Is this a good itinerary for a first time traveler to Europe?

“P.S. Someone suggested me to drop a few days from my itinerary in Spain or Paris, and visit Italy instead.”

Actually I’d spend MORE time in Paris! I’d drop Luxembourg unless you have a particular reason for a visit there. I’d probably drop Berlin in favor of maybe another night in Amsterdam or a stopover in Belgium which is on the way by train between Paris and Amsterdam. You are adding a lot of expense with train journeys.

What’s more interesting to you? Paris/Amsterdam/Northern Europe or Italy? I’d not add Italy in unless you just restrict yourself to Spain and Italy.

Madrid, Spain — 2 nights 20th-22nd May
Toledo, Spain — Day Trip 22nd May

Is Toledo a daytrip from Madrid? That leaves you 0 days in Madrid.

I would delete Andorra, Luxembourg and even Berlin and add the time to Paris and Spain.

This itinerary is really too much. You will be traveling for too many hours, really cutting into your sightseeing time. You've done something that a lot of first-timers do: You've listed your travel days twice, as if they mean time in both the city your are departing from and the city you're traveling to. In actuality, those travel days are not usually worth much at all. We usually suggest figuring that every time you change hotels, it costs you half a day at a minimum.

So you have two nights in Madrid. That's maybe 1-1/2 days. You're going to spend a day going to Toledo. That leaves you 1/2 day in Madrid!

You also have only about 1-1/2 days in Seville. That's not enough.

I don't think there's any way you can start out from Barcelona on May 27, travel to Andorra and see something there, and then get to Paris that night. Please, I beg you, drop Andorra. I've been there. There's nice scenery, but the capital city (if that's what you're thing of) has turned into something of a bargain, tax-free shopping center. It would be different if you were planning a few days in the Pyrenees and wanted a quick look at the country of Andorra along the way, but you don't have time for that on this trip.

I also urge you to drop Luxembourg. You are way short on time at your major destinations; you shouldn't peel off 2 nights for Luxembourg. You will have about 2-1/2 days in Paris if you fly from Barcelona, can find a convenient early-morning flight and all goes well. More time in Paris (or Barcelona or Madrid or Seville) is worth a great deal more than squeezing in Luxembourg.

Berlin is an historically important, museum-rich city. It lacks the cute architecture many folks want to see in Germany but is worth a long visit to those interested in historical sites (especially 20th-century-related) and museums. If you have no real interest in the historical sites and museums, I would scrap Berlin from this trip. If you are fascinated by WWII, the Cold War, German decorative arts, etc., you need more than 1-1/2 days in Berlin.

Italy is wonderful, but you are wildly short on practically every stop you have planned as it is. You cannot afford to take time away from any of them. You need to delete some and distribute those nights to the remaining stops, not add another country.

I, personally, do not like night trains. I don't sleep well on them. Some people agree with me. Others are able to get enough sleep to power through the next day. You won't know how you handle trying to sleep on a train that (probably) makes many stops all through the night until you've tried it. If you don't sleep well, the next day can be really unpleasant and not very productive. Your schedule is extremely tight; you can't afford unproductive days. I think this would be risky for you, but it might work out. Understand, though, that even couchettes (padded ledges in compartments for 4 or 6) are an added cost, above the train fare. The total cost may surprise you.

I got excited when I saw that your trip is 24 days. I thought, “Finally a trip that won’t be too short!” Then I realize that in the 17 nights after your conference ends, you plan to change locations 7 times. Yikes. That’s a whole lot of travel. And some of your day trips are really stops on the way to the next destination, which gives you less time in that place than a day trip might. You lose half a day just getting from place to place once you factor in packing, checking out, getting to the train station, getting from the train station to your next hotel, checking in, getting settled, etc. This is a very common first trip practice. You think you have to “see it all”, when it all just becomes a blur of travel, checking in/checking it of hotels.

I would cut out three cities (at least) and focus more time on the remaining ones. Keep in mind that two nights in any city really only means one full day of sightseeing.

Slow down and focus on "being there" instead of "seeing there" for you shall create better travel memories.
1) Zurich and 2) Valencia = 6 nights
3) Madrid should be 3 nights inclusive of the Toledo day trip.
AVE train to Seville
https://www.seat61.com
above link is great for learning about train travel in Europe
4) Seville 3 nights
Fly to Barcelona - cheap flights on almost hourly schedule exist
Strive to keep your luggage to a minimum as being a luggage mule degrades travel experience
5) Barcelona 3 nights
drop Andorra
Fly to Paris - cheap flights on almost hourly schedule exist
6) Paris 3 nights
Skip Luxembourg
Train to Amsterdam
7) Amsterdam 3 nights
Fly to Berlin
8) Berlin 3 nights

8 locations in 24 days is a lot of potential travel stress. Appearss you are traveling alone (?) so maybe you can be more efficient, but this itinerary is going to create too many memories of planes and trains and potential glitches.

If you drop Seville and train to Barcelona you create three days to spread out among some excellent destinations (do NOT add a destination). Each of your remaining destinations offers excellent day trip opportunities.

Personally, I think you will be rushed and exhausted with that type of schedule.

I like to get to know a place and really enjoy it. My way of thinking is at least 3 full days in a place. With 20+ total days, I'd select two countries at most.

Trains can be fast and economical between cities. But they can eat up a half to a full day each time you are on one. It's nice to see the countryside from the train, so I never mind a day train.

You can easily enjoy the full 24 days in Spain or in Paris (include Versailles, Giverny, etc.), or Germany, etc. If YOU like Italy, you caoule easily fill 20+ days there in Rome, Florence, Milan all by train and short group/solo bus trips to interesting places nearby.

Start with your interests and see what countries/cities offer what you enjoy and start there. Add another main location and create a plan.

Have fun!

Hello from Wisconsin,

With this being your first trip and that you probably feel as though you have already limited yourself, please take the advice of the people who have already responded. Plus, while you have a seemingly long time to spend after your conference, think of those days in four day blocks. And you have about 4 blocks.

Unless you have a proclivity for high end clothes, skip Andorra! It is one big shopping mall. As they might have said in Star Wars, "This is not the Europe you are looking for".

Pay close attention to the person who said you were double counting days. A person might look at a stay as being two days, when in reality you can check in most places at 14:00 on day one, and you have to check out by 11:00 on day two. Yes, you were in that location on two calendar days but your touring time was from 14:30 to when you went to bed. Maybe a couple hours the next morning. I don't want to be remedial, but three calendar days gives you one full day of not moving luggage so you can tour.

Travel days gobble up a vacation if you are not careful. And it really doesn't matter much if you have a car, or use mass transit. Moving from a bed in Madrid to a bed in Seville or Granada takes a long time. I travel slowly and I try to maximize my time by renting places fairly close to the mass transit I am taking. If you are not careful about your bed's location you might spend an hour each way getting to and from the train station.

Long story short, and I know it is too late to say that and have it mean anything, the fewer changes of location you make the more time to see, actually see things. While Paris is absolutely filled with things to see, your most fond memory could be an hour spent with coffee and croissants at a sidewalk cafe.

I assume you fly out of Berlin. Pick four places to visit. Forget the day trips. Each famous city has plenty to see and experience. If your flight time ou of Berlin is late in the evening, you wouldn't have to make Berlin one of your 'stops'.
wayne iNWI

Ok, not much time to plan this out ... my suggestion, write down all the places where you might want to go and what you want to see ... prioritize the list and choose the top 3, maybe 4 places (don't try to do it all, you'll spend too much time moving and not enough seeing) ... then create a logical trip route and figure out how to get from place to place (I would suggest trains, too much wasted time getting to and from airports and, as was mentioned, stay in a place close to the station to avoid additional travel to your hotel ... maybe look into a Eurail Pass but those are not as good a deal as they were years ago, but worth checking into) ... once you get the route locked in, get your train (or plane) tickets, prices generally go up the closer to the travel date ... reserve your hotels with fully refundable reservations, unless you are sure you will be there and the non-refundable price is too good a deal to pass up ... I like the overnight train idea, you need a place to sleep anyway, why not kill the proverbial 2 birds with one stone ... for all your train needs, read the Bible ... seat61.com

Your itinerary could work in theory if you want to see few or no museums and major sights and if you mainly just want to get a whirlwind tour of western Europe walking through certain neighborhoods. I would not take an overnight train. You could experiment with one overnight train. If you like it, great. Otherwise you know better for next time. I have never covered so much area in one trip. I have never tried traveling to than 2 countries per trip to Europe. My most recent trip was to Spain in March 5 to 7 weeks ago, before that to: the Netherlands and Belgium, Greece, Italy, London, England when i wrongly believed I could only go to one city per trip, and Lithuania but I was there for a 4- week Yiddish class and I didn't see much. I suggest that you spend all your time in Spain. Going to Andorra should be fine. If you really want to see more than one country you could try adding: Lisbon and parts of Portugal, or Paris and/or southern France. Can you post an updated detailed day-by-day itinerary listing one or more museum or major sight per day?

I agree with what everyone else has said. You have too many destinations! This will be a "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" kind of tour. And also costly because you have to pay for transportation to all these places, whether it's by train, plane, bus or automobile.

This is what I recommend based on having enough time to see the important sites and having time to wander through neighborhoods, relax at cafes with a drink, etc.
Madrid - 3 - 4 nights
Toledo - 1 night
Seville - 4 nights
Barcelona - 5 nights
Paris - 4 nights

Your travel times between places will be less because you are spending your time in only 2 countries: Spain and France.

Regarding your question about visiting Italy, I think that since you are already in Spain, it makes the most sense to spend most of your time in Spain, and also Paris. All the destinations you list for Spain are wonderful, as is Paris! I assume you have done some research on these places, and that is why you chose them.