Europe itinerary - Rome -> Paris

Other than a few minor tweaks, I think your itinerary is good.

I don't want to tell you specifically what adjustments to make, but here are a few questions you should ask yourself:

Does Munich or Vienna or Venice warrant the same number of nights as Paris or Berlin or Rome? (Especially consider that your first day or so in Rome you'll be adjusting to the time change.)

Do you really think Budapest is worth a day trip only, considering that it's 3 hours each way by bus from Vienna? If you want to go to Budapest, consider adding 3 nights there and skip Zurich.

A few of your other sample day trips are very long. Check into it and make sure you really want to make all those day trips. It's not necessary to see everything.

Exciting trip! Whatever you end up doing, it's going to be great!

Rome to Amalfi Coast is really not a 'day trip'. You can get there and back in a day, but that is pretty much all you will be doing, Traveling.

Florence to CT for a 'day trip' is another really rushed day

Have you plotted out your travels on a map and looked at your transportation options/situation?

You may need to rethink your destinations, or your 'side trips'. A somewhat cursory glance, to me, has you contemplating some really long day trips that will be a lot of traveling and not much visiting.

I have to agree that the day trips you have listed are really too far to be practical. You'll have very little time at all in each place before you have to leave again.

What is in Zurich that has you staying that long? Would you consider dropping it in favor of a couple nights on the Amalfi coast or in Budapest?

One last thought. It looks like you'll be in Munich during Oktoberfest. I hope you already have your accommodations booked.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies! Definitely some things to think about.

I was thinking about going to Zurich to try see some Swiss mountains! But if you guys think it's not comfortably viable then I'd be happy to drop it and put the days towards Budapest/Almalfi Coast and possibly reduce a day for Florence and Venice and put towards other places such as CT.

With the day trips, I was thinking of doing those guided tours, I'd had a look at a few and they are very full days (10 hr days), starting early morning and ending early evening. Do you recommend them? It would cut out the fact that I wouldn't need to figure out how to get there and just see/do the main sites.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Will.

Well, to keep as much of your trip intact, skipping Zurich may have to be the sacrificial lamb. Just get a day time flight from Venice to Munich and get a window seat on the left side of the plane to be your 'see the Alps' experience. It was quite impressive as I flew into/out of Milan to London.

That would free up some time for some of your other wish list items.

If you have found guided day tours that take you to/from where you want to go and you are comfortable with the fact you are only going to get a quick view, then that might be worthwhile to give you at least some exposure to those places.

I may a bit quick to dismiss the Alps as a 3 day destination, as where I live I have 2 mountain ranges in view, so may be a bit spoiled. You have to weigh and choose what is important to you, and give yourself the time to enjoy it.

With 5 weeks you have the opportunity to see a lot but but I think you need to do a bit of judicious trimming so you enjoy the trip.

With Rome being your arrival city after a long journey, I think one more night there and one less in Venice might be a bit better allocation of time without making a major disruption to your overall plan

You seem to have given good thought to your trip, but it's hard to resist the temptation to try to pack too much in, to 'make the most of it' especially when coming from a long distance. Just make sure your day trips do not make a trip a race from place to place.

Enjoy!

I agree with the others: The Swiss Alps are great, but they are not in Zurich. Also, Switzerland is alarmingly expensive. I think dropping that stop is a good idea for this trip. There are mountains easily reachable from Munich.

I've not often taken a packaged bus day trip. You pay a pretty penny for being shepherded around and have no flexibility as to what you see and how long you stay at each place. For me it works best when I'm trying to see a bunch of small towns that are not linked by public transportation. That doesn't apply to the Cinque Terre. As for the Amalfi Drive, it's not a good one-day destination much less a 3-hour (or whatever) destination from Rome. There's too much to see down in that area to make an effective visit from as far away as Rome. If you really want to see the Cinque Terre, I think you could squeeze it in, but plan to stay at least one night in the area.

And no day-trip to Budapest! Make your day-trips to smaller towns closer to your base cities where you'll have time for a decent visit. You may not have time for any of these, but just for example:

Rome: Ostia Antica or Orvieto
Florence: Siena, Lucca, Volterra or San Gimignano (latter a very touristy village)
Venice: Padua or Vicenza

I would trade Zurich for Budapest, and squeeze in Salzburg. It's a good path you have chosen. A wonderful trip awaits. Oh, and I wouldn't bother with internal flights, stick to the trains.

Rome - 4 nights
Florence - 4 nights
Venice - 3 nights
Munich - 4 nights
Salzburg - 2 nights
Vienna - 3 nights
Budapest - 3 nights
Prague - 3 nights
Berlin - 4 nights
Amsterdam - 3 nights
Paris - 4 nights

Thanks for the advice and suggestions!

I'll scratch Zurich and use those days for Budapest.

I'll also scratch a day off Venice, Munich and Vienna to put it towards Amalfi Coast.

My question now is, I arrive in the morning at 6:50 after a 24hr flight (with 2 hr transit), should I stay in Rome for a night then head to AC for 2/3 nights then back to Rome for 3 nights?

Or do Rome first and then go to AC then straight to Florence?

Thanks!
Will.

Skip Zurich and cut Venice by one day and Prague by one day. Add days to Rome and Paris.

OP, I think you'll likely be very tired and jet lagged by the time you get to Rome. I think you'd be better off getting back on your feet in Rome than dealing with the hassle of multiple trains/buses/ferries when you're exhausted and maybe not very clear headed.

."....do Rome first and then go to AC then straight to Florence"

Agree with CJean, do all your Rome days 1st and as one bunch