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Critique my 12 weeks Europe Itinerary for First Timers

Posted by on

Hi All

I am planning a ~12 Weeks Europe trip. It would be my wife and I first time, and my parents would be joining us for the first 20 days. I have done quite a bit of research and would like the community's thoughts.

About us:

  • Late 20s couple living in Australia, first time to Europe, arriving on 14th Oct.
  • Interests includes WW2 history, art, museums, culture, and food.
  • Prefer more relaxed holidays rather than a touch-and-go one.
  • Mid 60s parents, departing on 4th November, after 20 Nights)

Details:
- We are planning to return to Australia either from Paris/Amsterdam (To be booked) on Boxing Day. For contingency sake, I am thinking to be in Paris/Amsterdam by the 24th of Dec. With my current itinerary, I have 2 spare nights on 22-23rd December and can allocate to any of the below cities. I am wary of burn-out mid trip, and I try to schedule 4-5 nights minimum per city to reduce too much traveling. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on my itinerary.

My Itinerary:

October

  • 14 - Wife and I arrive in London from Doha.
  • 15 - My parents arrive in London from Singapore.
  • 14-22 - London (9 Nights)
  • 23-25 - Normandy ( 3 Nights)
  • 26-1st Nov - Paris (7 Nights)

November

  • 2-5 - Amsterdam (4 Nights). Parents departing on the 4th from Amsterdam.
  • 6-10 - Barcelona (5 Nights)
  • 11-14 Madrid (4 Nights)
  • 15-16 Granada (2 Nights)
  • 17-21 Sevilla (5 Nights)
  • 22-29 Rome (8 Nights)
  • 30-4th Dec Florence (5 Nights)

December

  • 5-7 Venice (3 Nights)
  • 8-11 Lucerne (4 Nights)
  • 12-14 Interlaken or Wergen (3 Nights)
  • 15-17 Salzburg (3 Nights)
  • 18-21 Vienna (4 Nights)
  • 22-23 Free
  • 24-26 Paris/Amsterdam for flight back
Posted by
4386 posts

I really like that you take time because Europe has so much to see and explore and taste.

Interests includes WW2 history, art, museums, culture, and food.

Why do you plan to leave out Germany? With all respect for other great European destinations but you will rarely find a country with places which match more of your interests than Germany and especially Berlin with around 170 museums and Hamburg area incl. WWII submarines and tanks (see also this thread for example).

Posted by
140 posts

Just thinking about the December part a little:
1. I am just not sure how good Venice is in December. There is definitely a certain danger to be cold, wet and grey.
2. Going forth from the previous post, I am not sure if you are possibly better off with SW Germany and Alsace than Austria, unless that has a specific draw for you - simply for geography and proximity. Stuttgart/Esslingen and Strasbourg in December with markets might be ideas.

I would thus just throw out something like this:
5-11 Switzerland
12-16 SW Germany
17-20 Alsace or Rhineland
21-23 Free

Posted by
723 posts

Looks like you have developed a well-considered and good plan. All I’d suggest is adding a third night to Granada … perhaps at the expense of one of your two “free” days near the end.

… and add in 2 or 3 day trips from Sevilla and Madrid. Cordoba and Toledo. Perhaps Segovia, as well as Toledo, which might involve adding a day to Madrid somehow. Perhaps at the expense of one Rome night, one Barcelona night, or the other “free” day.

One different comment. Your itinerary is nearly all devoted to larger cities. It is nice to sprinkle in villages or smaller towns, but maybe that’s for your second trip to Europe. This first trip looks pretty fantastic to me, in general.

Posted by
9721 posts

Not sure how you are moving from Amsterdam to Barcelona and Seville to Rome?

While in London, consider taking day trips to Windsor Castle, Oxford, Canterbury and Bath.

Do not miss Toledo and Segovia on day trips from Madrid.

I have been to Switzerland in the Winter, do not plan to drive a car with icey roads. Interlaken was nice in the Summer, not sure about the Winter.

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