9 Weeks in Europe, Your Thoughts???

I think it's a really sound plan.
My ideas would be to...
-substitute Versailles for Disneyland.
-take time from Kraków so as to include a stopover in Salzburg, between Vienna and Venice.
-take a night from Rome and give it to Madrid, allowing for a day trip to Toledo.

With a daily budget of 130 euros per person, you could aim for the following, but it's tight.
Accommodation 50€
Food 40€
Transport 20€
Sightseeing 20€
Obviously, some days your transport costs will be more, and others less.

The cities you are going to that I been to and can speak of are, Berlin, Krakow, Prague, and Budapest.

Berlin - You will not run out of things to do in Berlin. I found the hotels and restaurants are less expensive in East Berlin, or what use to be East Berlin before the wall came down. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express which was reasonable, in a safe neighborhood, and had one tram stop directly across the street and another one going in a different direction about two blocks away.

Budapest - There are some great tours, I'm sorry I can't remember the one I went on; it was in 2013. But, it was in two parts and started in the Pest side of the Danube; in the morning we visited Buda and were back in Pest at lunch time. After lunch we toured the Pest side. Be prepared to do a lot climbing hills in the morning and walking in both the morning and afternoon. You will be moved when told the story behind the "Shoes Monument".

Krakow - You already have down in the most moving experience of my trip, Auschwitz. Also, while you are there hear the story of the Trumpeter of St Mary's Church; you can't help but hear the trumpeter since he plays ever hour.

Prague - There is another former Nazi concentration camp near Prague that has a very interesting history; I thought it was well worth the visit. It is called Theresienstadt; some refer to it as Terezín.

There is a tour company that I've used and they operate in several of the cities on your iternary (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Paris and Prague); it is call Sandman's New Europe, their web site is http://www.neweuropetours.eu/. I highly recommend them; also, in most of the cities where they are located they offer a free walking tour that last two to three hours. I found that the free tours are a good way to become orientated to a strange city.

I will be in Amsterdam myself for the first time this spring along with Brussels, Bastogne, and Normandy. I hope the two of you will have a safe and enjoyable trip.

I would find a way to add another day in Florence. I think Kraków or Budapest could be reduced by a day. You are going to have a great vacation.

Sensible schedule, giving you good time to enjoy what all these places have to offer.
Two things though. It's almost all big cities. Try to have some day trips to smaller places or the countryside. And Disneyland? That's meant for children!

It is a great itinerary overall, although there is much good advice above to consider. Small towns, for example, can be easier on the budget.

Your budget is tight. $50 per person per night as David suggests is tough to do. Surely some places will cost more; I am not sure many will cost less. Hostels, convents, and monasteries will be your friend. Having an extra €3000-4000 would go a long way toward giving you some wiggle room. I would hate to see you unable to pay for admissions and tours that will enrich your experience.

paris has cheapest rates for hotels from about mid july thru August.. come September they shoot up ( its trade show and fashion season.. ) .. so try and hit Paris end of August at least.

You seriously need some downtime in this itinerary. I don't care how energetic or enthusiastic you are at the outset, this much travel will grind you to a nub without a break every few weeks. Find a place where you can do and see nothing for a few days so you can recharge. Rinse and repeat every two weeks or you will find you can't appreciate anything after a while.

When my brother comes back to the UK each Christmas from Australia, it takes him at least a week to get his sleeping pattern anywhere normal and he is shattered throughout this time. Don't underestimate how long it will take you to adjust.

August will still be peak season in London. Look at staying at LSE, as they offer their student accommodation out of term time or Premier Inn or Travelodges if on a budget. Personally, I wouldn't bother with Stonehenge. There are lots of day trips possible out of London but you could more than fill your time there without any side trips. If you are going out of London by train, book 12 weeks in advance for the best prices. Same for the Eurostar.

You don't have much down time anywhere in your schedule. You are doing lots of big cities but not seeing anything more like a "normal" town.

Having just returned from Venice, it isn't easy doing that on the cheap, so if your budget is tight, drop this, as you are seeing plenty of Italy's sights.

I would add more days to Paris. Paris is less expensive than London (and of course, fantastic). Also, add more time to Florence, particularly if you plan to take a day trip to Pisa.

With at least four days in most of the big cities you have enough time that you can afford to take an afternoon, or even a full day out, to do nothing. It's surprising how much adrenaline and excitement (and wide eyed wonder) will keep you going. Oh, and you might need a party/drinking fund.

As others have said, you are missing the countryside in your itinerary. I would argue that a day trip just doesn't cut it. Spend a week in the Alps, in Istria, in Provence, in Andalucía. Rent a small house or apartment in a village with good transport links. The cities are great, but after 9 weeks of hustle and bustle, I'd just want to crash.

Nicely said Keith. Totally agree.
However, you omitted another thing they do have in great abundance - good rugby players.

I should have been clearer. When I say countryside, I mean the villages and smaller towns in Europe that I think are the best part. Natural beauty is not what I was referring to.

Nothing better than kicking back and soaking up the country life in Provence, Tuscany or Andalusia, but remembering back to my 20's and it wasn't high on the agenda.

A week in London is good, allowing you time to adjust your body clocks before changing locations. Definitely check the LSE housing. There are other unis in London that offer dorm accommodations on the cheap, with very central locations. Book Eurostar tickets to Paris when they go on sale, 6 months in advance, for the cheap fares.

Belgium try to fit in 2 nights, stay in Ghent which is considerably cheaper than Bruges and closer to Brussels.

Amsterdam is the most expensive city in the country. Consider spend a couple of those nights in another city, Haarlem or Utrecht, maybe.

Dresden, Krakow I think you would do better to skip the night in Dresden, add it somewhere else and go straight to Prague. It's a long journey from Prague to Krakow. There are only two practical ways to go from Krakow to Budapest, very expensive private car/driver or cheap bus. Either way it takes about 7 hours to ride through scenic Slovakia. That makes Krakow an outlier. If you skip it, you have an easy route from Prague to Vienna to Budapest.

If you drop Krakow, you gain a lot of time. You could take a cheap flight from Budapest to Naples, then Rome, then Florence (saves you a lot of train time in Italy too). Then you can get a budget flight from Florence or nearby Bologna or Pisa to Spain.

Spain Madrid has wonderful museums if you want to spend 2 days looking at paintings (Prado, Thyssen, Reina Sofia), but if you want more of a Spanish cultural experience, fly to Seville and spend a week in Andalucia - Seville, Cordoba (the Mezquita), Granada (the Alhambra). Then another budget flight to Barcelona and home. If you must fly home from Madrid, you could fly from Italy to Barcelona, then fly to Granada, then bus/train to Seville and Cordoba, last night or two in Madrid before departure.

What an awesome trip! I'm in your age range (30), and spent 4 full weeks last summer in France (Paris, Nice/French Riviera, Normandy), Monaco, & Italy (Milan, Venice, Florence, Sorrento, Rome) with my parents. I'm planning a UK trip now (I was in London and York 10 years ago, for 10 days), and I've been to Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Segovia, Toledo). I do have a few tips for you guys:

London: Spend a few days doing traditional touristy things like the Tower of London, Westminster, St. Paul's, London Eye, National Gallery, etc. I'm planning our second trip to London and am leaving off Stonehenge again. Every person I know who's been says it's a waste. I'd see Windsor instead, or maybe Bath, Oxford, or Stratford-upon-Avon (we're hitting the last three this next trip). Windsor was a highlight of our first trip. We also stayed in York a few days and loved it.

Spain: Try to get to little medieval villages like Toledo or Segovia. Barcelona was beautiful.

France: Disneyland Paris was a blast! If you're Disney fans and can't make the one in Orlando, hit the one in Paris. Look over the maps and see if the rides there interest you. We waited over an hour for Crush's Coaster (Finding Nemo) and it wasn't that impressive. Also, the Ratatouille ride was down for repairs. As fun at that park was, I'd rather spend my day in Versailles, which is phenomenal. Also leave time for Montmartre and the Musee d'Orsay (only a couple hours needed for each). We did an entire day at the Louvre. Don't stress about Eiffel Tower tickets in advance, just get there an hour or so before it opens and stand in line. We were there around May 1 and it was perfect. If you're a WWII buff, a day-trip to the Normandy beaches is a must. Do Rick's bus 69 tour! If you stop at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery, buy the guides they sell outside or you'll get lost. Go to Shakespeare & Co. bookstore. It's right by Notre Dame. Don't forget Sainte-Chapelle.

Venice: Of all the cities we saw in France and Italy, Venice was the most disappointing. It was overrun by tourists and guys selling selfie sticks, and we were there before high season. A day or two is enough there; four was too much for us. Be sure to take a boat out to Murano and tour a couple of glass factories (buy back in the city, not at the factory where prices are jacked up).

Milan: If you're fans of art history or architecture, try to get a tour (I used Viator, but they're third-party bookers, I know), for the city of Milan and da Vinci's The Last Supper. It was a highlight of our month-long trip. I only tacked on Milan because I got us those tour tickets. The city is beautiful, very cosmopolitan. We shopped the promenade around the massive Duomo.

Florence: Our favorite surprise of the trip! We loved this city! So many travelers we ran into said the same thing: that they didn't expect to love Florence as much as they did when they visited! We did a tour one day that included Pisa and a vineyard stop. Pisa was neat, but if you're Renaissance, or Art History nuts, just stay in Florence and explore.

Sorrento: Loved Sorrento! The Blue Grotto is a must. Get to Capri as early as you can, and book the last ferry back, so you can do the Grotto and the gondola at the top. We took the train to Pompeii and explored the ruins. We only were in Naples's train station. I can't imagine really wanting to spend time in that city when the rest of Italy is so beautiful. Add that day to Florence, or spend it in Pompeii. I'm sure Naples is beautiful by the coast, but the small part that we saw was basically a ghetto.

Rome: Give yourself a day to explore the Vatican. The Capitoline Museum was tacked on at the end one day and was really cool. I'd recommend that to any first-timer. Rick's audio guide through the Forum was great.

If I were you, I'd take a day off Rome and add it to Paris. Rome is so walkable and compact that it's travel-friendlier than Paris.

Hope this helps!

it sounds like a wonderful trip. albeit that you are getting around and covering a large amount of territory.

like others have mentioned you seem to be concentrating on the big cities. is there a reason why you don't want to drive? I mention this as we have done a 'similar' trip twice now for the same amount of time but we lease a car. it allows us SO much freedom to visit small towns and stay in relatively inexpensive accommodation. we see so much. we have also broken the trip up with train travel, meaning, we used the trains first then picked up the car etc.

we generally opt to stay outside the major towns and catch a bus in to explore them on day trips. the accommodation staff usually give us the directions of what bus to catch etc.
its a real 'issue' particularly on your first visit. the cities offer so much, but there is so, so much extra to see outside the cities. and the cities can be extremely expensive. perhaps look at alternatives like staying in Haarlem, near Amsterdam, and catching the train in. it is these types of things that can possibly save money and give you an extra experience. this is what we do, partly because we are travelling by car and don't like driving in the major cities. but also because we get to see more as well.

if your trying to save money , then there are lots of ways. like in london the museums/library are free. wereas the usual sightseeing places costs heaps and are packed with tourists.
try the rick steves walking tours app and audio guides, saves money and are great. you can then do a tour at your own pace. load them up at home and listen to them now, they are full of great ideas.
I find they help me plan our next trip.

seeing you asked, here are our findings.
1. loved sorrento and capri
2. bruges, somewhat over rated, we stayed in Gent and preferred it. ( in your trip if it is difficult to organise visiting this area, I would consider using the time elsewhere. just a thought ) especially if you are going to venice.
3. Paris has much more to see than London. we have been to london twice but after spending a week in Paris we would go back in a flash.
4. why disneyland? europe has so much more to offer.

hope this helps.

hope this helps.

If it were me, I would take two days from Krakow and add them to Florence...there is much less to see in Krakow and much more to see in Florence!
You should change the order to Berlin, Krakow, Prague...otherwise you will be backtracking
I would vehemently disagree with the previous poster...renting a car for this trip would be a mistake. First of all you are covering thousands of miles and it would not be relaxing or enjoyable to drive, especially since you are focusing on cities. Your car would sit in an expensive garage for most of the trip. You would also have very high fees since you would be picking up the car in London and returning it in Madrid - that would be ridiculously expensive to do. Between parking fees, rental costs, GAS COSTS, etc, this is an expense you do not need since you are on a tight budget.
Personally, I hate overnight trains. It is very difficult to sleep. There have been some recent threads on the forum about this...search "night trains". Some people love them though so that's a decision you need to make.
For your longer distances I would consider flying...it's quite cheap to fly within Europe. Otherwise use the train - it's so convenient and very cheap if you buy your tickets well in advance.
Take a look at the website rome2rio.com to estimate your travel times and costs.
Look at seat61.com for extensive information on train travel.

@ sirdavegee...based on your itinerary above, you could do Krakow to Budapest by night train, if you choose that option. Krakow has one of the best reviewed hostels in Europe, the Greg and Tom. From Vienna to Venice via Munich can also be done by night train, CNL night train Munich to Venice. It depends on your priorities if squeezing out an extra day or two is worth it. I would. All in all, a good trip planned for 9 weeks. I did that once (67 days) in 2009.

The night train makes frequent stops throughout the night, about 1 per hour. If you're sound sleepers that could work.

Venice: Be sure to take a boat out to Murano and tour a couple of glass factories (buy back in the city, not at the factory where prices are jacked up).

1) The factories sell what they produce. The shops also sell glass imported from China, which is way cheaper. Be sure to know which kind you want and check before you buy.

2) Drop Murano and go to Burano instead - or do both. Burano is much more relaxed, fewer shops, more colors.

Sites to use for cheaper/more affordable lodging:

Hostel World: http://www.hostelworld.com

Booking.com: http://www.booking.com

Rick Steves books that cover the region, country & or city specific. They have a wealth of information.

London's Top 10 Hostels: http://blog.visitlondon.com/2014/01/londons-top-10-coolest-hostels/

Paris Top 10 Hostels: http://goparis.about.com/od/lodgingaccomodations/tp/top-paris-hostels.htm

Prague Top 10 Hostels: http://thewanderingwanderluster.com/top-10-best-rated-hostels-in-prague/

As you can see, google search is great.
Enjoy your trip.

@ sirdavegee...I overlooked your mentioning the bus as another transportation option. You certainly do have that option available. There are connections for Budapest, Berlin, Amsterdam. Check out Berlinlinienbus.de. If you want to make consult with them, they have an office at Berlin Ostbahnhof on the ground floor. These bus routes are also night buses, the same with Deutsche Bahn route Berlin to Krakow. These buses in Germany are nothing like Greyhound, way superior to Greyhound, and a much cheaper option than the train. When I did my 9 week trip in 2009, I wasn't aware of Berlinlinienbus, might have used it for the long distances. I just relied on the trains regardless of the distance from a half hour ride or a ten hour one..

Meh - It looks like this person is a drive-by poster. He posted this exact same thing over on the Fodor's board and hasn't been back since.

Firstly a massive thank you for all the great feedback. Sorry it's taken so long to respond, i have been working some ridiculous hours at work.

We booked flights last weekend so there's no turning back now!

Over the next few weeks we are hoping to get the itinerary more fine tuned.

We are thinking some night trains are the way to free up a few more days to have a 'holiday inside the holiday' to refresh ourselves, where we would do very little and just relax. We have also gained an extra day with the flight to London leaving a day earlier.

One idea we have had is to potentially skip Vienna and find somewhere nice and peaceful in Croatia to base ourselves for 5 or 6 days, which would be around the midpoint of the travel. Any other places that could be recommended as a recharging point near where we are going to be located around half way through the trip would be strongly considered (maybe a small town?).

We are planning on plenty of day trips out of the main cities, Normandy, Bath, Brighton come to mind.

Disneyland was added as one of us(Not so much me :) ) really loves the whole Disney thing, my thoughts are it might be a good place to have a day off looking at sites and have some time to recharge (plus I do like rollercoasters!)

Thanks again.