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Europe trip. Itinerary help please.!

Hello. I am planning for a trip to Europe around March 2016. Just me, taking a break from my busy life and exploring the beautiful Europe. Shopping, food, culture, architecture etc. I would like to take this trip in a relaxed way and roam like a local :P. I would appreciate if I could buy groceries from the local market, cook a meal, sit by the balcony with a glass of wine and enjoy the lovely streets (Atleast in one city in my whole trip. Please suggest the best city for such agenda. I'd stay for a 10 days span to live like so)..

Trip Duration: Around 2 months (mid of March to May).
Budget: Not restricted. €10000 - €14000 if I had to quote a figure.
Travelling from: India

Here are places I would like to check out:
1. Spain: Madrid, Barcelona, Velencia(for las fallas carnival if it is worth it. lemme know)
2. Italy: Florence, Rome, Milan, Venice
3. Austria: Vienna
4. Czech Republic: Prague
5. France: Paris, Nice
6. Switzerland: Zurich
7. Netherlands: Amsterdam
8. Belgium: Brussels
9. Hungary: Budapest

Now, I am super confused about where to start-where to end, the order of travelling these cities and how.. Please help me plan my itinerary.

Any tips on how to carry my luggage from the place to place? I am a moderate shopper, love collecting local specialities. I am worried of how to manage my cases with increasing weight from place to place. :D

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.! xx

Posted by
638 posts

I believe that figuring out your last question is a prerequisite to any and all advice that would follow. There's only 4 potential ways to travel: plane, car, bus, or train.

If you are planning to use the train or bus, then you are the best person to know how much baggage you can lift on to and off of train platforms and roll/carry through busy cobblestone streets.

If you are planning to drive, you will be able to carry more but you will have to contend with parking and city center hassles and expenses that are best omitted when visiting the large cities you are proposing.

-Matt

Posted by
2487 posts

Get the old-fashioned but not obsolete paper map (or make a screen print from Google Maps or ViaMichelin) and see what fits best. Realize you don't have to start and finish at the same airport.
With such a round trip I would advise you stick to the train. (Www.bahn.de offers a pan-European railway planner.) Flying takes at least half a day with getting to the aiport, checking in, luggage belt and getting from the airport to your next city. A whole day can be ruined when the plane leaves late in the morning.
Which brings me to the point you've got a lot of places on your list. And they're almost all capital cities. It would be a good idea to put in some smaller places to give body and mind some relaxation. Southern Germany has dozens of smaller cities which are worthwhile, and which you can nicely put between Prague and Amsterdam.

Posted by
7175 posts

Over a lengthy trip of 2 months, and wanting to experience life as a local, I would suggest a maximum of 12 cities.
(ie. average 5 nights per city). So on this occasion I would leave out Brussels, Zurich, Milan.

Valencia >> Madrid >> Barcelona
fly to
Rome >> Florence >> Venice
fly to
Nice >> Paris >> Amsterdam
fly to
Budapest >> Vienna >> Prague

Budget of €14000
€1500 airfare India - Europe
€500 European trains and planes
€100 per day for 60 days - hotels
€100 per day for 60 days - meals, sights, local transport

3 reasons NOT to shop ...
1) eats in to your time
2) eats into your budget
3) becomes a huge weight to carry
Take lots of photos instead. Go mad in one place you really like, having it shipped home in one go.
Buy small, light, and towards the end of your trip.

Posted by
7175 posts

or stretch to 13 cities by adding Berlin but reducing the number of internal European flights ...

Valencia >> Madrid >> Barcelona >>Nice >> Florence >> Rome >> Venice
fly to
Paris >> Amsterdam >> Berlin >> Prague >> Vienna >> Budapest

Posted by
3551 posts

With regard to your purchases send them back home from time to time . U are visiting blockbuster cities so just train it from city to city. March can be cool so start from the south as in italy and work your way north so by may it will be more temperate. U have budgeted enuf time and euros enjoy. If u get lonesome for others try a hostel from time to time. Some are quite comfortable with private rooms but friendly travellers to chat with. For sure get luggage that has wheels u will be thankful u did.

Posted by
15768 posts

Las Fallas begins on the night of March 15 and ends on March 19. Semana Santa begins on March 20 (Palm Sunday) and ends on March 28 (Easter Sunday). There are big processions, with accompanying celebrations) in various cities during the week. The majority are in Andalusia, especially in Malaga and Seville. In April and May there are other festivals in Andalusia, each city has its special ones, like Feria in Seville, Patios in Cordoba, Horses in Jerez. Lodgings are most expensive during festivals.

Zurich, I'm told, is the least interesting city in Switzerland. Shoulder season (when you are going) is not the best time to see the Alps, if that's what you're thinking about.

It is best to pack as light as possible. With that in mind, go to the southern places first, where it's drier and warmer. To get a better idea of what kind of weather you're likely to encounter, use the Weather Underground website, history section. Enter a destination and a date. The next screen with take you to the trip planner (it's tucked into a corner on the right side) where you can put in a date range of up to 2 weeks and see historical data, day by day, including high and low temps, humidity, precipitation. If you start in the north, you are going to need winter clothing. Maybe start in Spain, then southern France, Italy . . . Budapest, Vienna, Prague (easily connected by train) . . . Paris, Belgium, Netherlands (also good train connections).

If you want to save money, you need to book trains and internal flights as far in advance as possible. There are limited places offered at huge discounts. Prices only go up as time goes by. Since these tickets are no-refund, no-change, or changeable with big penalties, you don't want to buy them until you are sure of your itinerary.