After thinking long and hard, I've decided to skip the English countryside and Scotland (and the outrageous pound to dollar exchange rate!) and save them for an exclusive Ireland/Great Britain trip later on down the road. I couldn't bring myself to leave out London, though. So in place of Bath and the Scottish Highlands, I decided to add Vienna and Prague.
Here's the new (rough) itinerary:
Paris (7 nights) - Day trips to Versailles and Giverny
London (5 nights) - Day trip to Windsor
Bruges (2 nights)
Amsterdam (2 nights)
Bacharach (2 nights)
Rothenburg (1 night)
Munich (4 nights) - Day trip to Neuschwanstein
Prague (3 nights)
Vienna (3 nights)
Hallstatt (1 night)
Salzburg (3 nights)
Venice (3 nights) - Day trip to Burano
Rome (4 nights)
Florence (3 nights) - Day trip to Chianti Wine Region OR Siena
Gimmmelwald/Swiss Alps (4 nights)
Paris (2 nights)
The itinerary can also be done backwards. However, I'll have to work it out and make sure my Florence Museum Day doesn't land on a Monday, or something similar in other cities.
I'm thinking of taking a night train from Munich to Prague which would add an extra night to the Czech Republic. I'm also thinking of taking a night from Paris at the end of my trip and adding it to Vienna so I'd have a day to visit Melk and the Danube Valley. What do you think?
I would also like to add Krakow to my itinerary, but it seems like it's a little out of the way. I'd be willing to spend a little longer on a train to get there, though. Is this doable?
Due to my plans to study abroad in south France before my backpacking trip, I'm going to have to fly in and out of Paris in order to get a group discount on my flight. But the next time I visit Europe, I'll fly open-jaw!
Thanks again for all your help! I got a lot of great advice on my last post!
Posted by
OP
Las Vegas, NV, USA
68 posts
Norm, the exchange rate was not the leading factor in my decision to leave out Bath and Scotland. They were just too far north for this particular trip. However, I certainly won't complain if the exchange rate improves when I go on my next trip.
Debra, thank you for your comments! It's definitely an overview trip so I can go back later on and re-visit my favorite sites. Hopefully there won't be any disappointments, but live and learn!
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1003 posts
Can I come! :) No really, that sounds amazing. I love that you are actually spending time in these places and that you're giving yourself a couple days in these cities which some people don't do on long trips. I understand the scariness of the pound, but I think you will be glad you decided to leave London in. Personally I'd skip Burano (and Murano) because I found it disappointing and a precious day in Venice I wasted where I could have daytripped to Verona or wandered Venice's marvelous back streets more instead, but that's a personal thing. The boat just takes so long to get out there and then it's very touristy and not a whole lot to do on either island, I didn't find it worth the effort and if I had it to do over again I would've done something different. I did a trip kind of like yours last summer and let me tell you, it changed my life. Not a day goes by that I don't think about something I did or saw or ate or someone I talked to. I can't wait to go back and do smaller more country-specific trips. What I can tell you though, it took an IMMENSE amount of time and planning and it was so fun and even in the planning, I learned so much and had such a deep experience because I did it all myself and learned the transportation and studied maps and all this stuff. I think you will really have an amazing time. When you get home, you will be tired and your feet will hurt for a loooong time, but I doubt you will think about things the same way again :)ETA: I went through several iterations of my itinerary and ultimately came up with one that worked. It worked out well but I liked some cities more than others, some surprised me (Lisbon), some surprisingly disappointed me (Amsterdam and Vienna). But you can't know if you don't go, so keep working on it and you'll come up with a final itinerary that works :)
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Not a comment on the itinerary (except to say don't forget to factor in at least half a day, and maybe an entire day, from one city to the next), but more a reaction to the comment about leaving out Bath and Scotland because of the "outrageous pound to dollar exchange rate." I don't know where people get the idea that they're getting a worse exchange rate on the pound than before, compared to the Euro. In actual fact, over the past five years, the U-S dollar has lost about 22 per cent of its purchasing power against the pound. However, over that same time period, the dollar has lost about 30 per cent of its value against the Euro. Inflation in the UK has been running about 50 per cent ahead of the EU, but that should mean that, at the least, you won't come out any worse than five years ago.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Hallstatt is a short train or bus ride from Salzburg, not difficult to get to by any means, and one night there would be plenty.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10634 posts
For what it's worth, I think 2 nights in
Amsterdam is plenty. It would certainly not be worth leaving out something else to add more time there, as far as I'm concerned. I didn't particularly care for Amsterdam though. Sounds like a fantastic trip!
Posted by
Anaheim, CA, USA
1455 posts
I did not get to see your other post, but I think you're wizzing through Europe just for a taste, not even to enjoy the meal! To me, I'd be more tired after the trip.
I know you want to get the most bang for your buck, but why not eliminate a few cities and take more time in some? 15 cities in 50 days...
I'd scratch out at least 3, 4 or even 5 cities, merge some of the dates to give yourself more time, and then the next time you go back, visit those cities you did not get to this trip.
As someone mentioned, you lose time when you arrive. Don't expect to get to the next city, land on your feet and start exploring immediately. Whether its by train, bus or plane, you still lose at least 2 to 3 hours upon arrival as you need to get acclimated to the new city, get to your hotel or hostal, and then get your bearings on where you want to hit first.
Caroline, its like a visitor going to Vegas. I go at least 3x's a year. When I get to my hotel, I have to check in, take my 19" bag to the room (visit the toilet) and then grab my lucky rabbit's foot before heading to the strip or to the casinos. That alone will take me at least 1.5 hour (even with express check in).
PS: Rick said to write on a paper your wish list. I'd suggest writing 10 of your "must visit" cities, and leave that as your cut off.
Posted by
charlottesville, va
46 posts
I wish I had factored in more travel time in my planing. As others have mentioned, when moving to a new city time is lost getting settled and oriented. It is difficult to cut cities out of your trip but you will enjoy your trip more if you give each city the time needed to really see it.
Posted by
Wodonga, Australia
440 posts
Caroline, can I suggest that you sit down and actually work out the travelling time between points A and B, and then how much time you will actually have in your desired destination. Don't wear yourself out, rushing to catch trains, buses,planes. Stay long enough somewhere to settle in a bit, and get the feel for the place. It will all be there for dreaming of a future holiday. You have plenty of time yet for planning.