Itinerary Feedback/Help Wanted-- 5 Weeks Backpacking Western Europe

October 5. Are you really planning on seeing Pompeii and Ostia Antica on the same day? Maybe you mean Pompeii OR Ostia followed by the Pantheon? Pompeii is a full day trip from Rome. Ostia could be a pleasant half day giving you more time in Rome. Be aware that tickets for Borghese sell out very quickly and are for timed entry. Lovely museum to visit as number of visitors are restricted and you are not fighting hundreds of others to look at the exhibits. You mention your friend has issues with crowds - the Vatican Museum is notoriously crowded most of the time. Museums are my happy places and the Vatican is the only one I couldn’t wait to get out of. There are some tours offered early morning and later in the day, I seem to recall hearing about a tour offering breakfast, and one called Pristine Sistine but don’t know anything about them. I really enjoyed the National Museum of Rome near Termini Station - as an alternative if your friend is feeling a bit overwhelmed.

On September 11 have you worked out the train and ferry times?

Given that only 4 ferries a day take foot passengers, and the inefficiency of the operation it will be late in the day for your picnic.

Also there is part of the Camino you can walk from London to Ramsgate, a separate Pilgrims passport.
At Canterbury you can 'glamp' (champ as it is called) in Fordwich Church.
Not sure if it's on the Via Francigena, but it's on my version of the Camino, and is also served by Sturry station.

The bus is cheaper (£3 each) from Canterbury to Dover- #15 every 20 minutes.

Sounds like a lovely trip. A few thoughts from me:
-That is very cool you are doing the Via Francigena! In fact I was just there this past weekend, walking the part that overlaps with the North Downs Way between Canterbury and Dover. If you have time in Canterbury I also recommend St Augustine's Abbey.
-For getting from Canterbury to Paris, you might be better off going back into London and getting the Eurostar (unless that is not covered by your pass?). I think that will still be faster than getting down to Folkestone and taking the ferry, then another train from Calais. However if you're wanting to take the ferry as part of the experience that is definitely doable.
-If you have the opportunity in Salzburg, I really enjoyed attending a classical concert in the fortress- great atmosphere.
-Do you already have accommodation in Munich? Oktoberfest accommodation books up months in advance so you may need to think about staying out of town.
-I would also look at tickets for Accademia and Uffizi as those book up in advance, too.
-As stated above, I don't think it's possible to see Pompeii and Ostia Antica from Rome in the same day. I would just visit Ostia Antica personally, you will spend less time in transit. For the Pantheon, you used to be able to just walk in but I think now you need tickets.
-Vatican museums and Borghese Gallery also book up in advance.
-Regarding crowds- at Oktoberfest, there are definitely some areas you can get away from crowds outside the tents. I would spend some time walking around the outdoor festival areas if you need a break.

If you're trying to save money the daytime flix bus from London is another option,it usually takes one of the Dover ferry routes. Folkestone ferry port closed years ago

@isn31c, & @Cat VH:

Thank you for your suggestions with the ferry! While we'll already be using a rail pass day (so no need to take the Canterbury-Dover bus), the flixbus is an awesome suggestion for saving money, I'll be sure to check that out. Thank you also for the Fordwich Church suggestion! The $$ tips are especially useful as we will be picnicking and sleeping in hostels/convents 95% of the time. We have worked out the train and ferry times, due to the available departures that day for Eurail users, the train would only save us ~2 hours and would cost more. Either way, we'll get in in time for an Eiffel tower dinner picnic.

Oct 5: See Pompeii + Ostia Antica + Pantheon on free Sunday.

Unless Star Fleet has loaned you use of the Transporter system, I cannot imagine how you can do this.

@Lesley & @Cat VH:

Thank you both for your responses and suggestions! I took your advice and have been busy booking museums and some accommodations, especially for Oktoberfest. Thanks to you guys, I was able to get into everything I wanted, including the very last availability for the Vatican Museums (5:30pm on Tues, Oct 7th)! Thankfully, the hostel we wanted (The Circus Tent near Munich) still had room too, so we were able to pay 40euro each for 2 nights instead of having to commute from out of town. You guys are lifesavers (or trip-savers)!

@Lesley, @Cat VH, & @joe32F

Thanks for calling me out on my Pompeii + Ostia Antica insanity! As Star Fleet has not responded to my inquires vis-a-vis their Transporter (lol), we will definitely be choosing between the two on that day.

Thank you also for your crowds-based suggestions. And @Cat VH, that's awesome about the Via Francigena and Salzburg concert! I'll add those to our menu of options and look into tickets. :)

I am so glad to hear this trip is coming together! It sounds amazing, and as a big fan of long distance walking I am keen to hear what that end of the Via Francigena is like. One thing I forgot to mention for your time in Rome is that the Rick Steves audio guides (which you can download for free on your podcast app) are excellent. There are something like nine for Rome, including Ostia Antica and the Vatican. We did almost all of them during a long weekend in Rome in 2021 and even though I had been to several of the locations previously I learnt quite a lot of new things!

With regards the cow festival I can't see how you can make that work. You would have to leave Salzburg at 6pm on the 18th on a succession of seated only trains arriving into Interlaken at 7am after the festival has started.
I think you need to decide between the cow festival and Salzburg.
If you left Interlaken at 4pm, after the festival is done you'd be in Munich by 11pm to return to schedule.

An unenviable choice, I know you're young but that feels like a step too far to try to do both.

Sept 11 - the cross Channel trip. I see that you are confident about the plans you have and the Jenga that needs not to fall for that to happen. I will say that P&O which are the only ferry company which take foot passengers, and only on a small number of their crossings, do not make things easy for foot passengers.

The idea of the Flixbus to Paris is actually a good one. You get the ferry experience with very little of the hassle, and a comfortable coach with features like wifi and nice seats, and almost always really keen prices. If you already have your ferry tickets and understand the system, fair enough, but if not maybe the alternative? Everybody has to leave the coach and go up on deck during the crossing - nobody is allowed on the vehicle decks during the crossing.

For J - the stairways on ferries at arrival and return to vehicle time are crowded with everybody doing the same thing. I have to use the lifts because of my wife's health issues, and they are no quiet place either, usually very crowded with folks and kids going up or down.

Happy travels - sounds like a great adventure

Bath - although we love Bath, I haven't been to the Jane Austen Museum despite my wife's life long love of Jane Austen. I've seen here on the Forums that the museum may not fit what we would want to see. You may lower your expectations and then maybe be pleasantly surprised.

Jane Austen's actual house, and that of her brother are both in Chawton a few miles east of Winchester and well worth it for fans. Her grave is in Winchester Cathedral.

The British Museum is usually extremely crowded, with the situation improving a bit late in the afternoon. I've been told weekends, Fridays and holidays are the worst and extra people tend to head for the museum on rainy days. It takes days to see the entire museum, so you might want to consider seeing some of the exhibits on the upper floor, which is marginally less crowded than the ground floor. If you can make firm plans for the museum, you might try to book timed entry tickets so you have access to the faster security-screening line. Otherwise, you are likely to spend quite some time in that line unless you opt for a short visit and show up in the late afternoon.

Many people go to Padua primarily to see the Scrovegni Chapel. That needs to be prebooked, though you can usually do that a day or two ahead of time.

Vaporetto tickets in Venice cost €9.50 per ride. It's worth thinking seriously about how many rides you'll want or need to take, because you can buy a 24-hour pass for €25 or a 48-hour pass for. €35. Actually, I think you're young enough to qualify for a youth rate. I don't remember whether that's for individual tickets, passes or both. Whether you travel with tickets or passes, be sure to validate them before stepping onto the boarding platform.

That is a lot of traveling, with not much time spent in any one place.

Are you planning to book some of your admissions in advance? Your Florence plans are compressed, even more than the rest of your trip.

So, I have to confess that I have no experience with student housing/hostels/backpacking/couch surfing. I would never be brave enough to set off to all of your locations without any ideas about where I was staying.
That said, I did worry a bit about the idea that you could just show up in Munich during Oktoberfest with no worries about advance reservations. It may be that I just don't understand how things work for "backpacker" traveling. I do know that Munich is usually quite booked up and prices are higher during this time. You may need to consider staying a bit further out.

Also, I would substitute Nymphenburg Palace in Munich for Neuchwanstein. It is a better palace and a 10 minute tram ride away from Central Station.

Thank you all again for your wonderful comments and feedback, I'll try to respond to everyone below.

Thank you Cat VH and Acraven for your budget tips! The Rick Steves Audio Europe tours sound perfect and we do qualify for Venice's generous youth travel card discount.

Dear isn31c, thank you for looking into that transfer for us. We are opting to miss the cow festival to see Salzburg and not blow our budget on more days in Switzerland. While it's unfortunate, we are still happy to go to the alps, and we know we can't do everything in one trip.

Thank you Nigel for further information on our ferry day. It's definitely a toss-up between the convenience and ease of Flixbus versus the lower cost (due to not sleeping in London) and shorter travel time of doing it ourselves. Whichever way we decide, I'll write a trip report about it! Thank you also for the Jane Austen information, good to know before we go! I'll certainly have a look through the forums and see if it's worth the price of entry, and also check how far her house is from Oxford.

Dear Acraven, booking the British museum in advance is a genius idea! Since we have the freedom of timing our day trips out of Oxford, we'll certainly go to London (and likely Bath) midweek for the lesser crowds. While our must-sees do include the Rosetta Stone (we studied Ancient Greek in college and want to read it) and the Parthenon Marbles (we promised our professor we'd visit and be suitably disgruntled with how poorly they're displayed in England compared to Greece), we'll pick a section of the upper floor to enjoy as well. Honestly, though I know it sounds uncultured, the Scrovegni Chapel wasn't on our radar, as we're already seeing so many other churches. However, I do like that it can be booked a couple days in advance, so we can decide sooner if it's something we want to do.

Dear Geovagriffith and Carol, I should clarify that I am now booking accommodations for these places, I just wanted a week to sleep on our final itinerary (it's gone through many, many iterations) and get some advice before doing so. Don't worry, we have Oktoberfest beds and popular museum admissions (more detail in prior responses). It's a fast-paced itinerary, but we only have one one-night stand (Venice), we alternate between high-octane and more laid-back locales, and we'll only have 3-4 full travel days in the 5 weeks-- I'm hoping those things will help. Florence is compressed because something had to give and that city is where lodging budgets go to die (seriously, I found better hostels near central London for 1/2 the price). Luckily, J can return easily due to living in the UK, and I have a cousin studying there this Spring who I can visit. :)

On September 11 to make the 90 minute check in time for the 0945 ferry you would need to leave Canterbury East at 0640, as the 0733 train is way too tight.
The 0640 arrives at Dover at 0709. I guess you will then walk along the sea front, not take a taxi, to arrive at the Docks at about 0730, for 0815 last check in.
The problem is if that train is cancelled there is no plan B, other than taking the 0533 train, or the 0655 bus #15, arrive 0731.
The ferry arrives Calais at 1215 local time. Allow an hour to disembark and catch the Baladin bus to Calais Ville station.
You then get the 2.37 pm TER train (so no reservations needed) arrive Paris Nord 5.30 pm.
Don't take the 2.33 to Lille, as that is a TGV from Lille to Paris- reservations needed at extra cost.
Historically Flixbus left London around 9am, which would have allowed you to transfer back to London from Canterbury. Frustrating it is now 7am and 1230.

Due to the crowds, it may well be difficult to get close enough to the Rosetta Stone to actually see the carvings on it. Apparently the British Museum thinks access is a problem, because it has put a copy of the Rosetta Stone elsewhere in the museum--I think on the second floor.

For a future trip that takes you to the Dordogne area in southwest France: The picturesque town of Figeac was the birthplace of Jean-Francois Champollion, who deciphered the Rosetta Stone. There's a nice museum in town on the history of writing, and the small plaza in front of the museum is a replica of the Rosetta Stone. I got a kick out of that.

Dear isn31c, thank you very much for laying out the schedules for me! I hadn't thought about what to do if a train were to be canceled; after checking Man in Seat 61 and the P&O website, the good news is we can catch the next ferry for free. We would still get into Paris, just much later. Are trains canceled often?

Dear Acraven, good point about the Rosetta stone, we'll likely be taking our in-depth pictures off of the copy. I absolutely LOVE your future trip idea! Getting recommendations I would have never thought of myself is swiftly becoming one of my favorite things about this forum!

South Eastern cancelled 2.7% of trains in the last reporting period, so not a lot.

But if someone rings in sick or a train breaks down they will always prioritise London bound, not coast bound trains at that time on a weekday morning.