Croatia to Paris itinerary help

What is the time frame of the trip?

How long is your trip? You want to visit 15 different locations that involve probably close to 5,000 km of train/shuttle travel, so even a month would be rushed.

I am gone for 6 weeks - is there anything I should leave out????

Even with 6 weeks in total, only 1 night each in Cesky Krumlov and Plitvice, and with Neuschwanstein as a day trip from Munich, you would have only about 3 days less travel time in each location. Here are some initial thoughts, although there's no truely simple or sensible order because the places you want to visit are so spread out. Look at a map of Europe to see how each of these options would flow.

If you only want to fly into/out of Amsterdam and do the rest of the trip by bus and train, then you might consider this order: Go directly to Prague, then Cezky Krumlov, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Zagreb, Plitvice, Split, Dubrovnik, Ljubljana (probably via Zagreb), Salzburg, Munich (day trip to Neuschwanstein), Paris and end in Amsterdam. It's a big "circle" with a few very long travel days.

If you would consider adding a flight, then you might consider this order: Go directly to Munich (day trip to Neuschwanstein), then Salzburg, Prague (may need to return to Munich for train), Cezky Krumlov, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana (passing Zagreb on the way), Zagreb, Plitvice, Split, Dubrovnik, fly to Paris and end in Amsterdam. Flying to Paris will save you at least a day of travel and may cost less than backtracking by train or bus. You might also consider visiting Paris first, then going to Munich and flying back to Amsterdam from Dubrovnik.

This trip would work at lot better if you flew in and out of Munich (or Prague, Vienna, Budapest or Zagreb) and dropped Amsterdam and Paris.

Thank you Frank
I think I will leave Munich out and the Neuschwanstein castle.
I am keen to spend the warmer part in Croatia so I can swim work through the areas mentioned then fly to Amsterdam to spend time with family there ..then train to Paris for the remainder of my holidays and fly home
Working my way up from Dubrovonik
Then sorting a way to each of the desired cities ....
A friend mentioned not missing Cesky Krumlov , Bratsilava and Ljubljana

Can you work around that ? You are very helpful
Paula

It sounds like your preference is to work your way south, then fly from Dubrovnik to Amsterdam for the last part of your trip. If you are going to skip Munich (great city) and Neuschwanstein, I suggest you also skip Salzburg. The logical order would then be Prague, Cezky Krumlov, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Plitvice, Split, Dubrovik, fly to Amsterdam, Paris. Use Rome2Rio to get a feel for what transportation options are available, but don't rely on it for accurate schedules. The German railway website has reliable information about trains along your route. For travel in Croatia from Zagreb down to Dubrovnik, expect to use only buses. Have a fun trip!

Hey Frank I was thinking more of starting in Dubrovonik and heading north and flying out of the north to Amsterdam.
Only because I want to swim a bit in Croatia.
My confusion is when I get to Zabreb
Paula

It's simple, reverse the order in my last post. Fly from Prague to Amsterdam or, if you have extra time, take a train from Prague to Munich, visit Munich and fly from there to Amsterdam. Salzburg is an easy day trip from Munich. You could also reverse Zagreb and Ljubljana to shorten the train ride to Budapest, but you may not want to continue on to Ljubljana if you arrive in Zagreb from Plitvice in the late afternoon or evening.

OK, 6 weeks. That's a good amount of time. We did a 6 week trip in 2017. We hit a lot of cities.

I'd really think that now you need to sit down with a map and a spreadsheet. Put down the days, and travel days. If you start in Dubrovnik and head north, that's perfectly sensible. Dubrovnik to Ljubljana can be done on bus - you don't mention bus - I'd genuinely consider Flixbus or other sorts of buses.

Dubrovnik - 3 nights
Travel to Ljubljana - 1 day
Ljubljana - 3 nights
Bus to Buda-pest
Buda-pest - 4 nights

etc etc

Your best friend here is your planning map (RS sells a good planning map), and 2 websites
rome2rio - general travel - lays out options and gives times
seat61 - train travel

Do some planning and come back with an itinerary. Here's a suggestion - plan on 3 nights min in any one place. And every travel day is a hassle and a lost day for sightseeing.