Europe in 14 days - Revised

Trying to fit in too many places in such a short time doesn't seem to me like the best way to enjoy Europe. One minor adjustment might make it less busy; rather than Rome AND Venice, why not choose one or the other for three nights and plan on returning to Italy another time? From Paris to Barcelona flying would probably save time and maybe $$. Ditto for flying from Spain to Italy and Italy to Amsterdam. So do you plan to return to London by train from Brussels (Eurostar)?

I agree,...too much in too little time. Remember you'll be burning a half day to transport yourself from one destination to another. Assuming you're flying into Heathrow, I would suggest a cheap connecting flight to Amsterdam the same day. Check BMI (flybmi.com) and British Airways (ba.com)...BA has one ways to Amsterdam for as low as 30 pounds ($70 US). Then train to Paris (thalys.com), 4 1/2 hrs (101 Euro), or fly via vueling.com to CDG (58 Euro). Fly to Barcelona (vueling.com from CDG, or easyjet from Orly....25 euro depending which day you fly). Then Barcelona-Rome via vueling or clickair.com...train to Venice...and Venice Marco Polo direct to Heathrow via BMI, or Venice Treviso to London Stansted with Ryanair, or to London Gatwick with Easyjet (probably aim to spend your last night in London anyway, before your flight home). Check whichbudget.com for discount air connections; watch luggage requirements, and use main airports, not "Barcelona Gerona" or "Paris Beauvais." Good luck!

too much, too fast, IMHO. You'll spend a lot of your time visiting the European transportation system (planes, trains, airports, etc). Get a copy of Rick's book "Europe Thru the Back Door" and he has sample itineraries for trips of various lengths and focus.

As Rick writes in the book "Assume you will return. This Douglas MacArthur approach is a key to touristic happiness. You can't really see Europe in one trip. Don't even try. Enjoy what you're seeing. Forget what you won't get to on this trip. If you worry about things that are just out of reach, you won't appreciate what's in your hand. I've taken dozens of European trips, and I still need more time. I'm happy about what I can't get to. It's a blessing that we can never see all of Europe."

P.S...if you do want to travel Amsterdam-Paris by train, go to the Thalys website, enter a round-trip journey with a fake return date, and you'll qualify for a Smilys fare of 34.50 euro each way....69 euro round trip...cheaper than one way. Just throw away the return ticket. Book early though.

I think you can do the itinerary in the order you want as long as you chose rome or venice (my personal opinion is skip both and spent time in the italian country side to break up the "citiness" of it all... I grew frustrated with huge european cities while I was travelling.

The train from London to Paris is an easy trip, but getting from the airport to Waterloo station might be too much of a hassle, so maybe you'd rather fly.

Paris to Barcelona you can do by overnight train but it might end up being more expensive than a flight. I like kayak.com for checking out cheap flights.

Definitely fly from Barcelona to Italy, but try to catch a flight either early or late (this might mean you have to be willing to pay cab fare is one direction or the other if public transportation isn't open) because then it won't eat up an entire day. Midday travel always seems to take more time. I like early morning.