Where to go between Rome and Brussels

"I am a city girl and always a fan of big citiy charms and young vibe." OK, then there's one city that's an obvious choice that definately fits those criterea between Rome and Brussels. But wait! "I thought of Munich, Germany but I gave up and I do not think I'll much enjoy there." Munich is FULL of young people! I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for if not a city like Munich. Although it's not necessarily my favorite city in Germany (that would be Hamburg), Munich is one of the most dynamic cities in the country. If you're thinking it's all Oktoberfest, Dirndls and Lederhosen... think again. Berlin might be another good choice, but it's too far out of your way. "I chose Brussels for 2 days because I thought by the end of my trip I might get really tired of all the traveling and hopping on and off from the bus/trains. Therefore wanted to give myself some rest in Brussels. Is 2 days a lot for Brussels? What could be some of my best bets for Brussels?" If you're looking to just rest and people-watch, Brussels has some good parks for urban relaxation. But once again, if you're looking for a youth vibe, you might find more of that in the univerity towns of Ghent or Leuven. Brussels is more of a business and government town. Which means, good restaurants for power meetings, skimpier offerings in the nightlife department. I generally have a higher opinion of Brussels than many on this site, but I don't think it fits your requirements that well.

A grand tour, I'm very jealous. You will be exhausted. To show a little constructive criticism, have you factored in travel time for these dates? This is hyper-aggressive for a first timer. Might I suggest trimming your itinerary with the following?: Venice or Florence. Pick one. Skip Brussels, this is not a tourist city with no real "must see" items.
I would add a day to Paris and Amsterdam. If you are stereotypically San Franciscan, Paris and Amsterdam are built for you. I've lived in Belgium and can honestly say that there are some great places to visit in that country. I consider it my European home. Liege, a great college city that is very walkable. Brugge a touristy fairytale town and Leuven, the college drinking town. I hope you have an amazing time.

Thanks Tom and Douglas - both. Yes, I am very excited for this trip as well. I hope I can make it safe and come back with a good feeling. Douglas, I will actually be spending 4 nights in Paris (including my return trip from Paris to SFO). However I think you made a great suggestion about staying one more night in Amsterdam. I think I might want to do that as well. Do you have any great suggestions for things to do in Amsterdam specifically? I have not done great research on Amsterdam given that I still have some 3 months left til I start (I plan on visiting mid Sept). Also, what is your take on Stockholm? I have a few friends that I might want to visit but given its distance from Amasterdam I am a bit hesitant if it can get any more expensive than it already is? Regards.

Stockholm is far away and expensive, probably more expensive then any of your other destinations. You are young, do it later.

Agree with Pat. Your trip is all over the map in a relatively short time as it is. Stockholm is just too far away and very expensive.

Tom- I don't think we have ever discussed how I want to budget my trip. And as a matter of fact, I would rather take a slightly higher than average cost and travel more than make it cheap and travel less. I assumed this should be a no brainer for any travel enthusiast signed up for Rick Steves. I guess the whole point of Euro-trip for the first timers is to see more in a manageable timeframe and at an optimum cost; keeping in mind these variable are defined very differently from person to person. 'Nuff said. I am only looking forward to hearing from people at this point who has something constructive to say. Any good advice for how to plan on 2 different legs from: SFO -> Paris
Amsterdam-> SFO ?

Sept 19: Paris 20: Paris 21: Paris 22: Venice 23: Florence 24: Rome 25: Rome 26: Brussels 27: Brussels 28: Amsterdam 29: Amsterdam 30: Fly home from Paris. You have 2 trips in 1 and you are not giving enough time to any of the cities you are going to. Plus you are backtracking throughout the whole trip. If this were my trip, I would start In the north, end in the south (or vice versa), flying into 1 city and out of the other. I would start in Amsterdam, maybe stop in Brussels for lunch, be on the way to Paris. From Paris you could fly into italy, and give that country some time. I would do ( and I would still add a day in each city to give it proper respect but given the time frame....) 9/19 1. Amsterdam 9/20 2. Amsterdam 9/21 3. Brussels/Paris 9/22 4. Paris 9/23 5. Paris 9/24 6. Venice 9/25 7. Venice 9/26 8. Florence 2/27 8. Florence 9/28 9. Rome 9/29 10. Rome 9/30 11. Rome 10/1 12. Leave Rome
This keeps you from back tracking and wasting precious time

Kelly - Thanks for your response. What my fear of taking 2 separate legs for my flight is additional cost I'll be incurring. While Paris has direct flights from and to San Fran International Airport; Rome on the other hand doesn't and flying my return leg from Rome makes it ridiculously expensive. I found this ticket to and from Paris (SFO) for a direct flight in US Airways (1 free check-in luggage!) for $1270 - which sounded like a great deal to me. Hence that kind of made sense for me to come back to Paris to take my return flight to San Fran. Personally I am just getting frustrated planning my trip in Italy particularly as it seems like there are very less options for transportation in general and everything ends up getting expensive for no good reason. My itinerary is not confirmed yet. But looking at your and some of other forum users' suggestions - I might extend my trip for a day or two. Anyone knows what could be some of my best bets of flights/airlines if I want to start with Paris and end in Amsterdam? I am thinking, San Fran-> Paris -> Florence -> Venice -> Rome -> Amsterdam -> San Fran. Feel free to correct me if my thought process is not straightened up yet.

General rule of thumb: the more destinations you visit, the more travel involved, and hence, the higher the cost. When transportation connections start to become too expensive, it's time to dial down the number of places you're visiting.

I'll be quiet. Clearly you don't want help.

So how does it imply I don't need help if I don't necessarily agree with you? Weird!

I think you will find 3 basic types of posters on Rick Steves. Those that want to go someplace, those that live someplace and those that have made the journey before. I did some digging around, it allows me to live vicariously through your adventure. I went to kayak.com multi-city and entered SFO-PAR on 9/18/2013 (is the 18th your day of departure?) and AMS-SFO on 9/30/2013 or an open-jaw ticket. This has gotten much, much more affordable in the last 20 years. Single airline (United) would be $1152 total, first bag up to 50 pounds is free. I think those that would like to suggest itinerary would be best served if you could provide your "must see" things. You might even make it up to Stockholm to see your buddy. The Italy part of your journey is going to be challenging, train travel to/from Italy is 12 hours minimum, for example, 16 hours from Venice to Amsterdam. That's a whole day :( Flights can be very inexpensive with EasyJet and RyanAir but those add a whole new level of complexity and many major cities are quite distant from their local airports. Our last trip was going to be similar to yours, we scaled it back to London, Edinburgh, Paris, Amsterdam. We are saving Italy for another trip. Our longest journey was the 5 hour train from Edinburgh to London. Eurostar from London to Paris is only $100 if you buy early enough. Food for thought. I look forward to your list of must sees.

I'd check Kayak.com for open jaw tickets - flying into Amsterdam or Paris and out of Rome. I think you could take the train for all of this trip, but omit Brussels and one of the cities in Italy. You could also just omit Italy and consider going back for a separate Italy trip at a later date. I did a similar trip flying into Amsterdam and out of Paris. We fit in Interlaken - a cute town, and one of my favorite places we visited...but not a big city like you were wanting.

"What my fear of taking 2 separate legs for my flight is additional cost I'll be incurring." Air fares jump around quite a bit, but generally I would say this fear is unfounded compared to the alternative. If you fly home from Rome you may change planes in Frankfurt or Paris or elsewhere, but the incremental cost will in most cases be less than or at worst equal to the extra trip you are avoiding by flying open jaw. (And you get an extra sightseeing day in Europe.)