Itinerary/train travel

Yeah, probably too much for 30 days. I counted 15 places, at least (giving Austria 1 stop) so maybe two days in each place, including travel, that will take up most of one of those days in some cases. You will make good use of the pass, but that is about all you will accomplish. Seriously consider lopping off whole sections of your travel. Obvious candidates would be Barcelona and Poland, that alone would tighten up your trip, probably cutting 4 days of travel. This would leave Paris and Environs, then to Italy, brush through Switzerland and Austria, no more than a stop, leaving Prague and Germany for the remainder. Within those confines you can make a pretty good trip. Any Night Trains would need to be booked well ahead.

Lindsay: A tip for itinerary planning is making your best guesstimates about actual travel time between your destinations. A website that will help you do that more accurately is:Europe Rail SchedulesThe Europe Rail schedules website gives only station to station travel times; to these you should add for the time to get to the train station, wait for the train, and on the destination end the same drill, the time to get from the station to your accommodation, unpack, pack up the next day, get back to the train station--and repeat that drill for your 30 days. If you're not careful, you end up spending a lot of time in trains and train stations rather than seeing and doing the things you went to Europe to do.These and other itinerary planning tips are discussed in more detail at this link and in Rick's book, Europe Through the Backdoor 2009:Itinerary Planning Tips

Thanks for replying to my questions. The reason we have to go to Barcelona is because my husband speaks spanish- he is convinced we have to go there. I totally agree though, it would give us much more time if we didn't have to travel all the way to Barcelona. I am an avid WW/Holocaust history buff, and that is why I want to dip into Poland to see Auschwitz, I realized it might not be worth it with my time crunch of 30 days.

Nice destinations but yes, too ambitious. I agree with lopping off Barcelona and (if your husband really wants to speak Spanish, he'll have no trouble finding conversation partners at home in the Southwest, so he needs a better reason for Barcelona) and Poland (see Dachau near Munich instead.) Also, Austria is nice, but it may be duplicating some of your Swiss and German experiences, both of which come before Austria in my book. Vienna is pretty distant and IMO dull. I'd maybe hit Salzburg, on the German border, if anything.

Also, you'll find an interesting WW II museum on the Rhine at Remagen at the site of the former "Bridge at Remagen" (see the movie with George Segal and Ben Gazzara before you go.)

Below are destinations with the minimum amount of time I'd spend in each. That's 28 days already, and even with this, you're compromising your time on the Rhine and in Munich and Prague. Instead of staying in Normandy, it might be possible to daytrip on a tour from Paris to the D-Day beaches, if that's all you want to see. But the area is lovely and worth a stay - though it is difficult to get to the D-Day beaches independently if you don't have a car.

Paris - 4

Normandy - 3

Rhine/Mosel - 3

Cinque Terre - 3

Rome - 4

Venice - 3

Bernese Oberland - 3

Munich/Dachau - 3

Prague - 2

So question if I was going to fly inbetween big cities would it be better to miss the drive from Paris to Barcelona or Barcelona to Rome? I'm thinking it would be better to fly from Paris to Barcelona, because then I could drive through the French Riveria? Any thoughts?

While I prefer trains to planes, if you're going to go Paris-Barcelona-Cinque Terre, I recommend you do something like this to save both time and money:

1. Fly Paris CDG-Barcelona on easyJet or Vueling. With a railpass you would have to pay a supplement for sleeping accommodations on a Paris-Barcelona night train. Your plane ticket could cost about the same as the supplement alone.

2. Fly Barcelona-Pisa on clickair and take the train to the Cinque Terre.

These flights are on budget airlines. Book as far in advance as possible to get the cheapest fares. Go to each airline's Web site and read the rules on luggage size and weight and be sure to observe the strict check-in times. If you're late checking in, your ticket will be worthless and you'll have to buy a new one at full price on a later flight.

Skip Poland. There is a camp 6 miles outside of Munich.

Lindsay: Bob makes a good suggestion which minimizes travel time. I thought I'd add that, since you mentioned that you have a special interest in the Holocaust, Auschwitz, although harder to get to, is--in the opinion of many--the most moving and evocative of all the Nazi death camps. In comparison to Auschwitz, Dachau is a less intense experience--Dauchau is where those who ran the big death camps were trained, whereas Auschwitz is where the Dauchau trainees went to slaughter a million innocents. So if you're looking for a more intense experience, Auschwitz. If less intense but more convenient is what you want, then Dauchau would be a good choice. Bring a packet of tissues with you, these places will make you cry. And they don't allow (or don't encourage) children under about 14 or 15 at Auschwitz (you didn't mention you were bringing children but I thought I'd mention it).

Thanks for all the tips. I actually have been to Dauchau. It was moving and I'm glad I went there. I was thinking I could visit Mauthausen, as it is close to Vienna, and I still might. I have always wanted to experince Auschwitz even though I know I will walk away devastated. Is it far from Prague by train? I'm thinking I might just skip Spain, and save that for another trip. Is Barcelona skipable?

Lindsay,

They're all 'skippable' if you have other priorities. I've been to Barcelona and enjoyed it, but I would never pick Barcelona over London or Paris. And I did not enjoy Amsterdam while others love it. But that's me. Especially since you're already of the mindset that there will be another trip, don't worry about trying to fit too much in, focus on choosing things you'd enjoy and do them thoroughly.