Opinions On Our Route?

This is doable but a bit exhausting...5 weeks is a long time to be moving around as much as you plan to.
I also wonder if you have thought about travel time between destinations? 5 weeks is 35 days, as you well know, but I don't see time planned in your itinerary to get from one place to the next.
I would suggest you go to Rome2Rio.com and look at travel times between some of these destinations...for example, Paris to Bruges by train is a 3.5 hour trip not counting getting to the train station at the beginning of your journey and getting to your hotel after you arrive. That's 1/2 day gone at best leaving you with only part of the two days you plan to spend there.
I usually find it best to plan a trip in terms of nights, rather than days. 2 nights = 1 full day in any destination. Then factor in travel time to see how much of the day you will lose between cities after the last night in any given place. This will give you a more realistic picture of the time you will need.
Every time you move it eats a lot of time out of your trip! I would definitely lose a few places on your list to make the trip more manageable.

Please heed what Anita said: two nights equals one day; one night equals zero days. You are proposing to visit 14 major cities or destinations. You have about 15 days of travel time of being on planes or trains, sitting in airports and rail stations, and getting to and from hotels. Think of trying to visit the entire United States in one trip.

Any opinions on our route and/or suggestions on absolutely anything would be GREATLY appreciated!

Taking what you say above and running with it, the major observation I make is that you plan on travelling pretty much 'every other day'. Whilst this would be fine over 2 weeks, I think over 5 weeks that you will end up pretty worn down. I would look for minimum 3 night stays absolutely everywhere. I would include Prague and Berlin over Munich and Strasbourg, especially as you are mid 20s and these are fantastic young persons destinations. Dublin may be a family stop I am thinking, so I am not sure how I would fit it back in to this itinerary, perhaps at the expense of Cinque Terre or Budapest.

Rome (4 days)
Florence (3 days)
Cinque Terre (3 days)
Venice (3 days)
Budapest (3 days)
Vienna (3 days)
Prague (3 days)
Berlin (3 days)
Amsterdam (3 days)
Bruges (2 days)
Paris/Versailles (4 days)

First of all, congratulations!

I suppose your proposed Itinerary is feasible but it's far too busy (IMO) and doesn't include adequate time for travel between locations. As the others have mentioned, it would be a good idea to drop the one night stays, as once travel is accounted for you'll have no time to actually see the place. Also, it usually works better to plan on the basis of the number of nights in a particular location, rather than the number of days. I'd also suggest a slightly different order. How were you planning to get from Verona to Budapest?

Which of the five towns are you planning to stay in during your visit to the Cinque Terre? You'll need to get accommodations booked SOON as that area books up quickly at that time of year.

IMO, it will be necessary to pare the number of destinations down, especially at that time of year which will likely be crowded in Europe. Which places to cut are your choice, so it would help if you could provide a revised list as that would make it easier to work out a suggested Itinerary.

When you add travel time, remember that it will be hotel-door-to-hotel-door to pick up/drop off backpacks. Allow time to pack them, get to the train station with enough time to find your train and on arrival get to your hotel after figuring out the local transportation. Some of your journeys are short (notably some in Italy) but others are half-day (or more) stretches.

How are you getting from Verona to Budapest? I don't see a viable route. Amsterdam to Dublin? Flying? Allow plenty of additional time to get to/from airports, check-in, check bags, etc.

Where are you planning to sleep? Hotels? Hostels? If you are using hotels, you'll want to book in advance because if you have time to hunt for rooms, you won't have much time left to sightsee. If you are using hostels, you may have to book in advance for smaller dorm rooms, definitely for private rooms.

A fast-paced trip for 2-3 weeks is fine. For 4-5 weeks, consider that you may burn out. Also, with lots of short stays the places may "kaleidoscope" to where you don't quite remember what was where.

Thank you everyone for your opinions thus far, it really means a lot! I understand what everyone is saying about travel time and I will definitely be going back to the drawing board to accommodate this more. The nice thing is that we're both teachers on summer break, so I have that flexibility to cut destinations or add days if need be to make this all more feasible. This trip has been my dream for years so I really do want to make sure I do it right.

Anita & Stan - Thank you for the 2 nights = 1 day suggestion, that helps a lot. I've been utilizing Rome2Rio over the last couple of months and that's been helpful as well.

djp_syd - I really like the idea of a 3-night minimum, I want to make sure we have enough time in each destination. Also, our accommodations are primarily AirBnB which I know a lot of times has a 3-night minimum. I didn't add in Prague because we've been there, and I'm actually from Germany so I've been all around the country multiple times so we didn't add in too much of that. We wanted to add in Munich primarily to make a day trip to Neuschwanstein, I saw it when I was little but don't remember it! :)

Ken & Chiani - For Verona --> Budapest, we're actually basing ourselves out of Venice and doing a day trip to Verona so from Venice to Budapest we're going to fly. I found a flight on Ryanair for about $30 so that's saving us time and money which is good. We're still debating on where to stay in CT, I know Rick Steves recommends Vernazza but I know that books up fast, we're also looking at Monterosso. I know booking this is priority and we hope to have it locked in soon.

Agree totally with Ken and Chani regarding your plan -- it is (imo) way, way too busy, and more consideration should be given to the travel time involved. It almost always takes more time to go from one place to another than anticipated. Since you've been to Europe before I'd make two suggestions. First, eliminate the places you've been and have had your fill of. Second, cut the number of places you visit in half and concentrate on the ones that really interest you. That way you will be able to see and enjoy people, places, and things and not just have memories of train stations and airports. Quality time in a place is (again imo) much more important than the number of places visited. As a teacher you might compare it to having students getting a good understanding of math, science, and history in one school session and then covering language, arts, and writing in a later session as opposed to trying to have them master it all in one session. Really don't mean to rain on your parade, just think perhaps it will be too much for the time you have available.

Thanks for the clarification on your plans. A few additional comments.....

Using RyanAir from Venice to Budapest is certainly one option but a few points to note.....

• RyanAir is well known for using small, out-of-the-way airports and that's the case in Venice, as they use Treviso which is about 26 km or 16 miles from Venice, considerably farther away than the Venice Marco Polo Airport. Be sure to budget both time and money for the trip to the airport. The airport in Budapest is also about 10 km outside the city, but transportation there won't take as long.
• RyanAir is also well known for tacking on extra charges especially for luggage, so I suspect your €30 charge will increase somewhat at the time you book.

Making a day trip to Verona definitely simplifies things. Regarding which town to use in the Cinque Terre, I agree that Monterosso would be a good choice (full disclosure - it's my favourite of the five). It's the largest of the five and therefore has the most accommodations and other tourist amenites, and also the best beaches. As you'll be there in June/July, you may want to read some of the threads in the "Italy" section regarding the over crowding in that area due to cruise ship groups. I'm not trying to dissuade you from visiting there, but rather just to make you aware of the conditions you may face. There are suggested accommodations in the guidebook, but if you need other suggestions or information, post another note.

While I usually say to go ahead and just do what you want, I do think this is too many places.

On my first trip, I did the Munich/Neuschwanstein with 2 nights as you plan. As I found out, I did nothing on the day of travel except travel, and the trip to N'stein took an entire day. If you do N'stein as a day trip from Munich, then you will be backtracking the next day to Strasburg.

Write put what you and your hubby plan to do in each destination. Is Cinque Terre for three days because you like to hike, or a break to relax, or a romantic stop ( after all, you are on your honeymoon )?

Rome (4 days)
Florence (3 days)
Cinque Terre (3 days)
Venice (3 days)
fly to
Budapest (3 days)
Vienna (3 days)
Munich (3 days)
fly to
Dublin (3 days)
fly to
Amsterdam (3 days)
Bruges (2 days)
Paris/Versailles (4 days)

@Travelbug - have you booked your Venice to Budapest flight yet? We made reservations for May on Ryanair and found that the flight is only twice a week, so we had to juggle our travel schedule to make it work.

TC - Thank you so much for your suggestions! Unfortunately I haven't been to any of these places so the narrowing down will be tough. Love the teaching analogy! :)

Ken - Thank you so much for the warning about the Ryanair airports! I had no idea! I spent so much time making sure our bags will fit their regulations that I didn't think about the airport location's proximity to the city center, more traveling time is definitely not favorable! I'll look into the overcrowding for CT as well, it's unfortunate that our time off is during high season!

Stephen - Yes Cinque Terre will be a mixture of hiking and relaxing by the beach, it's definitely one of the more "honeymoon" destinations :) In general we're big history buffs, enjoy trying all of the different local cuisine, and just essentially like to explore and immerse ourselves in the culture. I plan on a walking tour of each city, a food tour in Rome, canal boat tour in Amsterdam, pub crawl in Dublin; we enjoy things like that in addition to all of the major sites.

djp_syd: Thank you so much for taking the time to work out that route, it's very much appreciated! I'm going to start now on the research for that, I really like how that sounds!

Laura - I noticed that too! At first I panicked but then I realized that the day we planned on matched up with theirs so that's good, too bad it's not an every day thing!

Since you are going to be gone for more than a couple weeks, have you factored in time to do laundry at some of your stops? That eats into your time as well unless you drop it off somewhere and come back for it later or use hotel laundry services. Even if you are staying at an airbnb you might have to stay in one evening or come back during the day to switch loads.

Also keep in mind that the beach in Cinque Terre/Monterosso is more like small pebbles than soft sand.

Hi Jen! Yes, that's something I've been thinking a lot about. We've purchased a clothes line, sink stopper, detergent, freezer bags, bringing quick drying clothes and undergarments, all that good stuff. I have been warned though that our stuff will take quite a bit more time to dry than here in Arizona, no dry heat where we're going! :)

->Slightly off your main topic but germane to your last post regarding wash...I use a 2 (or is it 2.5) gal slider ziplock bag for sink washing. I reinforce it with mailing tape on the sides and bottom. This way you can start a wash by putting the day's clothes into the ziplock with water and soap then let them soak when you go out to dinner or evening activities. This way the sink is available to use while your wash soaks in the bag in the floor of the shower. I prefer this to the sink stopper method.

I do agree it is difficult to do a "dry run" lol on your drying times when you live in an arid climate. If your hotel has a fan it is helpful to direct the fan on your drying laundry when you are in the room. That worked well for me this year in Bath when it was rainy and very humid.

->Back to the itinerary discussion!

I echo the comments of the previous posters who say that 2-nite stays are tiring and really only give you the afternoon of the arrival day plus the next day. However you've already started to take this into account, as per your comments. If I was taking this trip I would both add days per city and drop some destinations. You are young, you have an excellent chance of returning; why spend 4 days in Dublin when Ireland (or Ireland and Scotland) could be the focus of an entire trip? Take those 4 days, add them to Amsterdam, and visit some of the smaller towns in Holland easily accessible as day trips from Amsterdam (as well as having a few days to just enjoy Amsterdam's great squares and museums). Just an example of where I'm going; less really is more!

You write that you are big history buffs and want to explore/immerse yourself. So in that vein I'd say this trip seems way tilted towards large cities. Why not do something to get a bit off the beaten path? It may require a car, so that would be a strike against this, but there is beautiful countryside to visit all over Europe. You are spending a good chunk of time in Italy from the north to south yet not visiting Tuscany or Umbria. Or, better, why not visit the side of Italy not many english-speaking tourists go to on the Adriatic? In the southern end you could visit the Bari region (see the actual Colossus of Barletta!) or the beautiful Gargano peninsula. On the northern side are towns like Pesaro or Ravenna (capital of the Western Roman Empire in the 400s).

Lastly I'd suggest adding in a “vacation from your vacation” as RS suggests in https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/itinerary-tips Actually, given the length you're going to travel, I'd suggest 2 down days at the end of every 2 weeks or so. Sleep in, visit a cafe or the beach with a book, wander with no goal in mind.

You wrote Cinque Terre will be a mixture of hiking and relaxing by the beach

I've lived in 3 places in my life, all have long stretches of sandy beaches (Lake Michigan, Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean). That is so not what the CT is like. There are few beaches and they are tiny, pebbled spaces between the sheer rocks down to the sea. The only one I saw that had sand was in Monterosso and it's small.

I haven't been to any of the Italian lakes to compare, but I suggest you look into that as an alternative. The CT is often flooded with tourists since the cruise ships made it a port destination in recent years. The lakes may not be so crowded.

Clothes will dry faster if you roll them in towels to get out some of the moisture.

Gee, I love the excitement when arriving in a much anticipated destination, all eager and hyped to get out and see the sights, only to have to turn around and do the washing. (sad face)
I think I am thinking very much as a bloke here, who travels with 10 pairs of underpants and always buys socks along the way.

Haha thank you for the accompanying laundry tips everyone!! Pam, I'll definitely be sure to get the bigger bags, leaving them to soak is a great idea!

John - Thanks so much for the tips on our route, I'm definitely going back to the drawing board to see what I really want to prioritize. I agree about the allure of smaller towns and country sides, my family lives in a small village in Germany and I've always loved it and the local experience I get every time I go. This particular trip is focusing on big cities just because they are places we've always wanted to go, so we figured we would get an orientation to these places and then branch off to smaller locations on our next trips. Another big reason is that we are newlyweds who will want to start a family in the next couple of years which will prevent us from doing this type of trip again for quite some time, so we wanted to see bigger sights now so we can plan for smaller, more in-depth trips later. And we will most definitely be taking your advice and planning vacations within our vacations! One of my big fears is exhausting ourselves!

Chani - Hello to a fellow lake Michiganer! I'd previously lived in Chicago for 12 years :) When I said "relax by the beach" I meant more like taking a boat ride, eating at restaurants with sea-views, sitting down by the water, definitely not the Hawaii experience! My mistake, should have clarified :)