3 Month Career Break- First Time Travelers

Welcome to European travel.

I'll only address your destination choices in France and Italy.
Most people who go to France for the first time visit Paris. A second destination for travelers would often include the Provence region. Neither of these is on your itinerary.
Most people who go to Italy for the first time visit Rome and Florence (which are on your itinerary) and also Venice (which is not on your itinerary).
8 days in Florence might be overkill. If your plan is to see the Tuscan hill country, then 8 days for both Florence and the Tuscan hill country might make sense.
Most people, reporting in here, see the Tuscan hill country in one of two ways:
1) first seeing Florence and surrounding areas (Siena) that can be reached by train; and then renting a car to have more flexibility while visiting the Tuscan hill country.
or
2) seeing the Tuscan hill country by tours leaving from Florence

I hope it's understood that 'm not suggesting that you have to visit the places other travelers visit. But I just thought I'd point these out.

A potentially important detail: Americans are limited to 90 days in what is called the "Schengen zone", which is about 25 countries in Europe. This is not 90 days per country, it's 90 days total for all countries in the zone and the 90 days starts running on the first day of entry into any Schengen zone country. You will want to further research this issue, if you think it might apply to your situation, because the penalties can be significant.

It has been our experience that it costs us $150-$200 per person per day to travel in Europe, not counting airfare. But I count just about everything else that some people don't need to, like having the mail held over the 30 day limit (special procedures and costs for that) and boarding the dog and long-term parking, and more.

We do tend to prefer renting apartments and that does save on costs usually. I must admit that I prefer renting through VRBO/Homeaway or from owners I have identified through them or similar organizations. We rented our first place through AirBnB in Athens in October and I was pretty disappointed in the upkeep of the place. A place we rented through VRBO in Bruges also had upkeep issues and some expectations which were never mentioned in the listing or our correspondence with the owner.

This can happen with any kind of lodging, but with an apartment it can be a bigger bummer than with a hotel room or B&B. So be very careful to read all the details and reviews and keep copies of any correspondence between you and the owner.

Finally, at least for now, remember that you will arrive in Europe a day later than the day you leave and your last day will be getting back home. So you effectively lose 2 days from your trip. Also keep in mind that 2 nights in a place means one day, so start thinking in terms of nights, not days. 14 nights each in Budapest and Amsterdam? No nights in Paris? But I digress...

You have lots of time (maybe too much in some cases) in your planned locations, but each time you change locations you will lose a day to checking out, checking in and travel, so keep that in mind as you work on your itinerary. BTW, I counted 10 locations on your list so far.

I would say get some guide books and plan your trip loosely since you have three months. Go where you want to go, not where everyone else goes. Some of your city stays seem a little long, but that will give you a more in-depth feeling for the place than most people get. Be flexible, if you don't care for a place move on maybe to a smaller city or town. Make this trip your own.

Keep an eye on the 90 day Schengen clock.

Without a visa, as US citizens traveling on US passports you are permitted 90 days - including the day of arrival and the day of departure - in the Schengen area. 90 days can be similar to 3 months but it is not exactly the same.

Penalties can be severe if you overstay.

I like your plan of staying eight days in some places in Italy, but I would cut it to seven and squeeze in Venice.

Also, think in terms of nights, not days. One night is one night, but a day somewhere can end up being just a couple of hours if it's a big travel day. Plan on 88 nights maximum to stay within Schengen requirements.

In Croatia, I would make some time for Dubrovnik and some coastal areas. From Amsterdam (maybe cut two nights) it's easy to get to Belgium, beautiful cities and great food.

Once you narrow down cities, we can make hotel and restaurant suggestions.

What a great trip! My comment is only on the budget. I think you will be able to get cheaper airfare. But always nice to over budget and have extra! For food/attraction, that is $68 per day for the both of you. Even with cooking at home, I think this will really limit your "paid" activities. But it sounds like you know that and are prepared for it. Perhaps a local or someone more experienced than I at longer trips can chime in. But when I have purchased groceries in big cities in Europe, it seems expensive. But maybe I was at the wrong place!

Will let others chime in on your itinerary although I agree that 8 days in Florence is overkill, 3 days at most. Venice should be included on the trip. Nowhere in the world is like Venice. Be sure to fly open jaw, into one city and out of the other so you are not spending time and money back tracking. Pack as light as possible because if you intend to use the cheap air carriers they are restrictive on luggage weight. Investigate fully. In some areas consider bus transport. I'm a big fan of AirBnB but I do my home work and make certain that communication with the property owner is prompt and that all my questions are answered (how close is public transport, closest ATM, market, etc) before I commit to renting. Minimum of 10 positive reviews. Consider hostels and convents to keep your lodging costs down. While in Italy be certain to enjoy Cicchetti. Will help the food budget as will picnicking.
Lastly, mentally factor in flexibility. Weather, rail strikes, common cold, etc.. Don't forget to take a small roll of gaffer's tape, washcloths, twist ties, ziplock bags, a coin purse, SmartWool socks, Neosporin, and copies of prescriptions if you take any medication. Dress in layers. 3 month trip?!? Fabulous!!!

As mentioned above, 8 days in Florence seems a bit too much. And as Zoe pointed out, you have nothing for Venice. I would scrap Frankfurt and go to Venice. If you must do F'furt, snitch days from other places and spend at least 4-5 days in Venice and that area.

Frankfurt is an excellent hub for day trips though, which is why I think kbw chose it. The Rhine, many quaint German towns like Limburg, Marburg, Büdingen, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Eltville, and Idstein are all with-in an hour train trip. A tiny bit farther, they can go to Würzburg, Heidelberg, or Worms. The only problem may be the IAA car show. From 14-27 Sept. it will be impossible to get a hotel room in Frankfurt or any of the surrounding towns.

Since the weather is a factor, it is best to start up north and work your way south. Begin in Amsterdam, go to Frankfurt, then France, on to Spain, Portugal, etc. It is a bit zig-zaggy right now the way it is listed.

Ms. Jo, Having lived several years in Aschaffenburg and Wurzburg, I will say you are absolutely right. F'furt is great as a base for day trips. Still, if had I to choose only one, it would be Venice.

Like others have said, I would start by buying or going to the library and look at guide books. Look at Europe Through the Backdoor(Kindle version is only 13.99 on Amazon).

Also look at a map of Europe and plan your journey so that you can keep back tracking to a minimum. I do this to also help with deciding where to fly into and out of, otherwise known as flying Open Jaw.

Also look at the DB Bahn website, it is excellent for looking at train schedules in Europe(www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en).

I also use Google Earth to look at areas I'm interested in going. I feel it helps give me a little better lay of the land.

Also one thing to think about is starting your trip up north and head south. Lets face it Amsterdam is nicer weather wise in August than in November and the same can be said for Rome being nicer weather wise in November than in August.

I've only been to about 1/2 of your destinations. I love Italy and in the past couple of years, I've "discovered" Spain, and love it as much, or even more, than Italy. An added bonus is that Spain is one of the cheapest destinations in Europe. I'd head to Barcelona for a week - lots to see and good day trips too. I'd also try to spend a few days in Andalusia - Seville, Cordoba, Toledo. I was least enamoured of Madrid - not much there (except the great art museums and the palace) when you compare with other parts of Spain. Friends just came back from almost 2 weeks in Portugal. They weren't thrilled with Lisbon (dirty, poorly kept up) but liked Porto very much.

I just spent 6 days in Italy and 18 in Spain. I tend to be frugal and don't eat out a lot generally. But in Italy and Spain the food was sooo good and the wines too. . . . I spent about €400 on transportation (6 trains between cities, the rest on local buses, trams, etc.). I spent another €650 on food and drink (incl. 2 splurges, stayed in places that did not provide breakfast), and €260 for sights. So I'm not so sure that your budget is adequate. Kristen did the math. $34/day per person is pretty low even if you mostly eat from the supermarket. Prepared foods cost more, and part of the fun of going to new places is the food. I am often surprised at how expensive food is in Europe, even in the markets. Another is parking at a cafe and enjoying the view and people-watching. Whatever you order (wine, beer, water) will cost you about the same and it won't be cheap - in essence you're paying "rent" for the table. Public transportation is not cheap in most places and you can't walk everywhere. I wonder what you will do for 14 days in Budapest or Amsterdam without day trips. You are going to have to buy supplies too and they are generally more expensive than in the U.S.

Back again and agreeing with what most are saying. Besides the excellent DB Bahn, use Rome2rio to see the different ways of getting from place to place and some price estimates. Remember they are estimates only until you can put in some specific dates for specific options with the transport of choice. As with DB Bahn, Rome2rio has maps that give a good idea of the routes.

As as example, I did Madrid to Lisbon and these are the results. Flying time is 1/2 the train/bus option travel time, but the train/bus looks like it would be much more fun and more interesting. In either case, that travel day will be full.

Keep in mind that you can use Rome2rio for directions to get from one place to another in towns, too. Then it will include walking as an option. This is an example of getting from the Plaza Mayor to the Prado which includes a walking option.

Edit: You need to start thinking in Euros, so I recommend that you go to the top right of the Rome2rio page and click on the $US to change the currency to Euros.

I'm not worried about your budget - it seems generous and will allow you to be flexible.

Each country has much to offer beyond the big cities and you have time to see more than you listed. For instance, when you say 14 days in Budapest, will you do roundtrips from that home base to other towns? Or move on to sleep in a smaller town with a different atmosphere? I tend to think that the more you research the more you will want to include.

The Eurail Global pass has a version that covers 3 continuous months of train travel at $1500 per person and would cover side trips outside of town as well as the longer legs. But if you plan to spend a week at each spot, then you would get better value out of a flexi pass to cover just your 10 or 15 longest train travel days within a 2-month window (about $636 or $833 per person, respectively, for 1st class). Most of your international connections will be relatively long, expensive train rides, unless you choose to fly (www.skyscanner.com). Trains across France are the most important to reserve ahead, with limited seats available to rail pass travelers. See additional links on that page about how passes work.

I am in Spain now. I was here last year for 2 months, and I LOVE Spain! I would say though, that 8 days in Madrid may be too much, 4-5 days is plenty to take it all in, then go to Toledo - you can do that in 1 day, allow 3 days for Cordoba, and 3 days in Seville. I think 3-5 days in Barcelona is enough.

They almost didn't let me board the plane in the US until they could see that I had reservation for onward travel 90 days from arrival. They do check VERY CAREFULLY! You HAVE to have proof of onward travel 90 days after arrival into the Schengen zone. Check to see which countries you are visiting that Schengen applies. Go to Non-Schengen countries first, then your clock doesn't start until you enter the zone.

I was very disappointed in Airbnb in Spain and I wouldn't do it again. I also learned that airbnb, unlike ALL other websites, charges you a fee even if you cancel a reservation within the allotted time. I cancelled a reservation 2 days before arrival in Florida and was charged $7.00!! what a ripoff!!! Never again will I use airbnb. Hostals and Hotels in Spain are often cheaper than Airbnb. People on Airbnb have an overated opinion of their house and what it is worth. I would rather have a clean room, clean sheets and my own bathroom in the center of the tourist area for the same price.

I like to have freedom in my travel plans. Stay longer if I like a place, move on if I have seen enough. I have now been traveling for 1 1/2 years. I tend to plan a few weeks in advance, sometimes only a week. If you are traveling during peak season though you may need to plan more carefully.

You may have bit off an awful lot with your travel plans. Why not narrow it down, spend more time and enjoy your time instead of rushing from country to country. You will be back. You don't have to do it all at once. Your time frame looks good though. Weather should be good in the regions and time you mentioned, also those are all low travel seasons.

(oh, keep in mind a lot of places do not have "lifts" - elevators, and there may be lots of stairs in rail stations so be prepared to haul your luggage yourself. )

Enjoy the trip!

Great plans, and I congratulate you for taking this step. I will point out the problems that I see with my very limited experience as a traveler (I barely travel a few weeks per year and I've only been to 30 countries or so). I was born and raised in Europe and I visited most of the locations you listed. Three years ago I spent three months in Europe as part of my 15 month round the world tour with my family. For the 5 of us I doubt that I spent your amount (and the dollar was much weaker) it's a super generous budget, but depending on your age and style it might be what you need. I could see a young couple adding a couple more thousands and taking a year long round the world trip.
You manage to exclude the best cities in Europe: Budapest is OK but it's nothing compared to Prague. Vienna is undoubtedly the best city in the world (check it out - it is), I liked it better than Melbourne. Berlin the most vibrant city of Europe and the cheapest, nothing compares to it. Barcelona it's different, I considered it the most charming, not to conflict with Paris the most romantic and you can't see Madrid and not Barcelona. Last but not least, Rick has a good point telling everybody that the first stop in Europe should be London. And whatever someone's interest or style, if they would only see one place in their life, it has to be Paris.
Transportation wise: get the EasyJet app on your iPhone and play with it for a little. You'd find that it is much more convenient and cheaper to fly from London to Crete than travel from Split to Corfu (by the way there are much better islands in Greece than Corfu). Take only one piece of carryon (I used Rick's!) and you can zigzag all over. Check the schedules for special events or festivals (Edinburgh in August, Octoberfest in Munich) and you could jump from one place to another. I would suggest that you catch a few of the high profile destinations and then take a week off on some Greek Island or Croatian beach. We did go London-Vienna-Prague-Berlin-Barcelona in three weeks and then spent a week in Mykonos to recharge. Traveling long term you'll find your style and you'll be surprised by the change of pace, you'll become more selective and you might find that it's enough to spend just a couple of days in some city where you initially thought you need a week or more.
As far as accommodation, I think Airbnb is great for a family, but when I travel alone with my wife without the kids we want a hotel and enjoy eating out or buying stuff for a picnic. Airbnb is great for a week or a month somewhere but I wouldn't bother with it for a night or two - I preferred to pay $100 for some hotel for a night in Milan or $200 in Venice. (And yes you cannot miss Venice, it's 3 hours from Florence).
For one suggestion with the 90 day limit, you could get out of there by visiting Istanbul. Check it out, I think you cannot get back in the Schengen zone for some time and you really want to get out before the 90th.
Again congratulation for your plans, but please unless you have some special reasons (like grandma born in Hungary) please reconsider your locations. With the exception of Rome and Florence, all the other destinations could wait for your fifth career break :-)
And just to make things a bit more complicated you should have some flexibility and leave room for a change of mind, you'll get to some place you won't want to leave...
Good luck, Mihai

I'll just address 4 points on your itinerary to which I think you've allotted too much time: Amsterdam, Split, Lisbon, and Biarritz. There are many interesting places within an hour or so of Amsterdam; but not, imo, enough to warrant a 2 week stay. Sights in Croatia are a bit spread out. If you want to spend 8 days there, you might consider 2 different bases, rather than trying to do everything from one. Much as I love the French Basque country, I think a week in Biarritz is too much. I'd trim off at least a couple of days. Portugal is small, but you can't see all of it from Lisbon. Again, if you want to retain the 11 days there, I think you should choose a second base and split the time.
My suggestion is that you check out some guidebooks from your local library (doesn't matter if they're a few years out of date), and try to pinpoint what you actually want to do in each locale. That will give you a better handle on how to allot your time. Tripadvisor has, as well, sections called "attractions," that you can click on, to figure out what you want to do in each place. Also, go to some of the train and bus sites to find out how long it takes to get from place to place. For me, a 3 or 4 hour distance is too long for a day trip. These are also useful for determining whether places that appear to be close to each other are actually easily accessible.
I'm not sure if anyone else clarified the Schengen point on consecutive days. The 90 limit isn't consecutive days. It's any 90 out of 180.

I hate to pile on here, but I too am questioning your choice of stops and also the amount of time allotted to each place.

Maybe I missed it, but are you starting this trip this August? If so, be aware that many places in Europe are their most crowded then. Many Europeans take their vacations in August. Plus, it can be very hot.

I'm wondering if you are planning to rent apartments, and if that has driven your choice of places to stay and length of time in each spot. If so, I would caution that locking yourself into an apartment rental (i.e. 8 days in Split) could be a decision you will come to regret. Split is a very large city with a very small tourist appeal. We were there 2 nights, staying in Diocletian's Palace, and that was plenty.

If your strategy is to rent apartments to save money, I think you can find equivalently inexpensive b&b's, many of which will give you breakfast, saving the cost of a meal and adding (at least for me) to the enjoyment of the trip. Some people love apartments, but I always miss the interaction with the hotel staff and fellow guests. And if you book hotels that allow cancellation a few days in advance, you have some flexibility to change your trip as you go along. Pick your hotels carefully. Don't choose any that require an advance deposit. Check out booking.com ... many (not all) of their hotels allow you to cancel from 24 to 48 hours in advance. Some hotels offer rooms with cooking facilities, too.

Or are you trying to minimize the number of location changes? It's true that you don't want to be changing cities every two or three days. But there's often something to be gained by actually staying overnight, rather than just day-tripping in. Some places (like Venice) are at their best in the early morning and in the evening.

Someone mentioned rearranging your travel to go from north (Amsterdam) to south, to minimize the heat factor. I think that's wise.

Some of my comments on your choices:

I too think 14 days for your first trip to Budapest is too many.

Corfu is going to be very hot in August and jam-packed with tourists. I have not been to Corfu but my research would not put it at the top of my list for Greek islands (and I've visited 18). Santorini is really a must-see. You might have read that it is very expensive, but you can find reasonably priced lodging there. I would NOT go to Santorini in August though. Early-mid September is a great time for Greek islands. After a few days in Santorini, you could spend a few nights on a nearby budget-friendly island (Naxos or Milos) and then ferry back to Athens for a few days.

As I said, Split would not be my choice of places to spend extended time in Croatia. If you like hiking and beautiful scenery, a night at Plitvice National Park is recommended. Dubrovnik is very scenic. From there, you can take day trips to Montenegro or Bosnia, or small islands around Dubrovnik. And then you could have the adventure of a ferry to Bari, Italy for the Italian part of your trip.

With 16 days in Italy, you could see Rome, Florence, Venice, and either the Amalfi Coast (Pompeii?) or the Cinque Terre.

In Germany, there are some lovely little villages along the Rhine (St. Goar, Bacharach, Boppard) where you could spend a few days and take a Rhine river cruise day-trip.

Amsterdam is wonderful but I think a week would be plenty. You might also enjoy Bruges, in Belgium. Or maybe a few days along the Atlantic coast of Belgium. Try to vary your trip, with museums & history in a big city, followed by a few days hiking in the countryside or relaxing at a beach.

I've not been to Biarritz but agree with the others that you must see Paris. I have also not seen Madrid or Lisbon, but 20 days between the two seems a bit excessive.

I think we all are pulling for you to have a wonderful, memorable trip and welcome specific questions on various stops as your planning is solidified.

"The Schengen agreement, I've been reading up on this and i guess i'm only confused on if its a consecutive 90 days within the zones, or for instance, if we go to Croatia on the second part of our trip, will our 90 day time start over once we reenter Schengen Zone? "

No, your 90 days do not start over. It's 90 days in any 180 days, and it's "rolling"; there is no way to reset the clock.

So, on any given day in the Schengen Zone, if you have been in the zone for more than 90 days of the past 180 days, you are in violation of the rules.

If you haven't booked your tickets yet, you might check out Norwegian Air. Go to their website and look at the "Cheap flights with Low Fare Calendar" in the middle of the home page.

If you live near (or can easily get to) any Norwegian Air gateway cities in the US (LAX, SFO, JFK, Orlando or Miami in Florida), you can get some pretty cheap flights ... i.e. around 400 euros per person from JFK to Amsterdam in August. You might play with their calendar a little and see if anything works.

It's usually best to book open-jaw flights ... flying into one city, out of another... to avoid backtracking. However, in this case, you might need to take a low-cost airline from your final destination back to Copenhagen or one of Norwegian Air's main hubs, and fly home from there.

There will likely be additional charges (for luggage, possibly food). So check it carefully.

As part of your trip preparations we highly recommend a discussion of establishing some need for personal space boundaries. Keep in mind you are embarking on travel where eutopia is sharing so many experiences and dante is recognizing you are spending too much time together. So go ahead and plan on it being "ok" for taking a private walk, taking in a museum alone, sitting alone in the room or what ever form provides some mental, emotional and physical personal space relief. Also consider the benefit of sleeping in late and taking your own break from the journey and rewarding yourself with some down time from the hectic travel pace. Finally, "glitches" will occur and how you choose to respond will either mar or enhance the journey. Laughter is our typical trained response to the moments where we want to pull out our hair and we find it does help us move on towards determining solutions.
And now tidbit of an old song which we have adopted as our travel mantra.....
"Slow down you move too fast, you got to learn to how to make the moment last...."
Feelin Groovy!

Seems like you plan on spending a great majority of time in major cities. Several stretches in small countside towns can be very relaxing. On our last three trips to Europe, my husband and I spend 2-3 nights in big cities, and the rest of the two weeks in small towns. During one of our trips to Italy, we rented a farmhouse with a pool just outside of Cortona for a week. It was near a train station, so we took the train to Florence twice, had a rental car and visited Sienna, Montalpulciano, and the Chianti region. Cortona was a good town for a home base to experience Tuscany and Florence.

if its a consecutive 90 days within the zones, or for instance, if we go to Croatia on the second part of our trip, will our 90 day time start over once we reenter Schengen Zone?

Harold covered it pretty well. There is never a reset. Every time you enter the Schengen Zone you start a new 180 day cycle. So if you are ducking in and out of the Schengen Zone you could have a bunch of 180 days cycles running. The easiest way to determine your 90 day stay is to look back. For example, total is April 8th. Looking back 180 takes me to Oct 21st (i think -quick count). If I have been in the Schengen Zone 90 days, any combination, since Oct 21st, I am done. Same thing this weekend. April 11th. If it is 90 days since Oct 24th. Time to go. It is really not complication though we often try to make is sound complicated. I am sure there is an app somewhere to cover this.