Great European adventure plan

To have X number of days in a place you need to plan on X+1 nights, since you will use a good part of a day traveling from one to another, leaving you little time to enjoy on those days. Remember you need to allow 1-1/2 hours to get from your room to the airport, be at the airport at least 1-1/2 hours before flight (possibly more if you are checking bags - and budget flights sometimes have very low limits on cabin bags), maybe wait for luggage pick-up, then another 1-1/2 hours to your room (to drop your luggage).

You only have 14 days, if you fly out of Vilnius early on the morning of the 28th - after having spent some time there, so you aren't jetlagged. Don't count the 12th, that's a travel day. As it stands, you'll have only ONE day to see each city - maybe a little more in Lisbon or Porto since the train will take a little less time than flying. You will see a lot of airports, no nature.

Thanks, Chani,

We originally planned to stay like 2 days in each of the cities, having either were early flights or late ones. I agree that we should count some time for arriving and departing to the airports, then some time for eating out and seeing the main attractions. My main problem is that I am in my mid 20's and I don't have money either to prolong the trip or to stay in a better places. Maybe, and I think I'll see that, it makes no sense to plan that much in 14 days but I will try to do the most of it. Would you recommend any great places where to stay/eat/visit in the mentioned above cities?

If you are on a budget, definately go to Krakow. Least expensive of all your choices. It is also a great city to visit. So much to see, great food, inexpensive museums.

Great advise, Barbara! I was thinking of Auschwitz - Birkenau day-trip out of Krakow, have you done it there? Must see in my opinion.

After spending the day at Schindler’s factory, which is more then just the factory, and spending the day in the Ghetto, my traveling companions and I opted out of going to Auschwitz. We have been to other camps in other cities so we passed on this one.

I know nature in cities is quite different, but I love parks and lakes, this can be easily found in any of them. Sites are more important though

Thank you,
Would you advise on what to omit? I've been to Berlin like 15 years ago, I was a small kid at that time, deffo need to include it, but also would love to combine it with some warmer cities like Porto or Barcelona. My GF is much into WWII history and wanted to include a concentration camp. Do you think Saschenhausen worth including as a trip from Berlin?

What is it you want to see in particular in each city?

The problem in my opinion is trying to deal with all the logistics AND have sufficient time to see what you want to see or even experience anything meaningful.

Early flights are OK but that means getting up very early and getting to the airport 2 hours before your flight. Be aware that Ryanair favours airports that are more provincial than the main city airport and you may find yourself further away from your destination than you expected so that entails longer and more expensive transportation. You could end up finding yourself arriving at your destination late morning or even lunchtime so that's half of one day gone.

Now you have to familiarise yourself with transportation (presuming you'll be using public transport) and a general sense of direction and location. For me, at this time and having been up for so long I'd be thinking about lunch and I mean a decent one, I don't travel abroad only to end up eating a shop bought sandwich, I want to eat well and something regional however I accept that not everyone shares my view.

If using Airbnb be prepared to be at the whim of the owner as to when you can gain access to your accommodation. Sometimes this can only be in the evening if they have work for example, which can be an issue if you have to lug all your baggage with you for a whole day.

By now it's probably mid afternoon and not much has been achieved. Are you planning on two days per location or two nights? If two days you've got the rest of today to see the sights before another very early start to get to the airport for your next flight. This is exhausting and it's a very bad use of your time. You're not actually experiencing the city or seeing much of what it has to offer. Yes you can say you've been there but you haven't really BEEN there.

My advice, pick a couple of cities in close proximity and spend 3 nights in each one.

By the time you pay for transportation to all the airports you will be visiting, plus the airfares (Are you 100% sure you won't have any checked-bag fees? Carry-on weight limits can be as low as 7 or 8 kg.), this will not be a particularly cheap trip. I urge you to drop Barcelona, Lisbon and Porto and concentrate on Paris and central Europe at most. You are really kidding yourself with that original itinerary. You will see very little, because you will always be on your way to or from an airport or train station.

You could easily spend a week in Berlin without running out of things to do. The same for Paris. Krakow, though smaller, also has a lot of interesting sights. Auschwitz will take well over half a day. The Schindler factory is about half a day. They need timed tickets, so it's not practical to try to squeeze them into the same day even if you are willing to rush through them. Poland is a very interesting country with relatively low costs. I spent about 5 weeks there last year. If you need to keep costs down, you could drop Paris and just visit Berlin and Poland on this trip.

You are spending far too long in transit between too many destinations for this trip to be enjoyable or cost effective. It isn’t just the cost of the flights themselves, it’s the cost of getting a bus or train out to the airport. You are young and will be able to return.

Most of your transfers are going to take 6 hours door to door. Halve the number of destinations. Berlin - 4 days here will scratch the surface. I had a week here and kept busy. Paris - 5 days to scratch the surface. Lisbon - 3 full days minimum. Porto is compact and can be seen in a rush in 1 day. Work on the assumption that you will be back.

My plan is just to see the best and most touristic parts of the cities. Like Eiffel Tower and Louvre in Paris, Berlin Wall and Reichstag in Berlin. I know I can not afford to stay in one of the cities for anything more than 3 days, as I will spend lots of money just on accommodation. I love to walk a lot, have no problems with waking up early and in general is okay with using public transportation.

When saying I'll be using Ryanair, I forgot to tell that I'm aware they tend to use some outskirts airpots, in this case I plan to use Vueling or Air France where possible just to avoid spending more on a transfer than on a flight. I travelled a lot in my country with just the backpack on and I won't pay for the luggage fee. Which cuts the time for waiting the luggage and etc.

I'm pretty sure I will see only the must see's in my trip but that what I can afford at this point of. If like any particular city a lot, I would plan to get back there when I have more time or money.

"You don't tell us, but from starting and ending your trip in Vilnius I guess you're staying there long term." - I'm not a EU citizen, I live in Eastern Europe and I will have limited visa allowance time, that is my only problem and concern. I am planning to use Vilnius as the starting and ending hub, as its the best city in terms of proximity from my hometown.

I know I can not afford to stay in one of the cities for anything more than 3 days, as I will spend lots of money just on accommodation.

You're still going to be paying for accommodation wherever you are and any perceived savings that you might make will likely be wiped out by the transport costs. I'm afraid you're not being realistic. With two days you've only really got an afternoon and part of the evening to see anything because the first part of the day is taken up with transportation whilst the second day involves an early flight to your next city. With such a short timeframe you'll see hardly anything, I honestly can't see the point. Take Krakow for example, I went there with some friends a few years ago, we had three nights there and one day was taken up with visiting Aushwitz, we left Krakow by bus in the morning, it's a long drive and we spent several hours touring the site and then endured the long drive back. You are going to struggle to do that if you can't dedicate an entire day for it

Not sure why you think staying more than 3 days is a problem with lodging costs.

Your rather frantic travel plans involve way too much travel. How much time will you spend waiting in airports, going through security lines and time consuming transport to your lodging.

Use AirBnB or Kayak or TripAdvisor to find budget accommodations. That can be found in Paris as well as the other places you mentioned. Yes, Paris is more expensive than Porto or Krakow, but Paris has so much to see than the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Arch de Triumph.

Why not save Krakow for another trip, since you are coming from Lithuania, which is close to Poland? Allocate those days to Paris and Berlin.

While in Porto, there is a wonderful B&B called the InPatio Guesthouse. Great location, fare is reasonable and spacious rooms with wonderful breakfasts. IT is the best. Only five rooms, so book early.

I will carefully discuss everything I got here with my partner in crime :) All of you guys are making reasonable offers to me and I'm pretty sure I will end up cutting my initial plan dramatically not to run through the airport and security checks.

But the most important thing is that my budget per pax is extremely limited and is as low as someone's spends for 2 night in the centrally located hotel. I'm not coming from the EU as I said thus I would need additional visa and costs to get to the Vilnius. In this case, and in case that is my first travel after many years, I want to see as much as I can as I'm not sure if I will be able to travel abroad anytime soon. That might be and is unrealistic I will definitely try to make my best out of it.

@geovagriffith thank you very much for showing the In Patio option. We loved it a lot! Will definitely try to fit it in our Porto travel plans :)

I would omit Portugal-not much WW II stuff there. 4 cities in different countries are still a lot for the amount of time you have. Rather than Paris, you might consider Normandy. London should be on your bucket list for future trips but hotels there are expensive.

ok Alejandro, you want to see a lot on a budget:

My recommendation is to use youth hostels and not airbnb. It will cost you 20-40 euro a night. Also not all cities are created equal and some are more beautiful and interesting. I personally think that Lisbon/Porto does not even come close to what Paris/Barcelona has to offer. Also, if you can stick to trains more than flying, you will save considerable time, and it will make your trip much more enjoyable. Food for me was not important when I first started to travel (now it is somewhat more important), and for me going to a grocery store and buying a loaf of bread, cheese, yogurt and a fruits was fine. Youth hostels also provide breakfast included in the price. So I saved money there.

There is a night train from Barcelona to Paris: if you buy your couchette in advance, you can get a decent price, and you will save a hotel night. If plane tickets have not been bought, it would make more sense to fly out to your furthest city first and train back. For example fly Vilnus to Barcelona, not to Berlin.

Notable absences from your itinerary are Rome, Venice, London. But obviously you are trying to cut down on your itinerary, not add. BTW I liked Munich a lot more than Berlin.

thanks for the info. I did not realized the train was discontinued.

Before posting here I checked for the flights options, when saw like 30-40 Euro flights I thought that might be a good idea to cover those distant cities. Trains unfortunately can be way more expensive, I can not check for October rates now unfortunately. Why do you think AirBnb will be not a pleasant experience?

Why do you think AirBnb will be not a pleasant experience?

I can't see anyone suggesting AirBnB will not be a pleasant experience. The advice given was that hostels are likely to be cheaper. AirBnB is fine, I use it but I know that hostels will be cheaper. Whilst not quite the same experience, if your budget is tight then hostels are a better choice over AirBnB for no other reason than cost.

I'm intrigued where Vilnius fits in. It's fine if you don't want to elaborate but the impression I have is that you're not currently residing in Vilnius but rather it is the start and end point of your travel. Is there any particular reason for that? It's not the most obvious place to start from and would it not be easier to start in one of the cities that you actually intend on visiting?

I understand your desire to see as much as you can but with your current plans you're not seeing anything. At best you're simply transiting through those cities which is going to leave you with nothing but frustration and regret. You're very young, don't assume that you might not be ale to get back to Europe. My family were poor when I was young and we never travelled abroad (or at home), I had one holiday at a local holiday park. The first time I travelled abroad was when I was 19 and now, at 43, I've travelled to destinations that I'd never dreamed I'd visit, I fly in business or first class which was unimaginable in my 20's. So I would say that unless there's actually something in your life that is going to determine and curtail your future travel prospects then go with the approach that you will have the opportunity to return.

Yes like JC explained my suggestion of youth hostel was only related to cost since you alluded to a very strict budget and 1-2 nights per city (with the exception of Paris to which you gave 3). Airbnb can be a very pleasant experience. I usually stay at an airbnb when I stay 4 or more nights in a city. Otherwise I use hotels. Check in and check out are efficient and the hotel can keep my bags while I explore before a train.

I would recommend the hostels over Airb&b all the more so in Krakow, which has one of the best hostels, same as in Lisbon.

Krakow has evidence of WW2 history, the big memorial to "Katyn" in the Zentrum area, which you'll encounter while exploring on foot.

What about using Air Baltic as a flying option?

Yup I live in Belarus, which basically makes Vilnius my best hub for starting the travel. After reading various opinions I guess I will stick to Central Europe with Poland, Germany and France. And leave Southern Europe for other travel plans! Thanks everyone for making my choice easier :)

Good choice on focusing on central Europe and France.

A good choice in choosing to go to Vilnius, one reason for its cultural history.

What about Klaipeda/Memel since you're already in Lithuania? Or, Kaunas/Kowno? If you're in Germany, there is a connection to Lithuania...by ferry going from Kiel to Klaipeda, takes over 24 hrs.

Thanks Fred! I didn't know there's a ferry between Germany and Lithuania :) But I'm a seasick Alex :D so definitely not my option, unfortunately. I've been to Vilnius and Kaunas a couple of times. Not this time for sure but I'll promise to include other cities in my future travel plans :)

That precludes that option if you get sea sick. From Poland to Germany are also ferry connections. I like taking the ferry, regardless if it's an overnight ferry or one that is 20-24 hrs.