Need Help With 2 Month Europe Itinerary (Summer)

For all the places you have on your wish list, this is the order I would do it
London-Iceland-Greece-Italy ( start in Naples and work n/b)-Paris- Amsterdam-London

It would have been more efficient to have flown into Greece and out of London ( or the reverse) to save some unnecessary backtracking

Good itinerary and a good time to go. I'll be flying round trip SFO to London a month earlier than you, end of April to early June.

What a fun adventure!

At first view, my comment is that there's a lot more to France than just Paris. Since you're planning to see Turin, I would suggest possibly taking the train from Paris to Lyon (especially enjoyed the Vieux Lyon neighborhood & funicular up to Roman museum, etc.) for two days, then stop in at Annecy (beautiful lake, relaxing site, cute town) and then train to Turin. We did that route in reverse by train - easy connections. In order to do that, I'd eliminate Naples from the list. The order of locations could be Turin, Venice, Florence/Cinque Terre and Rome. You'll have some beautiful water experiences in Greece so Cinque Terre would be on my secondary priority of locations, too.

I second the advise about starting south ( because of climate/ weather ) and finish north .

You can get cheap flights to Greece from London ( think we paid 100 euros ) on Easyjet IF you book sooner rather than later !

Greece is one my favorited( but I've also been to Italy , France , Spain , Nederlands, U.K. Etc etc ) leave yourself at least 10 days there so you can visit a few islands !!

Bavaria and Austria would be a nice substitute for Iceland since you would be close by in Venice. We didn't find Naples to be enjoyable.
A cruise to the Greek Islands is an efficient way to visit that region. It is also a way to rest in the middle of a long trip.
You can carry a tablet where you can make room reservations as you go from place to place. You never know what and who you will run into, and it is nice not to have a schedule set in stone.

Iceland is to far away from anywhere so not easy to move on if you have enough. Switch Naples for Milan also. If you drop Iceland use those days in France and Germany or even Spain.

5 days for travel between countries On average, it will take about as long to move from city to city within a country as to travel between countries if you take budget flights. The way it works is every 2 nights in a place gives you one full day to see it and a few hours on the travel day to get oriented. Remember you will have your luggage with you, so on arrival you have to check in to your hotel and park your stuff before you start exploring or you have to do drag your stuff around with you. Some hostels close for a few hours from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, so you may not be able to drop your stuff off. Many train stations have left luggage facilities, probably around €5 per piece. Add to the actual travel time the extra time to get through traffic to/from the station (more for the airport), time at the station to find your train and board (a lot more at the airport for check-in, security, waiting for baggage collection if you don't meet the usually meager carry-on limits).

You will usually get more for your dollars by staying longer in fewer places - train and plane fares add up quickly. A rail pass may save you money, but could mean long train rides rather than short flights, and won't help you get to Iceland or Greece. You may also have to pay a lot for reservations even with a pass, most fast trains require them and slow trains, when available, will eat up more of your sightseeing time.

I would save those isolated capitals like Amsterdam and Paris for a later trip when you can combine those with traveling that part of Europe in more depth. Instead, I would add places near your itinerary, like Athens.

If you need to keep prices down, I would leave out Iceland altogether. Iceland must be a fascinating country, and I would love to see it myself, but in the first place, it's way off your itinerary, and in the second place, it has the reputation of being extremely expensive.

That will give you some days of freedom for travel time and unforeseen events. Chani is perfectly right to point out that two nights in a place mean one full day, three nights mean two full days etc.. You might want to rewrite your schedule counting the nights, not the days, and then see how much time in each place that leaves you with.

I just reread your post and saw that for one thing, you have already booked your flights to London, and for another, you will be traveling in summer. That makes me think of a different option: I personally would not want to travel Southern Europe in summer if I could help it. You could save Italy and Greece for a later trip and make that a Northern/Central Europe tour instead, focussing on those destinations I had sort of thrown out in my previous post.

You say that you love nature - well then, add some nature to your London, Amsterdam, and Paris experience. Those are just the three big capitals. But each of these countries and their neighboring countries has tons of beautiful nature just waiting for you to discover it. It would be too bad to just pass over all of that and see only the big cities.

I am still hesitant about recommending Iceland if you have to watch your budget. There should however be enough spectacular nature for you to see without going to Iceland.

Absolutely love the advice so far!

I realise Iceland is expensive and am willing to splurge more there. Iceland and italy are the 2 countries on the list I don't want to get rid of (however I am open to which cities to visit within the 2 countries).

Are you quite sure you understand the distances and the diversity of the European continent... ? :-)

Anyway, if Italy and Iceland are most important to you, I'd probably leave Amsterdam and Paris for later trips, and focus on those parts of Europe you are already close to. And do try to recalculate the dates of your trip, counting the nights instead of the days. It's going to give you a more realistic estimate of how much time you have in each place.

however I am open to which cities to visit within the 2 countries

Yeah, that decision should be especially difficult for Iceland. (scnr) ;-)

Since Iceland and Italy are your "musts," consider dropping Greece and Amsterdam and use those 10 days (9 nights?) to add quality time in Italy and France, such as the stop in Lyon recommended. You are dashing through some great places in Italy.

It is best to count nights versus days, so think about how many nights you will sleep somewhere. For 2 days in Turin, you need to spend 3 nights. Your arrival and departure days are partial and you won't get to do much other than change locations, even within the same country. I would add time to Rome, Venice, the Sud-Tirol, the Cinque Terre, and the Naples area.

Italy – Turin – 2 NIGHTS = 1 day
Italy – Rome – 5 NIGHTS = 4 days
Italy – Venice – 4 NIGHTS = 3 days
Italy – Florence – 3 NIGHTS = 2 days -- consider adding one more night here so you have time to go to Siena
Italy – Naples – 4 NIGHTS = 3 days -- consider staying somewhere more peaceful like Sorrento. Easy to visit north and south from there including a day trip to Naples and another to Pompeii
Italy – Cinque Terre – 3 NIGHTS = 2 days
Italy – Tyrol – 4 NIGHTS = 3 days -- It is the South Tyrol/Sud-TIrol and this is an amazing area. You will want to have at least 3 full days if you are going to bother stopping at all. It will be a nice relief from the hot westher elsewhere on your trip.

To make things flow much better, I would leave out the Cinque Terre & Italian Tirol, but add on Athens, Lake Como & Lyon.

Perhaps like this ...

June
02..Fly in to London – 4 nights
06..Fly to Reykjavik – 7 nights
13..Fly to Amsterdam – 4 nights
17..Fly to Santorini – 3 nights
20..Fly/ferry to Mykonos – 3 nights
23..Fly/ferry to Athens – 2 nights
25..Fly to Naples-Sorrento – 4 nights
29..Train to Rome – 4 nights
July
03..Train to Florence – 3 nights
06..Train to Venice – 3 nights
09..Train to Lake Como – 2 nights
11..Train to Turin – 2 nights
13..Train to Lyon – 2 nights
15..Train to Paris – 5 nights
20..Train to London – 1 night
21..Fly home from London

Iceland is a great 3 day stop but 9 days is way to much.

Sure you can do Iceland in three days. Just be sure to stick with the crowds, and don't venture too far away from Reykjavik.

Maybe you should have a look at this.

I spent a week in Iceland, spending time in Lake Myvatn to the north and visiting places such as and Reykjavik. I had a car throughout. Five full days there would have been plenty.

I think that you have too much travelling and I would suggest that you cut some places out and spend longer in others. With the exception of the Tyrol, you have opted for some of the busiest most touristy places, many of which are difficult to cover on a budget. You are travelling in European school holidays, which will make places busier.

Both Italy and Greece are going to be very hot in July. The two Greek islands that you have picked are the most expensive islands and are over-run with cruise ships. I would suggest if you want a more genuine Greek experience that you opt for islands such as Paxos and Corfu or mainland areas such as the Pelion or the Kalamata area. Greece is a long way to travel for less than a week - I would suggest that you either drop Greece or drop Amsterdam (not a cheap location) and spread these nights over the other locations.

I would drop Cinque Terre - too busy and add these nights onto Rome and Venice.

Flights within Europe have been available for months and prices only head in one direction. Book asap and try to avoid weekend flights as these will be more expensive due to school holidays.

End in Iceland, which will of course be cooler and visit the hotter places first.

It's a pity your return flights are booked, as your itinerary shouts for open jaw tickets.

I agree that open jaw would absolutely have been the better choice for this itinerary.

About Iceland though, I would still say it depends on what you are interested in. If you enjoy nature, hiking, photography, and want to get away from the crowds, there's the ring road for which they do recommend you spend at least a week. Since Iceland, for the OP, is not just an extended stopover but apparently a real priority, I would imagine it's worth his time to get the whole experience.

I tend to disagree a bit on the Greek islands. For a first time visitor, Santorini at least is a must, IMO. It is overrun by tourists, and it's expensive, yes, but it is so for a reason. I wouldn't bother too much about the cruise ship tourists because most of them move within a limited radius, mostly Thira and Oia. Try not to take your accommodations within that radius, avoid restaurants and shops within that radius, and you'll be fine.

Mykonos is very touristy too of course and might be substituted by one of the other Cyclades islands. However, it is beautiful, and it does offer nearby Delos which is also worth seeing.

If anything, I'd consider dropping Greece altogether and saving that for a later trip. Since Italy and Iceland are the priorities, I'd focus on those and whatever may be conveniently in between.

Hi, I see you will be traveling on your own. As others have mentioned Iceland is quite expensive. I was there on my own last summer.

Will you be renting a car or doing tours with other travelers? There is a lot to see in Iceland but you definitely need to plan transport and lodgings ahead of time.

If you will not be renting a car there are other options. Lots of tours leave from Reykjavic so if you are based there you could do a group tour daily and see a lot of the island. It could get rather expensive but some of the tour companies offer discounts if you book more than one tour with them. In my opinion in Reykjavic there was not so much to see, but it makes a convenient base if you do not have a car.

Iceland also offers a bus pass that you can get for a week or so that allows you to ride all over the island. Some use this to do their own explorations. If you like long hikes you can take the bus to a trailhead or sight, spend the day there and then catch the bus back to Reyjavik. A girl who was staying at my hostel was hiking daily using this bus pass. She was staying in Reykjavic for half her trip and on another part of the island for the other half.

For lower cost accommodations check the hostels, although I was horrified by how expensive a bed in a hostel was in the summer haha. And completely full too.

Weather (even in summer) can also be quite inclement so be prepared.

Have a great trip!

I always suggest that you travel to your first destination the same day you arrive in Europe. You will be tire but you are already packed, are at the airport and that will save you time. Go with Joe's suggestion and fly to your farthest destination and work your way up north. Finish in London and that will add an extra day. Also think that you are moving from town to town (not just country to country) and that will eat up 1/2 day every time you move. Have fun!