Advice needed for 2 months in Greece, Italy, Switzerland and Germany!

What a terrific way to spend your summer! I did a 7-week tour when I was 19 and I am envious! Your instinct to start in the south is excellent, moving north with the warmth.

I do think you have too many stops. By the end of two months it will be a blur. Eliminate about 1/3 of your stops and make the ones you have count by getting to know the place. For example, you have one full day in Venice bracketed by long travel days. With two months to use, stay 3-4 nights in Venice. In Italy dump Siena (day trip it from Florence), Assisi, and Orvieto. Add a night each to Venice, Dolomites, Florence and Rome.

Others can advise about Switzerland and Germany better than I can. In Italy you do not need a railpass. You are better off with point to point purchases. When you are sure of your dates, buy advance tickets on the high-speed trains to save some money. You can buy any itinerary including a high-speed train up to 120 days in advance.

Another note on the 21 day itinerary: remember that with a Rick Steves tour they can move so fast because someone else is doing the organizing for you. You just show up and are escorted. On your own you will spend a lot of time figuring out where to go and when, orienting to a new town every few days, getting lost, etc. SLOW DOWN and enjoy this trip! Missing a few places is not as big a deficit as you think. The reward will come in truly experiencing the cultures and sites.

Wow, thank you for the quick response! I'm actually 19 and currently taking a gap year, so I'm trying to get the most out of my time :)

Taking out the smaller cities makes sense and actually makes me feel a lot less stressed (especially since I still have to find hostels at each stop). If I can manage with point-to-point tickets in Italy, does that mean a global eurorail pass will be a waste? Or maybe I should get a Germany-Switzerland pass for the other two...hmmmm.

As for the advanced tickets, do I just input my itinerary at www.raileurope.com and book them online? Doing this costs less than physically buying the tickets in Italy?

I counted the number of different towns you are staying in and how many times you are moving from one hotel to another. Italy- 11, Switzerland- 8, Germany- 8= 27 different hotels! While Rick's itineraries allow you to see the maximum number of sights in a 2-3 week time frame. Doing three of these back to back will be exhausting. Out of 60 days, you will be traveling and packing/unpacking every other day. And each move from city to city will take at least half a day door to door. I'd recommend looking at all the RS destinations and then deciding what places sound the most interesting.

Here's my two cents based on places we've been on our last two trips to Europe (2 weeks each).
1) Have you traveled to Europe/Italy before? If not, I'd recommend starting in Germany, Switzerland, and end up in Italy. It will be an easier cultural/language transition as you move from Germany/Switzerland, northern to southern Italy.

2) Fly into Frankfurt and out of Naples. If you fly United out of Newark, you can book your Naples to Frankfurt leg on Lufthansa through United airlines.
3) I'll let others put their two cents in on the Germany/Switzerland itinerary, but here's how you might sequence Italy.
From Switzerland- Lake Como (Verrana) -2 nights, Venice-2 nights, Cinque Terre, 2 nights, Florence or Tuscany 4 nights, Rome- 4 nights, Sorrento- 5 nights. (That's 19 nights- so you could still do the Dolomites, or add a night someplace else.
4) I'd pick 2 -3 places that would be good to spend 5-6 nights as a home base during the course of your two months. You will appreciate the 4-5 days during those stays where you don't have to be packing and moving hotels. Think about renting an apartment, house, etc. Is it just you are are you traveling with other people/person? Below are a couple places I think would warrant an extended stay.

• Sorrento- we spent 5 nights (4 full days). Visited Pompei, Capri, Amalfi Coast/Paestum, and just a day to wander and explore Sorrento. Be sure to get a room with a view over the bay. Sorrento has a very small town feel. Would be a great way to slow down at the end of your 2 month vacation.
• Rome- We only spent 2 nights, but easily you could spend 4-5 nights and have more to do than possible.
  
• Florence- To reduce your hotel moves, think about staying in Florence longer (do day trips into the Tuscany hill towns -Siena, Cortona, or others) .
  

One other thing I'd recommend is thinking about the number of hours you spend moving from one location to another. Not just the train time, but door to door. And build in at least a day a week where you have no plans and can choose to do nothing if you want without any "must see" sightseeing.

Vivi,

that is all very very good advice. As an independent traveler there is no way you can keep up a guided tour speed. It will be a blur, really.

I've put notes on your 3 other copies to stop you getting answers spread all over.

If you like, when you are logged in you can delete the empty copies and everything will land here.

I hope you have a great time...

RailEurope is expensive and gives limited options. Since you are traveling within a month or so, discounts on point-to-point tickets will bevin to disappear, except for the last few weeks of your trip (good idea to make that Italy).

Whatever you decide, you will have a great time!

Thank you everyone for your responses! To answer some of your questions: I will be traveling alone and will stay in the cheapest hostels I can find (possibly using AirBnB as well). I'm 19 and haven't learned how to drive yet (I know, I know), so renting a car really isn't an option.

My plans have changed. I will be traveling to Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, in that order for 2 weeks in each (totaling 2 months). Instead of strictly following Rick Steves' itineraries, I am choosing 3-5 major cities in each country and staying for 2-3 nights in each.

For Greece: Athens, Delphi, Hydra, Santorini
For Italy: Florence, Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre, Sorrento
For Switzerland: Berner Oberland, Luzern, Bern
For Germany: Munich, Bavaria-Tirol, Berlin, Rhine Valley, Rothenburg

For now it seems like dedicating 2 weeks per country sounds the fairest, as I haven't visited any of them yet. Any seasoned travelers who've been to some/all of these countries have advice on tweaking my itinerary? (stay longer in one country, less in another, must-see cities I've overlooked, cut out this and that, etc).

Thank you!

Hi,

Great that you're going over for two full months at the age of 19 and plan on staying in hostels. If you're doing this on the cheap, don't rule out taking night trains. You'll see your fellow age counterparts on night trains too, basically people from your age into their 50s. Using a rail pass youth pass for so long a trip will give you the flexibility.

Just went over my itinerary and I've realized that maybe spending more time in less countries will be more worth it...so now I'm thinking about spending 1 month in Greece and 1 month in Italy (and taking out Switz. & Germany).

Hmmm.

1 month Greece and 1 month Italy is quite a change, but a great one, IMHO. We did a month in Italy one year and only stayed 4 places. It was terrific! You really get to know a location and you also save on transportation by not taking a train every 2 or 3 days.

Hi Laurel! Which 4 places in Italy did you stay in and how many nights in each?

Greece and Italy are a great combination. Be sure to research both air and ferry transportation between the two. I admit I skipped to your #8 post, so I don't know what came before, but I also recommend that you consider Sicily and Crete as potential destinations. They are often ignored and that's a pity. I think both are amazing places.

Hi Vivi. On that particular trip we did
- Venice: 6 nights that particular trip. We have now been there 5 times and never tire!
- Umbria: 5 nights. Having been in Tuscany the previous trip we choose Umbria and stayed in the tiny town of Spello. I might recommend Assisi or Perugia as cities with a bit more to do at night
- Sorrento: From which we explored Naples, Pompeii, Ercolano, and the Amalfi Coast during a 7 night stay
- Rome: 9 nights during the Christmas holidays

A week each in Sorrento, Rome, Florence and Venice would make a nice month....

Hi,

If you do end up skipping Germany and Switzerland entirely this time, then forget about the rail Pass, even a Youth Pass. I agree with the above advice on not needing a Pass in Italy. Buying point to point tickets is the way to go in Italy.

I see the plan is still in flux. You don't have to lock in the whole plan in advance, but the more you know about your preferences and trade-offs, the easier it will be to make decisions on the road.
In Greece, you both can and should be very flexible, confirming bus and ferry schedules as you go. I agree with Fred's advice that you don't need a railpass if you just focus on Italy and Greece. Having a month for each country will allow you to experience a full mix of large and small towns, inland and beach, etc.

I think you've made a wise decision to spend a month each in Italy and Greece ... my two favorite countries. I would suggest you spend a little time with some Italian and Greek guidebooks (see what you can find in the library ... Lonely Planets are good; they have suggested itineraries in the front of each book). See what appeals to you ... do you like historical sites? Museums? Hiking? Make a list of your "must see" places.

Then think about your timing. I wonder if a week in each of 4 cities may be a little long? I personally like to change up my schedule on a month-long trip ... maybe 3 nights in one place, then 4, then 2, then 6 .... depending on what there is to do and see in each town, and how easy it is to day trip from that town, using public transportation.

For Greece, in addition to guidebooks, I recommend two websites -- Matt Barrett and Panagiotis. There are lots of islands, each with its own personality. One tip for Greece: if you decide to do some island hopping, stick to just one island chain (i.e. the Cyclades or Dodecanese) to simplify ferry schedules. Sometimes people get enamored by two islands, i.e. Milos and Patmos, and want to visit both on the same trip; transportation between the two is time-consuming, difficult and costly. Whereas if you pick Milos and Paros, it's easy-peasy.

You might also check flight options to/from the US -- see if it's more economical to fly into, say, Milan and home from Athens, or vice versa.

Once you have a tentative itinerary for each country, post them on this forum under their individual countries. You'll get lots of feedback.