Multi-country itinerary

Sheena, Ed is right. On that schedule you are not visiting Europe, you are riding trains. Its not a matter of sleeping, its that that you underestimate the time and effort it takes just to get from one place to another. I spent one night in Edinburgh (when I was 20). All I got to see of the City was on the walk from the railroad station to the hotel and back the next morning. I would pick two out of four, and not expect to see much of either. Or ten days in Scotland and you can actually say you've been there.

I definitely agree. You will arrive wherever in the morning, but by the time you are ready to sightsee, it will be close to noon. Say you arrive in Glasgow. You will have the afternoon and the next morning to see the city before checking out, getting to the correct train station, and spending the better part of the afternoon getting to Edinburgh. Then you have a couple of hours and an overnight, and the next morning to see the city before heading to London. Then you get one whole day in one of the major capital cities of the world. Why bother? In addition to actual travel times, you need to consider all of the other travel tasks that take time - getting to the station, waiting for the train, finding your new hotel and checking in, getting oriented in the new city - and things like meals, getting lost, waiting for tour times or to get into museums. Regardless of your age, it's just waste of money to try to cram so much in (not to mention the cost of all of that additional travel). You will be much happier if you scale back.

Sheena, If you want to do your trip as is, go for it. As other have said you will be on alot of trains or as i see it, warming seats not seeing things other than country/city sides go by. if all you want is a quick taste of what you will be missing by not staying longer, you have the right schedule and it will work if you plan on going back. my coworker is from Glasgow and he call it a S-hole. I havent made it there yet, but did spend time in Edinburgh and really liked the place. On my trip back, i will probably go to Glasgow and other places too. As a matter of fact, your route is more or less the same starting route that i took last year. You will spend about 1k on a r/t ticket to get there, why not ENJOY your trip? I would re-examine your plans and try to whittle it down. You can always loose sleep by partying all night long and still have fun in half the places. happy trails.

Now if I was 30... Land Glasgow, go directly to Edinburgh. 2 nights there. Take sleeper to London (you did say sleep was not a priority). 4 nights in London. Eurostar to A'dam (why Brussels??). 3 nights in A'dam,
Fly home.

Sheena: I too once had young Bohemian interests. And I still like to go to lively cities like London, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague and Budapest. But if you're going to fly into a place like Edinburgh, you really should take the time to really see the city. It's 400 miles down to London, and that's too far to travel if you're only intending to spend one day. Otherwise, fly directly into London and spend half your time there. Then take the train to Gatwick Airport and fly Easyjet.com over to Amsterdam. Easyjet has 5-6 flights daily to Amsterdam, and airfares are downright cheap @ £37 to £50ish. And fly home (open jaw) from Amsterdam.
In those two great cities, you'll easily have 10 days' fun waiting on you. And you'll also visit again.

I have actually been to London twice already. Being a Harry Potter nerd, I'd like to do the studio tour at Leavesden Studios. (It wasn't open yet when I visited last.) With that said, I'm sure there's always more to London that I haven't visited yet! As far as Belgium, my grandfather emigrated to the US from Ghent and I'd like to at least say that I've been there! I will have to rethink my destinations.