Planning a 17 Day Solo Europe Trip, Looking for Feedback on Pace and Choices

I like everything about it. A great trip. If I wanted to get picky, but this is all personal:

Day 6 Keukenhof and Amsterdam North
• Keukenhof Gardens including Whisper Boat
• NDSM Wharf Pllek for sunset drinks
• Overnight bus to Prague around 9 PM

Sunset is between 8 and 8:30 in April. So, its going to be chug a beer to catch the bus. If you can do 10 hours on a bus, then this is fine. I couldn’t, but that’s my weakness. I would sip my sunset drinks, fly Easyjet the next morning and arrive at the same time as the bus. Nothing wrong with your plan. Just differences in people. I know a flight is a huge departure from the style of the trip, but you picked Amsterdam and Prague.

The other thing, for me, I would go direct from Salzburg to Vienna so I would have more time in Vienna. Then maybe do a group day trip out of Vienna for variety, Bratislava or Melk possibly.

Just two thoughts coming to my mind:

Not part of your tour but on Easter weekend there is an annual Easter Knight Festival in Berlin (Spandau Citadel).

For "Gothic medieval" I would have expected something like Malbork Castle and the military Teutonic Order.

Nothing wrong with your destinations. Have a good journey.

Congrats on the work to put together a trip itinerary of this breadth and length!

One thing to keep in mind is that this is the first trip of hopefully many, so unless there
is a thing or two you have to, in your mind, do, there will probably be times where you
wander off course, see something that strikes your fancy, and the original day plan
doesn't get accomplished. It's okay. There will be more trips.

Overall, you are hitting a lot of places in a fairly short time. I'd be sure I know the
transportation and lodging plan to confirm whether the sightseeing plan is rational
or not. If you, for example, arrive someplace in the late morning, and head out for
another place the next morning, you probably have a half day, not a full day, to do
what you want to do.

Where are you traveling from that you can get an evening flight home on day 17 (you
don't have to answer, but there are no flights to the US from Europe in the evening).

If you are interested in trains, there is a great train museum in Utrecht, at a disused station (walking distance of centre/tram).
You are packing a lot in, but you are young!
You can always miss something out at the time if you feel the need for a down day.
The comment about taking account of your travel time is valid, as it the one about allowing more time in Vienna.

If you like beer, there are some great breweries in Amsterdam. I went to the Brouwerij brewery, which sits next to a canal and is right next to an old-fashioned windmill. You sit outside and can get some good snacks and a pint and enjoy the atmosphere. I loved it here. I even brought my son-in-law back a t-shirt from this place and he loved it. He's a beer aficionado and he wears it constantly even 7 years later.

Where are you traveling from that you can get an evening flight home on day 17 (you don't have to answer, but there are no flights to the US from Europe in the evening).

I was curious about that too. Also, are you flying into Utrecht? Usually most people fly into Schiphol in Amsterdam

You have been thinking about your trip! Generally speaking, you have a lot on your list, but you're young and solo, so you will be moving a bit faster than when traveling with others. Don't be too attached to your schedule, you may find when you get there that there are things that you're interested in that you didn't even know about beforehand. For example, you might decide after visiting the Rijksmuseum that you want to see more of the art in Amsterdam, like the Van Gogh museum. Or, for something different, the Resistance Museum is quite good.

Amsterdam (ok, like most of Europe) has many delightful and adorable cafes that have outdoor seating by the canals. Take a break or two, or a meal, at any of those. Cafe t'Smalle is one of them, to give you a feel. I love the apple pie at Winkel 43 (to avoid the crowds, I've had pie for breakfast).

I did a bike tour from Amsterdam, and it was the BEST thing that I did in Amsterdam. Sign for a bike tour, there are many; we started from the main rail station and took the free ferry, then began our ride. An excellent and different way to see the countryside. Check into the "Dutch Villages" loop; I know that I looked into visiting some of those for our trip, and decided that my half-day biking gave me that experience. You might decide that you want to spend more time in Amsterdam.

In Prague or Vienna, consider going to a classical music concert. Those cities are known for that, and the concert spaces are beautiful (some concerts are in old churches).

In terms of the Austrian villages, it seems like every village in that area is beautiful, so you'll enjoy any of them. We stayed in St. Wolfgang in October, and it was lovely (a bit touristy, as it should be, because it's beautiful). If you want a typical rustic meal, go to the Dorf Alm. The night we were there, they had two musicians playing.

In Vienna, I would suggest that you skip the huge tourist lines at Cafe Sacher, and go to any of the many other traditional cafes that won't have lines. Look at Cafe Tirolerhof and Cafe Havelka, we went to each a couple of times on our visit to Vienna in October; I also liked Cafe Sperl a lot, but only go there if you're already in the area, it's not as central as the other two (it was close to our hotel). If you decide you have an interest in art, book tickets to the Belvedere Museum, which has Klimt's The Kiss. There are other very good art museums in Vienna (can you tell that I Iove art), too, that also have pieces by Klimt, but remember, always, that there's never enough time!

Fyi the itinerary is something I have been working on for months since I wanted to apply for the visa early. I have been working on the nitty gritties since August. So my itinerary is a combination of DK books, online search, blogs, vlogs, instagram reels and yes chat GPT and Gemini as well, it has been forged and shaped using all the sources and tools I have mentioned above.
Now for this particular post, what my lazy self do is I will copy paste my itinerary from the excel and ask chat gpt to create a post for travel forums asking for guidance and opinion and add specific questions I have like any better hikes which I can do around Salzburg. Whatever I get from that I proof read and copy paste here in different forums and also reddit and by the way this is me being completely lazy
I hope this helps and sincerely hope I have not broken any rules pertaining to this forum.

Hi @shoeflyer,
Thank you so much for your kind answer!
I have been planning this trip since I was in school and have been saving for years to make this trip happens and in that excitement have added a lot places. I totally agree with you that I should wander off, have few things but actually experience them than crossing a checkbox. I think by April, I will be fine tuning the itinerary and hopefully remove all the excess fat and I am left with a well balanced trip where I am allowed to actually experience the things.
Many people from here would cover multiple countries in a span of 10 days but I actually want to meet people and experience the history and culture so I chose three countries for my 17 day trip, hope by the end I get close to achieving that goal.
I am from India and there is a flight back to New Delhi at 8:30 PM from Vienna thankfully so that allows me to do something on that day as well.

Hi Mr E,
Thank you for the answer, the reason to choose bus was that it costed way less than flying and especially since I will be carrying some of my camera gear since I enjoy photography I will some amount luggage increasing the cost due to added check in baggage.

I still fighting wether I should try to reach Vienna first thing that day I can get to explore Vienna more or visit some other place like Altausseer in between, I am very excited about the nature side of things in Austria so considering a stop in between

Hi Lexma,
Your comment is a gold min of information. I deeply appreciate your detailed response.
Yes I think by April will have trimmed some fat of my itinerary so I can take some impulsive detours or just and enjoy the local scenery.
That is my only concern with the itinerary that will I be able to enjoy these place and not just put big check mark in front of their names!
I will write down all the other recommendations you gave regarding cafes, restaurants and trips. I will keep those in mind!

Hey Mardee,
Thank you so much for the trip, I will surely visit this brewery!
I plan to take a train to Utrecht from Schiphol airport and yes there are evening flights to New Delhi which I will be taking.

Oh, that makes sense. By the way, no worries about using AI to plan an itinerary or even help with posting. The rule states that:

Creating posts with automated technologies such as bots, ChatGPT, or other forms of AI are prohibited. Suspected or confirmed use of such technologies can lead to an immediate ban.

You should just not use it to create a post that is wholly automated. Yours is not. And I do what you're doing all the time. AI can really help me with an itinerary just to get my thoughts organized and get it down on paper. Then of course I revise and review and so on. Many people here do that.

Your trip sounds wonderful. I love Amsterdam, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Salzburg, and Vienna. You can't go wrong with any of those destinations.

For the OP, please avoid using AI for constructing forum posts here. It sticks out and will get your posts removed. Otherwise this becomes a place where AI answers AI and that is useless. Human-written posts only. I'm allowing your original post given the explanation of your research methods, and your engagement in your replies. Please note that pasting the same question or post into multiple forums (ours and others) is also grounds for removal or banning an account. Now you know the etiquette here.

No further replies on the topic of AI will be necessary. I've cleaned out a few to keep this on track. Thanks to everyone for helping with the itinerary. And have a great trip!

Are you sure the Albert Cuyp Market is open in the evening? I walked through it twice on August-September afternoons, and on both occasions it was either totally closed or nearly so. Perhaps it's open at night on some days, though.

Albert Cuyp Market hours are 9:30 - 17:00 Monday-Saturday and closed on Sundays.

https://albertcuyp-markt.amsterdam/?lang=en

I saw this post this morning, but chose not to answer because I thought it was an AI bot. Now that that has been cleared up, here’s my input on the Netherlands part of your itinerary;

Day 1 ; you can do all that you listed in just a couple of hours, but it’s nice to start your trip in a relaxed way.

Day 2; your evening plans are not my cup of tea, but to each their own. A word of warning about your RLD exploration; please understand that taking photos of the girls working there is strictly forbidden. I’m not saying that you were planning to do this, but even a photo taken from a distance can get you in very serious troubles.

Day 3; make sure to book your ticket for the Anne Frank house on the exact moment they go on sale. In your case that on Tuesday February 24, 2026 at 10 am local time in Amsterdam.

Day 4: Are you sure you’re up for the bike ride to the Muiderslot? Are you an experienced biker?
The Skinny Bridge takes about 5 minutes to see. I would add something else to do that evening.

Day 5 : this day is too busy in my opinion. And as others have already mentioned, the Albert Cuyp market is closed in the evening.

Day 6: instead of the whisper boat, I would suggest to rent a bike and bike along the tulip fields instead. You’ll have a much better view of the flowers that way.

I saw some queries above about flights from Europe to the US in the evenings- I see the person who posted the question clarified they are based in Delhi but I did want to confirm that there are indeed many flights from Europe to the US in the evenings in case helpful to others. Whenever I fly from London to NYC I usually take a flight around 8pm (and have several options to choose from).