Europe Trip in April 2026

Have you ever traveled in Europe before? How are you planning to travel? Car rental? Public transportation? You really need to add up the time required to get between the destinations you’ve listed so you can determine if there are enough hours in a day to even make it happen.

Regarding Day 8, you list a lot of Wine Route villages, but Bergheim isn’t one of them! Last year, we picked Bergheim as the one where we stayed for several nights, while visiting others also on the Route. Have you signed up with a guided tour company with a particular village itinerary? If you’re doing it on your own, Bergheim is worth including.

We tend to like the smaller, more intimate countryside towns over big cities.

If that is the case, then I'd suggest continuing on from Brussels and stay instead in Ghent or Bruges - Ghent might be the better option for vising both towns. I think plenty to see without bringing Luxembourg into the discussion. My travel philosophy is that the quality of the experience is more important than the quantity of places visited.

Is this your first trip to Europe?

Have you ever traveled on an overnight train?

Ever dealt with jet lag?

melinda, Your plans are fast-paced. Nothing wrong with that, except I get the feeling that you have underestimated how long it will take to move between locations.
Listen to Kenko. How are you allotting travel time between cities? It seems you will be spending half of each day on a train. And jet lag is a real thing. Not sure if your plans for day 1 can all be done. It may be 3-4 hours before you get to your hotel after immigration/customs, etc. The three activities might be a bit much. Only you know your energy level, but travel time between cities goes at the speed of the train or plane, plus time taken for checking out of lodgings, getting to and from stations, checking into lodgings.
Perhaps you could research train schedules and departure times to come up with a more realistic itinerary for this trip.
Best of luck with your planning.

melinda,
I see you plan on having a car for at least some of this trip. If you do rent a car, be aware that renting in one country and returning it in another entails a hefty drop-off fee, around 500-1,000 euros. Moving a car back to its country of origin entails a lot more than moving a car between states in the US. Just fyi.

Sounds like you have it pretty well thought out, transportation and all. You also recognize the pace and its what you like, so okay. And judging by some of what you said, this isnt your first trip, so if you are happy with it. Run with it. Be sure to do a trip report.

Whoa. You lost me at Day 1. You walk off the plane and plan to visit all three of those things? We went to Keukenhof last year and we were there all day, until it closed. It is huge. I cannot imagine trying to work in a flower market and a canal cruise on the same day, much less the day you fly in.

Something in this itinerary has got to give. I suggest deciding between Innsbruck and Zurich - seems a bit repetitive. And Lake Bled - will you have a car? Lake Bled is not the highlight for me in Slovenia.

I don't understand why you're going to most of these cities. You have no time allocated to tour them.

Day 1 - You might get two of these done.
Day 2 - You leave Amsterdam without seeing the city.
Day 3 - Got to Brussels, but again, don't see the city. Why bother?
Day 4 - Another trip? And then go to Bonn.
Day 5 - Day trip to Koln. So you spend no time seeing Bonn?
Day 6 - Down the Rhine to Frankfurt, and from there to Freiburg. Basically the whole day on the road with minimal time to see places you could spend a week and barely touch on.
Day 7 - Freiburg unseen, but go to Colmar.
Day 8 - Try to visit 8 separate towns. Basically a drive by.
Day 9 - Go to Zurich.
Day 10 - Go to Lucerne.
Day 11 - Basically (again) too much planned. Rhine Falls from Zurich is, at least a half day. Add in Titisee and that's a full day.
Day 12 - Innsbruck - half a day on the train
Day 13 - Another half day on the train
Day 14 - ...

Look, you're trying to do way too much. You won't see anything, you'll spend your whole trip getting ready to travel, traveling, and recovering. And most hotels will not let you check in after 10pm, so those "night trains"? You'll be trying to sleep on the platforms. I wouldn't attempt to do all the stuff you list with in a month.

Your plan is long on travel and short of time IN THE PLACES you plan to visit.

Two days in Amsterdam is way not enough. Consider the three great museums: Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum. Also, much more to see in that city.
Brussels, except for The Grand Plaza, skip it.
Don't miss Brugges and Ghent in Belgium.
You plan to visit the Black Forest is very short on time. Where do you plan to go?
Going to Zurich and Lucerne, at least you got Lucerne right. Why not Interlakken?

One day in Vienna, is silly

I really don't want to pile on with the comments, but this is beyond fast paced. Are you trying to set a record for how many countries you can squeeze into 2 weeks?

You're not going to get a flavor of any of these? Most of your time will be spent checking in and out of hotels, going to and from stations and in transit. Are you hoping to actually go inside "cool churches and cool little shopping spots". Will you be taking the time to enjoy a real meal now and then? Or will you eat on the run?

Why the hurry? Why so many places? I'm exhausted just reading this. I wish you a lovely trip!

This reminds me of the old movie "If it's Tuesday this must be Belgium".

Kenko - Yes, 2nd time to Europe. We covered Sweden, Finland, and added Russia last time, which was a fast-paced trip, considering the 3 countries. We rode every mode of public transportation and had a blast. Using public transportation this time as well, except for part of Germany, with a cousin. Sometimes we take public transportation on our own, otherwise, with a tour company for the day.

Cyn - I’ll look into Berghein for a possible change, but we found a Day trip Aboard the KUT'ZIG red cabriolet bus, where you can get on and off throughout the day from 8:30 am to 7:25 pm. We don’t have to do all the towns, but could pick and choose to make up the day. If we like a town, we stay longer. Not our thing, move to the next town.

Markcw - I like the idea of staying in Ghent with the option of visiting Bruges. Agree, cross off Luxembourg. I was leaning toward it being too far.

Frank II - 2nd time to Europe. Did Sweden, Finland, and added Russia first time. Yes, I’ve done an overnight train. I was lucky enough not to get jet lag the first time.

Judy - I mentioned in my post that we are taking the train from country to country, estimating train times I’ve researched in ( ). We see a 1/2 day on a train as a relaxed adventure to see the countryside, not a negative. In the US, we have to “drive” everywhere. It’s a lot more stress than sitting back, relaxing on a beautiful train ride that someone else is driving. If we take a fast train, it will be a great time for us to take a nap. I was looking for more realistic advice, i.e., is a specific train from destination to destination on time, are my estimated researched times in () right, and advice on getting from place to place once we are there more efficiently. It’s one of my first drafts, it’s great to hear specific information on what is feasible and what is not feasible. 3 to 4 hours through immigration/customs is great to know when landing in Amsterdam. I’ve crossed out the flower market for sure. Research I’ve found says "3 to 6 hours at Keukenhof", reading other comments, it sounds like we should plan for the day. Is there a good place to stay close to Keukenhof or Zaanse Schaans? Perhaps a bed and breakfast, or a small boutique hotel? Thinking of now doing Zaanse Schaans on Day 1 and evening canal cruise IF time, leaving Keukenhof for Day two. This would give us 2 nights near Amsterdam and push the train to Ghent on the morning of day 3.

Judy - Good to know. The portion with a car would be with a friend’s cousin who lives there. We are not planning on renting one ourselves.

Mr E - Thank you. I know we still have tweaks, will report back once the itinerary is finalized and how the trip goes. I find the biggest thing to remember when traveling is to create a plan, expect for them to change, and make lemonade out of the lemons life throws at you.

Emily - I’ve read 3 to 6 hours at Keukenhof, GREAT to know we should go all day. What do you think about going to just Zaanse Schaans after customs on Day 1? If time allowed, we could do an evening canal cruise. Then we could do Keukenhof for Day 2. I know they mention the end of April is the ‘best’ time to go. Do you think it will be good around the 9th? Deciding between Innsbruck and Zurich is good to know. Someone mentioned Zurich is the most expensive, but it seemed to be a place where we could stay in one lodging longer with “a lot” of day trips to places we wanted to see, like Lucerne, Mt Pilatus, Black Forest (maybe better from Freiburg, Germany), Rhine Falls. Everything mentioned under Zurich is with a tour company, and the one with Rhine Falls is a long day. Are the good parts of Mt. Pilatus open in April? Originally, I wanted to stay in Lucerne instead of Zurich, but it seemed like it would be more travel time. Adding in Innsbruck seemed to break up the longer travel to Slovenia. Lake Bled - I wasn’t planning on a car. A picture of the church on the island stole our hearts. What is the highlight for you in Slovenia?

Emily - I’ve read 3 to 6 hours at Keukenhof, GREAT to know we should
go all day. What do you think about going to just Zaanse Schaans after
customs on Day 1? If time allowed, we could do an evening canal
cruise. Then we could do Keukenhof for Day 2. I know they mention the
end of April is the ‘best’ time to go. Do you think it will be good
around the 9th? Deciding between Innsbruck and Zurich is good to know.
Someone mentioned Zurich is the most expensive, but it seemed to be a
place where we could stay in one lodging longer with “a lot” of day
trips to places we wanted to see, like Lucerne, Mt Pilatus, Black
Forest (maybe better from Freiburg, Germany), Rhine Falls. Everything
mentioned under Zurich is with a tour company, and the one with Rhine
Falls is a long day. Are the good parts of Mt. Pilatus open in April?
Originally, I wanted to stay in Lucerne instead of Zurich, but it
seemed like it would be more travel time. Adding in Innsbruck seemed
to break up the longer travel to Slovenia. Lake Bled - I wasn’t
planning on a car. A picture of the church on the island stole our
hearts. What is the highlight for you in Slovenia?

Zaanse Schans after you arrive? (PS, I think you mean immigration, not customs) As in straight from the airport. Sounds gross to me. Have you never experienced jet lag? At Keukenhof, the bulbs are timed so that every open day there is plenty of beauty to see. To see the Black Forest from Zurich is kinda crazy. I think you need to understand better how to see things in Europe. Yes, Lake Bled is pretty on a postcard, but you don't see the massive buildup and tour buses in those photos. My favorite parts of Slovenia are Piran, the caves, Lake Bohinj, Tolmin Gorge, Ljubljana - but we usually go for 7-10 days. Honestly, with your itinerary, you are best to just pick 2-3 places. Stick to the Netherlands and Germany, in my opinion. Leave the rest for another trip.

FYI, Kutzig Bus for Colmar and wine villages 2025 season did not start until 28 April. From Colmar you can get to some of the wine villages by bus, train, taxi. Another alternative would be to book a half day or full day small group tour.

I added up just the travel time involved on a couple days. One day you’re in transit 10 hours and yet still hopscotching to several different destinations. Brussels to Luxembourg City is to 3.5 hours each way and to Dinant another three hours. If you’re returning to Brussels from Dinant, that takes several more hours so it’s at least 10 hours of train travel during just one day. When are you going to actually have time to see anything? You’ll likely need to skip lunch.

In Asace, you’re visiting 8 towns in two days. That essentially gives you no time for any of the museums in Colmar or the castles of Ribeauville and Kaysersberg.

The arrival day is also an unrealistic timeframe as others have pointed out.

Not to put too fine a point on things— but on some days it’ appears as though you’ve just written down handfuls of destinations without looking into how long it takes to get to them.

I think the clue is in the terms we "did" or "covered" 3 geographically large nations with long, complicated histories and very diverse cultures on a previous trip and "had a blast." Some folks like a fast-paced "blink and you miss it" type of travel. For them, figuring out how many diverse sites they can "do" in a trip is part of the fun. For those who prefer a slower, more in-depth experience, this seems wrong or foolish and it's tempting to proselytize. I think Melinda is seeking strategies to achieve her goals of seeing as many "cool churches," "cute little shopping spots," etc. as possible. Viva la difference.

Reminiscent of the European travel package tours heavily advertised on television in the 1970’s. They routed their itineraries that made it possible to “See 17 countries in 14 Days!”

When asked of a traveler who went on one of these tours, what they saw in London, the tour participant replied “ We saw Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.”

“What did you think of the architecture inside those places,” asked the travelers friend.

“Oh, we didn’t go inside any of the buildings— we just drove by them on the tour bus.”

Okay, since everyone has sn opinion. Fly to Budapest 5 days, Fly to Montenegro 5 days, drive from northern Montenegro thru BiH (Google it) and then down and thru Croatia 5 days. Done. Sure, not what you're interested in but what the hey; and with the savings put a down payment on a new Porsche.

I had a friend at University that took trains from Istanbul to London. He traveled about 8 hours each day and partied in what ever city he was in each night. Since then he has traveled Europe more than Kenko and me combined and still his favorite memories and best stories are always that first trip. So. As long as you have it figured out to your liking.... or I see you in Budapest in April. G-d bless and keep you safe.

There is no night train from Frankfurt to Strasbourg, This is a trip that only takes a couple of hours. Thus, there is no need for a night train.

At first I was confused by “enjoying small towns” over big cities, yet choosing big cities for your stops. But now that you say you are planning to use tour companies for day trips, it makes more sense since many of those do tend to leave from the larger cities.

As Anita said, there are a lot of ways to travel. I can see that perhaps you enjoy the sort of hotels you find in larger cities and just want to book your day tours and let someone else handle all the logistics in order to get out of the city for a quick view of the countryside. That also clears up some of the language used (it’s from a tour company). If that is the case, then really all you need to do is make sure your train times moving from city to city match up with return times from your day trips, that you have a way to manage your luggage, and that you choose the best available tour option for your interests.

There are a lot of things I would do differently if it were my trip, but it’s not. And that’s just fine - I don’t always travel the same way. But it helps to get better answers if some of that is stated, as you did in your reply. Some people obviously choose full tours (like RS), some choose completely independent travel, and some people choose a mix - just like some people choose hotels with points, some choose mom and pop, some choose luxurious places, and some choose hostels.

P.S. There’s nothing wrong with going to Bled. It may not be the most gorgeous spot in Slovenia, but it IS pretty. And sometimes we just want to see with our own eyes what we have seen in photos. I would just say be careful with your departure time home on the 23rd before you decide where to spend the night of the 22nd.

“Oh, we didn’t go inside any of the buildings— we just drove by them
on the tour bus.”

Which is better than 80% of the US public did and beats the heck out of living thru AI.

And TTM, I would do Lake Bled 4 times before i would do Plitvice a second time.

KGC - I hear you. Can I get from one smaller countryside town to the next by train without going through the larger cities? For example, if I could go straight from Zaanse Schans to Ghent by train without going through Amsterdam and Brussels, I would. This is a first draft of our wish list. I’m well aware we will be making choices as I delete and shift things around with everyone’s suggestions. The larger cities are not something where we want to focus our limited time on with this trip. Sorry! I’m researching things to do in the city and outside the city, and outside the city seems to grab our attention more. For Day 11, I found two planned tour options we could purchase with what I listed. They are saying it's around 7 hrs . . . Another reason why I’m asking for input.

melinda, it's all good.

Suum Cuique.

Zaanse Schans to Ghent doesn't have to go through Brussels or change in Amsterdam.
The other way is to change in Antwerp for Ghent.
It is possible, If not the fastest way, to catch a train direct from Zaanse Schans to Rotterdam, change there for a train to Antwerp and change again for Ghent.
The fastest, and most expensive way, is to change at Amsterdam for Eurostar to Antwerp.
Is speed or price more important? Any which way it is a 3 train connection at a minimum.

Melinda,
A few months back someone posted a request for an itinerary review that was much like yours and got the same responses. It turns out the itinerary was an AI generated one, which the poster was considering. AI suggested some transfers that were impossible without a teletransporter. This was to be a first-time visit, so he was unaware of the geography of Europe and the distances involved. I know you do not have such naivite, but I would still consider the responses of many posters here, who may not travel as fast as you can, but who do have good practical suggestions regarding moving about Europe. Do check on the train websites for the countries involved (for example, SNCF, int.bahn.de, sbb.ch, etc.). Or check trainline.com. The maninseat61 is a good place to start also. With transport info at hand you can refine your trip to your liking without a lot of frustration and hanging around stations or worse, missing that last train of the day.
Best of luck!

We see a 1/2 day on a train as a relaxed adventure to see the countryside, not a negative. In the US, we have to “drive” everywhere. It’s a lot more stress than sitting back, relaxing on a beautiful train ride that someone else is driving.

This, exactly!

It would seem with 16 days, you are going to 13 different overnight stays. The stops may become faceless. See less….enjoy more. Also as several have pointed out jet lag is no fun and often takes several days to shake off. Plus you’re changing among buses, trains and rental cars.

That being said in the RS world, no wrong answers and endless opinions all borne out of different experiences. If you feel good about then press on.

Which AI did you use to generate this?

A suggestion is, if you haven't already done so, is to Google for tourism videos for each of the stops on your list. I prefer multiple short videos for each place I am considering. I say this because you have a few stops that you might find disappointing. I dont say which to avoid a firestorm. But 2 are, ehhhhh, and 2 are just not my preference at all.

But with research you might see the world different.

melinda, one thing I want to add. When traveling on a fast paced trip with multiple legs of public transportation usage, be sure to have a plan B in the event of disruption of service due to strikes, road closures, natural disasters, rail repairs, ... We seem to be seeing more issues lately and it's much easier to figure out a plan B at home than at the station with hundreds of other travelers.

Mr E - I've already created a firestorm. Lol. Please share the 2 that you think are, ehhhhh, and the 2 that are just not your preference at all. I've watched so many videos, and there are SO MANY CHOICES. Lol. I would love to hear your thoughts and other cute countryside village choices that you think would be better than ehhh and blah.

We could do somewhere across the top of Italy instead Austria, but those seem way harder to get to than going through Austria. I've been Eurail/com/en/tripplanner = didn't realize so many of the smaller places "seem" to have a train as well. However, I'm not getting Graubünden (Grisons) to pull up at all on there. I also can't get Eurail planner to give specific train details. Do you know if the Rome2Rio.com is valid for their train time estimates? That's what I've been using.

Another Option:
1. Zaandam, Netherlands
2. Ghent, Belgium
3. Bonn, Germany
4. Colmar, France
5. Lucerne, Switzerland
6. Smaller village outside Innsbruck, Austria?
7. Lake Bled, Slovenia

Thank you to everyone for sharing solid advice. I'm still working through everyone's comments.

Rome2Rio is dreadfully unreliable as for fares, frequencies, and travel times. Do not depend on it. You need to go to either the website of the company running the trains or the Deutsche Bahn website, which has generally good coverage of rail schedules on the continent (but usually no fare information for routes that don't touch Germany).

For buses, Rome2Rio is sometimes helpful since it identifies the specific bus company running a route--assuming you're patient enough to keep clicking through the website. But again, don't trust the schedule and fare information.

Graubunden/Grisons is the Swiss canton in the southeastern corner of the country. It is not a town; that's why it's not showing up on transportation websites. You might use Chur or Pontresina for initial research.

melinda it’s about what interests you, not me. Thanks to an ex-significant other and being of a certain generation there are two countries in Europe that give me ekkkk!

So many differences in style. I discovered when I was young that I enjoy the good life. I discovered at mid-age that I really can’t afford the good life. I discovered at a slightly older age that I could have my cake and eat it too if I traveled East. That means I can’t do Switzerland the way I would want to do it and still be able to afford 3 more trips in the same year, so Switzerland may never happen but the 5-star resort and the day on the yacht in Tivat will. So, it’s about interests and priorities. You can do no wrong. Well, maybe one wrong. Don’t compromise. If your heart is yanking you in a direction ..... go! Even it means a ........... gawd forbid ............ a local flight.

Also, an alternative to a small village (which might get old fast for me) is a neighborhood in a large city. The neighborhoods can have the character or a village and if you do get bored, well the city is there.

Oh, and I like your new list.

Eurail is the worst for train information. Third party reseller.

Visit The Man in Seat 61 for solid advice.

Thats why I suggested they ask the question

Hello, may i know how old are you? You sound like a young adult? I find your plan amazing because you know how to cover many places within short time. Wow, you are a superman.

As for me, I spent 18 days in Europe to visit London (11 days), Paris (4 days) and Amsterdam (3 days) last time. I spent 4.5 hours in each museum in London. Museums are too big to be covered. I spent 4 or 4.5 hours in the Tower of London. Too tiring to walk around because London is too big.

As for Paris, I failed to secure the ticket to see Versailles and found out that Versailles is toooooo bigger than you can imagine. It took me about 2 hours to cover the whole exterior place of Versailles including the garden without seeing inside Chateau. It took me about 30 minutes to walk from the train station to Versailles. I merely did sightseeing and admired the Effiel Tower and rested externally for few hours as I was quite fatigued. During my rest, I observed many people walking and queuing for the tickets to get into Effiel Tower.

Brigitte07 I'm actually in my 50s, and go to the gym 4 days a week so my body can keep up with my plans and ideas. Lol. Check out Essentrics®, it will change your life!!! We've tried to stay out of the bigger cities, have no plans for museums with long lines on this trip, and are traveling in the shoulder season to avoid the biggest crowds. I'm also going on a 16-day trip with a carry-on.

Plane tickets have been purchased, so the only 100% yes's right now are flying into the Netherlands and out of Croatia.

I like how Rick Steves mentions in his YouTube video "European Travel Skills with Rick Steves"—slide over to 35 minutes, 10 seconds into the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jax-4ScqNk&list=PL4057D3B4E1FA80B3&index=2). He talks about your European itinerary. Yes, you can go too fast. But you can also go too slow. He likes to keep it moving (and so do I). The first day in a new place is always more exciting than the 4th day in the same place.

Melinda, thanks for your tips and introduction to Essentrics. Seems interesting. Wow, you are in best shape.
16 days trip with carry on bag? No luggage? How?

How do you manage to travel many cities? In the rented car or what kind of transport?
I see that you use Bahn train, EuroNight sleeper train...

Eurail is the worst for train information. Third party reseller.
Hmm...how come? I read that it is recommended. EuroRail pass is same as EuroRail in case I do not realise that EuroRail and EuroRail pass is different.

Melinda

You already plan to enter Europe in Amsterdam and exit from Croatia in just two weeks, plus two travel days at each end and, of course many part travel days in-between.

So, I am pretty late to this party, but I share the concerns many have expressed. You are looking at 6 to 8 countries (Netherlands, possibly Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, possibly Austria, Slovenia & your departure from Croatia) in 16 days, including your arrival and departure days.

My thought: Slow down, you move too fast. Try to make the moment last.

Consider one week Belgium/Netherlands. Then straight to Croatia or Croatia and Lake Bled. Skip everything in-between. Look for a flight to connect the two weeks, or possibly an overnight train, though that may well be a major challenge from Belgium to Slovenia. Even the two one-week concept is faster than how we have evolved as travelers. (Travelers, or visitors, rather than tourists is how I’d like to think of us)

This suggestion will greatly reduce your travel days, or at least those days where the travel is more of a chore and less of a joy. By the way, consider what is a travel day. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/how-to-count-travel-days

LATE NOTE

You can keep moving and still explore without changing countries every two days. For example, in 11 days in Croatia, we went to Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes, Zadar, Krka NP, Split (3 nights, with a day trip by ferry to island of Brac), islands of Hvar and Korcula, Peljesic Peninsula and Dubrovnik. We swam, ate too well, rode bikes, briefly went to one museum (in Zagreb) and one church (in Trogir), wandered past a wedding at another church, saw some of Diocletian’s palace in Split and walked the walls of Dubrovnik, rode ferries and bought a ring in Zagreb that my wife gets lotsa complements on. 3 nights in Split, 2 on Korcula, otherwise 5 one-night stands. 6 days on e-bikes.

Do you want to enjoy the outdoors, the shops, the churches, whatever? Or do you want to just blow past them and be able to say “been there, done that?” You can spend time in Ljubijana as well as Lake Bled. Istria or Plitvice Lakes, as well as Zagreb. You can see Bruges and Ghent as well as Brussels. You can see tulips in bloom and windmills, along with museums and canals in Amsterdam.

If I were you, I would probably replace Bonn with Cologne (Koln) for your second city. Cologne is by far the most popular city to visit in Germany's Rhine-Ruhr urban region. Compared to Switzerland or popular French cities, hotels in Germany (outside of Munich) are surprisingly very affordable and inexpensive.

Hi there - Your itinerary at the top is vastly different to what people have suggested - you must have deleted Belgium? Would be great if you'd add your current thinking here below, so we have a better idea of what you want to see. Definitely do some work on how you're getting from point A to point B - ie pack up, take a taxi to the train, 4 hours blah blah, then a taxi to hotel. Use Google at least to get a better idea of times, it will help with planning, maybe even add that to the itinerary you post? Yep, agreed skip Bonn, visit Cologne. Also easier for train connections.

I like how Rick Steves mentions in his YouTube video "European Travel
Skills with Rick Steves"—slide over to 35 minutes, 10 seconds into the
video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jax-4ScqNk&list=PL4057D3B4E1FA80B3&index=2).
He talks about your European itinerary. Yes, you can go too fast. But
you can also go too slow.

Well with anything like this itinerary, you're unlikely to go too slow. Your pace means you will hardly have time to see the major sites. Let's just take Amsterdam - Does this include your arrival day, jet lagged? Did you want to visit museums? Good idea to get advanced tickets for Van Gogh and Anne Frank, but the Rejismuseum just by itself is at least 3 hours. Someone said something about visiting the tulip gardens - OK,, that's 1/2 a day, excluding transport to and from the gardens. The next day you're TRAVELING 1/2 day.... I think you get the idea...

Rick is targeting a specific travel audience & he's created itineraries for maximizing what people see, which is very hard to recreate without a full time guide who gets you on the bus, to the next site, has the restaurants picked out, blah blah. In contrast, the first time I went to Rome, I was 30 years old & stayed a MONTH with Roman relatives, with a week in Florence & Venice. My Italian relatives laugh at the silly tourists who think they've seen Rome in a few days. "La dolce far niente" is an Italian phrase that translates to "the sweetness of doing nothing." At least give yourself time for a nice sit down meal, or an espresso to watch the world go by once in awhile.

Hope you have a great trip!

This is a first draft of our wish list.

On of the things I like to do with my first draft of a trip is to plot it into Google Maps as if I were driving. This gives me a visual impression of my trip and a very rought estimate of the time I will spend traveling. I then go destination-by-destination using actual mode of travel and time of departure to see if my plan will work for me.