Depart 9/30/07 1st draft Intinerary

[steve7100]

Hi all. New member, beginner backpacker. I've read many guide book over the last few weeks and have a rough idea of where my fiance and I will be traveling too. Please feel free to let me know my mistakes and your opinions. Thanks.

9/30 Dep NYC
10/1 Arr Lisbon Portugal
10/2 Lisbon
10/3 Lisbon
10/4 Lisbon to Porto Portugal
10/5 Porto to Madrid
10/6 Madrid
10/7 Madrid
10/8 Madrid to Gibralter Dep 1415 Arr 1933
10/9 Ferry to Tanger, Morocco (We would like to just keep moving to Casablanca if doable).
10/10 Casablanca
10/11 Casablanca
10/12 Casablanca to Marrakech Dep 1005 Arr 1405
10/13 Marrakech
10/14 Marrakech
10/15 Marrakech
10/16 Marrakech to Fez Dep 0900 Arr 1600
10/17 Fez
10/18 Fez
10/19 Fez to Paris, Dep 1700 Arr 2150 (136.00 Euro for 2)
10/20 Paris
10/20 Paris
10/21 Paris

This is as far as we have gotten. We will be staying until either 11/5 or 11/12 and will be flying out of Dublin. We would like to have 7 days in Ireland. We are trying to decide to add parts of Italy, specifically Florence and Venice. This may be a little rushed, but we may never have this time to run around Europe. So help us out and tell us what you think

[joe7f]

Hi Steve, welcome to Tpunk!

Your trip looks great. Madrid is great for daytrips (Segovia, Salamanca, Avila, Toledo) and is a great city in itself.

The only thing you may want to consider is that by the time you arrive in Paris it won't be that green, so if your itinerary is flexible, I would probably move that up in the rotation. Although, even if you don't, Paris is still very nice (I saw it in the dead of winter and with blue skies )

The same applies for Ireland. With intraeurope flights on Aer Lingus, Ryan Air and the like being so cheap you probably could fly to Ireland after Lisbon. If you haven't purchased a ticket yet, you might find it cheaper to follow the weather and land in Ireland, do that, then Paris, then Iberia, Morrocco, and Italy.

If you haven't been to Rome I would really recommend it even if it means that your trip to Florence and Venice is shorter.

--Joey

[steve7100]

Thanks for that info Joe, We orginally were going to fly into Dublin first then go to Paris, but since we are trying to see alot of places in a short time, we are getting an open jaw ticket into Lisbon and out of Ireland for $550 a peice. We tried to reverse the dest order, but the price went up. That helped make our decision. We haven't seen any other prices close to 550 each.
As for Rome, Florence, and Venice, We are trying to fit that in. We have looked into taking the train into Venice for 3 days, then to Florence 2 days, Rome 3 days then a flight to ireland. Flights seem a little pricey though.

We may try to switch it up some and go to paris after madrid, then italy, find a flight to Morocco(cost again) then work are way into southern spain and a flight to belfast or dublin.

I really would like to arrive in Dublin first, and that is my top destination, so I also would like to end my trip in Ireland, the plane ticket prices help me justify that to my Fiance. Thanks again, and I appreciate all ideas, this is our first real backpack experience.

[marc873]

You should do the Italy/Croatia area. Ferry back and forth, from Venice or Bari. You could fly into Rome from Fez, float around ending in Venice, ferry over, work the coast of Croatia, finishing in Dubrovnik, Which has a direct flight to Dublin on Aer Lingus. (super cheap too!!)

[steve7100]

Hi Marc,

I looked into that idea, I can fly from Casablanca to Marseille then onto rome florence italy. We are already over budget, adding another $650.00 for a flight from Fez to Rome(cant find any budget flights). I checked ryanair, easyjet, Atlas blue, kayak, jet4you. Any other suggestions for airfare. Also, I checked into flights from Dubrovnik to Ireland from Oct 27th-Nov 4th and no flights. But could possible fly into paris 1st. Hopefully, I will find away to work it out.

Your suggestion about Croatia was great. My fiance would love to go there, so I will work it out.

Thanks for your help.
Steve

[marc873]

Ahh, bummer about Aer Lingus, I guess they cut there flight sched. for the fall season. Good luck though, and keep us posted.

[joe7f]

Originally Posted by steve7100

Thanks for that info Joe, We orginally were going to fly into Dublin first then go to Paris, but since we are trying to see alot of places in a short time, we are getting an open jaw ticket into Lisbon and out of Ireland for $550 a peice. We tried to reverse the dest order, but the price went up. That helped make our decision. We haven't seen any other prices close to 550 each.

Lisbon to Dublin appears to be about 80 Euros on Aer Lingus. I am not sure where you are flying from (if you actually live in NY, then the flights are only 462 on Delta) in the US but for example, from my home town of Tampa to Dublin for that time frame only costs another 60 bucks (610 on Delta).

Unless either you or your fiance speak Portguese or have traveled outside the US before you may want to start in an English speaking country. I know you say this is your first backpacking experience but I am not sure if that means you have traveled like a "normal" person elsewhere

We have looked into taking the train into Venice for 3 days, then to Florence 2 days, Rome 3 days then a flight to ireland. Flights seem a little pricey though.

I would shave off a Venice day and add it to Rome just because there is more to see. On the other hand by that time you may just want a day off. You can fly to Dublin for 80 Euros in late October. A Dubrovnik option also sounds pretty good

I really would like to arrive in Dublin first, and that is my top destination, so I also would like to end my trip in Ireland, the plane ticket prices help me justify that to my Fiance. Thanks again, and I appreciate all ideas, this is our first real backpack experience.

If Dublin is your top destination I really recommend at least trying to make it work especially if the difference is <$100.

Like Marc said, keep us updated

--Joey

[steve7100]

You have alot of good info Joey, thanks alot. We didnt buy tickets yet, but we looked at aer lingus from NYC to Lis and Dublin. We have been to several other foreign countries, just never backpacking. Usually week long trips or staying with family/friends. Jamaica, Dom. Rep., Scotland, Ireland, Cuba, Germany. Since Ramadan ends in Mid OCtober, the 12th I think, we thought it would be interesting to see the ending festivals. (this will help with our food budget too).

Also, We are thinking of ditching porto, over to Madrid and working our way down to Morocco, getting into Morocco around the 9th or 10th. Flying to Paris for a few days. Then onto Dublin. We are spending 10 days in Ireland and flying out of Dublin on either the Nov 5 or 12.
We are trying to decide what eurail pass to gett or go point to point. Are train rides are Lisbon-Madrid, Madrid - to Gibraltar(with a few stops along the way).

Unfortunalety at this point Italy may be out, unless we find a way to increase our budget, or decrease expense.

These are approx.
4 days portugal
7 days spain
10 days Morocco
5 days France
10 days Ireland

Our budget is $7000-8000.00. Pretrip is about 3000.00(eurail, plane, transport in morocco, backpacks, one passport, misc.) We budgeted $1500 for Morocco, $1500 Spain $2500 France/Ire. I don't know how accurate this is, but its already over budget.

[ZachJ]

U gotta hit up Barcelona bro!!!

[lost in texas]

I'm terrible with itineraries... always end up going without one.

You may have come across this already, but skyscanner.net is the best site I found for finding cheap tickets. The search options are really flexible, so you can find out which airports cost less, and look at a calendar to see which days flights are cheapest.

Good luck!