6 week itinerary check
Apr 2nd, 2022, 02:24 AM
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6 week itinerary check
Hi everyone,
We are preparing our 6 week honeymoon trip to Europe from 11 July to 19 August. We have been doing some research and decided with the below itinerary. We are thinking of buying a 10 day in 2 months Eurail pass, so we will move mainly by train through cities.
1. Arrive to ZURICH (7am on 11 July) - 1 night
2. PARIS (12 July - 16 July) - 4 nights
3. AMSTERDAM (16 July - 19 July) - 3.5 nights
4. MUNICH (20 July - 24 July) (take overnight train from Amsterdam through Duesseldorf) - 4 nights
5. PRAGUE (24 July - 27 July) - 3 nights
6. VIENNA (27 July - 30 July) - 3 nights
7. LJUBLJANA (30 July - 2 August) - 3 nights
8, VENICE (2 August - 5 August) - 3 nights
9. FLORENCE (5 August - 7 August) - 2 nights
10. ROME (7 August - 11 August) - 4 nights
11. NICE (11 August - 14 August) - 3 nights
12. BARCELONA (14 August - 18 August) - 4 nights
13. Back to ZURICH on 18 August and fly out on 19 August.
What do think of the destinations and the number of days that we allocated to them? Do you think Eurail pass would cover for most of the inter-city travel?
Thank you
We are preparing our 6 week honeymoon trip to Europe from 11 July to 19 August. We have been doing some research and decided with the below itinerary. We are thinking of buying a 10 day in 2 months Eurail pass, so we will move mainly by train through cities.
1. Arrive to ZURICH (7am on 11 July) - 1 night
2. PARIS (12 July - 16 July) - 4 nights
3. AMSTERDAM (16 July - 19 July) - 3.5 nights
4. MUNICH (20 July - 24 July) (take overnight train from Amsterdam through Duesseldorf) - 4 nights
5. PRAGUE (24 July - 27 July) - 3 nights
6. VIENNA (27 July - 30 July) - 3 nights
7. LJUBLJANA (30 July - 2 August) - 3 nights
8, VENICE (2 August - 5 August) - 3 nights
9. FLORENCE (5 August - 7 August) - 2 nights
10. ROME (7 August - 11 August) - 4 nights
11. NICE (11 August - 14 August) - 3 nights
12. BARCELONA (14 August - 18 August) - 4 nights
13. Back to ZURICH on 18 August and fly out on 19 August.
What do think of the destinations and the number of days that we allocated to them? Do you think Eurail pass would cover for most of the inter-city travel?
Thank you
Apr 2nd, 2022, 05:39 AM
#2
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If you have not already purchased your airline tickets, I would look for multi-city (also called open-jaw) tickets where you fly into one city and out of another. In your case, fly into Zurich and fly home from Barcelona. You waste time and money by backtracking to Zurich. And this will give you an extra night in Barcelona.
Oh, I just noticed you are spending only one night in Zurich. Why are you going there? In this case, fly into Paris and home from Barcelona.
Oh, I just noticed you are spending only one night in Zurich. Why are you going there? In this case, fly into Paris and home from Barcelona.
Apr 2nd, 2022, 07:59 AM
#3
Welcome to Fodors. 
. . . now for the bad news 
You have thirteen stops in eight countries in 38 days(not counting the arrival and departure days. This is not a honeymoon -- more a forced march.
IRL you have:
1. ZURICH - Arrival 1 night
2. PARIS - 12 July - 15 July - 4 nights/3 days
3. AMSTERDAM 16 July - 18 July - 3 nights/almost 3 full days
4. Night train to Munich July 19
5. MUNICH - 20 July - 23 July - 4 nights/almost 4 days
6. PRAGUE - 24 July - 26 July - 3 nights/2 days
7. VIENNA - 27 July - 29 July - 3 nights/2 days
8. LJUBLJANA - 30 July - 1 August - 3 nights/2 days
9, VENICE - 2 August - 4 August - 3 nights/2 days
10. FLORENCE - 5 August - 6 August - 2 nights/1.5 days
11. ROME 7 August - 10 August - 4 nights/3.5 days
12. NICE 11 August - 13 August - 3 nights/2 days
13. BARCELONA - 14 August - 17 August - 4 nights/3 days
14. Back to ZURICH on 18 August -1 night/half a day
15. Fly home Aug 19
That totals 26 check ins/check outs and fifteen travel days. By about Prague you won't really know where you are/nor maybe even care. You have a really generous length of time but it is split up over half of Europe with 1/3 of your time spent in transit. Plus some of your destinations will be very hot and muggy so you may not feel like being out in the middle of the day sightseeing. I suggest you pick fewer places/ enjoy them more.
. . . now for the bad news You have thirteen stops in eight countries in 38 days(not counting the arrival and departure days. This is not a honeymoon -- more a forced march.IRL you have:
1. ZURICH - Arrival 1 night
2. PARIS - 12 July - 15 July - 4 nights/3 days
3. AMSTERDAM 16 July - 18 July - 3 nights/almost 3 full days
4. Night train to Munich July 19
5. MUNICH - 20 July - 23 July - 4 nights/almost 4 days
6. PRAGUE - 24 July - 26 July - 3 nights/2 days
7. VIENNA - 27 July - 29 July - 3 nights/2 days
8. LJUBLJANA - 30 July - 1 August - 3 nights/2 days
9, VENICE - 2 August - 4 August - 3 nights/2 days
10. FLORENCE - 5 August - 6 August - 2 nights/1.5 days
11. ROME 7 August - 10 August - 4 nights/3.5 days
12. NICE 11 August - 13 August - 3 nights/2 days
13. BARCELONA - 14 August - 17 August - 4 nights/3 days
14. Back to ZURICH on 18 August -1 night/half a day
15. Fly home Aug 19
That totals 26 check ins/check outs and fifteen travel days. By about Prague you won't really know where you are/nor maybe even care. You have a really generous length of time but it is split up over half of Europe with 1/3 of your time spent in transit. Plus some of your destinations will be very hot and muggy so you may not feel like being out in the middle of the day sightseeing. I suggest you pick fewer places/ enjoy them more.
Apr 2nd, 2022, 09:09 AM
#4
You should plot this itinerary on a calendar and include travel time between destinations and your sightseeing priorities everywhere. Some sights require timed entry reservations.
Not counting the overnight train, the majority of the other journeys are well over 5 hours each. i.e., Rome to Nice is 9.5 hours, Nice-Barcelona 8.5 hours, Barcelona-Zurich 11 hours. That's 29 hours during the last week when you're sitting on trains and not sightseeing. If you'd be willing to drop Nice, you could fly Rome-Barcelona and "save" about 14 hours. Likewise, if you flew Barcelona-Zurich, you'd gain almost 7 hours.... I would also reconsider Ljubljana. It's a total of 13 hours to get there and then continue to Venice.
Overall, if you had more time in fewer places, you'd have opportunities to see some smaller towns. I love big cities and all that they offer, but after several days I want (and need) some calmer, quieter places. And then there's the mundane chore of laundry which you'll need to address a few times in a trip of this length. You can DIY and save money or pay someone else to do it, but either way it does take some planning and a bit of time.
Not counting the overnight train, the majority of the other journeys are well over 5 hours each. i.e., Rome to Nice is 9.5 hours, Nice-Barcelona 8.5 hours, Barcelona-Zurich 11 hours. That's 29 hours during the last week when you're sitting on trains and not sightseeing. If you'd be willing to drop Nice, you could fly Rome-Barcelona and "save" about 14 hours. Likewise, if you flew Barcelona-Zurich, you'd gain almost 7 hours.... I would also reconsider Ljubljana. It's a total of 13 hours to get there and then continue to Venice.
Overall, if you had more time in fewer places, you'd have opportunities to see some smaller towns. I love big cities and all that they offer, but after several days I want (and need) some calmer, quieter places. And then there's the mundane chore of laundry which you'll need to address a few times in a trip of this length. You can DIY and save money or pay someone else to do it, but either way it does take some planning and a bit of time.
Apr 2nd, 2022, 02:55 PM
#5
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Listen to the great advice you are already getting about skipping Zurich and doing multi-city flights. Anything you save on RT to Zurich will be wasted on days of travel and extra hotels. Also good advice about dropping a couple of other places. Though I have been to Italy in August and enjoyed it, I included some afternoon times in a pool and combined the trip with other places, lakes, etc. Consider including some places that might be a bit cooler in August. It is fine to be accustomed to hot weather, but can be different when traveling on a long trip to many places. Totally agree with including some smaller towns or villages, either staying in one or two or as day trips from nearby, but nothing more than an hour from your base.
Is this for this year or next year? I hope you have not already bought tickets into and out of Zurich or that you can change them. You are wasting the cost of two full days, one traveling from Zurich to Paris and a second returning to Zurich, plus the cost of two hotel nights that give you no real sightseeing time. Sometimes it seems to be a bargain, but is not when you add things up. It is a lot of tiring travel, airports and hotel changes that net you nothing. You would be better off saving the cost of those two travel days and hotels, cutting the trip by three days and going directly to a city that you actually wish to see.
Sometimes a train pass of some kind is a good idea, sometimes not. You have to do the work of checking each leg of the trip. For your very short trips like Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome, a simple point to point ticket is best. For some of your more distant places, a flight is best.
Never, ever count the same day in two places and if travel will take up most of a day, or even more than half, list it as a travel day, not a day in a place. It give a false sense of sightseeing time.
Example:
July 12, Travel to Paris
July 13, 14, 15, Paris
July 16, Travel to Amsterdam
July 17, 18, 19 Amsterdam
July 20, possible night train to Munich, early arrival on 21, luggage? Etc. Hope it is a good experience.
July 21, 22, 23 Munich
July 24, Travel to Prague
July 25, 26, Prague
July 27, Travel to Vienna
July 28, 29, Vienna
July 30, travel to ? Etc.
Is this for this year or next year? I hope you have not already bought tickets into and out of Zurich or that you can change them. You are wasting the cost of two full days, one traveling from Zurich to Paris and a second returning to Zurich, plus the cost of two hotel nights that give you no real sightseeing time. Sometimes it seems to be a bargain, but is not when you add things up. It is a lot of tiring travel, airports and hotel changes that net you nothing. You would be better off saving the cost of those two travel days and hotels, cutting the trip by three days and going directly to a city that you actually wish to see.
Sometimes a train pass of some kind is a good idea, sometimes not. You have to do the work of checking each leg of the trip. For your very short trips like Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome, a simple point to point ticket is best. For some of your more distant places, a flight is best.
Never, ever count the same day in two places and if travel will take up most of a day, or even more than half, list it as a travel day, not a day in a place. It give a false sense of sightseeing time.
Example:
July 12, Travel to Paris
July 13, 14, 15, Paris
July 16, Travel to Amsterdam
July 17, 18, 19 Amsterdam
July 20, possible night train to Munich, early arrival on 21, luggage? Etc. Hope it is a good experience.
July 21, 22, 23 Munich
July 24, Travel to Prague
July 25, 26, Prague
July 27, Travel to Vienna
July 28, 29, Vienna
July 30, travel to ? Etc.
Apr 2nd, 2022, 03:52 PM
#6
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I agree with the others above. Zurich seems like an outlier - why go there twice if you are only going to sightsee half a day? Your itinerary is too rushed. Of all of your locations, which ones are your MUST sees? Trimming your list will make for a much more enjoyable trip so that you can spend less time in trains and more time sightseeing.
Apr 3rd, 2022, 03:50 AM
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Wow, thank you so much everyone for your helpful comments!
KarenWoo We have purchased the tickets for the flight. We tried to look at multi-city tickets but somehow the cheaper fares to fly back to Auckland, New Zealand all passing through Zurich (i.e. even if we choose Barcelona - Auckland/ Rome-Auckland..., it would be with Swiss Airline and pass through Zurich). So we just booked returned tickets from Zurich and thought we could just book another separate flight from where the trip ends back to Zurich for the returned flight.
Reason we thought of not spending many days in Zurich is our friends said Zurich is really expensive compared to other cities. But I think we will change our plan and we will stay in Zurich for perhap 3 nights at the beginning of the trip to not rush it. How do you think we should adjust our itinerary to make it more comfortable?
janisj Thank you for laying the travel time out so clearly. Our itinerary is not fixed and we are still changing a lot. This certainly shows we are too ambitious with our plan and need to cut back some destinations. We are totally flexible about the destinations except for VENICE , LJUBLJANA and PRAGUE because we have friends living there and we would like to visit them. Which destinations do you recommend us to drop to avoid being too hot and muggy given the timing? Which ones do you think we could stay longer?
Jean Thank you for showing the exact durations of the travels. We would like to go to LJUBLJANA because our friends live there. We are totally flexible and can change the plan to make the most out of the trip. Which destinations do you think we should drop or add? Do you recommend us to just book individual tickets for each trip rather than buying whole Eurail pass? We were just thought of travelling mainly by train so that we could view the scenaries.
Sassafrass Thank you for your detailed comment. We are travelling July, August this year. As mentioned earlier in the comment, we tried to look at multi-city tickets but somehow the cheaper fares flying from/ or back to Auckland, New Zealand all passing through Zurich (i.e. even if we choose Barcelona - Auckland, it would be with Swiss Airline and pass through Zurich). So we just booked returned tickets from Zurich and thought we can just book a separate flight from where the trip end back to Zurich for returned flight.
With your comments, we will adjust our trip and stay at Zurich for perhaps 3 nights so it would not be too rushed (some friends told us Zurich is too expensive compared to other cities that's why we didnt plan to stay there long but you are right, we would not have time to rest and enjoy if it is just in and out of there straight away).
I see the temparatures in Europe in July and August are about the same, which cities do you think we should adjust or avoid to make the trip more comfortable? Except for VENICE , LJUBLJANA and PRAGUE, we are open to any changes. For mode of travel, do you think Eurail pass would be benefitial?
KTtravel Thanks for your comment. Except for VENICE , LJUBLJANA and PRAGUE, we are open to any changes, where do you think we should drop or swap to make the trip more comfortable?
KarenWoo We have purchased the tickets for the flight. We tried to look at multi-city tickets but somehow the cheaper fares to fly back to Auckland, New Zealand all passing through Zurich (i.e. even if we choose Barcelona - Auckland/ Rome-Auckland..., it would be with Swiss Airline and pass through Zurich). So we just booked returned tickets from Zurich and thought we could just book another separate flight from where the trip ends back to Zurich for the returned flight.
Reason we thought of not spending many days in Zurich is our friends said Zurich is really expensive compared to other cities. But I think we will change our plan and we will stay in Zurich for perhap 3 nights at the beginning of the trip to not rush it. How do you think we should adjust our itinerary to make it more comfortable?
janisj Thank you for laying the travel time out so clearly. Our itinerary is not fixed and we are still changing a lot. This certainly shows we are too ambitious with our plan and need to cut back some destinations. We are totally flexible about the destinations except for VENICE , LJUBLJANA and PRAGUE because we have friends living there and we would like to visit them. Which destinations do you recommend us to drop to avoid being too hot and muggy given the timing? Which ones do you think we could stay longer?
Jean Thank you for showing the exact durations of the travels. We would like to go to LJUBLJANA because our friends live there. We are totally flexible and can change the plan to make the most out of the trip. Which destinations do you think we should drop or add? Do you recommend us to just book individual tickets for each trip rather than buying whole Eurail pass? We were just thought of travelling mainly by train so that we could view the scenaries.
Sassafrass Thank you for your detailed comment. We are travelling July, August this year. As mentioned earlier in the comment, we tried to look at multi-city tickets but somehow the cheaper fares flying from/ or back to Auckland, New Zealand all passing through Zurich (i.e. even if we choose Barcelona - Auckland, it would be with Swiss Airline and pass through Zurich). So we just booked returned tickets from Zurich and thought we can just book a separate flight from where the trip end back to Zurich for returned flight.
With your comments, we will adjust our trip and stay at Zurich for perhaps 3 nights so it would not be too rushed (some friends told us Zurich is too expensive compared to other cities that's why we didnt plan to stay there long but you are right, we would not have time to rest and enjoy if it is just in and out of there straight away).
I see the temparatures in Europe in July and August are about the same, which cities do you think we should adjust or avoid to make the trip more comfortable? Except for VENICE , LJUBLJANA and PRAGUE, we are open to any changes. For mode of travel, do you think Eurail pass would be benefitial?
KTtravel Thanks for your comment. Except for VENICE , LJUBLJANA and PRAGUE, we are open to any changes, where do you think we should drop or swap to make the trip more comfortable?
Apr 3rd, 2022, 04:29 AM
#8
I too think you have stuffed too much into this list of places.
I'd drop Nice and Barcelona (Barcelona is too far out and Nice is, well, dullish) and that wins you 7 nights
I'd add in a couple of days into existing places to account for washing/down time. More washing means less stuff to carry.
I'd add the rest of the time to Florence but use it to visit Siena, Pisa, Lucca, the last two by train and the first by bus. The density of great visits around Florence are worth taking advantage of
If you still have an extra night left then throw it towards Venice and visit Padova (easy train ride) or take the Vap to Chioggia, it is a longish boat ride and can be very romantic to see.
I'd drop Nice and Barcelona (Barcelona is too far out and Nice is, well, dullish) and that wins you 7 nights
I'd add in a couple of days into existing places to account for washing/down time. More washing means less stuff to carry.
I'd add the rest of the time to Florence but use it to visit Siena, Pisa, Lucca, the last two by train and the first by bus. The density of great visits around Florence are worth taking advantage of
If you still have an extra night left then throw it towards Venice and visit Padova (easy train ride) or take the Vap to Chioggia, it is a longish boat ride and can be very romantic to see.
Apr 3rd, 2022, 07:10 AM
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Can you do it in reverse order? So drop Barcelona and Nice, go to Italy first, maybe a few days at an agriturismo with a pool, then perhaps take the ferry from Venice to Slovenia, up to Ljubjana. Spend more time in Slovenia definitely, you will love the country I am sure, maybe book a second place to stay so you don't outstay your friends welcome!
Is Amsterdam, very much an outlier, a must? if not drop it There is a direct night train from Vienna to Amsterdam btw.
Add some days in Switzerland. Expensive yes, but probably worth it. Not in Zurich though.
Slow it down, and you will have more memories of what sounds to be a fantastic honeymoon. Too fast and it will just be a blur. I understand the desire to see as much as possible in your time here, but seriously, it's your honeymoon, and you need some you time together to relax and play and enjoy life a little.
You need to get booking though if it is this year, (or even next) as your dates coincide with European school summer holidays.
Adding a website for Slovenia! https://www.zigzagonearth.com/day-tr...lovenia-tours/
Is Amsterdam, very much an outlier, a must? if not drop it There is a direct night train from Vienna to Amsterdam btw.
Add some days in Switzerland. Expensive yes, but probably worth it. Not in Zurich though.
Slow it down, and you will have more memories of what sounds to be a fantastic honeymoon. Too fast and it will just be a blur. I understand the desire to see as much as possible in your time here, but seriously, it's your honeymoon, and you need some you time together to relax and play and enjoy life a little.
You need to get booking though if it is this year, (or even next) as your dates coincide with European school summer holidays.
Adding a website for Slovenia! https://www.zigzagonearth.com/day-tr...lovenia-tours/
Last edited by hetismij2; Apr 3rd, 2022 at 07:37 AM. Reason: Added link
Apr 3rd, 2022, 09:36 AM
#10
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Sorry if my advice was not clear. It was not to add time to Zurich. It was to skip Zurich altogether. If you still must go there, don’t add time there, just continue on your journey to some more interesting place. Others might be able to suggest a better place nearby. The idea of beginning in Italy is a good one.
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