Europe - End Sept-Early Oct 2018

Asad, "other ideas" is an impossible question without knowing that cities you are already wanting to see.

Also, "Europe" is a very big place and 11 days is a short time. You really can't do justice to more than just a couple cities in 11 days, and I don't know as I'd even try to do cities in more than one country, depending on your interests. So, more information please?

Hi Kathy,

Yes you are right. Infact i was not precise, the idea is to maximize what i can take out of those 11 days. I am interested in mostly visiting cities with historical significance - which i understand lots of european cities fulfil this criterion :) so i was thinking Amsterdam (where i will be prior to those 11 days for official work) and then paris, andalusia, rome and berlin...would that work?

5 cities in 5 different countries in 11 days? And none of these are really close to each other? You'll lose 1/2 to 1 day every time you change places. So you would only have 1 day in each place. Not to be rude, but that's just crazy. And where will you fly home from (if you already have tickets?) Because you would want to be there the night before your departure.

Pick 2 (3 at the very most) cities that interest you the most, with the last city being your departure point.

Asad,
First constraint: Your trip starts in Amsterdam.
Second constraint: You want to end in a city where you can get an open-jaw flight back to wherever home is.
Third constraint: You are limited to 11 days (10 nights)- How flexible is this?
Wishes: You like historical cities.
My rule: No 1 night stays, and try and avoid 2 night stays.

QUESTIONS:
Are you travelling alone? That could affect choices.
What is your nationality? As you are going to Amsterdam for work, you presumably are legal in the Schengen Area. Would you need a visa for the UK?

PLAN 1: 2 nights Amsterdam (you will already be there). Train to Paris 4 nights. Train to London 4 nights, fly home from London.

PLAN 2: 2 nights Amsterdam (you will already be there). Train to Paris 3 nights. Train Switzerland (Luzern) 2 nights. Train Venice 3 nights and fly home from there.

PLAN 3: As above, but after Luzern, fly (from Zürich) to Rome 3 nights and fly home from there.

I could think up dozens of other options. You need to make some choices where you want to go.

Amsterdam, then Paris and either Berlin or Rome and fly home from whichever is your last destination will be more than enough within your timescale. Train from Amsterdam to Paris then fly to Rome or Berlin.

Very good advice from the previous posters, and I'd absolutely agree that trying to see Amsterdam, Paris, Andalusia, Rome and Berlin in 11 days is simply not do-able - or not of you want to see anything besides train stations and airports.

the idea is to maximize what i can take out of those 11 days.

Trying to cram a lot of cities into few days only maximizes the time and expense you will spend on transport at the great expense of actually experiencing your destinations, especially with destinations as spread out, geographically, as those you've listed. Only one FULL day in a city (meaning no travel) is just barely enough to acclimate to your surroundings and how to get around. That one FULL day may also be the one that an important attraction may be closed, or it pours rain, or a transport strike delays your arrival....

In short, less is more as it provides flexibility should something go awry and allows time to figure out the logistics and absorb what you're seeing. I've spent full weeks in London, Paris, Rome and Amsterdam without running out of things to do (although a week was too much for Amsterdam without some day trips) and it wasn't my first visit to any of them.

Chris' questions regarding a need for a U.K. visa and legality to work in the Schengen are important.

As you must be in Amsterdam anyway, you might consider Amsterdam, Antwerp (Belgium) and Paris: flying into Amsterdam Schiphol and out of Paris CDG? It's a linear route that won't eat up scads of time and money to do, and all three cities are very interesting. You could also easily day-trip to Gent (Belgium) from Antwerp as it's roughly only an hour away by (inexpensive) train. That's a fun, very pretty city with lots of history as well.

Thanks everyone. Very useful suggestions indeed. I will check out on the new cities mentioned - I like Lucern and Antwerp :)
Also the min 2 night rule is quite useful. I will be travelling from South Africa (resident here) to attend a conference in Amsterdam and hence i wont be on a work visa but rather a visitors visa. I have a Pakistani passport and hence would require UK visa which does not make it a feasible destination.
Would be travelling alone :(
Lastly, if a choice is to be made between Rome and Berlin, what would be your suggestion?

Lastly, if a choice is to be made between Rome and Berlin, what would be your suggestion?

Rome. Reasons:
(A) Rome has lots to see. At every turn you will see 1000-2000 year old buildings, just sitting there, still used, not fenced off because they are so common.
(B) Cultural difference, northern Europe to Southern Europe. Contrast to Amsterdam. They do things differently. In southern Europe life is lived on the streets more.
(C) It will be warmer. Berlin (and Amsterdam) in late Sep early Oct will be cooler, possibly needing a coat. Rome will still be warm enough to walk around all day. Berlin will be cold if you are used to a Pakistani climate.

For future reference, noting that you are traveling alone, you posted this question in the Travel Partners Forum, which is where people post trying to meet up with others and travel together.

If your post had been in the General Europe Forum it would have been seen by more people. You're lucky that some people have seen it here.

Good luck with your travels. I hope you have a great time - and are not too exhausted afterwards.

With a Pakistani passport do you have permission to move freely around the entire Schengen Area, or is it restricted to the Netherlands?

What would be a good airport for your departure to South Africa?

Rome it is!....thanks Chris

Nigel, I will be applying for a schengen visa so apparently there shouldnt be any problem -atleast i hope so!
Also, the idea of posting here was just incase i find someone/some group doing travel or an activity in europe on these days...really open to other ideas, wont mind cycling, camping or hiking for 10 days for that matter :)

also the return flight is from amsterdam but i wont mind taking a connecting flight/train..

Could also train Paris to Barcelona, then do Madrid, Toledo and Seville and fly back to AMS or do Barcelona and fly from there to Rome. BCN is a cheap hub for airlines. I would just do Paris and Spain and save Italy when you have more time to do Rome, Florence, Cinque Terra, Venice etc.

So the time of travel approaches....

have you settled an itinerary? Did the visa problem get solved?

let us know how it is going....

Thanks a lot guys for all the useful tips

Nigel, yes finally got the visa and off to fly next week...
Itinerary is still a bit crazy but lets see how it goes :)
Doing bruges and rotterdam, one day each, before the conference start
conference is in amsterdam for about 5 days...
afterwards the itinerary is somethign like amsterdam --> berlin --> prague --> vienna --> lucerne --> venice --> florence --> rome (fly back to amsterdam for the return flight)
would be travelling via eurail and 'mostly' sticking with a min 2 night rule...
am unsure about the laptop/ipad and their safety in hostels or otherwise carrying them around...any suggestion?

thanks again!

itinerary is somethign like amsterdam --> berlin --> prague --> vienna
--> lucerne --> venice --> florence --> rome (fly back to amsterdam for the return flight) would be travelling via eurail and 'mostly'
sticking with a min 2 night rule...

Oh. My. God. So you've gone from 5 cities in your original post to 8 in your last. And it sounds like you haven't made any advance reservations for this part of your trip (rail or hotel). When you get home, please post an update with the results of your Amazing Race.

afterwards the itinerary is somethign like amsterdam --> berlin -->
prague --> vienna --> lucerne --> venice --> florence --> rome (fly
back to amsterdam for the return flight)

Yikes. I sure hope you found more than 11 days to do all that? There's no WAY I'd try to do all this with just 2 nights/1 full day in this many places. You'll spend more time getting from one to another and checking in and out of accommodations than seeing much of them at all.

I mean this kindly, really, but this itinerary is insane.