Dear all, I need some advice and planning on Europe Trip. As my partner and i will be backpacking around Europe for 19 days (19th May-7th June). I'll need advises from you all how should i be planning my trip. Our starting point will be at Switzerland and we are planning to explore the following country - Italy, France, UK, Germany. We are still thinking how many days shall we place in each place etc.. im in the midst of still doing all reading... Help and Inputs much appreciation and thanks to all.. If you have itinerary to share would gladly love to accept :) Warmest Regards,
Michelle
Posted by
2081 posts
Hi, it appears that the countries you want to see are nested togeather which is a plus. this is what i do. > buy some travel book on countries i want to see. > use google and do the same to get more uptodate details. > determine how many days i will be staying in each city/town to see what i want. comment. i try to travel to adjacent countries to minimize travel time. i try to keep it to < 1 day travel so i can arrive and do some sightseeing also on my arrival day.
> plot them out on a map afa cities. > start whittling down the to do list since usually i want to see more than time allowed. > look at travel paths, time and costs. > look at places to stay, costs and avalibility. reiteritate if necessary until i can meet my cost time and to do list. fwiw, i would get RS travel thru the back door book. it give some good travel hints. another comment. you dont have alot of time left to do alot of "thinking". so you may want to make some quick decisions and do anohter trip next year. imo, you can spend 1+ weeks in Italy and 1+ weeks in France and still not see alot, so think about that too. happy trails.
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
Keep in mind Monday, May 20th is a public holiday in all the countries on your list - same goes for Thursday, May 30th. Because they are either a Monday or a Thursday (before a long weekend) trains are likely to be packed on those days. Museums, on the other hand, might be closed. So you might want to schedule those two days to be "outdoors" days...
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8141 posts
You may really be taking on 1 country too much for a 19 day itinerary. London, Paris, Munich, Venice, Florence and Rome are all great European "must see" cities, and worthy of 4-5 days each. You essentially have two 2 week trips in your itinerary. Remember that you lose a day arriving and departing. And every move takes up a day. My preferred itinerary would be to fly into Paris for a long weekend, take train to Munich for 3 nights, train to Salzburg 2 nights, train thru Austria/Brenner Pass down to Venice 3 nights, train to Florence 4 nights, train to Rome for balance of time and fly home from Rome FCO airport.
Next trip, you can catch London and return to the City of Lights, (Paris.)