Critique Iteniary

Pack plenty of amphetamines and I think it's doable.

You've asked for advice and I don't think we're helping you if we don't give you accurate and well-meaning advice about this kind of proposed itinerary.And I'm searching for a helpful but clear way to say this: If we gave a prize for most punishing itinerary of 2008, you win--and we've had hundreds submitted here this year. We have 3 unofficial classifications of itineraries on this site:1) relaxed itinerary - some, but not all, experienced travelers prefer this2) blitz itinerary - many first timers and some experienced travelers prefer this, Rick himself is a prototypical blitz traveler3) death march to exhaustionYour itinerary is not a blitz itinerary, it's a brutal and punishing death march into exhaustion. Let us know if you want suggestions on how to modify this into something that will be fun for you. We're not trying to impose our personal preferences on you, but rather to warn you off of an experience that won't be fun after all the money and energy you expend on it--you'll have a better time if your trip is enjoyable and doable.But in the end, one of the things that's very fair about itinerary advice is that we don't have to argue about it, it's your trip and you are the one who is forced to do the trip, any way you choose to do it, and thus you get the chance to prove--on the ground in Europe with your own money, body, and energy--that you're right and we're just poops. Some specifics: day 4: Transportation time to CT makes day 4 not realistic/enjoyableday 5: 1 day in CT is not enough!day 8: the advice here is running 95% to 5% against driving mopeds on roads where cars are, in Italy, for safety, comfort, and stress reasonsday 9: if you don't have accommodations in Munich for Oktoberfest, it's too latedays 9 & 10: only 1 and 1/2 days in all of Germany? you won't see anythingday 15: only 1 full day in Paris?

Only 1 day in Barcelona? Tsk, tsk. Your "Day 1" doesn't count - you will be a zombie to some degree. The next day you will not be up to full speed either. Barcelona is worth at least 2 full days -- and I say this as a confirmed "blitz" traveler as described above.

I don't think you can spend any time "walking around" in Nice, make even the most brief visit to Canne, and make it to Cinque Terre in one day. That sounds like at least two days to me, and that's still at a pretty brutal pace.

You have less than 24 hours in Florence, and you plan to see two museums? Don't blink...

Hope you already have your hotel booked for Munich.

I would decribe your proposed plans as "brutal." And I tend to go quite fast.

"husband lived there for a while in army but never got to really explore"

And your itinerary will ensure that he doesn't get to explore this time either. Agree with Kent - your plan redefines "ridiculous" - whether you have the energy to do this or not isn't really the issue - you simply have no time to see or do much of anything.

You need to cut something. Even this suggestion that cuts 3 cities is too rushed, but maybe try this:

3 nights Barcelona

(PM flight to Nice day 4); 1 night Nice

3 nights Cinque Terre

3 nights Florence

2 nights Bamberg; take a daytrip to Rothenburg or Würzburg or Nuremberg, depending on your interests.

3 nights Paris

Amsterdam and Brussels are decent places to visit but they extend you to much geographically and are generally more droppable than the others.

Munich was booked up months ago for Oktoberfest. You can get excellent German beer in Bamberg and everywhere else in Germany (and some Rauchbier!) If you're the sort that enjoys dropping the places you've visited in conversation, you will still be able to truthfully say you were in Munich during Oktoberfest because you will undoubtedly have to change trains there.

Agreed -- you'll need more than a hyper personality and caffeine to make this itinerary work. Even as 'go, go, go' people, this itinerary is schizophrenic... cut some stuff, or die. The Cinque Terre isn't worth a stop if you've only got 1 day -- cut it. Munich -- same, for 1 day? Cut it. Same for Brussels. HOW were you planning to go from Nice to Cinque? Train days can be a way to recuperate / research / watch the world from a window. If I leave in only your multi-day(ish) stops, and read between the lines... and inject some of my personal opinon... and leave it almost as hyped up as a jack russel terrier on crack... I'd redo your trip like this:

1 Barcelona
2 Barcelona
3 Barcelona, fly to Nice / night in Nice
4 Nice / Canne
5 Nice / train day / night in Florence
6 Florence
7 Florence / Side trip to Greve
8 Florence / Night train to Bamberg
9 Bamberg
10 Bamberg / Night train to Amsterdam
11 Amsterdam
12 Amsterdam
13 Morning train to Paris / Night in Paris
14 Paris
15 Paris / Fly home

The only concession back toward your itinerary that I might personally make would be if you are freaked out about cutting Brussels. If you are, have brunch in Brussels on the grand square to break up your train ride on day 13.