Critique my Itinerary

Andrew, my wife and I are both 30, and we've traveled to Europe on several occasions. So I'm only going to guess that you'd be fine with a trip that is as full and fast-paced as we would pick. 16 days gives you a lot of options. One thing: plan your trip like you're going back. You'll catch the European travel bug and go back more times than you can imagine.

Saying all that, your trip is too full. It's doable IMO, but you are spending a lot of time on trains instead of enjoying the places you're going.

If I were planning this trip I would either do all of your Italy plans or all of your non-Italy plans, and give yourself at least one more day in each place. In the middle of your trip, give yourself at least 2 days where you're not in a BIG city. For example, stay in Siena instead of Florence. Spend some time in Tuscany.

Depending on which of the two you pick, I can give you a lot of info about the Italy part. I'm always up for Private Message help if you need very specific help.

One more thing, if you decide to go the Italy route, I would suggest flying into Venice, getting a rental car when you leave (you'll want it in Tuscany, I promise!), and returning it in Rome.

Also, add more Italy along your way. In 16 days you can easily see the Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast, Pisa and Pompeii and still keep the other 3 cities.

I should add i want to keep the entire trip budget to $6-7k. Most of our train rides would be overnight to save money and tourist time.

I am thinking of scratching Florence and Vienna off the list and just doing:
3 days Prague
3 Krakow
2 Budapest
2 Venice
4 Rome 5th day is flying out.

What do you want to accomplish with this trip? A few years ago, my daughter and I decided to start traveling and took 27 days backpacking through Europe. Even with that much time, we left out Benelux, Scandinavia, & Eastern Europe. But our goal was to get an overview of most of Europe and make future travelling plans from those experiences. It worked great for us!

You are spending much time on trains, but since they are mainly night trains, that's time used wisely. You have a lot of time left before your trip for planning. Here are some tips that helped us: We first listed everything we wanted to see, then circled those must-sees. We also allowed a bit more time for travel connections than we originally thought we needed. That way we didn't miss what was important to us or miss connections. We found that planning is the key - and a willingness to adapt on the spot! It's easy to cancel seeing something if you expect to return, and sooooo hard otherwise. Have a great trip!

A word of caution about relying too much on night trains to save time. Unless you are a very sound sleeper, getting a full night's sleep on a train can be difficult. Several night train rides over a limited time period can leave you exhausted during the day.

As you have only 16 days we would suggest choosing 4 cities/areas and spending 4 days in each. Constant travel and check-in and -out is the enemy of enjoying a vacation. A good itinerary is London-Paris-Venice-Rome

Well after talking it over with the wife i think we have decided on doing just 4 cities. Prague, Krakow, Venice and Rome. We would probably fly from Krakow to Venice. This would cut down on train travel as well. Basically one night train from Prague to Krakow and a train ride from Venice to Rome.

Glad you have rethought it. I think you would be exhausted with your initial plans. I think your revised plans will let you see 4 lovely citys properly. I'm a great believer in spending at least 2 - 3 days somewhere and also planning in some down time to just sit at an outdoor cafe and people watch. I like to wander the streets and observe what the locals are doing. I'm sure you will enjoy your trip.

And this way you will get to shower regularly. I think folks forget that a trip on a night train means no shower until the next hotel. My daughter and I forgot and had to make some last minute changes when we thought about it!

I like your itenerary.

The idea about a flight to Venice isn't bad. If you go that way, get your rental car after you leave Venice.

There are a ton of great places in Italy: Verona, Cinque Terra, San Gimignano and Orvieto are some of my favorites that are hard to see without a car. If you go that route, pay for a GPS system, streets in Italy are rarely marked.

Florence hotels are expensive and dreary. Consider ways to stay outside the city and take a train in.

Any extra time should be added to your time in Roma. There is so much to see two days will only scratch the surface. Drop your car off at the airport before arriving in Rome and ride the train into town. Then use the train to get back to the airport for your flight.

Just a note on your last comment. A week probably isn't long enough for both Paris and London. Unless you meant a week trip for each. I'm 29 and just got back from an 18 day europe trip. London and Paris are probably the 2 biggest cities in Europe for things to do and see. I had 5 days in each. It was almost enough for London but not nearly enough for Paris. I guess it also depends on what you like but we liked Paris the best out of Munich, Paris and London. Have fun.