leonardo

I've got a more general question...

Is it better to have an itinerary, or not?

I went travelling round western europe last year for about 3 months on the interrail (eurail) pass. I had no itinerary. Every few days I'd pop into an internet cafe and book up a hostel, then I'd go to the train station and play any necessary supplements on my interrail pass. I enjoyed the freedom, but then again I did randomly double-back on myself a couple times due to having to be on certain train routes (I stayed in Barcelona twice, I went through Paris twice). Also I was scuppered a few times because I hadn't made reservations early enough and so all the interrail tickets had been sold on certain trains.

Planning another trip to Europe in Sept, was thinking of a much more planned out thing this time. Have already sketched out a list of places to visit, how long to spend there, train connections onwards etc. I was planning to book up a few hostels and make any necassary interrail reservations on the phone before I go, but this will mean that pretty much my entire trip will be set in stone, it doesn't feel very rock 'n' roll. More like the holiday plans of an accountant.

What are people's thoughts? I guess I just need some people to bounce ideas off...