24 days in Europe

makayla,

I just have a couple of comments at the moment.

Although I'm somewhat "older", I sometimes stay in Hostels. I tend to use the HI Hostels chain much of the time, as they have properties in many cities (sometimes several in larger cities). I've found the facilities to be fairly consistent from one property to the next, and they're well managed (not "party hostels"). Having an H.I. membership is sometimes required, and that also provides cheaper rates and preferred booking over non-members.

For staying in Hostels, you'll have to pack a few extra items....

• Towel (these usually aren't provided - the microfibre towels are small and easily packed).
• Soap / Shampoo
• Flip-Flops - if the washroom is down the hall, it's a good idea to have shoes to get back and forth from your room.
• Padlock - you'll need a smaller but good quality padlock for the Hostel lockers. Don't use the cheap TSA luggage locks!

There are also some excellent independent Hostels, such as the famous Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald. For travel in the summer, I'd suggest booking well in advance! For your stay in Rome, I'd recommend the Alessandro Palace, which is close to Termini station. Last time I was there, four bed dorm rooms were €35 per night, per person.

I'm not sure if your ages will be an issue, so will have to defer to the collective wisdom on the forum for an answer to that.

If your budget is really limited, you may want to skip Copenhagen on this trip as the Scandinavian countries tend to be more expensive.

A few other things you'll have to consider are Money Belts (there WILL be pickpockets about) and if you're taking any electronic gadgets you'll have pack Plug Adaptors as well as checking EACH device to determine whether it will operate on 220 VAC. I'm assuming you're travelling from North America?

I think you may be underestimating the size of Europe and the distances you're wanting to travel. Great European cities deserve more than a day or two that you'll have to allocate to see all these places.
It's also best if you tried to travel in a straight line instead of jumping around from region to region, and travel long distances by budget European airlines whenever possible.

Remember that you'll lose a day arriving and your last day is also wasted. Moving from city to city takes a whole city.
My suggestions are:
Paris--4 days EasyJet to Rome.

Rome--4 days Fast train to Florence
Florence--3 days Fast train to Venice
Venice--2 days Train to Munich
Munich--balance of your time
All of these cities are very fun, dynamic places and great for young bohemians.

10 major destinations in 24 days is too many, especially since some of these have significant travel time in between. While you might see some of Rick's tour suggestions spending two nights at many stops, those plans aim for more balance between small towns and large cities and they leave customers free to add independent stays in the bigger cities at each end of the route.

Rick’s Train Travel Time & cost Map gives you an overview of faster train travel times in hours between major cities. Rural areas can take more time, such as 12 hours by train from Hallstatt to Gimmelwald. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it to get these details. Nice is easy to cut, to skip over by air, as David suggested. Transportation is not free, so longer distances and more destinations can add to the cost of your trip. Even if you are happy with the price of a Eurail Global youth pass, I would not use it to move this quickly.

If you are already booked to return home from Copenhagen, it can be pretty cheap to fly there from any major city if you can plan ahead, but flight prices tend to be higher for last-minute booking; see www.skyscanner.com.

Agree with David's plan... you have WAY too much planned for 24 days (which is probably 22 with travel time there and back). Just see less places but stay longer, you will not regret doing that. You WILL regret whizzing through everything though... that's what I did on my first Italy trip and hated Italy. Went back, slowed down, and really loved Italy.

You will go back. And you are more motivated to go back sooner if you have had a good time.

Kim

Way too many places.. I did less then that in 3 months when young! See the thing is.. you meet people and party with them and you don't want to be up the next morning at 6 am to go on to next place.. so cool it.. even if you are not a party person.. you should allow at least 3-4 days in some of those cities.. the sites alone deserve it..

Also if on a budget all that moving costs money ... and yes.. skip Copenhagen.. its pricey up north.

You have just over 3 weeks. That's not very long to try and see all those places.. you might consider jumping on a big bus tour if all you want to do is check off boxes of "been there" .. because I don't think you are taking into consideration that travel itself takes time away from sightseeing.

Not counting your airfare, what is your budget per person per day? There's a big difference between an average of €100 and one of €50 per person per day. One may be possible in some locations and one not at all.

I recommend that you choose Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice to research, figure out what you each would like to see there, how much time it will take and how much it will cost, and then decide if you have the time and money to go anywhere else.

If you do, add Nice or Amsterdam, but not both, and sort out the order of the destinations to determine where to fly into and home from (called multi-city on most airline websites).

Then you can be more focused on where to stay for a price that works with your budget.

Everything you guys are saying makes so much sense it's just so difficult picking where we want to spend time. We want places where we can experience culture by day and where there is a good nightlife and where fun hostels are located. We are flying into Paris and out of Copenhagen. Where do you guys suggest we go of the places on our list. We don't have a daily budget we just don't want to go places where we have to spend a ton of money to do everything.

It is very hard to decide, but at your young ages, you will have a lifetime for return trips. Knowing that you are flying into Paris and back home from Copenhagen, is a help. I hate to have to say it, but sticking to the north might be the best thing for you. Paris (and nearby), Belgium (Brussels, Bruges or Ghent), Amsterdam (and nearby) and Copenhagen (and nearby) can easily use up the little time you have. All these places are full of fun things to see and do, including nightlife.

Most are not free, but you may be able to get discounted fees due to your ages or with a student card in some places. Hopefully someone can speak to the legal drinking age for whatever countries you decide to visit.

Everyplace is likely to be expensive in your eyes, but staying in the same general area will save lots of money that would be spent on transportation along. Without knowing what a "ton" of money means to you, or what interests you have, it's still hard to make more specific suggestions.

One note, the currency in Denmark is the Danish Krone (DKK), not the Euro (EUR or € ), so if you spend any time there, you will be paying in DKK not EUR. In any case, you probably should start to think of costs in those currencies rather than in USD ($) and about what your limits might be when you get money from an ATM.

One way to save money in Europe is Couchsurfing. There's nothing better than staying with a local person and even better, it's free!
Even though you are flying into Paris and out of Copenhagen, you could take a flight down to see Rome/Florence/Venice. Flights within Europe are incredibly cheap if you just have carry-on luggage. I would shelve the more "remote" places for now...Vienna, Hallstatt, Gimmelwald, Nice...and save them for another trip when you have more time.
My suggested itinerary would be...
Day 1 - 5 Paris
Day 5 - Fly to Rome
Day 5 - 8 Rome
Day 9 - Train to Florence
Day 9 - 12 Florence
Day 12 - Train to Venice
Day 12 - 15 Venice
Day 16 - Fly to Amsterdam
Day 16 - 20 Amsterdam
Day 21 - Fly to Copenhagen (or train but it's an 11 hour train ride)
Day 21 - 24 Copenhagen (there isn't really that much to do in Copenhagen so two full days will be plenty!)
Take the trains as early in the morning as you can so that you don't eat up daylight traveling.
Even with cutting out some of the places in your original list, this is still a whirlwind trip. Look at it as an overview though - once you have gone to Europe it's hard to stay away. I went for the first time when I was 17 and have been back at least 20 times since then. You'll be back!

Anita, I love your suggested itinerary except my friend and I really want to spend at least a couple of days in Switzerland. Is it at all practical to go from Venice to Switzerland? And if we added say 3 days in Switzerland where do you suggest we take time from? I was thinking maybe spend only one day in Copenhagen and maybe one less in Amsterdam?

It's a 4 hour train ride from Paris to Zurich, Switzerland and from there it's about 3 hours more to Gimmelwald. I don't know where I'd take extra time from though! You've already packed so much in. Copenhagen would be my 1st pick and then after that I would probably choose Amsterdam, although I think that you'll really like that city and not want to leave too soon.
Can you add 4 more days to your itinerary by changing one of your flights? There will be a fee but it may be worth it.