RenzoMSP

Well May 11th im leaving to Europe for 21 days. Traveling by train when we get there. My friend is doing most of the research, but i would like to ask you guys for some advice & opinions. The cities we are traveling to are Amsterdam, Brugge, Paris, Interlaken, Venice, Rome, Nice, & Barcelona. Im not sure if we have enough time for all of these. I was wondering where to go or what to do? What cities maybe to cut out? Any hostels you can recommend? Some help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Art

LostFarmboy

hmmm 8 cities in 21 days, that's 2.6 days per city!! And you're covering some serious distances there, so you would lose a considerable amount of time travelling between the cities. So, factoring in travel, i think your time would drop to say 2 days per city. Your only option would be to night train it everywhere so as not to lose too much time, so that would pretty much be stay one or two nights in the city then spend the next night on the train. Also, you have to take into account hangovers, i think a lot of people forget about them when establishing an itinerary. But, i guess some places you don't need to stay as long in (Nice and Venice in my opinion), so you could stay a little longer in other places.

If you like speed travelling and squeezing as much as possible into a short amount of time then there would be no problem with this itinerary. However, if you like to relax or possibly party just a little, then i would cut the number of cities to at least 5. But that's just my opinion.

Also, if i was you i'd end the trip in Amsterdam.....otherwise that's the only place you'll get to see.


Search the boards for things to do in the cities you mentioned, i'm sure there's HEAPS of info already on here about them.

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mark-0

Man that's a tough travel schedule, especially if it's all by train (even by plane it'll be tough because of all of the time waiting around, boarding, etc...). I did a 32 day Europe tour this summer and saw seven cities and still wish I spent more time in some of them. One leg of my trip was from Venice to Barcelona. It was approx. 8 or 9 hours to Nice from Venice, then about 10 hours from Nice to Barcelona (I did Venice to Barcelona all in one go). It's also almost twelve hours by train from Barcelona to Paris. I don't know what order you're planning on hitting these cities in, but any way you do it, you'll spend a ton of time in transit. I had an amazing time, but ended up kind of regretting spending so much time in transit. If I could do it again (I will soon enough) I'd try to stick to places that were a little closer together if I only had three or four weeks. Personally, I like to have enough time in a city to see some of the cooler "touristy" sights and some of the more off-the-beaten-path stuff, with some time left over to spend a whole or half day wandering aimlessly. But if you're set on this itinerary, I hope you make the most of it and have a great time.

RenzoMSP

Thanks for the replies. I think im going to knock off Brugge and Nice. What ya think?

LostFarmboy

Yeah, you're not missing too much by skipping Nice. It's a good place to do some day trips to Monaco and Cannes from, but you can't see it all, gotta save something for next time.

Can't comment on Brugge as i've never been there.

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U2fan

Brugge is really nice but not as big a draw as the other cities you mentioned, obviously. If you had it on the agenda just to go through Belgium, I wouldn't feel too bad about skipping it.

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RenzoMSP

Ok so im ready to buy my eurail pass and was wondering which one I should get. My trip is may11th-june1st. Technically i arrive in Amsterdam on the 12th and am planning on staying 3 days for the weekend. If i get a 15day consecutive pass it should work out. This means on 30th i have to be in barcelona. Should i get the 15day one or be safe and get the 21day pass?

Joey7F

I just got back from a trip to Europe. Before I left, I knew most of my time would be spent in Spain and Italy. Not listening to the WONDERFUL advice of the TPers here, I bought a rail pass (a first class one at that, because the guy at AAA told me 2nd class trains are smoky as hell). For Spain and Italy, it is just not necessary. I was paying almost 50 Euros per day for my train ticket, when few trains cost that much.

I see you are headed to Barcelona. I have heard some great things about it (I was there for a total of 10 hours so I can't comment much..I liked it..sort of) but I have heard some real brutal things as well. Keep your hand on anything you don't want leaving. The cybercafe (Easyweb or something like that) on Las Ramblas has signs inside saying "Thieves operating in this area!" I saw two (they weren't using computers)

The same goes for when you are in Rome. The subways are pickpockets heaven. They have signs up in the subway cars but on a few, some pickpockets may have decided it was cutting into their business and they are missing (though the screws that held it up are still there).

My advice to you is make sure you have 3 full days for Rome. It is definitely my favorite city in the world. The better hostels are pretty popular and booked ahead of time. I went to PopInn next to the train station, which was okay, but had high people to bathroom ratios. My advice is to look elsewhere. Also make sure you stop by the Trevi Fountain for the first time at night. Really spectacular!

Vatican City is worth 1/2 a day to one day depending on your personal appreciation of art. I found it overwhelming so 1/2 a day was fine. You will also want to pay a tour guide (they get you in much faster!). Italian buses (at least in Rome and Florence) require you to buy a ticket before you get on the bus.

You have some great cities on your list. If your time is flexible you may want to see about Florence and Naples (maybe for day trips). One day, you should try to visit a city that no tourists go to. In Spain I went to this place called Avila. Even in the tourist areas the menus were in Spanish (probably for the Madrid folks that want a change of scenery) and it turned out to be one of the best places I visited. If that is not possible, just get off the beaten path in the cities you are visiting.

Good luck man, traveling is a lot of fun

--Joey

nemesis331

i'd go for the 15 day

I'll be going through that area this summer as well. not exactly sure when or what cities exactly yet, but its most likely gonna be Munich, budapest, Prague, edinburgh, dublin...i'll keep u posted

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futboller

Have a great trip. I'd go with the 15 day in your situation.

If you're around Spain/Portugal at the end of May we should do a meetup.

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Jen

Interlaken is so amazing. Get the train to Grindlewald (really cheap and takes 20 mins) and go up the cable car and have a beer whilst looking at the alps!

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RenzoMSP

Im getting some really good info on this site. Thanks for the responses.

RenzoMSP

So I picked some hotels/ hostels for the first week and half of my trip.
In Amsterdam we are staying at the Globe Center. Paris we had to pick two hotels because accomodations were hard to come by. One is called the Garden Opera Hotel and the other one is called Hotel de Paris which i booked, but couldn't find any info on the internet. (Only this http://www.hostelbookers.com/booking/index...n=hosteldetails )Also booked accomodations at Balmers in Interlaken.

lauren313

Hotel de Paris has a website! It's www.hotel-de-paris.org (I would have posted a clickable link, but my computer is being stupid!). Anyway, hope you have lots of fun! It all sounds great.

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RenzoMSP

Awesome! Thanks man. Im super excited!

RenzoMSP

Ok so im all packed and ready to go. My flt leaves at 552pm. Wish me luck.

thatgirlwholaughs

Brugge is one of my favorite Belgian cities. There's a castle and 3 or 4 huge cathedrals there. It's really more of a couply place though. If you're going anywhere in Belgium, go to Brussels. It's not exactly a fair representation of the country, but it's definitely the one with the most nightlife/things to see and do/drink



the rest of belgium typically looks like this:


...rainy, green, and covered in cows.

expatben

Ahh Brugge, the beer, the coast, the beer, the waffles and did I mention the beer? OK so typically there is not much to do in Brugge per say but as said there are some nice cathedreals, however its a nice sea side town with nice food. What ever you do if you find yourself in Brussels do NOT stay at a place called the Bruegel.

Amsterdam is OK. Honestly I diddn't much care for it and prefer Belgium but there are some nice things. Anne Frank's house and there are many art museams where you can see some nice Van Gough's if thats what floats your boat.

Paris, on the other hand has lots of tourist things to do:
The Eiffel tower
Arch de Triumph
Also Paris by night is wonderful. One of my favourite memories is going to a creperie at night going to see Noterdame all lit up and walking down by the river Seine with my old roomate.
Also you really want to visit the left bank and Momarte.

I have never been to Barcelona but if its anything like the other bits of Spain I have been to it should be great fun. Drink a beer there called Keller 18.

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