too much on my itinerary? what do you think...

Yes, probably too much, but it's your vacation not mine. However, if you really only have 14 days, your itinerary needs to account for travel time - depending on mode of transport, that can eat up an entire day, especially if you're going in the order listed. As an example, the RS best of Europe tour covers about this much ground, but they have a dedicated bus driver and don't have to make train or plane connections. Also, jet lag and arrival time will pretty much cut out day 1, and most flights to the US leave early in the day on return, cutting out the last day.

One day visits are not practical ... you seem to have not included the actual travel time between stops.. so some of your "one day" visits will in fact only be a few hours. It seems you are very interested in Italy,, so perhaps tacking Germany on is just too much. Budget wise,, the more you travel the more you end up spending.. staying put is cheaper. How did you plan to get from point to point, fly, train , car? And finally,, if its taken this long to get to Europe,, frankly I would make trip a week longer.. I know this apparently is very hard for Americans who seem to have very restrictive holiday allowances( here in Canada ,, which is not very good at all,, at least we are entitled to three weeks holidays after 5 years,, not near as good as Australians who get 6 weeks right off the bat I hear) but can't you get even one more week,,, its a once in a lifetime trip,, and trust me, when you die you won't be saying i wish I had worked more!

To go slightly off topic, we get 4 weeks leave per year in Australia.

Danielle, I'm just wondering when you are planning on taking this trip? If it's in the very near future you may want to reconsider the Cinque Terre due to the recent flooding and mudslides. That would certainly help the rest of your timeline out. I agree with the others who suggest that you may have too many places in such a short time when you figure in actual travel time. Just wondering - have you considered taking the RS Tour = Best of Europe in 14 days (some of the places are on your itinerary, and some others, such as Paris are included as well)? I only suggest this as it will take care of all your transportation issues. If you have been dreaming not only visiting but also of doing the planning for the trip, then I assume you may not want a tour. In that case, I would suggest planning out train/travel times on a calendar and see how much time you will actually have. As someone suggested above, travel between some places will take several hours and leave you only an afternoon or an evening to visit the town before you leave again. Certainly, it is doable, but it may not be the most desirable way to visit. Let us know more about your plans - including what types of things you are planning on seeing (are you in to more architecture/history/art/soaking in the culture, etc.) in each place and we can certainly help you even more with your planning. :) Good Luck! Don't worry fellow Helpliners, I'm not suggesting to avoid the area permanently. We all know that the CT needs our support, but for now, I imagine it is not the best travel time, especially for first-timer like Danielle who only has limited time.

This can't done unless you've mastered the trick of teleportation. Guessing you are flying into Rome. Arrival day plus 2 additional nights = 3. Train to Venice in a.m. Half day Venice arrival in afternoon. Stay that night, next night = 2. You're going to have to fly Germany unless you do a long overnight train (haven't personally checked out the routes but from experience that's my educated guess). Cinque Terre is time consuming to get to and is having real issues due to flooding. Were you my best friend and you asked me to plan your first ever two week trip to Europe I'd say go to Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris MAX. Fly into Rome - 3 nights. Train in a.m. to Florence - 3 nights. Train in a.m. to Venice - 3 nights. 3 nights gives you two full days in each place. Get to Paris 3 nights. That's 12 nights right there with two (ha ha) slush days for transportation. You will have a wonderful time but take it down several notches and enjoy the journey. As I've said before Less is More. How exciting for you. There's nothing like that first trip to Europe. I envy you.

Danielle, do you mean three NIGHTS in Rome or three full days? We spent three nights in Rome, and it wan't near enough time to see everything that we wanted to... It's doable, but you'll feel rushed and you may not see everything. I haven't been to Paris, but I imagine 3 days may, like Rome, feel rushed. It sounds like a large city with much to see. And I would imagine you could cut one day off of Cinque Terre and add it to one of the larger cities. We made the mistake of only going for one night (which we now realize is a huge mistake. We never stay in any city for less than 2 nights now. Rookie mistake.) There was a train strike and we ended up arriving in the evening instead of the afternoon. We literally had about 12 hours. A full day would have been better! But three days may be devoting too much time with an itinerary ambitious as yours... Also, are you driving or using public transport? Reason I ask, Rothenburg isn't very practical with public transport as there isn't anything direct. That's why we ended up cutting it out of our trip to Germany. You could stay in Munich and do a day trip to Fuessen. You indicate 15 "days" in your itinerary but stated that you have 14. Like someone above said, you lose a day on your trip to Europe (you arrive a day after you leave the states), so you have to take that into account.

Danielle From previous posters recommendations, I like 1) spend another week 2) take RS Tour or 3) leave out Germany and follow Marie's suggestions. It is hard not to plan more than is reasonable. We in the United States do not usually change destinations this much when traveling. Here is a way to check the actual time it will take to travel from one place to another. Then you can see for yourself that 1/2 day is often a good estimate. 1: Get a paper or on line calendar such as wincalendar.com. 2: Put your proposed international arrival and departure info. Make sure you make open jaw reservations. In 1 city & out the other. Figure the first day as a recovery day. 3: In Italy, you will be taking the train. For time estimates only, check raileurope.com. Use current dates as your dates will not yet be available. 4: Then add the following: The time from hotel to rail station, wait at the rail station, rail time, station to new hotel.
5: For flights, add time to get to the airport, 2 + hrs at the airport, flight time, time from airport to new hotel. As others have mentioned, 1 night stays are just not advised. Too little time to see what you want, too much money moving from place to place, and too disorienting to keep changing places every night. Can't remember if others suggested RS Europe Through the Back Door which will be a great resource for you in planning your trip. Good luck! Bobbie

Too little time for Rome, Munich and Paris. Too much time for CT. Your days also add up to 15. You haven't deducted for travel times either. When you take that out, you are looking at: Travel day 1 day Rome 1 1/2 day (not nearly enough time for Rome) Travel day 1/2 day CT 2 days (about right for CT) Travel day 1 day (long day) Venice 2 day (about right for Venice) Travel day 1 day (long day) Munich 1 day (not really enough time to enjoy Munich) Travel day 1/2 day Fuessen 1/2 day (enough time to tour the castles) Travel day 1/2 day Rothenburg 1/2 day (enough time for a walk around and Nightwatchman's tour) Travel day 1 day (long day)
Paris 1 day (not nearly enough time for Paris) Travel day 1 day My best advice is limit your trip to Italy only, 14 days will go further if you limit the travel. Even then, 14 days is a bare minimum. I'd focus on Rome, Florence and Venice with maybe a couple of days to see a hill town or two. Ct is a pretty big dog-leg out of the way but would allow you to stop in Pisa and see the iconic leaning tower.

Bobbie I would make a couple of changes to your most excellent numbered list: 3: In Italy, you will be taking the train. For time estimates only, check raileurope.com. Use current dates as your dates will not yet be available. While trenitalia is best for actual ticket buying in Italy, and while raileurope can help a little for tickets (not cheap ones though) the raileurope schedules can be a bit incomplete and I would strongly suggest using Deutsche Bahn, this address is one of several which go to the same place for the most complete train times throughout Europe. 4: Then add the following: The time from hotel to rail station, wait at the rail station, rail time, station to new hotel. I would suggest adding a few other things to number 4 which would more accurately give the time used each time, so if you excuse me my version would be: 4: Then add the following: a) The time to research the new hotel, contact them, plan the route to get there. b) The time to pack your current hotel/hostel/apt. room. c} The time to check out. d) The time from hotel to rail station. e) The wait at the rail station, rail time, station to new hotel. f) The time at the TI getting a map and orientation for the new town (and getting lost for a while). g) The time to check in - including checking the new room out and possibly picking another.
h) The time to settle into your new place i) The time to unpack. That, danielle, is why experienced travelers limit the number of stops and distance between them.

danielle, My comments are the the same as the others have mentioned. IMHO, there are too many stops for the time you have available, with far too little allowance for travel times and moving from one location to another. Especially considering your other Thread in the "To The West" section (Romantic Road/Castles MUST GO/SKIP...") there's just too much here for a 14 day trip. Keep in mind that you'll lose the first day of your trip in travel times, and will generally arrive in Europe the day after you leave the U.S. You'll also be jet-lagged for the first day or two so won't be up to "full touring speed". The last day will be spent on the trip home, so in reality you'll have only 12-days for sightseeing. Is there any possibility you could get at least another few days for your holiday, or preferably a week? As you've waited 30 years, this is somewhat of a "special occasion". If you're stuck with 14-days, it's likely you'll have to drop at least one and probably two places from this list. Also, when are you planning to take this trip??? As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to departure. It provides a lot of really good information on "how" to travel in Europe. The country or city-specific Guidebooks will also be valuable for planning sightseeing and transportation. As someone else mentioned, it would be helpful to have further information on what you're most interested in seeing in each of the locations you'll be visiting. Finally, keep in mind one of Rick's favourite "lines" in the Guidebooks -- "assume you will return". Good luck with your planning!

How are you intending on getting to all these locations? Train or car? Regardless of your method of travel I suggest you eliminate a few locations (and I am one of these 'fly by the seat of your pants', spontaneous, flexible soul travelers)But, if you want to see Germany, Italy & Paris I would make it work. My first trip was a whirlwind 'taste of Europe' and I would not change one minute of it. See just the highlights and enjoy as much as you can. Yes, you will have 'travel time' but I enjoy driving and use that time to talk to whomever I am with, reflect on what I have seen, take pictures along the way and simply enjoy being on vacation, all the while listening to lots of new music. It's not 'lost time' simply because I am not checking off something on the must-see list. I miss lots of those 'must sees', but I gain so many other experiences that are mine. As for assuming that you will return... I have a different philosophy than Rick, and that is I want to return home with 'no regrets' and although I hope I will be fortunate enough to return, you never know, so see all that you dreamed about and don't worry about what you missed! (If I had only gone to one country on my first trip I don't think I would have had the passion to return that I have...each of the 3 countries you want to see are so diverse and so beautiful I say go for it)

Eliminate cinque terre and add days to Rome, Munich, Paris. Get rid of fussen and add that day to munich too. Rome 4 Venice 3 Munich 3 Rothenburg 1 (1 DAY can be done but 2 is better) Paris 4. If I had to do your trip, this is what I would do.
Enjoy

I think Kelly has it just almost right. But I wouldn't leave things "open" as you first suggest - you're covering too much ground too quickly to be that flexible. Pin down your travel legs, and choose the quickest trains; be flexible instead about what you do once you arrive at your destinations. Days 1-4: 4 nights in Rome.
Day 5-6: Take the 7:45 train to Venice, arrive before noon. 2 nights. Day 7-10: Morning Day 7 in Venice, then catch the fast , direct 13:34 train to Munich, arrive 20:25. 4 nights. Do daytrips from Munich - Dachau, Füssen, Garmisch, Salzburg, Herrenchiemsee Palace are all options, and cheap with a "Bayern Ticket" daypass. Day 11: Get an early start for Rothenburg: 1 night is enough. Days 12-15: It's roughly 8 hours to Paris on day 12, so you'll arrive late afternooon. 4 nights.