1 Month European Itinerary Challenge

Bravo on planning to undertake this trip and your foreign language knowledge. I assume , based on your assessment of yourself in Spanish and German, your level is conversational to proficient, aside from fluency in Italian. Any foreign language knowledge helps so that you need not rely on your interlocutor's level of English or willingness to speak it to communicate. Look into getting a Eurail Youth Pass, 2nd class. Your interest in cities...which ones hold the most interest for you, where they would be listed in the itinerary?

One continent, 9 countries, 33 nights ...

Day 01 Paris – 4 nights
Day 05 Belgium – 3 nights
Day 08 Amsterdam – 3 nights
Day 11 Berlin – 4 nights
Day 15 Prague – 3 nights
Day 18 Budapest – 3 nights
Day 21 Vienna – 3 nights
Day 24 Salzburg – 2 nights
Day 26 Munich – 3 nights
Day 29 Swiss Alps – 3 nights
Day 32 Milan – 2 nights

or just 7 countries

Day 01 Seville – 3 nights
Day 04 Madrid – 3 nights
Day 07 Barcelona – 3 nights
Day 10 Avignon or Nice – 2 nights
Day 12 Milan – 2 nights
Day 14 Swiss Alps – 3 nights
Day 17 Munich – 3 nights
Day 20 Berlin – 4 nights
Day 24 Amsterdam – 3 nights
Day 27 Belgium – 3 nights
Day 30 Paris – 4 nights

For what it's worth my first trip in 1987 (aged 24) was also a one month Eurail and went like this ...
Paris > Geneva > Milan > Sorrento > Rome > Florence > Venice > Vienna > Salzburg > Munich > Zurich > Interlaken > Strasbourg > Brussels > Amsterdam > Copenhagen
Three night train rides in that lot too.

I would go with the first option. However, not sure why you have so many days in Milan.
Check your rail connections before you travel. I understand that may European overnight trains are being discontinued.

In fact, routes by rail today are reduced from in the past, due to governments removing subsidies for rail travel. Also, intercity European air flights are deregulated and far cheaper now, taking away from rail.

Watch you wallet and passport. I suggest carrying a money belt or neck wallet, especially in Italy and Spain.

Good for you!

I would keep Milano and see the Duomo (go up to the roof), Castello Sforzesco, a couple of excellent museums, and Leonardo's Last Supper. You can do this in two days.

Bologna is a college city, so it can be very inexpensive.

I would also spend a couple of nights in Berlin, but not sure if it's too far out of your way.

And congratulations on the scholarship!

I wouldn't buy a Eurail pass. With the amount of time and travel style you propose, you can keep travel days short which means less expensive point to point tickets. Passes pay off on long, multi leg travel days. String together destinations with short (three hour) train rides to keep logistics easy. Book open jaw or multi city for your international flights to avoid redundancy. I'd start with a list of things you'd like to see along with possible events or festivals that might be interesting and then figure an itinerary from that information. I can't accept the challenge since I haven't done much hiking in Europe and my interests are much different.

It's hard to say whether a youth rail pass (35% discount off the regular price) would pay off when we don't know how wide-ranging the territory covered will be, or whether the itinerary will be locked down soon enough to make super-cheap advance-purchase/non-changeable promo tickets a possibility. If the trip begins and ends in larger cities with stays of at least four days, we're getting close to 22-day continuous rail pass territory rather than the more expensive one-month pass..

I think the Swiss segment of the trip is best positioned near the end to improve the weather odds. The Eurail passes don't provide full coverage of some of the high-mountain railways and other mountain transportation. If the final itinerary has extensive time in Switzerland, one of the Swiss passes or cards might be better for that part of the trip.

I'm still seeing some good fares for spring travel from at least some origins. Don't know how much longer those deals will be available.

Berlin (though now without much really old architecture) is a fabulous destination for museum-lovers in general as well as for folks with an interest in World War II and/or Cold War history. It's relatively inexpensive for a northern city and has a very young population. Lots of fun activities. The route between Berlin and Switzerland goes through or near Leipzig, Dresden and Munich.

You might like at least a little time in Italy since you're fluent. In addition to the lakes there are some really interesting cities in northern Italy that you don't mention having seen on your first trip, among them Bergamo (hill town), Verona, Padua, and Vicenza (Palladian architecture). And I've seen several positive comments recently about Turin.

Budapest has been getting a lot of strongly positive comments in recent years. It might be good to see it sooner rather than later, when I suspect it will see a lot more American tourist traffic.

The possibilities are infinite, obviously. I just spent two months in central and northern Spain, and it was fabulous. If you like the idea of unusual destinations, you could consider Romania and Bulgaria with a side of Serbia.

Thanks everybody for the response. I will certainly look into the suggested itineraries, and will try to work out logistics. I'll also see if the Eurail youth pass is worth the cost, or if individual trains (and possibly flights) are a better price. Keep up the good work.

Hi,

What is the geographic extent of the trip? From France to Poland? Are you only interested in visiting the important main cities? Madrid, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, etc or a combination of lesser visited towns (at least, on the American tourist radar) and capitals. Which "historical and scenic destinations....?"

If you haven't already, I suggest you read Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, not only for the advice about travel itself but also for his suggested itineraries and suggestions about planning. David has offered a couple of good options, as he often does, but you'll really have to decide yourself. And I'd suggest you try not to lock yourself into a lot of non-refundable fares (other than the transatlantic air fare), so you'll have flexibility when you get to Europe. You may find you like someplace enough to stay longer, or vice versa, or weather may be a factor. I haven't been to Switzerland, but from what I've read on this board you may be there so early in the season that snow will limit your hiking options. I don't know much about rail passes, but shortening their duration by spending time in a big city at each end seems to make sense. If possible, fly open-jaw, into one city and home from another, to avoid the time and cost of backtracking.

And keep in mind that this won't be your last trip to Europe, hopefully. You're wise to recognize the dangers of too many places in the time you have -- a problem many posters' itineraries reflect. Good luck with planning and have a great trip!

I recommend that you try Bla Bla Car. It is a ride-sharing service that operates in over 20 countries. It works out cheaper and more flexible than a EuroRail pass and the chances are you'll meet lots of interesting locals along the way. Adventure awaits!

It operates in the following countries: France, Spain, UK, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, India, Mexico, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Brazil, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Current pricing (in Oz dollars) for what would be your main choices are ...

1) Eurail Global Youth 2nd Class Pass - 10 days within 2 months - AUD$ 695
This equates to approx $70 per travel day (journey), and would be better value if you were planning on longer journeys every 2nd or 3rd day.
2) Eurail Global Youth 2nd Class Pass - 1 month continuous - AUD$ 932
This equates to approx $30 per day, and would be better value if you were planning to move to a new destination nearly every day utilising local trains.

Both my itineraries above involve 10 travel days.
Remember on premium high speed trains you have to pay additional supplements and seat reservation fees.
Do they still represent good value as they perhaps once did? Most people tend to think not. .
Can you buy a seat in advance on a premium train over a reasonable distance for $70 ? Yes.
Can you buy a seat at the station on the day for an hour's trip on a local train for $30 ? I'd say yes to this too.

Thank you all for your replies. I have read Europe Through the Back Door, as well as some other literature about European travel and can say that David's lists look pretty nice. I will obviously put in my own research and possibly pick one and change some individual stops. The main reason for this post was to find the places that some people of this forum considered to be the best to visit, and easiest to travel between.

I will look into Bla Bla Car to see if it is a better alternative to trains, and might end up using a combination of it and individual train rides. Finally, I will definitely book open-jaw when I decide on a route, and will avoid booking trains or hostels until absolutely necessary.

Dylan, also look at Lonely Planet guidebooks and the Thorntree forum.