60 day summer Europe backpacking - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

wprottsman · 04-12-2007, 09:02 AM

I've asked several friends about my itinerary, but I'm looking for as much advice as I can get. My big question is if this is too much to tackle in two months.
U.K. 13 nights
Prague 5 nights
Budapest 3 nights
Vienna 2 nights
Munich 3 nights
Salzburg 2 nights
Lucerne 3 nights
Milan 2 nights
Venice 2 nights
Florence 3 nights
Rome 3 nights
French Riviera 4 nights
Barcelona 3 nights
Valencia 2 nights
Madrid 3 nights
Paris 3 nights
Bruges 3 nights
Amsterdam 3 nights

**c0urt** · 04-12-2007, 09:10 AM

depends on how much you sleep.

come to the running of the bulls since you be in spain

**omisan** · 04-12-2007, 09:51 AM

For most cities, you're looking at 2 nights. I'd give most cities at least 3-5 days in order to get a decent feel for them... Some of the bigger ones like Paris & Barcelona even more (but with the flexibility to leave earlier if you don't like 'em) - 2 nights isn't much when you take into consideration transit and sleep.

**joe7f** · 04-12-2007, 07:58 PM

^ I definitely agree. Rome should be a 4 day minimum. As has been discussed on other threads consider hub traveling. For example, did you know Salzburg is on the "Bayern pass" from Munich? 20 euros can take you there and back. It may be a squeeze but you can do a day trip to see Mozart's Geburtshaus etc.

Where are you going in the UK? 13 days is quite a bit of time unless you have family/friends there you may want to steal 4-6 days and sprinkle them throughout the trip

--Joey

**marc873** · 04-12-2007, 08:54 PM

I agree to most of that, and my only input is that I LOVE Brugge, but 2 nights is really all you need there. It is the most beautiful city, but its small, and you will of seen it all in 2 days. Maybe open up an extra day in another city. Happy Travels

kbroder86 · 04-12-2007, 09:34 PM

If you're worried about not hitting a bunch of places, you may want to consider a Contiki trip for part of your 60 days. You'll hit a lot of spots quickly and conveniently and have a ton of fun doing it! Check them out at www.contiki.com . Happy traveling!

-Kathryn

**joe7f** · 04-13-2007, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc873

I agree to most of that, and my only input is that I LOVE Brugge, but 2 nights is really all you need there. It is the most beautiful city, but its small, and you will of seen it all in 2 days. Maybe open up an extra day in another city. Happy Travels

Yup, that's true but then Brugge is a good city to launch a day trip to Brussells, Oostende (the coast), Antwerp, Ghent etc.

--Joey

**marc873** · 04-13-2007, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe7f

Yup, that's true but then Brugge is a good city to launch a day trip to Brussells, Oostende (the coast), Antwerp, Ghent etc.

--Joey

Ya know, thats such a good point Joe, and I really enjoyed Oostende

**joe7f** · 04-13-2007, 07:29 PM

Oostende has an eye poping cathedral (as you travel throughout Europe you get increasingly desensitized to them) and this cool museum (first picture). I didn't get to see inside anything and with Summer still a month or two away the town felt eerily quiet.

Between Brussels, Ghent (on the right), Brugge and Oostende (I hear good things about Antwerp also) I can't help but feel that Belgium is one of the most underrated countries in Western Europe.

--Joey

**marc873** · 04-13-2007, 08:52 PM

Hey Joe, is this the cathedral you are speaking of?

We didn't get to go in, but we were able to take in the beauty of it

**aliz** · 04-13-2007, 09:31 PM

i don't think your itinerary looks too bad - i travelled europe in two months moving at pretty much the same speed. it was great but halfway through (in prague) i decided we needed to stop and take a rest from travelling, so we stayed there for a week and relaxed before moving on. you might want to think about doing something similar. the main thing to remember is to keep your itinerary really flexible.. you might fall in love with a place (or a person... happens a lot) and want to stay longer, you might hate a certain place and want to leave early, or you meet cool people that you want to travel with for awhile... be open to spontenaiety

**joe7f** · 04-13-2007, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc873

Hey Joe, is this the cathedral you are speaking of?

We didn't get to go in, but we were able to take in the beauty of it

Yup, that is it, but what is really amazing to me is how different it looks during the day. At night they shower it in white light and it really glows. Unfortunately those photos didn't come out well (I was in a hurry to get to the train station which is right across the street.

--Joey