find 3 days (and I mean 3 full days, ie 4 nights) is only just enough to see things. Of course, if you mean 3 nights, ie 2 full days plus arrival day (not that far from London, take the Eurostar and book 3 months in advance for tkts, don't bother flying) then this won't be enough time for you. Add 1 more full day if you can.

then 2.5 hour flight to
Madrid (2 days) - again, 2 full days would be good, but if only 1 full day then consider more time.

Barcelona (2 days) - as above. There is a lot to see in Barcelona so think about having 2 full days at least.

then 1.5 hour flight to
Cinque Terre (2 days) - by a flight to CT I'm guessing you mean flying in to either Nice or Genoa and training it to one of the villages? This will be, for all intents and purposes, a full travel day allowing for flights, trains, transfers. Againg 2 full days is the minimum time to spend here. Which of the villages were you considering?

Florence (2 days) - allow around 4hrs for the trains from CT to Florence. This will give you a good chunk of your arrival day to spend exploring, but I'd still add another day if you want to visit museums, markets, etc.

Tuscany & Umbria (2 days) - anywhere in particular? These are regions (Florence is in Tuscany) so specific towns will give us an idea of time required, but 2 days would be in one town, not in 2 seperate ones. If you're going for scenery, sometimes train travel through there regions (which you will do on this itinerary) will give you what you want, unless you want to hike, etc.

Venice (2 days) - good amount of time. 1 full day is good, 2 woudl be better.

Rome (3 days) - depending on your interests, you may want 3 full days, which IMO is the minimum for a first time in Rome.

then 1.5 hr flight to
Vienna (2 days) - 2 full days would be good.


Prague (2 days) - again, 2 full days is the minimum time here, so add time if you can.

Munich (2 days) - if you don't plan any day trips to the castles (Neuschwanstein, etc) then 2 full days will allow city time and a half day visit to Dachau.

Rothenburg/Romantic Road (1 day) - if you are taking the train, then the scenery will deliver in certain spots, but unless you're wedded to it, I'd train from Munich to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and spend the evening/night before continuing the next day.

Rhine (2 days) - if you take a cruise on the Rhein you might enjoy it for the scenery, otherwise any towns in particular you were considering? What are you interests on the river? That will help with suggestions.

Berlin (2 days) - 3 full days minimum! Great town, something for everyone, don't cut it short.

Amsterdam (2 days) - 2 full days would be a good start.

Right, a few things to consider:

Transport - trains are better on some routes than planes, so once you've sorted where you're going, you'll get a better idea of what to take between each destination.

Museum Days - by this I mean Mondays. Most museums in Europe close on Mondays (except Paris where it's split between Monday and Tuesday) so consider this when you're planning days in certain cities and wanting to visit specific museums.

Route - from Italy onwards, I'd swap the order and go CT, train to Florence, train to Rome, train to Venice (none of them are long at all) then train Venice to Munich (spectacular scenery), train Munich to Vienna, train Vienna to Prague, train Prague to Berlin with a lunch stop for 2 or so hours in Dresden along the way if you're interested, fly Berlin to Amsterdam (check Transavia.com) to save time.

Let us know when you've had a look through things and the next version of your itinerary.