16 day Europe Itinerary: Rome, Munich and Paris

I don't think you would have found this message board unless you were already familiar with Rick Steves. His guidebooks are excellent and if you just follow his walking tours and recommended sights in each city you'll have a great trip & you won't miss anything important. No need to plan each day's itinerary longer than a day ahead, or even that morning.

I suggest you read the thread that is currently running on this helpline "Not all those who wander are lost"

There is a lot of discussion on how much planning people do and it will give you lots of food for thought.

Personally, I need to learn what the major sights are in a city and figure out which ones sound the most attractive to me before leaving home. That way I don't waste precious time on the trip doing research. I also find it best to learn the transportation systems ahead of time.

A lot depends on your style and mindset. Some people feel they miss out if they haven't seen Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Others have a wonderful time just walking, exploring, and absorbing the atmosphere.

Generally, the tighter the budget, the more planning is necessary.

You have picked great locations, you'll surely have a wonderful time.

I think you need to define "specific" and "general". I think it is important to have a "plan", but too many times on here you see an itinerary planned to the hour. To me, that isn't fun. When I was in Munich in April I knew that the first day I wanted to stay on my hotel side of town. So I planned the transportation section of the Deutches Museum and a trip to the Spring Fest. Both were a short walk from my hotel. The next day I did the Frommer's walking tour and ended the afternoon with the Beer Drinker's Guide Tram 17 tour. The third day was left to the Englischer Garten and Hofbrauhaus. To me, that's a general itinerary or a pretty good plan. I did more each day, but didn't have the city planned to the minute.

Justice,

As this is your first trip to Europe, my first suggestion would be to pre-read the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door. It will provide you with a lot of information on things like rail skills, languages, money, etc.

Regarding touring ideas in each city, I generally go through the country or city-specific Guidebooks and make a list of the sights that interest me the most. I use that as a "rough" Guide on things to see each day, but don't worry if I don't get to all of them. Anything I miss can be added to the list for the next visit.

I'd suggest packing along a few of the Guidebooks as I find they're good reference during trips. Given your location, you shouldn't have any trouble obtaining them before departure. If you have a free day, you could also take a drive up to Edmonds and pick them up there. That would also allow you to speak with the experts at ETBD.

You should have a great stay at Hotel Aberdeen. I was there a few months ago and enjoyed my time there. If you'll be travelling with a Laptop, they offer free Wi-Fi. They can recommend local restaurants within walking distance, but keep in mind that dining in Italy is "different" so you may want to do a bit of research on that.

You might want to obtain €50-100 before you leave, as that allows buying food or water when you arrive, as well as paying for Taxis or whatever. A backup ATM card (as well as at least one credit card) is a good idea, and your travel funds must usually be in a chequing account.

If you haven't already, have a look at the posts here regarding "chip & PIN" credit cards. That may be an issue especially in Paris if you plan on buying tickets from automated kiosks.

If you need information on things like getting to and form the airports in Rome and Paris or anything else, post another note.

Happy travels!

I like to go to the library and take out a huge variety of travel books on the places I go - much less expensive then buying them and you get various views on the places. Browse through them, return the ones you don't like, and if you really like an entire book buy it, otherwise just photocopy a few of the key pages. You are going to very different cities and would have to carry many guidebooks to cover them (unless you just take the Back Door one which is always good, as mentioned above).

You have a nice amount of time in each city and it's often nice to have a little list of things you'd like to do - we usually have a 'must' and 'want' list - very few things are 'musts' and the rest are just bonus if you get to them! In Paris I loved going up the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, but they are (of course!) touristy but sort of a once in a lifetime thing. I did it once and now each time I go back I don't feel the need to do it again. However, every single time I'm in Paris I need to sit in a little sidewalk cafe drinking their house wine, eating a cheese plate and just watching all the people! That, to me, is Paris!

I'm sure you'll have a great time, those are all fabulous cities with lots to see and do. Enjoy!!

I'll only comment on Munich and vicinity. I love the town. I've spent ~16 days there. If I were advising someone, spend several days in town. See everything (Frauenkirche, the Rathaus, Hofbräuhaus, the Residenz, maybe Deutsches Museum) around Marienplatz. Maybe go to Nymphenburg or Dachau. Walk the pedestrian zone to Karlsplatz. Also take the train for a day to Füssen and the castles. Make an overnight train trip to Rothenburg. I've already exceeded four nights and a wedding.

But I really like your itinerary. Plenty of time to spend in each place and get the feeling for the sights and life there. Not trying to pack too many places in just to say you were there.

Justice, I'm glad to see you're leaving lots of time in each of these cities, as there's a lot to do in each place. I would maybe have a couple "must sees" in each place, because when I don't do that, I tend to flail around a little and realize later I missed something. But plan time to walk around and "do nothing"!

Thanks for all the replies and help. I thought 4 to 5 days in each city was s good time, by the replies it is about right. It seems really simple and that I should of thought of it but I really like the idea about just making a list of stuff to do in each city and make sure I get them done. Then with extra time just walk and site see.

I think 5 days in Rome is too much. We stayed 3 nights and that was plenty. Rome is a bit seedy and overwhelmed by graffiti. Florence was much nicer, a very walkable and enjoyable city (a very nice change from Rome). We took the overnight from Florence to Munich, fun way to travel (although sleeping is tough).