Itinerary fill ins & suggestions

Save some valuable time. For Paris to Vienna check www.airberlin.com. They're not your typical low cost carrier, they do offer free snacks and drinks and a generous baggage allowance.

Alayna, you can do this in 9 days if you're taking night trains. Otherwise, like you said, you'll be spending too much of your precious daylight sightseeing hours on the train. Not that the countryside isn't beautiful. But you don't need an entire day on the train to appreciate it.

IMO, going all the way to Vienna and back to Amsterdam is going to put you on the train longer than you want to be there. This is why night trains are a must. Prague won't save you much.

If I were you, though, I'd cut out Amsterdam and fly out of Vienna. Take the cost and time of going by train from Vienna to Amsterdam vs. flying out of Vienna.

Since you're in Boston, my #1 piece of advice for you is to plan this like you're going to go back. You can get from the east coast to London for a song and then take the train to Amsterdam with ease. Trust me, you WILL be back. Just about all of us who have done this have worried about not coming back, and now we can't imagine our lives without European travel!

It IS cheap to just fly to vienna (9 euro fare!)- would anyone suggest cutting out eurail all together and just price flights?

Concerning rail passes, do they count countries you PASS through as a country- ie, passing through luxemburg to get to france?

If you're only going to three cities, it would certainly be worth looking into flights. Save some time, too.

Regarding your earlier question about adding destinations to build it up from the 9 days you currently have planned: you could add a day in each of your three cities and then daytrip out via bus or train, vs. adding a fourth destination city.

It's actually looking like a youth rail pass will be the cheapest, if i wen france-germany-germanyto austria- austria through germany to holland- holland to france, that is 4 countries for 344$. point to point is pricey as well as the tickets for air travel from austria.

Also an option, staying a night in munich before hitting austria?

Alayna...are you sure you want to spend all that time on the train, sitting up overnight? Double check www.whichbudget.com....Skyeurope has Paris-Vienna flights cheap for mid-May....a little more expensive Vienna-Amsterdam, but still cheaper than your rail pass, and a lot faster. Adding Munich or Salzburg is not a good idea....you've already got three cities in 9 days, plus travelling time.

I looked at flights out of vienna and that and they cost almost as much as a rail pass. I was looking to have a trip from the 13th to 22nd of may, which with the est. train travel and days in cities gave me some extra time to add in a city.
I'd hate to spend 800 bucks on a plane to europe only to come back asap.
I'd rather take night trains than spend 15hr on a day train. I don't really mind I guess, I'd rather take the time to see what I want and not be rushed, although my other option is to spend an extra day in amsterdam probably, although I wanted to see about seeing another place.

If I combined flights from skyeurope and took the train from AMS to paris for 39.00, the cost comes out just over $200 and saves 2 days of travel time.
Does anyone have actual experience using these euro budget airlines and booking far ahead, because one thing I like about the eurail pass was a little more freedom in coming and going time, where I will have to change my itinerary around flights...

With only 9 days, I'd forget Vienna. Plenty to see and do in Amsterdam and Paris. (Cheaper railpass, too. if you go that route).

There really isn't any time to add a stop between any of these points if you try to visit them all in nine days.

But if you do go, fly home from Vienna, not Paris. (Or start there). Even if you fly, it's most of a day if you include to & from airport, etc.

I understand about "maximizing your time," but sometimes the way to do that is to slow down and spend less time in transit.

hi alayna,

.... www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/int/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

the above web site may be useful in computing the time spent en route to / from points and places anywhere ... bon voyage! Gute Reise!... P.

Adam: I'm going to vienna specifically for the music history, besides musuems I am specifically planning to get a rush ticket to the opera, so bagging it really isn't what I want to do.

I checked flights and vienna is more expensive to fly out of. I only picked 3 cities, so I think 2 weeks will give me some time to spend in each place and with my airfare, and if I fly sky europe to vienna and ams and take train from AMS to paris, I would save some money, and 2 days and be able to even spend an extra day in either AMS or vienna.

The catch is: I can fly out of vienna for 29 euros, but the flight is 6:30 AM! The hostel I want to book has no lockout, so I could probaly leave for the aiport early enough, but I wouldn't look forward to how to get there by myself at 430 or so in the morning, that is a big problem!
The alternative is a flight leaving at 8pm, leaving me to navigate my way at 10pm to a hostel, equally not fun.
Everyone keeps telling me that night trains suck, so If I can just travel by train and plane for 300 (what a eurail pass would be) then by all means, I'll do that.
9 days is only the estimated time had to stay, I'm not on a constraint.

I was looking at fares returning here on the 25th, which means I could add a day in ams or vienna, or paris. Paris is the most expensive for me right now, as I am looking at a single room, that is already 180 for 3 nights. I am more aware of things to do in amsterdam, only know of 2 days worth what to do in vienna...

I saw your other thread about bringing the large bag with you. One catch about the discount carriers is they are really picky about bag size and weight. Search this forum and you can find other threads discussing this.

So be sure to check ahead of time to make sure what you're carrying is under their limits or you could face sizeable charges at the airport when you're checking in.

Well I officially booked my flight to and from paris and my hostels!
I will wait at least until next month to book my flights on skyeurope and will have to wait a little longer to book train ticket. Having that done is a load off and I accounted for plane delays by taking earlier flights and hostelworld allows you to say when you will be arriving, as I wouldnt get into AMS until 840pm.
I'm on my way!