Delaney

Hi all,
So after many questions to the boards the bf and I have made some decisions and booked our flights! We land in Barcelona on April 19th and leave Amsterdam on June 18th. I need help on our itinerary! This is what we were thinking, is it reasonable? I am worried we are trying to pack too much in.

Also, we are going to get a Eurail pass, but I am not sure which one to get and if we should fly from Athens to Prague or if we should just take a train back through Italy?

Thanks for all the help, sorry this post is so long!

Spain - about 2 weeks, maybe longer
-Barcelona
-Granada (or someplace on the southern coast)
-Maybe Lisbon, Portugal?
-Madrid
-Salamanca
France - about 10 days
-Paris
-Normandy (day trip?)
-Provence
Italy - about 10 days
-Cinque Terre
-Florence
-Rome
-Naples?
-Venice
Greece - 1 week
-Athens
-Santorini (or another island, suggestions???)
Czech Republic - 1 week
-Prague
-Cesky Krumlov
Germany - 1.5 weeks
-Not sure yet, haven't researched at all!
Amsterdam - 3 days

__________________
“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” - Albert Einstein


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. - Dr. Suess


Why I'm not on TPunk as much anymore: http://www.kaushallab.cbl.umces.edu/people.html#katie

tumblezweedz

Sorry, I'm short on time today, but just wanted to suggest that Normandy is probably not doable as a day trip from Paris. Don't know what you want to see, specifically, but Mont St. Michel is one of the bigger draws, and is a fairly long trip from Paris - you'd probably want to spend the night somewhere like Pontorson and head to the Mont the next day. Another big draw is the D-Day beaches, which are quite spread out, and if you're traveling by public transit, it will take a long time as the train doesn't serve all the sites. Certainly you could get to Caen or Bayeux, both of which are interesting and have many interesting things to see. All the beaches have interesting war memorials/museums that are well worth a visit, but you have to factor in transit time on local buses, unless you're renting a car. The beaches themselves are beautiful - long, flat and sandy - probably packed in summer, though deserted when we visited in October! We paddled anyway, but not for long!

There are numerous cities throughout Normandy that might interest you - Honfleur, Roeun, Caen, Bayeux...so you might want to give yourself a little more time, once you decide what you want to see.

Delaney

Thank you... I have been there but it was so long ago I can't remember the time it takes to get there

I know we are probably cramming too much in, but I don't know what to cut out! I want to see everything!

__________________
“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” - Albert Einstein


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. - Dr. Suess


Why I'm not on TPunk as much anymore: http://www.kaushallab.cbl.umces.edu/people.html#katie

The Sasquatch

I spent 2 weeks in spain
Barcelona
Madrid
Toledo (day trip - def. worth it)
Sevilla
Granada (def. go. the alhambra is maybe the best tourist site i visited on my 4 months in europe)
Barcelona
I had plenty of time for that itinerary

I don't think you have enough time alotted to italy. it'll be tough, probly have to cut out at least napoli.

As for Czech. Cesky Krumlov is awesome. very nice, but really you can see everything in one day then after that its just soaking up the atmosphere and maybe doing some activities on the river. We totally wanted to do some stuff on the river, esp. after we saw this training crew just floating down in suits, but the river was flooded and rushing too fast to let tourist on it. kinda bummed about that, looked like fun. Prague is extremely touristy. tons and tons of tourists. but its insanely beautiful. truthfully though, i got sick of all the spires and and stuff after a couple of days, cuz alot of it looks so similar.

mentira

For Spain you should definitely check out the Southern Coast. While I really enjoyed Madrid, I found two solid days there were enough to see all of the sights. It was a really overwhelming place, so to escape to places like Seville, Granada, Nerja or Malaga was a really nice change in pace. Malaga is pretty central to the other places, so if you wanted to establish a home base there, and then just do day trips to the others (Like I Did) it works really well. I thought Malaga was pretty undiscovered by a lot of tourists, and in April, the water was nice and warm to swim in. I really liked Nerja simply for the beaches, (minus the hairy naked men) and it looked a lot like Greece, with the white washed houses on the cliffs and what not. Gorgeous place. Well, those are my two cents.

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Leavin' On A Jetplane February 10th: England, Wales, France, Germany, Spain, Portgual, Italy, Croatia, Greece

mentira

Oh! Like Sasquatch said, definitely check out the Alahambra, it's amazing!

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Leavin' On A Jetplane February 10th: England, Wales, France, Germany, Spain, Portgual, Italy, Croatia, Greece

Delaney

Thanks for the suggestions! I agree Sasquatch, about not enough time in Italy. If we don't need much time in Czech, maybe we could make it up there? I guess we'll see. Even if we have our itinerary planned to the day, it will probably change

If anyone has any advice about Germany, please tell me!!

__________________
“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” - Albert Einstein


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. - Dr. Suess


Why I'm not on TPunk as much anymore: http://www.kaushallab.cbl.umces.edu/people.html#katie

mentira

I personally haven't been to Germany, but I have a really exuberant English teacher, who when he found out I was going just about looked like he was going to die of excitement, I'll post what he wrote on the sticky note for me:

Italy: Portovenerre, The Cinque Terre
Germany: Rothenberg ob Tauber (South Germany), Stauffen, Baden Weiler (South Western Germany)
He has described a few of these places to us, and the pictures we saw were fantastic. I don't know if I helped at all, but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

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Leavin' On A Jetplane February 10th: England, Wales, France, Germany, Spain, Portgual, Italy, Croatia, Greece

omisan

I'll throw up my recommended lengths of time for the places I've been...

Spain
-Barcelona At minimum 4 nights
-Granada Basing yourself here or Malaga, you can see a lot of Andalucia. If I had to choose one Andalucian city only, though, I'd go with Sevilla.

France
-Paris Deserves a good week, IMO
-Normandy (day trip?) a day trip is doable, if you rent a car and leave early in the morning... generally for the hardcore

Czech Republic - 1 week just about perfect. 5 days in Prague and 2 in Cesky Krumlov will do you good. Or 4/3 even.

Amsterdam - 3 days Ideal for a quick, relaxing breather before going home.

As for the rest, I have no clue

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joe7f

Omisan is right in that Sevilla is the Andalucian city to see, but the Alhambra in Granada is one of the most impressive attractions in Europe. (Not to rub it in man ) The Plaza de Espana is spectacular as is the Cathedral but the Alcazar is kind of meh. If possible devote two weeks to Anadalucia so you can see both cities (In a pinch, I think you probably could do an Alhambra tour on the way to Sevilla or as a day trip from Malaga (1 hour train ride))

Make sure you go frog spotting in Salamanca and spend at least one night there so you can see the Plaza Mayor at night (I could sit there all night!).

As Sasquatch mentioned, Toledo is a must (they have a very modern mall just outside of the old town called Luz de Tajo which was a nice change of pace and gave us some varied options for eating)

Mentira wasn't lying* when she recommended Rothenberg ob Tauber (there are two Rothenbergs...and two Frankfurts). Southern Germany is pretty cool and what would a trip through Germany be without a stop in Munich to down a few 1 liter beers? I have heard great things about Berlin as well.

Going to Italy demands that you see Rome. Other than that, go wtih your interests.

--Joey

*una bromita para las personas que hablan Castellano

joe7f

Holy cow, Omisan, do you realize you are at 6000 posts?

--Joey

Delaney

Thanks for all the help everyone! I am definitely going to spend a good amount of time in Andalucia.. it sounds so wonderful! Any more advice you have would be great but so far you have given me a lot to look up for work today

__________________
“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” - Albert Einstein


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go. - Dr. Suess


Why I'm not on TPunk as much anymore: http://www.kaushallab.cbl.umces.edu/people.html#katie