I have 68 glorious days in Europe!!! Please take a look at my itinerary and give me your suggestions, comments or let me know if it's too craaaazzzzy...
Frankfurt - 3 days
Munich - 5
Prague - 5
Vienna - 4
Venice - 4
Florence - 5
Tuscany - 5
Rome - 6
Pisa - 2
Genoa - 1
Zurich - 1
Lucerne - 2
Paris - 7
Barcelona - 6
Madrid - 6
Lisbon - 2
Faro/Algarve - 3
I was thinking of skipping Switzerland and spending more time in France. Whaddya think?
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There isn't much in Frankfurt unless your a business
person. I would spend a day max. Munich is nice but 5
days is more than enough time to see this sites. Since you
are already spending 5 days in Florence, you could cut a
day or two from the 5 days in the Tuscany region.
I'm also assuming you are flying in and out of Frankfurt.
That last train ride from Lisbon straight to Frankfurt is a
bitch. Try to plan a more circular route, like go from
Italy to Barcelona (maybe stop in Nice), then train to
Lisbon/Faro (after multiple transfers), then back to
Madrid, up to Paris, and then to Frankfurt. Therefore, it
may be a good idea to drop Genoa, Lucerne and Zurich and
head along the Mediterannean.
Anyway, it's an ambitious itinerary and it doesn't look
like you've factored in travel days. I've done this type
of whirlwind trip in Europe and it's rewarding but I would
cut back the number of cities you want to see and plan on
coming back later. JMHO. Happy travels!
While I agree with some of the previous respondent's
advice, I'd be looking to spend more time in Tuscany, and
perhaps extending it to Umbria. There really isn't much to
see in Pisa beyond the Tower and Baptistery - really a day
trip from Florence would cover it nicely. Perhaps these
days could be spent in Siena instead - a lot more
interesting than Pisa.
I do think that the circular route is a better idea, and
there are at least two trains aday from Pisa to Nice.
Have fun regardless
I would consider heading to Rome from Venice and then
heading back up to spend your time in Tuscany (Florence,
Siena, Pisa, plus many other places). This would help avoid
some backtracking. I realize that its a longer ride but
there probably is a good night train for it. Last time I
was there I had to take a day train to get to Rome from
Florence. With your itinerary you may have to take day
trains twice between Rome and Tuscany. Anyway, just a
suggestion.
I agree with John, Pisa is really just worth a day trip from
Florence.
Are you sure that you want to stay in Rome for 6 days?
Hello Crazy Cake,
Your itinerary sounds great so far. I would just like to
make a few suggestions. If you are on somewhat of a budget,
I would suggest that you cut out some of the days in big
cities like Paris, Rome, Madrid, for example. In big cities,
your money will disappear quickly. I think a stop that you
can add after Vienna is Budapest which is a really great
city and pretty reasonable and only a 3 hour train ride
from Vienna. Also you might want to add a few more days in
the Algarve since it is really cheap there and tons of fun.
I spent a year studying abroad in Vienna and I visited all
of your destinations except for Lisbon, so if you need any
more suggestions or have any questions feel free to email
me.
Have fun in Europe, I guarantee that you will!!
Brian Klisz
Hey there. I agree with the comments above (especially
about Pisa - there's not much except for the Leaning Tower.)
I suggest visiting the area around La Spezia which is about
an hour north of Pisa. There are hiking trails along the
Italian Riviera in this area. The views are magnificient
(although the trails are a little rough in some places.)
Anyway, there is a walking path that takes you through small
and charming towns. There is a train from La Spezia to the
beginning of the trail. I really recommend it.
Anyway, my only real experience travelling around
Europe was last spring for a month. My other suggestion to
you is to visit some smaller towns along the way. For
instance, if you are spending 6 days in Madrid, you could
kind of use Madrid as your headquarters and take day trips
to see other places around Madrid (like Toledo). Also,
if you are spending 3 days in Frankfurt make sure to
travel a little further up the Rhine River to places
like Mainz and Koblenz (and other smaller towns along the
Rhine). After a while, all big European cities start to
look the same. I think you really get a feeling for a
country by seeing some of its smaller towns and also the
landscape. You have the luxury of spending over two months
in Europe. Don't waste it all in the cities. I spent one
month in Europe. I saw most of the major cities and still
had time to take in some dinky towns along the way. Get a
good guide book and good luck. P.S. Try to hit Berlin if
you can...It's a very interesting city and not too far from
Prague.
Hello,
Your program is too heavy. And some cities like Munich and
frankfut for me have to be cut. And Madrid too. Ilive in
Europe , in Nice and travel often. 6 days in Roma is long.
Cinque terre near La Spezzia are effectively wonderful. In
Cote d'azur you have many little village to see, and all is
wonderful . There are good youth hostels. See one place is
good but feeling what happens is better i think. If you
want more details ask on my E;Mail I will answer. Have a
nice time !
cut your time in some of the cities, and spent your time in places in between. For example, between Madrid and Barcelona is a coastline with some lovely little towns that are worth a couple of days visit. Definitely not too long in Pisa - we just stopped there for 2 hours on our way to Rome. Think of spending a bit of time in some of the smaller cities in Czech - Ceske Krumlov is amazing, and cheap - maybe only 2-3 days in Prague. I notice you haven't got anything around Salzburg, Austria. Its only a few hours from Munich, so maybe your could think of starting off heading that way through to Vienna. Its really an amazingly beautiful area, and I wouldn't miss it. Your itinerary is not too crazy, just too many cities and not enough towns. My advice, pick a route, and have a look at whats to offer on all the small towns between each City. What ever you do, have fun!
Cheers
Jo
You've reserved absolutely too much time for Venice. All sights there can be covered in a day, there's not much nightlife, and above all, it's expensive. Spend more time in Portugal instead, or go to Provence. Towns down there are much nicer than Paris anyway.
Hey there! I went on the worldwind tour last summer so here
is my two cents. I think you have booked too much time in
Florence, Paris and Madrid. Someone said something about
the big cities being expensive - very true. I think 5 days
in Barcelona is good. There is NOTHING in Pisa except the
tower. I spent an hour there between connecting trains
between Rome and Cinque Terre. Speaking of which, although
it has become more touristy Cinque Terre is stunning and the
hike between the five villages was my most favourite (next
was going through the grottos is Lagos) I spent 3 days
there. Also, I have a special place in my heart for
Portugal. Wound up finding a job in Lisbon and staying for
three months. Brilliant place.
Any questions - more than willing to gab.
Jenn
Don't bother going to any of those places, just spend 68 days in a Blackpool bed and breakfast. There are some good cheap ones round the South Pier.
I have done the Italy part of your itinery, except Genoa.
Out of curiosity, what are you hoping to see in Genoa?
I don't think your time in the Italian places is
excessive, because you have obviously accounted for
travel time. WWW.fs-online.com for train schedules.
Also, you aren't trying to blitz through, which is good.
For three to four days in Venice, you can see plenty of
churches and museums, maybe check out the glass factories.
I did four rich days in Venice myself. But some folks
simply don't like Venice, and you won't know until you are
there which category you are in. As long as your
arrangements are flexible, you can always move on if you
find you are in the Venice-is-boring category.
Florence is a frustrating city. I did about a week in
Florence. I was always busy in hte AM, when everything is
open, but idle in the PM because things were closed. I
loved Florence, but left due to idle time in the afternoon
before I ran out of things to see. I hear some of the
museums, such as the Uffizi (a must-see if you are into
paintings at all), have special extended hours, like until
10PM or so. If this is on during your trip, you might plan
your visit to take advantage of extended hours and cut a day
or so off your stay in Florence.
http://he.net/~mega/ezones/florence.htm
for some Florence scheduling help.
I haven't been to La Spezia but the advice above sounds
pretty good.
I don't think six days in Rome armed with a good guidebook
like Blue Guide is excessive, especially as part of that
time is train time. I find it curious that folks think you
can run out of things to do in that time. However, to take
up one slack day in Rome, get up early and do a day trip to
Pompeii. I have heard of but haven't tried a day trip to
Ostia Antica from Rome. That leaves you four days and I am
sure you can find four day's worth in Rome. Plan in advance
to avoid the busy AM-idle PM trap.
Not sure what your Tuscany plans are so I can't comment.
Have a great trip!
Your plan sounds good but a bit as if you'd want to devour
most of Europe on a single trip. This may be fine if you're
planning this to be your last trip here. However, if you
believe you would be coming back one day why not change some
of the large cities to something smaller, more idyllic and
relaxed. This might make your trip more enjoyable. Europe is
full of breathtakingly beautiful small or medium-sized towns
that could be like heavenly oases after running from one
museum (or bar) to another in a crowded and polluted
metropolis. We'd made some tours in Europe by car and the
first one had an itinerary corresponding a bit like yours,
although on a smaller area. We visited Copenhagen, Hamburg,
Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Basel, Zurich, Salzburg and
Munich. It was fun and we saw a lot. However, the next tours
we've done mixing larger and smaller places and I must say
it's been more enjoyable.
Have a nice trip wherever you choose to go!
Hi! My name is Heidi. I highly recommend getting out of the big cities and out to the country. I run a new (small) backpacker hotel called the Treehouse in the village of Gruenau. We are located between Salzburg and Vienna. Just take a train to Wels and hop on a smaller train to Gruenau. We are the last stop. We have mountain bikes, tennis court, hiking, horseback riding, canyoning, rafting, or you can just sleep in and relax and enjoy the countryside. Our dorm room is only 160AS per person including a breakfast buffet. Doubles 200AS. It sounds like you have a very busy trip planned. Just don't forget... you are on vacation and shouldn't feel obligated to see every church and museum. It gets old after a while. I've done it. I hope you come and visit. Have a great trip!
All the best,
Heidi
PH: 43 7616 8499 e-mail: treehousehotel@hotmail.com
call or e-mail for more info or reservations
http://www.tiscover.com/gruenau
What a wonderful trip! I've been every place on your list.
I'd narrow down based on how easy/difficult it is to get
from here to there. And, just an opinion, I'd definitely
cut Frankfurt (entirely), Madrid (entirely), Do Pisa on a
day trip from somewhere else. I crammed Switzerland into a
similar trip and it was not worth it. Expensive.
Beautiful. But was my least favorite part of the trip.
Goo
Considering I would spent 68 days in Europe I would probably
have a plan like you do, but I would just go to the first
place on the list and if it stinks, I `d go somewhere else.
I think it is positiv to let the trip and the mouth-to-mouth
information you get inspire you to go to a place yoe maybe
have never heard of.
So stick with your plan, but if it doesent work, there are
trashcans arounf.
unless you're really big on museums and art galleries (which
maybe you are) i reckon florence isn't worth more than a
couple of days. the uffizi is way over-hyped unless you like
that kind of art (i don't even remember the name - but i
wasn't that impressed). pisa is worth a couple of hours
maybe - i wasn't that impressed by staring at a
(surprisingly short) tower on the wonk. in rome i highly
recommend the museum of contemporary (or modern?) art - it's
a bit out of the centre through a park - a nice walk, quite
quiet (even in the middle of august) and has fantastic stuff
from quite early (renaissance maybe - don't rmemeber) to
current. great and way better than those in florence. also
if you go to the vatican go early because it's a bit mad.
get crowded through - it's like a cattle market. sienna is
lovely - nothing to do but i could have hung about for weeks
anyway. venice isn't so good. barcelona's nice, amsterdam's
great (obviously), paris is over-hyped but worth a couple of
days nevertheless. not 7 though - the rest of france has way
more to offer. brittany's nice, so's the south, provence
etc.
Cut down your time in Rome and Paris - yes I know they are
packed with History and Glamour but they are also packed in
people wanting to charge you a fortune. Munich is okay but
cut your time down there as well.
Include Budapest and YES go to Switzerland even just
passing through, you need to see the ALPS (Eiger, Mont
Blanc and the Matterhorn)
Belgium have some excellent cities, cheap and friendly,
Ghent & Brugge (both extremley beautifull and historic) and
Antwerp which is all things to everyone.
Why's everyone saying cut Madrid? I was there for 5 days last summer and had an awesome time - loads to see and do, and plenty of great bars. Segovia, Toledo etc. are all great day trips as well. Having said that, swapping a couple of days in Madrid for a couple in Granada, Seville or (my favourite) Ronda might be a good idea.
Best of luck!
3 days for Frankfurt and 5 days for Munich seem to be a lot.
Better you come for some days to Berlin , it┤s much more
fun!
Frankfurt is a pure business town , Munich is a bit
expensive.I recommend you to come to Berlin for a week or
so.You can make a trip to Poland and you can visit the very
nice surroundings. But the most important thing is : The
night life in Berlin is the best in Germany.From Berlin you
have a very good train connection to Prague, there are
trains every two hours. You may do an stop-over in Dresden ,
it┤s also very nice to visit.
I can give you some advice about cheap hostels in Berlin and
Dresden , if you ┤re interested.
Add Copenhagen to you list. About 3 or 4 days should do it.
don't overplan. just go with the flow. if you like someplace
stay and if you meet someone who tells you to go someplace
they just visited then follow their advice and go. you will
never know if you will like a place until you get there and
check it out for yourself. i do agree that you need to cut
sometime out of all the cities and get out into the country
and breathe a little fresh air. the cities are really full
of great stuff to see but they can be really polluted and
very expensive. have fun!
BUT WHERE IS COPENHAGEN ON YOUR LIST.
Maybe I'm not very objective (I'm from copenhagen), but I think it's a town worth visiting, especially during summertime. Besides that my opinion of your list is that there's a risc that you get so many impressions that afterward you'll have trouble with remembering one town from the other, and also that you'll feel that you are in a hurry to see as much as possible in each town (I know, this doesn't comply with my saying that you should add Copenhagen to your list !). On the other hand, I've looked at your list several times, and I wouldn't know which towns I would suggest you not to visit. I could add some besides Copenhagen: Amsterdam, London, and maybe Stockholm !!
My comment is don't forget to include the travel time
between places, it'll suck up a significant part of your
itinary
suzie has said what i was going to. for example, it takes a
full day to travel between paris and madrid or bacelona. as
for time in different cities, it depends on what you like.
madrid is beautiful, but after three days you've seen mostof
the 'big stuff'. i'd keep it loose. if you arrive in prague
and decided you want to spent the whole time there do it.
europe's not going anywhere (unless someone bombs it away).
but seriously, be reasonable and don't commit yourself too
far in advance and it'll work itself out.
o.k. But make sure you stop in Zurich and see that Lion
Monument this. It's pretty cool, one of the best sculptures
I have ever seen - if you're into that sort thang.
Well when you're doing Europe you should not forget small but great country The Netherlands.
Hi,
I can fully understand you, I love big cities as well and
don't mind spending a few more days there than in the
countryside. Anyway, as a few poeple mentioned before, try
to avoid Frankfurt (it's only banks and really ugly, I don't
know a lot about nightlife there but guess that you'll end
up in awful places if you don't know anybody) and rather go
up to Berlin or Hamburg instead. I think five days in Munich
is good, even though it's considered a big city it's
somewhat small and you'll find your way around pretty
quickly - and there a loads of tourists sights. Nightlife
wise I would recommend: Kunstpark Ost (it's an area with
nightclubs, bars, restaurants etc), Haidhausen,
Glockenbachviertel - and Schwabing is just very touristy but
probably nice if you've never been here!
Enjoy your trip - I really do envy you as I've just returned
from a six week trip to South America and could think about
something better than working again!
Hey,
Thanks for yur replies on my earlier posting. Another
question: How easy/tough is it to drive in germany? i dont
know the language and I want to rent a car and drive down
the Rhine from Aachen. I am used to driving in the US.
Although high speeds should not be a problem for me, i am
wondering what the driving directions will be like. Night
driving in a new place can be a pain if the directions get
a bit confusing.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Pramod