Hello all, I have been toying around with this rough itinerary for some months now. It's a bit of a "Frankenstein" itinerary, basically trying to string together places I have yet to visit with places I want to visit again. My main goal for this trip is Ancient and Medieval history. The timeline would be 2020 mid-May to late-July/early-August and a total of 70-80 nights. I have come up with two versions so far:
Version 1 -
Fly in to Paris
Paris (4 nights) – day trip to Versailles
Train (4:30 hr) to
Lucerne (2 nights)
Bus? to
Mürren (2 nights)
Golden Pass train to
Lausanne (3 nights) – day trip to Chillon Castle
Bus or hire car? to
Zermatt (2 nights)
Glacier express train to
St. Moritz (2 nights)
Bernina train to
Lugano (2 nights) – day trip to Lake Como
Train (1:15 hr) to
Milan (3 nights) – or take Rick Steves Best of Italy in 17 Days (end in Rome)
Train (1:15 hr) to
Bologna (2 nights)
Train (45 min) to
Florence (3 nights), rent car
Drive south
Road trip around Tuscany (6 nights)
Drive south to
Rome (3 nights), drop car – or take Rick Steves Best of South Italy in 13 Days (end in Naples)
Train to
Naples (4 nights) – day trips to Pompei and Herculaneum
Bus/train? to
Sorrento (3 nights) – day trip to Paestum Greek Ruins
Fly from Naples or Rome to
Vienna (4 nights) – day trip to Kreuzenstein Castle
Train (2:30 hr) to
Olomouc (2 nights)
Train (2:30) to
Katowice (10 nights) - relax time in Silesian Beskid Mountains
Fly to
Barcelona – visit family
Fly out of Barcelona
or
Version 2
Fly in to Rome
Rome (3 nights) – or take Rick Steves Best of South Italy in 13 Days (end in Naples)
Train (1:15 hr) to
Naples (4 nights) – day trips to Pompei and Herculaneum
Bus/train ? to
Sorrento (3 nights) – day trip to Paestum Greek Ruins
Train back to Rome rent car and drive north
Road trip north through Tuscany (6 nights)
Drive north to
Florence (3 nights) – drop off car
Train (45 min) to
Bologna (2 nights)
Train (1:15 hr) to
Milan (3 nights) – day trip to Lago di Como
Fly to?
Katowice (10 nights) – relax time in Silesian Beskid Mountains
Train (2:30) to
Olomouc (2 nights)
Train (1:15 hr) to
Vienna (4 nights) – day trip to Kreuzenstein Castle
Train (4:00 hr) to
Innsbruck (2 nights)
Drive? (2:30 hr) to
St. Moritz (2 nights)
Glacier express train to
Zermatt (2 nights)
Bus or hire car? to
Lausanne (3 nights) – day trip to Chillon Castle
Golden Pass train to
Mürren (2 nights)
Bus? to
Lucerne (2 nights)
Train (4:30 hr) to
Paris (4 nights) – day trip to Versailles
High speed train (6 hr) to
Barcelona – visit family
Fly out of Barcelona
At this moment I think I'm leaning more towards version 2, to put the potentially hot places at the beginning of the itinerary, rather than at the end. I have a few questions though:
Do these itineraries follow a relatively logical flow? Except for Rome and Pairs (already have been there) are there any places I am neglecting in terms of time?
I would like my father to join me for part of this trip, the best case would be if we could do a RS tour together during a portion of this trip, other than the ones I've listed are there any that could also fit in? (unfortunately the 2020 Switzerland ones are all sold out for when we plan to go🙁!)
With all the train travel on this trip, I'm thinking that an Interail Pass may be a good investment. I can get a 2 month one for € 548, would that make sense?
I will follow up with more questions regarding specifics but I just wanted to get the overall big picture down first. Thank you all so very much in advance, Europe experts, for your help with all of this!