Where TO? Help needed!

Posted by Laris (San Jose, CA) on 03/30/10 09:39 PM

Here is my dilemma:

(24 year old, very flexible)

Flying into London from SFO on April 20th:

Booked two nights @ a hostel -Would like to see Barcelona, Paris, maybe Italy
I am flying out of Zagreb, Croatia

How do I build an efficient itinerary out of this?

Should I go to another country to visit but also to make it more efficient/easier on myself?

I checked out the cheap european flights...Wizzair would be my best option, as it flies to Zagreb from London...which means after Paris and Barcelona I have to fly back to London in order to catch a flight to Zagreb.

Any other options? Please help

Posted by pat

victoria, Canada

03/30/10 10:05 PM

11507 posts

You neglected to tell us how long your visit will be?

Posted by Laris OP

San Jose, CA

03/31/10 12:40 AM

17 posts

Amy,

Thanks so much for outlining your ideas. Really big help.

Posted by Marsle

Atlanta

03/31/10 05:44 AM

3250 posts

Pat's right, your itinerary will depend on how long you have to stay in Europe.

Looking at www.whichbudget.com you can fly from Barcelona to Zagreb on either Spanair or Germanwings.

Posted by Laris OP

San Jose, CA

03/31/10 09:37 AM

17 posts

Sorry about that...

I am flying out of San Francisco April 20th, 2010 and flying back from Zagreb, Croatia to San Francisco June 1st, 2010.

What is the most efficient route I should do?

Posted by Amy

Madison, WI, USA

03/31/10 11:31 AM

524 posts

If I calc'd right - you have 41 days which is a good long time to do some great stuff. I think UK - France - Italy - Croatia will be the most logical and straight forward path for you. Spain is a bit of a dip out of the way and will not easily fit in. If you really want Spain - you have the time to put it in - but your transporation there and back will be time consuming. So having said that, if it were me - I would:

London - 5 nights

Bath (or some other side trip from London) - 2 nights

Paris - 5 nights

(at this point I would spend 5 or nights going down the NE side of France exploring Beaune and the French Alps. this is a wine/champagne/food mecca)

Villefranche - 3 nights

(over to Italy)
Cinque Terra - 3 nights

Florence (exploring Tuscany) - 4 nights

Venice - 4 nights
(you can take a ferry from Venice to Croatia - I think it is only 3 hours long)

Istrian Pennisula (Croatia) - 3 nights

Zagreb - 3 nights

Posted by Marsle

Atlanta

03/31/10 01:12 PM

3250 posts

Forty-one days is great! You have so many options! I'd pick major destinations and then do research to decide what's a reasonable day trip or next destination from there. You could consider:

London (4)

Paris (5)

Barcelona (4)--(consider taking the train to Madrid) (4) and flying to your next destination--if you're interested you could even go to southern Spain, Granada and Seville for example, OR maybe...

Rome (5)

Florence (3)

Cinque Terre (3)

Venice (4)

Ljubljana, Slovenia (4)

Zagreb (3)

As mentioned above check a site like www.whichbudget.com to check out budget airline options. This site (RS) also has lots of helpful info about train travel. And, Rick Steves' "Best of Europe 2010" would be a big help if you don't already have it. Enjoy the planning!!