Updated Itinerary

I could do that trip easily at my pace. You may be able to do it; but much depends on your pace and the amount of time you prefer to rest when traveling.

If you are flexible and realize it is to your advantage to depart from your schedule when you want to, this will be a good start.

You should keep in mind that you can add activities or delete some when necessary. Keep in mind that travel should be an adventure and fun. When it ceases to be, change your itinerary.

I look at my schedule for the next few days every morning and decide if I want to make changes.

No Florence?

Only 1 full day in Venice and 1 1/2 in Rome, yet almost 3 full days in Zermatt and 3 full days on the Rhine?

Why stay in Dundee for your entire stay in Scotland? Why not split it between Edinburgh and the Highlands?

And at the end you add two days in Athens. I'd skip Greece this trip and add those days as either leisure days to rest or in a couple of the cities.

Wow, what a trip!

One specific suggestion: On the 29th you "hop on" to something. I hope that something is a car, because with such little time in Normandy you will need one to sightsee. I would keep that car as far as the Loire Valley.

Also: I think your plan to spend part of a day in Tuscany might justify the night train to Rome (is there one?), but might not. I'd make a plan for the day--it's not a lot of time--and then think about it.

Have a great time!

Kallie,
Have you calculated the amount of time you'll spend traveling between each of these destinations? You may find that you're spending more time en-route than actually at your destination.

thanks for the help so far! to answer a few of your questions
we arestaying in dundee b/c we have a family member there where we can stay for free so we thought if we stayed between the two and, hopefully, borrowed his car we could get free room/board
we were thinking about zermatt and rhine as rest periods from our vacay is why we are spending so long tehre... bad idea??
also, unfortuantely we booked our flight out of athens so we need to end there,... i have realized that this was probably a poor decision as we figured out more detailed plans
and, finally, i am trying to figure out trains and i know some of them are long, but i am just not sure what to cut out of our trip... any suggestions?

Hi Kallie,
If you haven't done so already I think that you would find it helpful to get a copy of Rick Steves Best of Europe 2009 (or other guidebook.) Look at maps for geographical proximity and decide on your sightseeing priorities. You'll have to decide what makes the most sense but, if you are starting in Barcelona consider going from there into southern France. Then, decide how to most efficiently travel to Italy, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. You could then do your UK travel spots and possibly fly from London to Athens. I'd consider skipping Dublin and Switzerland to spend more time in Italy, etc. You can use Which Budget to find out which budget airlines from from various European cities and you'll want to look at the Rail Travel sites as well. It will take some planning but that's part of the fun and you'll have a great trip!

Hello Kallie. I think you are looking at an excessive number of destinations. I recommend : cut out Dublin and Amsterdam. A high speed train goes from Paris to Koblenz in Germany (Rhine river). Add days to Italy and Greece. Fly from Rome to Athens, in a morning, and that day fly from Athens to an island of Greece (Agean Sea), enjoy being there for a few days, fly back to Athens, 2 nights at Athens (visit the National Archaeological Museum in Athens). I recommend : do not do any night trains.

And add one or two days to Switzerland.

Kallie, I recommend : reserve rooms for your overnight accomodations, for each night, before you fly to Europe. When you are at Europe, if you decide to change your travel plan, you could cancel a room reservation (via Telephone or E-mail).

Looks good to me. Towards the end, you have a number of night trains. If you haven't experienced one yet, you may find a solid night of sleep hard to achieve (or you may find the exact opposite...). But, at least you gave yourself several days at each destination, so if needed, you will have enough time to recover.