6 weeks in Europe - Itinerary Thoughts?

Not bad, but for sure, try to increase your time in some places by eliminating others.

Cut Ireland, for one thing you need at least a week to 10 days to do Ireland right. Three days is not enough, especially since it requires a flight from Nice.

Consider eliminating Genoa and Nice and plan an open jaw flying into London and out of Venice. You are missing some great places like Salzburg, Austria and need more time in Vienna.

mfm13,
Looks good to me. Travel days (#5, 9, 13, 16, 19, 23, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38) can give you a good half day in your arrival city, depending on your mode of travel and distances, or no time there, but you have given yourself a decent amount of time in each place. I don't know Zagreb, so your one day there is maybe too short? Someone else here could tell you if it is doable. Everyone has their preferences, and some will say you aren't spending enough time in a certain place, but for a comprehensive trip, I think you have done well.
Ireland seems to be an outlier though, but you may have a special reason to go there. It's will require a flight to make it worth your time. With just 3 days (4 nights there) I would choose Dublin.
Eurail passes have fallen out of favor recently, and having only taken a train point to point, I can't advise you, but there are some aggravating limitations on them, from what I have read on this forum. Research needed here!
Have fun planning and executing your trip. Sounds great!
Bon voyage!

Looks like a fantastic outline! Keep us abreast as you round it out.

Looks like you have room to add-- maybe add Spain: Seville, Madrid or Barcelona! Ah choices!

Okay, personally I'd trade Krakow for Ljubljana, Rome or Florence for Genoa-- but you must have your reasons so, yeah never mind!

Have a great trip!

As others have said, you must have specific reasons for choosing this sampler of Europe. I agree about Ireland. I love, love, love Ireland, but unless funds are plentiful, and there's an important reason to include, I would not spend $ to go to Ireland for 4 days which would be shortened by travel time. I long for is not Dublin, although perhaps if I was younger, it would have more appeal. (I did enjoy Dublin, but it's just not what is held close to my heart.) If it's a must see for you, maybe make some adjustments (delitions) so you can have time for some day trips out of Dublin.

This gives a varied taste of countries.

I did a very similar trip last year but started in Berlin. Have you checked prices from London to Amsterdam? Not cheap from what I could find. I would probably skip it and just start in Amsterdam. I'd also skip Ireland and add Krakow instead, it was one of my favorite cities.

Zagreb can be done in a day but research what you want to see. They had a major earthquake a few years ago and a lot of things were closed when I was there last year. It looks like their cathedral is still closed and has scaffolding around it.

Prague, Vienna, Budapest time is what I would enjoy and think a good first time visit if you dont have any particupar driving force or desire. Also look at Prague to Budapest by air, then train to Vienna. Less travel time and Vienna may have better connections to Zagreb.

I do not know how others could judge on selection of destinations without knowing any interests or why you want to visit these destinations.

Same with number of days - maybe there is a good reason for same number of days in Berlin and Nice but hard to know without any information.

You leave out Scandinavia completely. Reasons?

Personally I am not a fan of travelling into countries such as Hungary as long as their politicians support Russia's war against Ukraine.

Agree with suggestions to skip Ireland. It is so different from the other locations that it deserves a trip of it's own. Perhaps take two of those four days and add them to Venice. Venice, in my opinion, needs more than you have alloted to do it justice.

Big ole global planning pro-am tip: plan by nights (where you will sleep), not days.

Won't list the couple of reasons why, but just trust me - keeps your head straighter and minimizes planning goofs.

If you’re in Zagreb, you’re relatively close to a wonderous sight in Croatia - Plitvice Lakes National Park. The setting, with the unusual blueish green color of the clear water lakes and streams is stunning, and rare on Earth. Paths and wooden walkways make it easy to see. It’s a must-do if you’re that close.

We stayed overnight in a nearby sobe, a Croatian lodging that wasn’t a hostel or hotel, but very affordable. We had a rental car to get around Slovenia and Croatia, but I don’t know if that’s anything that you’d consider.

mfm13, I will give you two thumbs up for your pacing, provided that each of your "days" means nights in a particular city. Some travellers have a nasty habit of counting the day they leave one city and the same day they arrive in another city as two days. I do not think (or at least I hope) that you are not one of them.

Every city that you picked is interesting on their own and is a matter of personal preference. Resist the urge to make substitutions or especially additions based on other people's opinions. Your itinerary is packed as it is. Adding a city or two in the same number of days would really alter your pacing and could easily tip your well paced vacation to a very rushed one.

I usually prefer an open jaw itinerary and avoid doubling back when ever possible. Could you fly into Ireland or move Ireland between London and Amsterdam and fly home out of Nice? Of course, this may depend on where you live and what outbound or inbound flights are available to you from your home. If you are flying in and out of London (which I did in my first European vacation in 1983), your big loop itinerary makes some sense. There is no shortage of cheap flights between Nice and Ireland and between Ireland and London.

Good luck

I will share a different view than all but Hank have offered.

Eleven countries and twelve destinations. That’s nearly two countries each week. My head would be spinning, but we all have different approaches to travel.

Last year, we spent four weeks in France. We had about seven destinations from the southwest of France to the Loire and we finally approached and reached Paris.

We are now spending 30 days in southern Italy. Just Sicily, Puglia, Basilicata and Campania.

You may want to consider whether less is more.

Mfm13, go enjoy your trip

Hi there, I'm going to assume this is a multi-leg trip, into LHR and out of Ireland. It would be a good exercise to amend this thread to include travel days so we could review the timing. For example -

Day 1 London - is this your international arrival day? In which case, you will likely be exhausted and not get far.
Day 2 London
3 London
4 London - departing London by air to Amsterdam? In which case you have only 2.5 days in London, max, if you see what I'm getting at.

Day 5 Amsterdam
6 Amsterdam
7 Amsterdam
8 Amsterdam - departing?

Then I would take a look at basic travel times on Google, add in a few hours on each side for packing up, public transport, blah blah. Basically most of us plan on 1/2 a day between destinations. Others swear they can zip in and out and have a great trip. Why only large cities, is that your thing? Just like to walk around and then go onto the next one? For example, the Netherlands is delightfully easy to get around, Delft & Leiden are so easy to get to & offer cheaper accommodations and a less hectic atmosphere.

Am I cramming too much in a short amount of time?

YES. Personally, I would never recommend this itinerary or try to hit so many places in different countries because it becomes about the hassle of travel versus the joys of being there.

PS, This student who spent a semester abroad wrote a series of TR's about several of the places you plan to visit, might give you some ideas about hostels, where to eat, etc. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-4-5-days-in-amsterdam-utrecht-zaanse-schans-and-haarlem

I think it looks like a fun trip! I am in the minority in that I think keeping Ireland is great as long as you understand you will most likely be only in Dublin (and environs of which there is so much to see/do) or, perhaps, Galway (again, lots to do within the greater area.) There are cheap flights from Nice to Dublin and the flight is only about 2 hrs. Personally I think Genoa is just Meh and would skip it entirely unless you have something pressing that you want to see or do there and then add those days to one of your other cities (like Ireland!)

Your travel pace and style is a bit more than I prefer. Consider the following “challenge”…….
If you were limited to making only one relocation per week, what would the itinerary be?
With a week at each destination, what day trip journeys would you partake?
Finally, what would you most benefit from accepting this style of travel?
Just a thought and regardless of your choice, enjoy creating wonderful travel memories!

The trip is fine if it is good for you. Could you imagine planning 10 days in Amsterdam so you could "soak it on and enjoy it" only to discover you don't like Amsterdam. I assume this is a first trip, and first trip "sampler trips" make a lot of sense. Also assume you are young, so know most of the advice and preferences here come from the over 55 group.

Would it be best to get an Eurail Pass or book each trip individually?
Recommendations for hostels or any must-do's?

Eurorail probably not, and do not rule out flights. For instance look at flying Prague to Budapest, then train to Vienna then on to Zagreb. Might work out better, might be less travel time.

Fred, can you recommend some hostles?

A couple of hostels I'd recommend:

• London: YHA hostels are great (I've only been in the Earls Court and in the Oxford street one so far and I'd also try these other two locations: Central and St. Paul's.). I've also loved the Wombats City Hostel. I stayed there a whole week.
• Vienna: Wombats again.
• Amsterdam: I stayed in a hotel here, but when I went to Haarlem I booked the Hello I'm Local Hostel if you want to check it out.

Budapest has a Wombats in a good location, but I don't know anything about it.