Hello helpful Rick-fans~! I would like to solicit your help in our planning a trip for three: two adults and our 18 year old daughter (suppose that makes three adults) anyway, our daughter who actually wants to backpack Europe with her folks.... We are budget minded travelers and traveling for 3 1/2 weeks in June with our first few nights in Rome already secured. We need to be in Amsterdam June 30th. Loosely, the rest of our itinerary consists of Florence/Sienna, Venice, Verona/Soave, Lugano, Interlaken/Gimmelwald, Reutte, Munich, Rothenburg, Mulheim/Essen (friends), and Amsterdam. QUESTIONS: Realistic itinerary?; Point to point train travel a logical way to move? (daughter has dream of a night train, but I'm not seeing it with this itinerary, do you?); is it realistic to do this without any room & train reservations-? (save Venice, we'll likely try to secure something for our night there.) Any additional thoughts or input would be appreciated~!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32325 posts
Arija, IMHO this Itinerary is not realistically possible, and it will be necessary to drop several locations to fit that time frame. You've listed 15 locations to visit in a 24-day time frame which if my math is correct, allows 1.6 days per city with NO allowances for travel times between them. Does the 3.5 weeks include the two travel days? If you haven't been to Europe previously, it would be a good idea to pre-read Europe Through The Back Door as that provides lots of good information, including Itinerary planning and rail skills (both are important). Regarding your other questions, train is definitely the fastest and most efficient travel method. To determine whether P-P tickets or a Railpass are the most cost effective, you'd need to do some "number cruching" and compare the costs. You may find it helpful to download the free PDF Rail Guide from this website (click the "Railpasses" tab at the top, and then look in the lower right corner). Night trains are not always a good value as these usually have compulsory reservations plus the cost of a Couchette. It's also important to ensure there are no changes during the night. If the route includes a change at 02:00 and another at 05:00, it won't be a restful journey! I'm sure the others will be offering some comments as well. Good luck with your planning!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32325 posts
Arija, Thank you for the kind words! I've looked at some of Rick's suggested Itineraries, but find these don't work well in reality (at least for me). As someone else mentioned, these are often tailored for "ideal conditions", with transportation, lodgings and other details very precisely structured. You'll have to discuss the number of destinations with your group, and try to reach some compromises on the number of stops. For a 24-day trip, try to plan for 8-10 stops (you can perhaps squeeze a day trip or two into the plans). Be sure to allow for adequate travel times between cities, which will likely be a minimum of a half day each time (which includes time checking out / checking into Hotels, time getting to stations, waiting times and or course travel times). One point to consider is the number of days in each city, which will depend to some extent on what sights you want to see in each place. IMO, larger cities such as Rome and Paris "deserve" at least three days. Two days is fine for many other stops. Try to limit one-night stops, as they get to be a bit annoying and tiring. In working out the Itinerary, don't try to fit too many stops in. As Rick says "assume you will return." One question though - have you booked your flights yet??? I'd highly recommend open-jaw flights for best efficiency, perhaps inbound to Rome and outbound from Amsterdam. In additon to ETBD, you might want to have a look at the country-specific Guidebooks to get information on sightseeing, Hotels, etc. (your local Library will hopefully have copies). That way you can plan touring in each city so that you don't waste any time. Cheers!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
"Any additional thoughts or input would be appreciated~!" Skip Reutte, for one, and stay someplace better in the area. I'll let the others chime in with more.
Posted by
OP
Portland, OR, USA
2 posts
Ken, I'm glad to "see" you - I've valued the other input you've given travelers...the 3 1/2 weeks does not include our fly days - we'd have 24 solid days in Europe. Lost my first edition of Back Door in 1985, got a new one for Xmas~! So, yes, re-reading it now: thought if Rick's Tour of 11 cities in 21 days was possible (much greater distances) ...maybe 15 in 24 could work~!? Clearly the reason to post is to gain additional insight which you've offered. Well that, and to end the 'battle of itineraries' with my travel partners~! May be taking Tom's suggestion and drop Reutte.....~ Love to hear more......
Posted by
Lewiston, Idaho, USA
2092 posts
Arija, when I'm comparing Rick's tours to doing a trip on our own, I keep in mind that the tour members just have to hop on the bus and away they go. We have to make our way to the train station, frequently take the time to buy tickets, find the track, (maybe find munchies for the trip), validate the ticket, then get from the train station to the hotel....This takes longer than when everything is pre-arranged. So if we are doing a trip similar to one of Rick's in the same number of days, I drop a city or 2 that might be a bit more complicated or time-consuming to get to.