7 Week Itinerary Suggestions? (Croatia, Italy, Eastern Europe & Spain)

Looks ambitious but doable...I did a similar trip when I was in college back in the last century! I have some friends that have successfully only used airbnb around the world for that local kind of feel. Look at some of the Scrapbooks on this site: someone had some great shots of Lake Bled. A lot of the cities you are going to have Museum Passes which might save you some money. We like to eat at the Farmer's Markets and Delis instead of Restaurants....this keeps you on the move and saves money. I'd like to do this same trip if I had someone to help me jump on and off trains with bags.

Thank you for your reply, Kathleen! Yes, we figured this is the kind of trip we probably won't be quite as ambitious for later in life :) We are hoping to do a mix of hotels and Airbnb and usually eat at a lot of delis, but Farmer's Markets are a great idea, thanks!

Hi!
As long as fast-paced is your traveling style and you're experienced in this, you should be fine. Not sure which nights correspond to the slower days, but (in case you haven't already) I would spread them evenly across the itinerary and maybe save a couple of them for the end of the trip, when you'll be more tired.

Would a flight to Lisbon from Prague be easier ?? and then reverse your plans to Madrid.
The night train from Lisbon to Madrid is perhaps one of the worst in Europe - I don't recommend.

3 nights - Prague (fly to Lisbon)
4 nights - Lisbon (train to Faro)
1 night - Faro, Portugal (bus to Sevilla)
4 nights - Sevilla (train to Malaga)
3 nights - Malaga (train to Granada)
3 nights - Granada (train to Madrid)
3 nights - Madrid (AM departure already booked)

Hi djp_syd, reversing the last leg was my original plan, but since the best flights I could find from Prague to Lisbon were $210+pp (direct on TAP Portugal) I was trying to stay more on budget. Sounds like it's probably worth the flight though if the Lisbon-Madrid night train is that bad. Thank you for the recommendation!

Thanks for your reply, unboundly! Our slower days are the 4 night stops, hopefully I can spread them out a bit more evenly :)

Just speaking to the Central Europe portion of the trip. I would skip one town. 1.5 days Vienna and Budapest isn't worth it. Based on your self description I would rank Prague first for you and Vienna last for you, but Vienna is better situated than Budapest. Just my two cents.

It is fast-paced, but if one full day in a place (Munich, Vienna, Budapest) is OK with you, you will see the highlights. I do have a couple of comments, though.

1. We just got back from Croatia. 4 nights in Dubrovnik was too much for us and we are SLOW travelers. There was nothing to do there except leave and eat. We used it as a base to go to Kotot, Montenegro, and we did do a day long tour of the Peljesac Peninsula (great wines!) with a guide, but after walking the walls with hundreds of other people, it was a bit too low key for us. We did like Lokrum Island where we had a nice short hike. In fact, Dubrovnik old town is mobbed with cruise ship passengers in high season. When you are there, it should be less crowded, but our friends who have gone in off-season still say they thought one full day there was plenty. Of note: the best restaurants are by the new port, not in the Start Grad. The food ios great and not too expensive versus what we are used to in Italy.

2. Did not go to Hvar but loved our 2 nights on Korcula. It is very quaint. I doubt you will find enough to interest you beyond a 2-night stay. You can stay on one and visit the other easily enough.

3. Nice stay Sorrento/Amalfi Coast! Good for you! Lots to do here including incredible hiking. Note Bari to Sorrento is a 5-hour train trip.

4. I think you are short-changing Roma and Firenze, especially since your husband has never been. See if you can carve out an extra night for each. Maybe by cutting back Dubrovnik to 2 and Hvar/Korcula to 3.

5. Venice 3 nights is the minimum. Do not cut! :-)

Have fun!

It's a good thing that you're young, as The Grand Tour will require a lot of energy. You really need to stop periodically to catch your breath and regroup.

Remember that every time you move from one city to another, you lose a day traveling. You have 17 travel days built into your itinerary.
You'd do best to fly into Paris as more budget airlines fly through there.
Your Venice-Vienna-Budapest-Prague-Munich segment is not in the most efficient order for train travel. The train from Venice-Vienna also requires taking a bus trip, and it would make for a tough 350 mile night trip. I suggest taking a flight on Czech Air up to Prague and going by train from Prague to Vienna-Budapest-Munich.
You might want go reconsider your Spain-Portugal segment of your trip--taking cheap budget flights instead of train. If you plot your itinerary on MapQuest, you'll find Spain-Portugal to be much larger than you realize, and distances there are too far for all train trips.
My biggest concern is that you've allotted 4 nights to some small cities while limiting Vienna-Budapest-Munich to 2 nights. These are absolutely fabulous cities for young adults, and you need to spend more time there.
I understand your desire to go everywhere and see so many cities, but the logistics such an itinerary will be very difficult. You would have a much better trip if you'd just slow down a little.

I agree the Venice - Vienna - Budapest leg is going to eat up too much time with travel. There are cheap flights from Venice to Budapest (I'd favor more time there and skip Vienna which is quite expensive). Also, I'd like to make a plug for at least one more night in Madrid - it's a wonderful vibrant city with amazing art. If you're really wanting beach weather, I'd suggest you start sooner in Croatia and work your way north, given the time of year you're going and the shortening daylight hours.

If you haven't used the Rome2Rio website, it's super helpful plotting out transport options and time for travel, including cheap flights (they search SkySkanner)

Wow, I appreciate all the feedback! Thanks to all the great suggestions, we've cut Munich and are considering cutting Malaga to allow for more time in other cities, and cut down another travel day. The end of our itinerary now looks like this, and we have 2 extra nights to add somewhere in the trip:

• 3 nights - Vienna (train to Budapest)
• 3 nights - Budapest (train to Prague)
• 3 nights - Prague (train to Munich)
• 3 nights - Prague (fly to Lisbon)
• 4 nights - Lisbon (train to Faro)
• 1 night - Faro, Portugal (bus to Sevilla)
• 4 nights - Sevilla (train to Malaga)
• 2 nights - Malaga (train to Granada)
• 3 nights - Granada (train to Madrid)
• 1 night - Madrid for AM departure (already booked)*

I'll look into rearranging the order of the Eastern portion of the trip, but with at least 3 nights each for Vienna (possibly arriving on a flight, as suggested), Budapest and Prague, is cutting Vienna still recommended? We're hoping to just see highlights on this trip and return for a more in-depth visit to the cities we really enjoy.

Thanks for the info for Croatia, I'll arrange our time there a bit differently, maybe cut a few days to allow more time in other parts of the trip? I'd love to get to Croatia sooner but unfortunately, late September is the earliest we can go. Since CDG or ZRH are our best flight options, on the map it makes sense to see Slovenia on the way, but hopefully we won't miss out on too much as we make our way South. Is 2 nights in Split recommended or should we just head straight for Hvar/ Korcula?

I hadn't used the Rome2Rio site before, thank you!! On our last trip to Spain, we only spent time in Madrid and Barcelona so we aren't interested re-visiting the museums and sights in Madrid, hence the short stay.