5 month long belated gap year trip

I agree with other posters re: timing of visits to certain areas, should be north in summer, south in autumn. Not sure why you planned alpine countries in November unless you're planning on skiing. On the whole, a very ambitious plan and should be amazing! Have fun planning your trip, a well planned trip can be very rewarding.

Fly open jaw. Book you return flight elsewhere so you won't have to back track to London. I'll let others comment on the itinerary. Lots of train travel involved.

I suggest you switch your August Nd November countries. There is no point going to the Alps and lakes in Switzerland and Austria when it is cold and gray. And Spain and Italy are very hot and crowded in August.

The plan for August looks too busy to me. You have 8 destinations in Italy. With an average of 2.5 days sightseeing and .5 day travel each, that's 24 days. I think Paris needs at least 5 days (including Versailles). I agree that you should plan less for a "geographical" straight-line route and more for good weather. . . northern and mountain regions in the summer and southern regions from mid-October through November. But you should plan with a good map in front of you. For instance, Vienna is on the train route between Prague and Budapest. Salzberg is near Munich. If you are planning to stay in hostel dorm rooms, you can probably wing it. If you are looking for hotel rooms - especially for singles - you need to book as far in advance as possible. There aren't very many. You can check out the hostels at hostelworld.com, to learn where they are located and which are more recommended in each destination.

Hi, You're going to be in Central Europe through out October. Some pretty good independent hostels are in Prague, Budapest, Berlin, and Munich. You'll find they have laundry facilities. Also, it will normally start to get cold by mid-October or so in Berlin. Good intinerary.

I think July and August are way too busy too many destinations for the time involved. You have not factored in the time it takes to get from place to place. I don't think you've allowed enough time to enjoy the places you are visiting. The schedule for Septemer to November seems more relaxed, although I too would suggest giving more thought to what the weather will be like each month. Have you done a trip like this before? Some people like to be constantly moving, but most people get exhausted by that much moving around. If you are the former, this many destinations may make an enjoyable trip for you, but all the transportation will add to the expense.

Changed my schedule based on input mostly about weather for certain areas....This is a heavy schedule...most likely will settle more in one area per country and travel where I can if time allows. Input appreciated.... July 11-31 UK- London, Bath, Cotswolds, York, Edinburgh,Stratford, Warwick, Blenheim,North Wales, Wells/Glastonbury/Avebury Aug 1-31-Hungary-Budapest-Austria-Vienna, Salzburg, and Innsbrook-Switzerland, Lucerne, Interlaken, Bern September1-30-Ireland-Dublin, Kilkenny and Belfast October 1-31-France-Paris, Versailes, Normandy, Lorire Italy-Milan, Venice, Florence, Cirque Terre,Siena, Sorrento, Rome, Tuscany November 1-28--Netherlands-Amsterdam Germany-Munich, Black Forest, Bavaria, Berlin
Czech Rep-Praque Thanks for advice on travel....hostels...apartments...etc...

To me you still have some unnecessary city hopping which will raise your costs and waste some time. The most recent itinerary has from Bern to Ireland, then back to France. It's quite inexpensive to get a flight from Ireland to London, you should link those to areas more closely. Also you then backtrack to Prague after heading from Vienna to Salzburg earlier. There could be some refinement in your schedule which will save you time and money. Lastly, while I agree you should hit the most northern points during summer, the Olympics are end of July-early August. Prices there are crazy expensive then (we'd looked at going over for a bit).

Hi, As far as hostel accomodations go, in the area of Vienna's West Train Station (Wien Westbahnhof) three hostels are within walking distance from the the station and from each other. One I know (of course, since I stay there) has laundry facilities. You can expect both Vienna and Budapest to be hot, sometimes stifling hot in August, Vienna a bit less so than Budapest in terms of the heat.

I personally would not play it that tight on the 90 days for Schengen. I would plan on 88 or 89. There was a posting here last year from a father who's daughter was fined 500E for overstaying one day. She thought she could stay 3 months and didn't count the 31 day months. Since you are ducking in and out, you need to keep some min documentation to prove when you were out of the Schengen zone. Hotel or travel receipts should do it.