How to Avoid Redundancy: Variety and Quality -- Possible?

3-4 weeks is a big canvas and you can have a really memorable trip. Based on my own experience I would advise that variety helps keep memories fresh and distinct. So mix things up: city AND country, modern AND old. Cultural contrast counts too. Another thing to vary is the tempo of your trip. A solid week of athletic sightseeing is fine (if you are up for it), but follow that with a place where you can stop and smell the cappuccino for 4 or even 7 days. I'm not talking about doing nothing (though that's nice too sometimes), just being in the same place long enough to find the best pastry shops in the neighborhood. Your other problem is setting priorities, because even in 4 weeks you can't see everything. I think you are aware of that, kid-in-candy-store impulses nothwithstanding. My only advice is that this is critical planning work so you and hubby need to read up and look at the map and be brutally honest about this stuff. I'll also suggest that while Amsterdam and Brugges are first-rate destinations, it is silly to base your trip on the fact that you can get a direct flight there. With a few more hours and a flight change you can land in Paris or Seville or Nice or wherever suits your itinerary best. The tail should not wag the dog. It's all about choices: if you forgo A'dam and Brugges you can visit French Catalonia, Carcassone, and/or the Perigord on your way to or from Paris. All are great, read up to discover what would be greatest for you and yours. Have a blast!

It really doesn't sound like you'll have much redundancy. The problem (mine too) is limiting destinations. You can fit a lot into 4 weeks and you are being sensible in knowing not to overdo it. I like to use a calendar approach, but I do it on a spreadsheet. Some people use paper and stickies. Start putting in your destinations - how many days in each and be sure to figure at least 1/2 day "down time" for every venue change. Then you get a good idea of what is possible. Remember that changing hotels every 2 or 3 nights can be exhausting on a 3-4 week trip, so plan to spend longer in a couple of places. If you've already been to Amsterdam, stay in another Dutch city. The Hague is only about 10 minutes longer by train from Schiphol than Amsterdam, is cleaner, quieter, lots to see for a couple of days and the hotels are considerably cheaper. Delft is about 25 minutes by tram from The Hague (also a good place to stay). It's easy to stay in the Hague and take day trips to Amsterdam, Delft, and other charming Dutch towns. Or go straight to Belgium. I preferred staying in Ghent and daytripping to Bruges. Either Belgium or Holland, but not both (possible redundancy). From Paris there are day trips you can take to vary the itinerary, and of course tons of places to visit and things to do in the city, so plan on a bit longer stay. Do you want to spend a few days meandering through the south of France to Spain or will you fly from Paris?

Barcelona is not very close to Granada which is not very close to Gibraltar. I would drop Morocco and check out train schedules and flight schedules. Venice is not close to Greece - by car from Venice to Athens is about 1900 km. though a short flight. Of course, getting to/from the airport to the city is going to eat up time too. You will "lose" close to an entire day when you fly, especially from major cities, whose airports are mostly pretty far away. It doesn't sound preposterous to fly from city to city, say, Paris-Granada, Barcelona-Venice, Venice-Istanbul. You could still have enough time to see a lot in each place, including day trips. One thing to keep in mind is that the budget airlines in Europe generally have much lower baggage allowances, especially carry-on, than transatlantic flights. Even if you can travel from Canada with just carry-on, you'll probably have to check it on the shorter flights, and then wait for it at each destination. And of course, there's the cost. The more distance you cover, the more money you will spend on transportation.

Trishia, I had to laugh at myself when I read your post, I do the same thing but I can't get out of Italy! I just keep adding new places to visit. Great suggestions from Chani if you are determined to see what sounds like a quarter of the globe in 3-4 weeks! Keep in mind that more things can go wrong the more time you spend in transit (more connections that can be delayed or missed, luggage lost, paying for checked baggage and waiting for it, customs, transportation time and costs between airports and cities). Specifically, I'd suggest choosing an open-jaw airline ticket and avoid backtracking if you plan to cover as much ground as your post suggests. Since you've already been to Venice, you can save it for your "greatest hits" trip later. Either start in the Netherlands/Belgium and end up in Istanbul, or vice versa. And definitely consider flying rather than overnight trains (the overnighters seem tempting, but are not restful in my opinion).

Thanks to everyone for your feedback and advice. I'm reading and rereading to let everything sink in. I know that part of me says we won't come back (Thailand, Australia, etc. beckoning) and since it has been 10 years since my last trip, I really wanna make this opportunity count. Doing open jaw, say from Amsterdam to Istanbul is affordable and doesn't make the airfare jump up in price at all (still in that $1100 range). I've got to check the price of inter-Europe air to see if it too is affordable/comparable to train, etc. I'm still unpacking from a move but as soon as I find my Europe map, it's going on the wall and I'll be getting the sticky notes out! Just read another poster's comment about being at the end of her trip and rushing through a museum because she was 'museum-fried.':) That's what I'm hoping I can make myself avoid -- To this day I shake my head and wonder why I visited both Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle. I know the answer: cause Rick made it sound like I should:)hahaha! But now I know what I really like and can better 'read between the lines' in a guide book as to what is really a must see for me. Remerciements!

You say you 'want to make this trip count'. That can mean different things to different people. To some it means checking off as many boxes in as many places as possible. To others (and most of us here- at least the long-timers) it means learning about and enjoying the places we go. There will always be more places we want to see, and more things we want to do in the places we do get to. But we want to really remember what we see, absorb where we are and sort of marinate in the whole geshtalt of a location. Only you can decide what 'counting' means to you. I've only visited Amsterdam and Paris of the places you mention. Amsterdam I'd do again (we stayed about 3 days and enjoyed it), but Paris left us cold. Won't go back there- probably won't touch France. To each his own. I do like a mix of city and rural. We often stay several days in London, then spend some time in the Scottish highlands. But we've also had great trips that were all city focused.
If I could plan 'your' trip for me, I'd fly into Amsterdam and stay 3-5 days, then train to Brugges- for 2 days. Then Paris- if you must- for a week (get an apartment). You could extend the time a bit with some day trips. Then Spain. Pick one location and do day trips- spend a week or so. Or pick 2 locations and do 3 days each. From there you're on your own, I don't have even enough basic background info to make suggesstions.

Trishia, A lot of posts on this site tell people to assess the amount of travel time so you aren't spending so much time traveling between stops. You don't want to geet home and wish you didn't spend so much time on a train or car. Before our last trip, someone on this site suggested plotting your trip on a calendar (in Excel), noting how many hours per day of travel (door to door), and how many hours you actually have to sightsee/wander/relax in a cafe/eat out, (assumed 10 hours per night sleeping/in hotel room). We would either decide to leave early AM in order to arrive mid afternoon, or leave mid afternoon to arrive early evening. This way we never felt like a whole day involved traveling from point A to B. Since we had a rental car the whole trip, it was easy enough using google maps to figure travel times. If by train, you need to include the time to/from train station to hotel. There's nothing wrong with spending the whole day driving or on a train, you just don't want too many of those days. We were still flexible, but this method allowed me to tweak our itinary before our trip. Using the same method for our trip next year, but by train. Example: Venice- 6 hours-sightsee (8am to 2pm) Leave Venice 2pm Arrive Cortona-7pm (5 hours)
3 Hours- Relax in villa