Please sign in to post.

Itinerary Suggestions for 3 Month European Trip

My girlfriend and I want to spend 3 months traveling throughout Europe beginning in April 2011. The Countries that interest us most and we would like to visit are: (In no particular order) Portugal, Spain, France, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switz, Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey. Any suggestions on what an itinerary would look like? Is this way to many countries to visit in 3 months? Also, we are going to budget $100 a day each. Is this to little, to much? Are there any other countries that I left out that we may want to consider?

Thanks!

Posted by
9110 posts

Greece and Turkey are way the heck out on the long end of the string. The rest seems okay. $100 each seems really tight if you've never tried it before. Watch out for Schengen limits, there was and excellent discussion led by Kent a few days ago under General Europe.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you. I am hoping to get more suggestions on how we may structure the trip. Where to start, what direction to head in and how many days is reasonable to spend in each Country/City.

Posted by
1525 posts

Your question is awfully broad to expect helpful answers. But I guess if it were me, this is how I would approach it;

1) Make certain I liked my girlfriend A LOT!
2) Consider the convenience of a 3-month rail pass, but also consider learning a lot about the various rail discounts in each country and simply buying point-to-point tickets as you need them, Also consider busses, which are plentiful, cheap, and often just as fast as trains.
3) Find a reasonable flight to Lisbon. Work your way northeast through Spain and into France, then Belgium, Amsterdam, then central Germany, east to Czech, then south to Budapest (I know you didn't mention it, but you should have :), then west again through Austria (Vienna, Melk, Salzburg), then hop into southern Germany (Bavaria) for Munich & Fussen, then to Switzerland, then south into Italy.
4) At this point you either dump the girlfriend or ask her to marry you.
5) If you still have the time, energy and money to go on, take a boat across the Adriatic to Croatia, Greece & Turkey, (though personally, I would save that for another trip).
6) Fly a discount airline to London & see a bit of the UK, then home.

Generally speaking, I would try to alternate urban & rural visits, roughly 3 days each. Don't just hop from city to city. Without cleansing the palate with cute and calm rural visits, all cities will start to look the same.

Youth hostel beds will be plentiful at $25-$35 per person/night. In rural areas you may find some small hotels or B&B's that have comperably priced doubles. But in many places it will take more money than that for lodging unless you hostel.

If you avoid mid-upscale restaurants and only order hot food once a day, you can eat for $25/person/day. But try to go more upscale than that and you could blow your $100 on food alone.

Choose maybe one museum/castle/tourist site per day that requires you pay admission because that can add up fast. And after several weeks, you will grow weary of them.

Posted by
121 posts

Mike - the best advice I've ever gotten is pack light (you can do wash) and you can't see it all in one trip. Even in three months. If you pack in a touristy museum or historical site every day you will be exhausted and burned out. Save time for sitting cafes, enjoying the scenery and people watching. Save time to enjoy the essence. If you and your girlfriend each make a list of the 'must sees and must dos' then compare and trim as necessary you will have plenty of time to enjoy the culture and each other which is what your fondest memories will be based on. Also your budget is a bit tight (especially with sight seeing and depending on your food/lodging choices) so plan carefully. Read over some guidebooks (at a library or bookstore) and also read the boards here. They you will have more specific questions. Have a great trip!