liamblack

Just came across this site while researching our trip around europe summer 2008. Were looking for any advice/tips to get the most out of our trip as we can only travel for a month.

We have devised a very rough travel plan of our trip, feel free to comment or make suggestions.

1. Amstadam
2.Berlin
3.Munich
4.Prague - Fluff Fest 20 - 22 July - Is anyone going??
5.Rome
6.Florence (or somewhere else)
7.Switzerland
8.Barcelona
9.Madrid, maybe
10.France

Planning on getting an inter-rail train pass (1 month). Has anyone had any experience with these, is there any restrictions, etc?

We're wanting to fit Denmark/Sweden, but seems a bit tight.
We can travel longer, but obviously the rail card only lasts a month so anything else is extra.

If Possible could anyone tell us how long it takes roughly to travel from place place?

Thanks,
Liam & Rob

joe7f

First welcome to Tpunk

IMO, you have a very hectic itinerary. 3 days per city is really bare minimum. Are you flying in an out of Amsterdam? If you haven't gotten a ticket perhaps you can consider an open jaw ticket (fly into A'dam and out of Barcelona for example)

I think unfortunately I would whack Madrid, fly from Prague to Rome and be flexible on Switzerland.

Maybe something like

1. Amsterdam 4
2. Paris 4
3. Berlin 4 (night train possibly via Cologne)
4. Prague - Fluff Fest 20 - 22 July - Is anyone going??
5. Rome 4
6. Florence (or somewhere else) 3 (include Pisa and/or nearby Tuscan town)
7. Interlaken Switzerland via Milan 4
8. From Milan-> Barcelona 4

The option there is that you can roundtrip Barcelona to Madrid and catch all the great cities of the interior in Spain. Your pass would be out but trains in Spain are cheap. Or if vacation/money is out by that point blitz

--Joey

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liamblack

Thanks for the reply.
We are going to get the ferry to amstadam, as we would like to avoid flying as much as possible! We're not really too fussed about France so will probably only be there for two days. We've had a look at the map and it seems easier to get to berlin from amsterdam and then to prague in time for the festival? We're sort of looking to do a semi circle around europe ending in france so we can get the tunnel back to the UK.

Can you use an interlink card on any train within that month or as many times as you need?

We've looked into flying from Rome to Spain (as its pretty cheap) and then through spain and then finally France on trains again. So the itinery will look like this:
Amsterdam 3
Berlin 4
Prague 4
Munich 2 (seems like we kinda have to go through here to get to Switzerland anyway!)
Switzerland 3
Italy(work from North Italy down to Rome) 4
Then fly from Rome to Barcelona 5
France 4

what do you think?

liamblack

Actually, we have had a look at some other itinarys people have posted on here and it seems everyone is doing our trip in reverse! Would it be better to move our trip back a little so we end up in Prague the same time and do France/spain/italy before hand?
Thanks!

joe7f

Being that you are from the UK and you can go to the continent whenever, I would go with a more limited itinerary. If you were from North America and you had to see it all because this was "the" trip of a lifetime, maybe being aggressive makes sense.

--Joey

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Next up: Mongolia, China

"I sought trains; I found passengers" - Paul Theroux

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expatben

If you don't mind me saying "France" is kinda vague. There are many places in France that are different. If you're going to France check out Normandy or Dijon.
Berlin is fan friggen tastic and 4 days should be great. While you're there see Alexanderplatz. Geneva is nice.

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Canadian Bacon

Welcome to the boards!

And please do NOT cut Madrid... it is my favorite city in Europe. (sorry Joe!) Madrid has all the life of Spain, but none of the crackheads found in Barcelona.. or less of them at least. Mind you I have only been to Barcelona, Pamplona and Madrid... but Madrid is always great - laid back, friendly locals and great places to hit up at night.

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Trips (only counting recreational travel):
FIRST TRIP (2005): FIRST EUROTRIP EVER! UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland
SECOND TRIP (2007): First Solo Trip! Greece, Turkey, Syria, Spain
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"Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it."

joe7f

Yeah I only said to whack Madrid (and the wonderful day trips that you can have from it) because it is "inconvenient" to get to and he put a "maybe" by it.

Madrid, Salamanca, Avila, Toledo, Segovia et al are can't miss trips. Of course if you are living in Britain you are only 75 quid away. I would do a dedicated trip for 10 days or so to Madrid around March-April.

--Joey

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Next up: Mongolia, China

"I sought trains; I found passengers" - Paul Theroux

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liamblack

Madrid sounds ace, but yeah joe your probably right about making it a separate trip.
So what about doing our itinerary in reverse? Does it make any difference? Also which are going to be the most expensive places on our list? And, the longest travel out of our itinerary to get to the next place?

lauren313

Welome Liam, where abouts in the UK are you from then?

I've not taken a big European trip before, so can't offer any advice on the actual travelling side of things. I've only been to Berlin and a couple of places in France (Paris, and skiing in the Alps) out of your list. I can echo Ben in saying that Berlin is great, definitely spend a good amount of time there.

And as mentioned by others, us Brits are in the unique position of having cheap and easy access to Europe, so anything you don't get to see this time round, you can always have a mini trip in the future.

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