Mega Europe Trip itinerary

So you're visiting 20 places in 15 days? Ummmm... I'd dump at least 2/3 of the destinations. Think about travel time between cities. Think about checking into and out of your lodgings. Think about actually seeing the sights in each of these worthy destinations.

Please, rethink this.

Hi, and welcome to the forum.
I'm a little confused by your 15 consecutive days? Are you actually planning only 15 days to see all these places? That would mean spending your entire time travelling from place to place.
Assuming I've misunderstood, your plan strikes me as very ambitious even for much longer time frame. I would personally only do Italy if you have 15 days, or Italy Switzerland.
My only other comment would be if you start in September I would have started the trip in the north and moved south as fall came. ,

I’m counting 21 places in 15 days. You are a slug! Add at least 10 stops then come back here!

Perhaps he means a Eurail 15-day Flexipass (15 days in a two-month period).

Regardless gh-mujtaba, that is a lot of cities and you are not spending much time in any of them. You'll find that the destinations are not close to each other, and often require a lot of connections to get from one to the other. You would spend 15 days of your trip riding on a train or in waiting in train stations.

If not too late, you should also consider booking an itinerary that has you arriving in one city (Rome) and departing for home from another (Vienna or any last stop). They're called open-jaw or multi-city tickets. Costs are similar to a round trip (return) fare. That saves you from a long trip back to a place you have already been.

I think your route is not efficient. Perhaps you should say how many total nights you have for your trip. This website The Man in Seat 61 is a good reference for planning rail travel. There are a lot of details that you need to know, such as the need to make reservations on fast trains, and where to get train schedules, including connections and how to read information in the different languages.

Echoing Jane's comments above. You need to cut a lot of these cities and focus on one or two regions/countries.

How long do you plan to visit Europe? Presume that each time you switch cities, you will lose a minimum of a half-day or possibly a full day in transit. Sit down and write out each day of your itinerary. For example, Day 1 is lost to traveling to Europe, so you arrive on Day 2. If you stay put in one city for 2-3 days, then the following day is a travel day and should be counted as so.

You may benefit from ordering Rick's "Europe Through the Back Door". It's a great, basic resource in understanding "how" to travel and all the things to consider when doing so. We all assume we "know" how to travel, but I believe it's a mix of preparing oneself and then experiencing and learning from one's travels - we all get better at it after each trip.

Good luck - and enjoy the planning!

This is insanity. You will spend most of your time traveling. Stop and smell the roses, enjoy the places you will visit.

I see that after Rome ( you need at least 5-6 days for Rome) you are taking the train to Venice. Can't imagine passing Florence without a visit.

We have been to almost all the places that you plan to visit and I would say one month would not be enough to enjoy the sites properly.

wally, yes this has been true ever since I can remember. For many people, this forum or forums like this are the first stop in researching a trip, not the last. Its just the way it is, and unfortunately, its often after they've made the major planning commitments. Nevertheless, the questions are always new to somebody, so we can choose to help or not.

Whoa, slow down there partner, unless you have six months to travel your plans are really not feasible. Take a look at the itinerary on Ricks tours on this website for starters then scale back from there. The professionals who have been before know where to go and how to get there, you will not. So you will not be as efficient due to inexperience. For instance, if Rick has a 15 day trip with x number of stops take at least 2 off. When I plan for a 15-day trip I usually include 4 stops maximum and 2 to 3 countries in close proximity. You will want to see more than train stations and train interiors so take time to visit each site. If I am planning a grand tour, I do 20 days at least, our last was Munich, Nördlingen, Luzern, Beaune, Tours, and York (which was almost too far from Tours). Taking the train is the right way to do it, but passes may cost more than just getting point to point tickets. I never buy the passes. Good luck!

Hi gh.mujtaba,

I agree with everyone else -- whoa!! You can't possibly cover this much territory, unless to goal is simply to take the train and not get off. It sounds like you are trying to squeeze every possible km out of your pass! Looking at your proposed itinerary, perhaps you'd want to approach it by region and pick two-three cities there. For example, over two weeks, divide your time in Rome, Venice and Milan. Or, in Switzerland, see the places you list, then maybe add one more city, although I think it would be fun just to stay in Switzerland. How about a week in Copenhagen/Denmark and a week in Stockholm/Sweden, or cut back a little there and add Helsinki? Or do Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen spread out over 2 weeks. I took a lovely trip a few years ago spending a week in Budapest and a week in Prague. Also spent a week in Berlin and a week in Vienna on another trip. Or start in Helsinki and add a couple days in each of the Baltic capitals. You get the idea. Pick one trip of these potential six trips and enjoy it. Let us know what you decide. Happy planning!

I’m fascinated that this is the OP’s only post and there’s no response yet.

Agreeing with Wally’s post above.

Hi,

I would suggest dropping a few places from the projected itinerary.

Using the rail pass, you should include doing a few rides by night train, eg, Berlin to Budapest.. Also Warsaw to Vienna can be done by night train. Factoring the night train train option helps to stretch your vacation days.

To do this itinerary as listed I would suggest having at least 4 full weeks.

In addition to everything else that has been said, I don’t know what September will look like but I think it’s safe to say that zipping through borders won’t be routine regardless of the status of a vaccine.

Thanks for everyone for reply and valuable suggestions, here is my complete itinery, in first week of September flight from Istanbul to rome 2N and 2 D, by train journey to Venice arrived in 2 to 3 h1n 2 D than journey to bernina express from tirano via milan side tour. Arrive in st mortz in swiss alps than next day journey to lucerne vie brig glaciar express next day journey to zurich via train for 2 N 2 D jiurney. than journey start to vienna for 2N with two side tour that journey lasts 2 to 3 hour from zurich fast train. therefter 2N 2 D journwy to berlin via fast train. Next stop is Stockholm via Hamburg for 2 days only and side tour oslo 1N than via fery Stockholm to helsieki than one day trip enjoyed next journey via 2h ferry to tallin tayed 2 days than via train or bus 4h journey to riga. And so on journwy ends in last week of September. as for as attraction are concerned i wil plan limited sights. focus to train journeys.

Regards

your posts are a challenge to read, so for the benefit of other answerers, I'll work on making it a bit easier to follow, based on the post immediately above. The extra days are really hard to understand so I will count them out. If you have 3 nights you only get 2 days sightseeing, if you have 2 nights somewhere you only get one full day sightseeing. I becomes really hard when you say you get more days than nights sightseeing, especially with long trips. So here we go:

Arrive in the first week of September some time from Istanbul.

Arrive in Rome,
Rome 2 days and 2 nights, so you must be counting your day of arrival from Istanbul as day 1 and the next day as the second.
2 days used by your plan
2 nights used

"by train journey to Venice arrived in 2 to 3 h1n 2 D"
I think that must mean train from Rome takes 2 to 3 hours and you will spend one night in Venice and 2 days. The train takes 3:59, not 2 or 3 hours. If you leave your Rome hotel early and catch the 08:35 fast train (only stops in Roma Tiburtina, Firenze S.M.N, (Florence), Bologna Centrale, Rovigo, Padova (Padua) and Venezia Mestre before Venezia Santa Lucia (the main Venice station on the islands) it gets to Venice at 12:34. It will take you at least an hour to find tickets for the vaporetto and get to a hotel pretty much anywhere, and probably another to check in and leave your bags and dash out, so most you get nearly half a day there that day. I simply don't see where your second day comes from because in order to take the Bernina Express and see Milan you must be leaving Venice at dawn. The fastest train from Venezia S Lucia to Tirano (where you catch the Bernina Express) takes 5 and a half hours, most take 6 and a half hours.

4 days used
3 nights used

If you catch the 7:18 from Venice (up early to catch train) you get to Tirano at 12:54, with 35 minutes to change trains. No time to visit Milan. You have just over an hour to wait for the Bernina Express at 14:07, arrives at S Moritz at 16:19. You can't leave Venice any later. Stay at S Moritz

5 days used
4 nights used

The next day S Moritz > Chur > Disentis > Brig > Bern > Zurich > Luzern. That will take all day, even more if you actually want to get off the trains along the way, and involve several changes.
Stay in Luzern

6 days used (the 6th entirely on trains)
5 nights used

The next day travel 90 minutes to Zurich for 2 nights and 2 days (in reality it will be less than 2 days)

8 days used
7 nights used

The next day start to Vienna. You say it takes 2 to 3 hours to Vienna from Zurich. Sorry, the train time with no changes is 7 hours and 50 minutes. If you leave Zurich on the 10:40 Railjet you will get into Vienna at 18:30, just in time for a late dinner. What are the two side tours you want to do on the way? How much time will that take? How late are you happy to arrive at Vienna? You say you will be in Vienna 2 nights and 2 days. Since both arrival and departure are long journeys on train I propose you are only allowing one single day in Vienna. Just following your plan.

10 days used
9 nights used

I've run out of space for your plan. I'll continue below....

continuing...

We had used 10 of your days and 9 nights

Then take 2 nights and 2 days in Berlin. The train from Vienna to Berlin takes between 8 and half and nine and half hours. The ICE (Germany's fastest trains) takes 9:03 with a change of train in Nürnberg, That is all day for that journey.

12 days used
11 nights used

I don't know much about the Baltics or Scandinavia so I won't give any comments but to summarise your plan:

Next stop is Stockholm via Hamburg for 2 days only

14 days used
12 nights used

and side tour oslo 1 night (less than 1 day?)

15 days used
13 nights used

"then via ferry Stockholm to Helsinki than one day trip enjoyed"
I can't work out how many nights and days you have planned into and out of this segment.... I'll assume 1?

16 days used?
14 nights used?

"next journey via 2h ferry to tallin tayed 2 days"
I think that's ferry to Tallin (actually the ferry is 2:30) plus getting to and from the ferry, for 2 days. 1 night or 2? I assume you mean 1 night?

18 days used
15 nights used

Then train or bus 4 hours Tallin to Riga. And so the journey ends in Riga in the last week of September.

Are you missing a week, or do you intend to spend a week in Riga? or have I misunderstood your posts and miscounted?

Somehow it doesn't add up. Sounds very pushed to me.

than via train or bus 4h journey to riga. And so on journwy ends in last week of September. as for as attraction are concerned i wil plan limited sights. focus to train journeys.

Thanks for detail reply and valuable input from ur side i will take night train durimg long journey and after riga next journey to vinlious and two other rides probably berlin or vienna stood at again rome for return. Is it smart itneray or there is an other smart way to discover eurpe within short stay during 25 days or less, as i will have limited holidays, my cities to focus are, rome, venice, bernna express, glacier express, vienna, berlin, oslo, Stockholm, Tallin, riga and valnious. And side trips, milan, prague humburg, Copenhagen and helsieki and some other

I think niw u can better way figure out my joureny great and mega adventure. u can add idea for better way to chose routes

Regarda to all

Totally absurd. You will spend your entire life on trains and your times are off. You will mostly see Europe from a train window.

At the end of the trip you will believe you have wasted a lot of money and you will be exhausted. Cut out half the locations. You will enjoy it much more. And then save up for another trip to take you to the places you didn't get to see.

Than after reading all u guys that scary me, so if after berlin joureny to Stockholm , short trip to oslo than move Amsterdam for 2 nights than paris via Brussels. than paris to nice.than direct train milan to rome.

How it is

Regards

This itinerary cost me more dollors, as italy, france , Switzerland, austeria, sweden and norway is more expensive than other European countries.

My f8 places for visit are venice, swis alps, vienna, prague, Scandinavian, finland and some cheap baltic cities

Unfortunately, you do not have enough time to see all the places on your list. That is just a fact. This is very common when people start planning their first trip, though yours is one of the most aggressive we've seen here. You will have a miserable time trying to follow that itinerary, and you will end up needing to make more trips to the very same places in order to actually see them. It's not a fun way to travel, nor is it cost-effective.

September is past the good-weather period for Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, so I'd start by cutting them out of the itinerary and using those days in the other places. In case you haven't explores hotels yet: Room rates in the Scandinavian cities (as in Switzerland) are very high.

It's easier for others to figure out what you're thinking of doing if you use a format closer to this (I've made up the dates):

Friday, Sep 3: Fly to Rome from ?? (Is it an overnight flight? That matters.) 2 nights.
Sunday, Sep 5: Train to Venice. 1 night?
Monday, Sep 6: Train to Milan for a few hours then to Tirano. 1 night.
Tuesday, Sep 7: Bernina Express to St. Moritz. 1 night.
Wednesday, Sep 8: Train to Lucerne. 2 nights.

I'm sure that's not exactly what you were thinking; I'm just suggesting it will be easier for us to follow that format and comment on it. Any time you give yourself just one full day (2 nights) in a city, you need to plan your sightseeing very carefully. A lot of museums and sights are closed one day a week. If that's the day you're in town, you may not be able to go inside your top-priority sightseeing target.

When you're planning to take night trains or overnight ferries, please specify that.

With respect to costs: The capital cities and other very famous destinations (like Venice) do tend to be the most expensive in their respective countries. Italy is not expensive otherwise, except by comparison to the countries in the east. Austria and Germany are much cheaper than Switzerland. Sweden is much cheaper than Norway.

I haven't been to Amsterdam recently, but based on comments here, I believe hotels in that city are very costly. I have also read on this forum that September is the costliest month for hotels in Paris.

You are crafting itineraries that will be exorbitantly costly per hour of actual feet-on-the-ground sightseeing, because a huge proportion of your time will be spent sitting on trains/boats or sleeping.

For almost any sane itinerary, a Global Eurail Pass is not the least expensive way to move around the continent. Buying tickets (likely be to be non-refundable/non-changeable, which I admit may be risky even next year) well in advance will be less expensive.

Edited to add: The Seat 61 website is brilliant at providing information on European trains. It will tell you how to score the cheapest tickets. It has a lengthy write-up on the Bernina Express and gives a way to buy a ticket for as little as 30 euros. There is so much information that it is overwhelming. I recommend concentrating on one country at a time and taking notes.

3n 4d in Italy(one side trip)
3n in Switzerland
2n in vienna
2n in Berlin one side trip
3n Stockholm and oslo
Remaining 5 days wether dutch, and france or baltic which is cheaper than other. longer route via night train. shorter route during early day time or late evening time.

Available attraction will visit during trip or prefer to expolore cities only as next trip in my bucket is trans Siberian so i want explore europe as muxh as on that trip as may be nexr decade will take to visit again.

Regards and thanks again

Night trains as such will not necessarily exist on all the legs you might contemplate. It's important to research each one on the Deutsche Bahn website to be sure you are not looking at a trip with something like a 3-hour layover in the middle of the night. Even real night trains may subject you to as many as 10 to 15 stops along the way. Every stop comes with braking, station noise and acceleration. Trying to sleep under those conditions is problematic--or worse--for many of us. With an itinerary like yours, you risk sleep-walking through the only day you have in those world-class cities.

If you truly are massively interested in trains and barely interested at all in the cities you've mentioned (which seems to be the case since you are planning to spend too little time in them to appreciate them), I would seriously question your choice of overnight stops. You are going to be paying relatively high prices in most of those cities and barely having time to see much. If you broke your journey in smaller towns along the rail lines, your lodging costs would be a lot lower in most cases--though I guess not necessarily in Switzerland or Norway.

From the standpoint of scenery and railroad engineering, Switzerland offers by far the most to you; there's at least one corkscrew tunnel, plus various cogwheel trains and the like. It's unfortunate that Switzerland is such an expensive country.

hmmm

here is the train time from that i have planed and designed my trip.

Rome to Venice
SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
Dep 09:35
Arrv 13:34
fromUSD $11.80
3h 59m
direct

SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
10:35
14:34
fromUSD $11.80
3h 59m
direct

SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
11:35
15:34
fromUSD $11.80
3h 59m
direct

Venice to milan

SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
12:26
15:39
fromUSD $23.60
3h 13m
1 change
1 traveller

SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
13:18
15:45
fromUSD $11.80
2h 27m
direct
1 traveller

SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
13:35
17:26
fromUSD $10.62
3h 51m
1 change
1 traveller

SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
14:26
17:30
fromUSD $23.60
3h 4m
1 change
1 traveller

SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
15:18
17:55
fromUSD $11.80
2h 37m
direct

Milan to tirano italy

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
08:20
10:52
Included
2h 32m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
09:20
12:05
Included
2h 45m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
10:20
12:52
Included
2h 32m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
12:20
14:52
Included
2h 32m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
13:20
16:05
Included
2h 45m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
14:20
16:52
Included
2h 32m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
16:20
18:52
Included
2h 32m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
18:20
20:52
Included
2h 32m
direct
Tirano to st mortz by bernina express depart at 14:25 pm from tirano.

st moritz to brig by glacier express

brig to lucerne
09:48
12:01
Included
2h 13m
1 change
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
10:48
13:01
Included
2h 13m
1 change
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
11:48
14:01
Included
2h 13m
1 change
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
12:48
15:01
Included
2h 13m
1 change
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
13:19
15:55
Included
2h 36m
2 changes
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
13:48
16:01
Included
2h 13m
1 change
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
14:48
17:01
Included
2h 13m
1 change

Lucerene to zurch or by other scentic train via interlanken
NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
11:10
11:56
Included
0h 46m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
11:35
12:25
Included
0h 50m
direct
1 traveller

SOME DETAILS UNAVAILABLE
11:51
12:50
0h 59m
1 change
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
12:10
12:56
Included
0h 46m
direct
1 traveller

NO SEAT RESERVATION REQUIRED
12:35
13:25
Included
0h 50m
direct
1 traveller
Zurich to vienna N/T
21:40
ZUERICH HB (SWITZERLAND)
8h 54m
EN 40467
Euro Night
SEAT RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
You need to buy a seat reservation to board this train.
2nd class seat
USD $16.52
1 traveller
Private single sleeper
USD $134.52
1 traveller
Bed in 6-berth sleeper
USD $40.12
06:34
WIEN HBF (AUSTRIA)
Total (estimated)
USD $16.52

vienna to prague [S/T]
09:10
WIEN HBF (AUSTRIA)
4h 3m
RJ 72
Rail Jet
13:13
or

19:15
WIEN HBF (AUSTRIA)
10h 53m
IC 94
Intercity

Show facilities
YOU'RE READY TO BOARD
You can buy a seat reservation if you like but it's not required.
Hide prices
1st class seat
USD $7.08
1 traveller
2nd class seat
USD $7.08
06:08

Berlin to hamburg
17:06
BERLIN HBF (TIEF) (GERMANY)
2h 5m
EC 378
EuroCity
19:11

here i am confuse , journey continue to nomadic/ scavan: europe till baltic , where in i can enjoy ferry too.

or take ride to Amsterdam , brussels and than paris ends at rome.

further schedule and ticket fare with eurail pass share in next post

hamburg Germany to Amstardum ....

09:46
HAMBURG HBF (GERMANY)
1h 54m15:00
AMSTERDAM CENTRAAL (NETHERLANDS)
ICE 925
11:40
OSNABRUECK HBF (GERMANY)
0h 13m
Change trains
11:53
OSNABRUECK HBF (GERMANY)
3h 7m
IC 148
Intercity
15:00
AMSTERDAM CENTRAAL (NETHERLANDS)

Amsterdam to Brussels [S/T]

09:25
AMSTERDAM CENTRAAL (NETHERLANDS)
2h 47m
IC 9224
12:12
BRUXELLES-CENTRAL (BELGIUM)

Brussels to Paris
21:13
BRUXELLES-MIDI (BELGIUM)
1h 22m
THA 9388
Thalys
1st class seat
USD $29.50
2nd class seat
USD $29.50
22:35
PARIS NORD (FRANCE)
Total (estimated)
USD $29.50

Paris to nice
16:09
PARIS GARE DE LYON (FRANCE)
6h 0m
TGV 6169
TGV INOUI

1st class seat
USD $11.80
1 traveller
2nd class seat
USD $11.80
22:09
NICE VILLE (FRANCE)
USD $11.80

my journey ends at rome from paris or nice france. or direct flight from paris to istanbul

above is the traveling itinerny

i want to cut nomadic, but i wish to visit oslo and stockohlm ... again by suggesting u guys i decide to cut baltic countries , from hamburg should i go to amsterdam, brussels and paris or copenhengen, stockholm and oslo...

regards to all

Just a couple of comments.
1. Looks like you need a 15-day Flex Pass, not a Consecutive Pass.
2. Your train list does not include the seat reservation fees for the Bernina Express (16 CHF pp) or the Glacier Express (43 CHF pp).
3. Listing all those multiple train itineraries just confuses everyone.
4. It is still not clear what the total time frame you have for this marathon trip.

This trip will not be fun-just exhausting and expensive. I don't understand why you even feel the need to see Brussels. It would be a total waste of time better spent on a longer stay elsewhere. I have not been to Nice, but if you skip it you could give more time to Paris. I would just go to one of the Scandinavian cities-they are expensive. I have been to all of them except Oslo, and would not prioritize any of them in beginning explorations of Europe.

It isn't clear if the OP is from Istanbul, or at least Turkey, but she (he?) arrives and returns to Istanbul...

If he (she?) is from Istanbul that is 50/50 Europe/Asia

i never been europe, yes it will be my first time , currently i am 40. i think fast train cut down journey time, if half day will go for transfer even i can explore half of day, as days in europe are longer. some of u experience travel can suggest me which city is waste of time or which is worth of time as i can plan properly, as museums, buildings are not in y bucket list only worth seeing attraction and city sighting will be enough for me, and see the eurpean culture and life of different nations. Paris is expensive for what Eifel Tower it will crazy i only go to paris to visit Eifel Tower rather i prefer more days in vienna and swiss alps. in my view 3 or 4 days in one city after crossing thousands of miles will not give worth, as i earlier posted it will take decade to visit europe again. my next bucket is trans siberian, than next UK so i only can do trip once a year.

regards for valuable feed back.

I am guessing the OP is traveling from his home country (I presume somewhere in Asia) through Istanbul. He has not answered my question about whether he is arriving on an overnight flight, which would affect our advice about handling the arrival day.

None of the places mentioned (except perhaps Tirano and St. Moritz, necessary transit points for the Bernina Express) are wastes of time. What we are trying to make clear is that Europe for nearly all of us is not about trekking back and forth between hotels and train stations or sitting on trains, unless those trains transit incredible scenery, such as in the Alps.

There are lots of things wonderful about being in Europe--walking around the cities/towns and enjoying being in a place that just looks and smells different, hiking in the countryside, traveling on lakes and down scenic rivers, going to important historical sights, visiting museums, attending concerts or plays, eating the local food, visiting markets, etc. Nearly anwhere you go, those will be options.

Each traveler gets to decide his priorities. We don't necessarily know what we will enjoy most before our first trip. The traveler who trots from the train station to a couple of sights he's seen pictures of, takes a few photographs, then hops on another train will not get much value from his travel money. You will not see more by rushing through so many countries. You will see less, unless you're counting the scenery (most of it not exciting) as you whiz by it on the train. The way to see more is to spend less time traveling from place to place and more time in the places you choose to stay. Just because you want to go somewhere doesn't mean it's practical to do it on any given trip. You need to consider the logistics.

None of the places mentioned (except perhaps Tirano and St. Moritz, necessary transit points for the Bernina Express) are wastes of time.

And even tiny Tirano is absolutely delightful if you walk a very few minutes beyond the town center, through the medieval gate and out among the vineyards and homes built into the old wall. Despite its lack of "attractions," it left an oversized impression on me. Still, that only took 30 or 45 minutes, which you may easily have when you change trains to the Bernina Express.

Thanks, CWsocial. I should have specified that I haven't been to either Tirano or St. Moritz. I have read that St. Moritz isn't particularly atmospheric, but I couldn't remember any comments about Tirano.

acraven, I would have to agree that I didn't find the town of St. Moritz to be particularly atmospheric. Fortunately, I was on the trip with a friend who enjoyed hiking and we had a nice gondola ride up and a lovely hike down Piz Nair back into town. But I wouldn't go out of my way to visit, except as the end point of the Bernina Express.

St. Moritz

if there in Winter, seeing horse racing on the frozen lake would be good fun, as would be watching very fast toboggans on the Cresta Run.

I'm afraid that I'm taking a break from the Mega Trip until it gels a bit. I've asked unanswered questions so I'll wait for the answers.

thanks all readers and ur valuable input put me re consider my trip, as i now squeze my trip, which start from berlin and end in berlin

start-berlin --- munich----salzburg---venice---meilan---tirano to st-mortz-----luceren ---zurich ----vienna ---prague ---berlin-end

15 days trip no side trip and night train.

thanks alot now no cheap cities in above list 5000 $ will enough or i need more 3*** hotel or hostel and train pass no city pass include tickets food will cover all in 5k

thanks

i think above is smart train route itinerary. whether i can add budapast side trip and other out class scentic destination in my itinarary. pls real travelers reply trollers may avoid this post.

thanks

We are all real travelers here, but few if any of us travel the way you propose to.

As far as budget goes, you can look at lodging options on a website like booking.com to get an idea of nightly hotel costs. I've found the reviews very helpful. Be sure to check rates at the time of year you plan to travel, and pay attention to cancellation policies. I think next year is too early to choose non-refundable hotel reservations (and I virtually never use them anyway). Berlin was a relatively inexpensive city when I was there in 2015; the others--or at least most of them--will probably cost you more. I usually stay in 2-star places rather than 3-star. The room will be small, there won't be a restaurant, etc.--but I don't care about those things. I do insist on Wi-Fi and I prefer to have an elevator. Air conditioning probably won't be an issue in September.

10 cities

15 days

No trollers, please, only real travelers, and no professional advice please.

I have read all three threads by the OP and am convinced that he wants what he wants and nothing else, but is unwilling to listen to the advice provided by those responding to his post.

Please, please, please....You are out of your depth. Maybe you like train seats and watching the countryside roll by for some 8 hours (Berlin to Munich) or for a 7 to 9 hour stretch (Salzberg to Venice), but your desire to travel like this is ill advised.

All of us understand that traveling takes financial resources, but if I decided to travel only once a year, never truly visiting the places I chose to travel to but merely arriving and departing within hours, I would miss everything that draws me to travel.

YOU ARE BITING OFF TOO MUCH AND YOUR TRIP WILL BE PRETTY MISERABLE.

15 days? Plan for 3, maybe 4 cities. Max. Enjoy where you are rather than filling your phone with pictures from a train window.

Read a good guidebook. Read several. Do the Rick Steves books. Do the Lonely Planet books. Consider the Rough Guides. Spend a few hours (for free) watching the videos on the Rick Steves website.

Plan your own trip rather than borrowing from ours. You will not regret it.

Per the original post, this trip is planned for September. As such, time it so you are not in Munich from September 17 onward. That is the start of Oktoberfest and hotels will be very expensive and hard to find.

If flying from and to Istanbul (I assume on Turkish) they have frequent nonstop flights to/from many of the cities along your route, so fly open jaw (into one and out of another).

Since your itinerary has gone from ridiculous to just rushed, I'll give a sample itinerary.

Fly into Venice, 2-nights
Train to Milan, 1-night
Train to St Moritz, 1-night (via Bernina Express from Tirano)
Train to Luzern, 2 nights (via Glacier Express to Brig, then to Interlaken, then scenic Golden Pass train to Luzern).
Train to Munich, 2 nights (with stopover in Zurich on the way)
Train to Vienna, 2 nights (with stopover in Salzburg on the way)
Train to Prague, 2 nights
Train to Berlin, 2 nights
Fly to Istanbul

There. 14 nights, 15 days, 7-day Eurail Global Flex Pass. Hits all your cities and gives you at least 1 full day in most of them. Venice will be the most expensive town, Prague and Berlin the least expensive.

@ sam

good itinerary so how it will cost and initialy i decided to do in a one row, fly, train, road and ferry trip but than few ppl make me afraid and than i decided to narrow my trip. now i only fly, than train if possible few road drives.

regards

The trip I outlined would be possible for 2 with 5000 USD.
Figure $1000 US for intercity transportation ($790 for a Eurail 7-day Global Flex 2nd cl Twin Pass, plus about $160 for reservation fees and a $50 cushion)
Figure about $1500 (15 days at $100/day meals, local transport, incidentals)
Figure about $1750 lodging (14 nights at $125/night average, some will be more, some will be less)
So that comes to $4250 and leaves you with a $750 reserve for unexpected emergencies, splurges, stuff you forgot to budget.

Use booking.com to get prices for hotels in your budget. Try getting ones near train stations so you can walk to/from lodging. Remember, most countries are on EUR currently 1.20 USD = 1 EUR. Switzerland is on Swiss Franc (CHF) about the same as 1 USD. Czech Republic on Czech Koruna (CZK) at 1 USD = 23 CZK. Exchange rates can and do fluctuate between now and when you travel.

I don't think you will have time or the need to do any driving.

Sam recommends using Booking.com for finding hotels. Good idea. Better idea is to use Kayak.com which includes a plethora of search sites, including Booking.com.

Sam has given you a good, reasonable itinerary. It sound like you are really trying to check things off a list: “fly, train, road and ferry trip”. If this is the case, go across town on a local bus and check off “road”, and hop on a boat on any of the lakes/rivers and consider it a ferry. Not really much difference, except ferries are more expensive. Then put down the checklist and start enjoying your vacation.

bcuz world is big and life is too short. wally not neccesserly what ur saying is rite, but if i like good destination definetly i will visit it again