Hello,
My partner and I are planning a Europe trip from India in the near future. We have roughly decided on an itinerary - starting from Paris (4 days), Amsterdam (2 days), Prague (3 days), Budapest (3 days), Vienna (2 days), Florence (2 days) and Rome (4days). We will be traveling by Eurorail and have calculated the duration of travel (Amsterdam to Prague and Vienna to Florence would be overnight trips).
Does this seem like a good itinerary? Neither of us have visited Europe and we'd like to see as much as possible without rushing through it.
Do let me know your thoughts.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
What you essentially have is 3 separate trips with this itinerary:
Rome and Florence
Budapest, Vienna and Prague
Paris and Amsterdam
Long distance/overnight train travel is getting less popular--replaced by budget European airlines. Most people travel on trains by point to point tickets and don't use Eurorail passes any longer. I suggest:
Visiting Rome and Florence and then catching a 1 hour train over to Pisa where you can catch a cheap Ryanair flight to Budapest.
Then take trains to Vienna and then on to Prague.
You can take Vueling Air from Prague to Paris and then take the train up to Amsterdam.
Fly out of Amsterdam Schiphol which is a fine international airport.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
How wonderful for you to be planning this trip to Europe.
Italy has so much to offer that it really demands a trip of its own. Slot in Berlin instead, allowing for easy hops by train. An extra day each for Amsterdam and Vienna would be good too.
Paris (4 days)
Amsterdam (3 days)
Berlin (4 days)
Prague (3 days)
Vienna (3 days)
Budapest (3 days)
Posted by
Truro, NS, Canada
3941 posts
You really should be counting nights. How many nights do you have for the trip?
You say Amsterdam 2 days - is that 3 nights or 2 nights? Two nights is really only 1 full day (3 nights would be two days), so you spend half a day training from Paris to Ams, giving you a half day on your arrival day, and however much of the next day before you have to get the train to your next destination...we did an insane trip like this in 2010 (even worse actually because we had like 6 1-night stays) and I'd never do it again.
This just seems to rushed...but you know what you can handle (and night trains aren't all they are cracked up to be - hard to get rest and you really don't arrive refreshed, unless you take some Ambien or something ;) )
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
There is no longer a direct overnight train from Amsterdam or any part of Germany to Prague. You would usually make several connections, probably not at convenient times. So that's a good route to fly. Vienna to Florence is served by direct overnight train (as is Vienna to Venice).