Give your suggestions to my travel plan

You may have underestimated the distance between the cities in your itinerary. You would do better to slow down and visit fewer cities that are closer to each other. For example, Rome-Florence-Venice. Or, Budapest-Vienna-Prague. Or, London-Amsterdam-Paris.
It's also best to fly open jaw--into one city and out of another.

I absolutely agree with David. All his suggestion (would have been also mine if he didn't write it first) are very well doable by train. You are mentioning that it is your first visit to Europe. First time visitors usually go to London, Paris, Rome. With only 11 nights three destinations should be the maximum if you want to enjoy your trip. First week of September will likely be OK in London; Paris and Rome especially could be still hot (also Venice and Florence).

I agree that you've got too many destinations there, requiring too much travel time and too many changes of hotel. Those are all wonderful places, and they are quite different. You will really enjoy any combination that works geographically.

Paris and Rome are so large that having only 3 nights (just two full days) would frustrate me. For such a short visit, I'd prefer smaller cities. But many people would rather see the highlights of Paris than take a more comprehensive look at Amsterdam or Salzburg.

I'd rather be too hot than too cold, so I'd choose September, but I suspect a lot of people will suggest October, especially if you end up focusing on Italy. Unless you hit a holiday or a major special event, I'd expect hotel costs to average a bit lower in October. Let's see what other responders say about the timing of your trip.

I'm afraid your budget is going to be a real challenge unless you're planning to stay in youth hostels. (I'm guessing you are not.) Those aren't cheap destinations, though I don't think Budapest is too bad. It will help a lot if you pick just two destinations that are close together, meaning an inexpensive train or bus trip apart.

If you rent a two-bedroom apartment in one or two cities, that might work; I've never rented an apartment, but splitting the cost between two couples could be a smart way to go. You'd also be able to do some occasional food preparation and avoid having two large restaurant meals every day.

James, I think the OP is departing from India.

Karan, I'll agree with the others than you have listed too many places too far apart for the time that you have, and that your budget is pretty tight. If you could manage to save a bit more over the months until the trip, it would be a very good idea.

For Plan A, I'd skip Salzburg and spend the entire time in Italy: Rome, Florence and Venice. Fly into Venice and out of Rome, and no day trips: you don't really have the time for those.

1. Arrive in Venice
2. Venice
3. Venice
4. Train to Florence
5. Florence
6. Train to Rome
7. Rome
8. Rome
9. Fly home from Rome

You could shuffle a day from Venice to Florence but I gave that one 3 nights as I figure your arrival day may be largely taken up with getting acclimated and possibly dealing with jet lag.

Increase the length of your trip to two more nights if at all possible: add one of them to Rome and the other to Florence. You might be able to squeak in a day trip from Florence that way but I wouldn't choose the Cinque Terre: it is a long trip from/to Florence (5-6 hours RT by train) and it's not a good day-trip destination anyway as it's at its best before the day-tripper mob arrives and after they leave at night. You also need to be able to plan around the weather - it's not fun in the rain - so it's too risky unless you have more days to work with. Sienna would be a better choice: a little over an hour direct by bus.

Kathy's suggested itinerary is the most practical considering your time frame. Budget might be a bit tight, but with a good bit of research it may be doable.

Thank you so much for our valuable feedbacks......wont the budget be sufficient enough for 10 days that is £80 per day per person and the hotels roms cost can be shared between the two.

Is your budget dollars or pounds? Either way, it's pretty tight when you figure in lodging, meals, transit, entry fees for attractions, snacks, etc.
Paris is extremely expensive in September, due to weather, conventions, and Fashion Week. Amsterdam is also on the higher end of cost. You will get more bang for your budget in Prague and Budapest, even Berlin.

I am going to be more blunt. Close to impossible to do what you are suggesting. Look at the budget $1600/couple. You need to think in terms of local currency - Euro. $1600/11 nights is $145/night/per couple or 129E (today's exchange rate). Those are expensive cities. For a couple, lodging and meals can exceed 129E/night. And that doesn't allow any local admissions, transportation, or trains between cities. That budget needs to be a lot closer to 200E to 225E. Stay with two cities - you cannot afford the transportation costs. You need to change your expectations. The more you travel between cities the greater your transportation costs and that is a variable that is controllable.

You absolutely have to use open jaw tickets - into one city, home from another. You cannot afford to return the your original city.

Paris, London, and Amsterdam are quite expensive. Italy would be cheaper as would Prague and Budapest. On a budget that tight, I'd do just Rome and Florence or just Prague and Budapest.

Your suggestios are appreciated and would change my plan accordingly..... :)

Food in Italy is generally very, very good--though it's especially easy in Venice to end up in an overpriced, mediocre touristy place--but Italians care about their food and are willing to pay for quality. With four people you can do some dish-sharing (2 side orders of vegetables for 4 people, plus one main dish or pasta per person), but unless you do something like buy sandwiches at a shop, it can be difficult to eat cheaply. I doubt that you are traveling to Italy to eat sandwiches.

I spent nearly 2 months in Italy last year--by myself, so that did run the cost up a bit--and I think every restaurant meal cost at least 20 euros. The average was more than 25 euros. I avoided fast-food places except for the occasional slice of prepared thick-crust pizza (which I do not recommended; it's nothing like real pizza made fresh). I was drinking bottled water (no wine or soft drinks) and not ordering expensive things like steak. I kept expenses more reasonable by having just one restaurant meal every day. Some days I bought a tomato, cheese, bread and fruit. A good middle-range option if you don't need something hot is to look for one of the shops that sells prepared dishes (chicken or seafood salad, marinated vegetables, etc.) to take away. Add a cold beverage from a market and perhaps some bread or a piece of fruit, and you may spend less than 10 euros per person.

You'll find transportation within large Italian cities is not insignificant when you're coming from India, where I imagine city buses are very, very inexpensive. The boats on Venice's canals are very, very costly these days (a minimum of 5 euros for a very short ride). It's a great walking city, but I imagine you'd want or need to take at least one or two rides while you're there.

You mentioned the hotel room costs being shared by 2 people, but the hotels in Europe are generally charged per person, so there is a charge for each person, not like in the US, or other places where there is a room cost that is usually including 2 people.

But, there are ways to save on lots of things to keep the costs down. Figure out your lodging and transportation first, then look at what you will need for food and entrances fees, etc. and make a plan.

With 11 nights maximum then consider one of these routes...
London (4 nts) > Paris (4 nts) > Amsterdam (3 nts)
Rome (4 nts) > Florence (4 nts) > Venice (3 nts)
Munich (3 nts) > Salzburg (2 nts) > Vienna (3 nts) > Budapest (3 nts)
Trying to combine the choices above would see the trip compromised by difficult logistics, given the short time you have available.

With approx $150 per person per day I would budget as follows ...
$60 hotel ($120 per couple for a double room)
$60 meals
$30 local sights and transport
I don't see how you can stretch this budget to include inter city transport between your chosen locations.

Hi Karan,

If each item on your list refers to one day (seems to be the case if you have 11 nights max), your itinerary seems very rushed. I tend to be more liberal with how much ground I choose to cover on a trip (this forum generally errs towards slower travel), but I don't think either of your options are very realistic at this point. With 11 nights, I would cut it down to 3 destinations tops, especially if they are far flung and require a flight or long train ride. For example, you could do:

• Paris, Brussels/Bruges, and Amsterdam (close together, ~2-3 hours apart by train);
• Paris and Budapest (requires flight), maybe including a day trip from Paris to somewhere nearby; or
• Rome, Florence, Venice

Also, $1,600 per couple would be stretching it really thin, even with the Euro as low as it is right now. Most of the cities on your list are fairly expensive and unless you guys are willing to share a hostel dorm with other people, 11 nights of lodging will basically eat up your entire budget -- and as a 30-year-old who has done the dorm thing before, I wouldn't do it again. Your best bets for cheaper lodging would probably be Airbnb or getting a 6-bed dorm in a hostel, and I would still budget an average of $100/night per couple. Other expenses you need to factor in are: food/drinks, attractions/activities, and transportation within and between cities. For reference, last time my husband and I went to Europe, our trip was 3 weeks long, and the only really expensive place we stayed was London -- without spending lavishly or feeling like we were pinching pennies everywhere, it ended up being about $3000 for each of us, not counting airfare.

Where did you get 1600 dollars? Most of Europe uses the euro. The dollar to euro ratio can go up or down, but the cost in euro is probably going to be pretty constant. Use the euro for planning.

I just spent 21 days in Germany for about 126 €/day for two people, but I am adept at finding small, inexpensive places, and I stay in smaller towns 85% of the time. If you make long distance jumps, use rail passes or rent a car your travel expenses will be more than mine. If you use hotel or booking websites and stay in big cities most of the time, your accommodation expenses will be more than mine. In short, you probably can't do this on 145 €/day per couple.

Don't just guess at your cost for the trip. If you plan your itinerary well and know your transportation costs, and if you book your accommodations in advance and know those cost, you can pretty well cost out the trip. For me, 20€ per day per person is a pretty good estimate for meals (breakfast is always included in my overnight accommodations), but, again, meals will cost more in most of the cities you want to go to.

"the more you travel between cities the greater your transportation costs "

Not only does a lot of travel add to your transportation cost, it subtracts from your actual "being there" time. I think so many people plan their first trip to Europe to see all the famous places. They spend a lot of time and money making these great leaps and don't see all that much. They come home and say, "Boy, Europe sure is expensive, and never go back." Slow down, spend less money and more time in fewer places, and come back.