My 3 Month Europe Itinerary

i am confused about one thing. How long are you staying in Zurich? And why not somewhere else in Switzerland?

Are you guys students? I think there are discounts passes etc. for students or persons under 25. Also look into staying in University Dorms...some are available when school is not in session. Shopping at a deli is a good plan because the food is already cooked. Some grocery stores have deli sections. Pub food can be fairly inexpensive. Go to Costco and eat the samples. Also the outdoor or farmers markets are fun. Your trip sounds busy. I would allow for a little slack time. Serendipity comes when you don't over plan. Are you planning to use the cities as bases for seeing the countrysides? Or are you looking for that Urban experience. The Scandinavian Countries are more expensive. London accommodations can be the most expensive. I would stay just outside of the big cities and take the commuter trains in to save the most money.

Hi,

You have 4-5 days in Hamburg, enough time to take one or two day trips, depending on how extensive they are. Choices are Kiel, Schwerin, Lübeck, Lüneburg, Bremen, Eutin, even Flensburg.

I agree with Steve, of all the places to visit in Switzerland, Zürich is some way down the list. Pick somewhere that is actually in the Alps.

"taking a train to Lake Compo and then connecting to another that goes to Zurich for a scenic route" There are direct trains from Milan to Zürich (with connections to other places in Switzerland). Not sure what you mean here Lake Como is a big lake, it has some places on its shores with rail connections, some without. Possibly you are refering to the Bernina Bahn route over the Alps. This is a lot longer and slower than the direct route (which is still scenic), and, depending on where you are going to in Switzerland, may require a night en route. But it does not require changing trains anywhere near Lake Como.

For the Frankfurt - Brussels and Brussels - Amsterdam legs why have you chosen bus? High Speed Train would be the obvious choice.

Hello Adam,
I think that itinerary is good. When I was at Athens in Greece, a small hotel located in the Monastiraki section had a kitchen that was for the guests' use. A small amount of cookware and kitchen utensils were in that kitchen, and a refrigerator and cook stove. To go to that hotel from the Athens airport, ride in the METRO train to the Monastiraki station (at the end of the line), it is a 50 minute ride. That hotel is at a location that is within walking distance of the Athens Acropolis (Parthenon), via the north side of the Acropolis hill. That north side of the Acropolis is my favorite part of Athens. (no motor vehicles there).
I suggest that you go to a place where you can see the Mediterranean Sea. A very good place for that is the Cinque Terre villages in Liguria in ITALY. I recommend : when you are traveling in ITALY, ride in a train from Rome to Florence. When you leave Florence, ride in trains to a Cinque Terre Village, via Pisa and La Spezia. (I do not put a high priority on seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa). One of the Cinque Terre villages is Manorola. A good hostel that has a rooftop patio is at Manorola. And near the hostel are rooms that cost approximately the same as being at a hostel, for two people. Ride in a local train from Manorola to Corniglia, and walk on the trail from Corniglia to Vernazza (in that direction). On the trail, you can see scenic views of the Mediterranean Sea. And ride in a local train to Manorola. Information about overnight accomodations at Manorola is in the Travel guide book "Rick Steves' ITALY". Ride in an Express train from Monterosso (north of Manorola and Vernazza) or from La Spezia (south of the Cinque Terre) to Milan central train station. I recommend : delete Venice from your itinerary.
In Switzerland, I recommend : do not go to Zurich, unless you have a special reason for going to Zurich. From Milan in Italy, ride in trains to Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, via Lucerne and Interlaken. Read about the Lauterbrunnen area (in the Berner Oberland) in the travel guide book "Rick Steves' Switzerland". It is not necessary for that book to be a recent edition.

steve - we are staying in zurich from 7/7-7/12, although im rethinking that in light of some of the comments here :P

Kathleen - no we're not students :(, im 26 and she's 31. we are mostly looking for the urban experience since too many excursions will rack up the transportation costs and cities are where you can find the densest amount of activities/landmarks/culture. Thankyou for the food tips though i've taken notes :)

Fred - thankyou ill definitely look into those

Steve- since zurich sounds bad i might just eliminate the lake como route entirely from my planning. any ideas on a better city in switzerland? as for taking the busses over train in brussels/amsterdam, its just a matter of those trains costing 30 dollars each whereas the bus rides are 10 each, and i figured we shoudl take at least 1 bus ride while in europe :P

Ron - ive actually already planned an excursion from florence to monorola for 36 euros roundtrip and researched that hostel as well :). monorola just looks amazing and i cant wait. i didnt know about the trail though, ive made a note and we will definitely hit that up.

Also thank you all for your anti-zurich comments. I am definitely looking into Ron's suggestion of the Interlaken area now.

You say "3 months." An important detail: Make sure you don't exceed the 90 days time limit. 89 days is good, 91 days could get you in trouble.

wow i didnt even know about the 90/180 rule. good call, thanks. i believe we'll be fine since we'll end up in the UK (which allows 6 months of tourist time) before we hit the 90 day mark

Better city to stay in Switzerland than Zurich? There are many. If I can name just one it will be Luzern.

i have now updated my itinerary to go to interlaken instead of zurich, and i have also realized that there is no train tunnel between london and dublin :P, so that has changed to a flight

Hi,

On the cost of eating: Based on your itinerary you have (in Germany) the choice of having dinner in the hostels, the HI hostels in Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg where hot food is served, complete meals for under 7 Euro. (No beer) Hamburg's dinner was very good, Munich's not so. In London, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich the HI and private, independent hostels are located close to the train station. (Kings Cross/St Pancras in London) Another option the university cafeterias (Mensa) in Germany serve lunch, also open to the public....good range of hot dishes. Beer is also sold. I've been to a few of them. No one will ask for ID, etc.

Keep in mind that buying groceries inside the train station costs more than if you get them at a store , say across the street from the station, yes, you pay for the convenience in business hours and proximity.

adam,

"i have now updated my itinerary to go to interlaken instead of zurich"

Interlaken is perhaps not the best choice in that area. The area outside Interlaken in the Lauterbrunnen Valley is the big favourite with many here. There are several different towns you could stay in - Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Wengen or Gimmelwald. As you're younger and watching your budget, you might consider a stay at the famous Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald. There has always been a very lively group there every time I've stopped by for a visit (as I recall, they have a bar, if that's a consideration).

If you'd prefer more of a "city" atmosphere, Lucerne is a good choice. It's a beautiful city and there are some interesting attractions there. One other point to mention about Switzerland is that it's expensive so Couchsurfing or not, you'll need to budget accordingly.

If you're planning to use Hostels at all, HI Hostels have properties all over the world. I've found that they're well managed and fairly clean, but definitely not "party palaces". Many provide breakfast in the cost of the room. Having an inexpensive HI Hostels membership provides cheaper prices and preferred booking over non-members. I've found that having a membership in some locations (Switzerland?) is compulsory. Of course, there are also independent Hostels in most cities as well.

Absolutely agree, choose Lauterbrunnen Valley or up in the alps (Murren/Wengen) rather than Interlaken. If you are going to Switzerland you want a mountain experience, and Interlaken won't give you that.

the only problem i see with the grimmewald/murren/wengen suggestions is that it is so expensive to sleep there overnight whereas interlaken is the standard 20-40 dollar hostel price of switzerland, PLUS how much it costs to get from interlaken into the mountains. i would absolutely rather stay in grimmewald but price might be an issue :(

I understand $$ and on our first trip to Gimmelwald we really didn't have the money to take the gondolas/trains all around the area. Our daughter was having trouble walking (cerebral palsy) at that time so we couldn't just walk out the door and hike. So, we took one gondola up to Murren and then just stayed put the rest of the time in Gimmelwald and we took a couple short hikes leaving her at the apartment. I think it would have cost us around $500 to do all the trains, etc. in the area. Then, we came home and I had the biggest regret: $500 stopped us from seeing the most amazing sites on earth! On an already expensive trip, $500 really wasn't that much more when it was all said and done. So, what did I do? I had to go back and do it right a few years later!

My 2 cents. Either go and do it right, or don't go there and spend your $$ elsewhere. Interlaken just wouldn't do it for me, personally. It is not the alps and is still a distance away from the alps. I'd say to stay in the alps as cheaply as you can, spend some $$ for gondolas, hike, buy groceries and cook yourself, or just skip the area and go back someday when you can do it right. For me, the swiss alps of the Berner Oberland is the MOST amazing thing I've ever seen. I'd cut something else out, not this!

well crap. i might have to try to find some money in the budget for grimmewald. it does look so amazing..

Adam

for your bus between Brussels and Amsterdam, there are two train options which compete. There's the one you identified, relatively fast and quite expensive - Thalys - and the regular international trains which don't need reservations and the fares are cheap. It may involve a very easy and fast change of train in Rotterdam or den Haag, but I think you will be much happier than looking out a bus window at mile after mile of slow freeway traffic and sound walls. The train goes through much better countryside and even the slow train is faster than the bus.

The village you keep mentioning - and it is a Great Choice - listen to Susan and Monte - is spelled Gimmelwald. That will help you search for youtubes and vines, etc.

hey
you are coming in the best time of the year to greece and you will love athens ,,, they are alot of nice things to see , and what ever i could help you can ask ,
marco

The plan of mostly sticking to cities means that you miss a lot of culture, history, relaxation, walkability, lower cost, and personality that many smaller towns have to offer. If your research includes any of Rick Steves' materials (TV, guidebooks, or on this web site), I believe you will find smaller towns of interest all along your route. Zurich, Frankfurt, and Brussels usually don't make our priority list, especially in place of smaller towns near them. Some small towns can be visited for a half-day en-route to the next destination, and some can be side-trips from larger cities, but staying overnight in smaller towns is often necessary to see those regions well, such as around Gimmelwald or the Rhine river.

I can't exactly figure out the Rome part of your schedule ....

- 6/6/2015,Barcelona, Spain, Train, 3
- 6/11/2015 ,Rome, Italy, Flight, 5
- 6/12/2015,Athens, Greece, Flight, 5.5
- 6/17/2015, Rome, Italy, Flight, 5.5*

Looks like you're flying from Barcelona to Rome on the 11th? Then flying Rome to Athens on the 12th? Is there a reason you're not flying directly from Barcelona to Athens? I just looked -- there's a cheap Vueling flight on the 11th.

5.5 days is a lot for Athens. Are you planning to go to an island? At the very least, try to visit Aegina on a day trip (or spend a night there).