14-18 days in Europe

[desertstrike]

Think about the winter in febr to march.
Neuschweinstein near munich that you should see.

No need tour, you can buy euro rail ticket that you can also sleep at cabin train.
or overnight in Jugendherberge(youth hotel) , is quite safe.

so may should be ending spring, starting summer? will it be hot?

 

[desertstrike]

If you want to minimise the fuss, you could go with a tour group, which you could then see the a couple of countries, but you'd compromise on things like time spent at attractions, etc.

But if you want to do your own stuff, I have to concur with alot of the other posters in the forum. 14-18 days is really quite short to see 4 countries. Travelling between the countries will take up time and you'll need to factor in contingencies like navigating the language barriers, weather/seasonal changes, public holidays (some places don't open), or if your train came late and derailed your plans (pun intended) to reach a certain place by a certain time (which happened to me). I would suggest that 14 days is probably ideal for 5-6, at most 7 cities, and it depends on where you want to go, what sort of sights you want to see, etc. You can also base yourself in certain cities and do day-trips to other smaller cities from there.

There are a lot of good travel forums out there that would give you advice on how to go about planning your trip - and they've helped me plan my first trip to Europe (3 weeks, to Munich and parts of the former Yugoslavia). A good start is to identify which cities you really want to see, and try to pick those that are closest to one another, dropping others to the next trip. Those are my 2c worth of travel planning for Europe. Hope it helps.

oh icic, good idea, i will work on that

 

[desertstrike]

If you plan to take Eurorail, can visit their website for some suggested routes. Pick 2 to 3 countries you like to visit, then plan around the cities in those countries. While you are in those cities, you can always join the local tour to travel around, like visiting the castles, vineyards etc. If you are travel alone first time, be careful of thefts and scams. You can pick up some safety tips online, like those from wiki travels, trip advisor, etc.

okie, thanks man!

 

[desertstrike]

not necessary, it depends on TS; are you an 'more than amateur" traveler?
If you have been to at least 3 - 4 country in asia, on your own / with friends on free and easy, I would say it is a good experience to tour Europe on free and easy

Yes 3 country is good enough.

I would suggest you go either
1. Swiss + France
2. Swiss + Germany
3. Swiss + Italy

Trust me, you will definitely have chance to visit Europe again one day, maybe after 5 years or 10 years, or even next year, no need to cover so many places at one go
You may cover about 4 cities, with about 3 nights per city.

hmm... i been to australia, bali, phuket on free and easy...

i think i will visit switz and italy... if got time, then add in germany...

 

[Shen siung]

hmm... i been to australia, bali, phuket on free and easy...

i think i will visit switz and italy... if got time, then add in germany...

Ok in that case I suggest you go free and easy
Book an open jaw flight ticket - In Swiss out Rome, perhaps (or the other way round)

If you only travel less than 3 train trips, perhaps you should consider buy tix there, no need any rail pass (my own experience)
You can do own math - swiss train online can search for the price; then compare the rail pass you may purchase. Rail pass need check with SG local agent.

 

[dniwkh]

hmm... i been to australia, bali, phuket on free and easy...

i think i will visit switz and italy... if got time, then add in germany...

Actually, you don't really have to be so "strict" about countries. I mean munich is so close to italy and swiss that I think it is a waste not to visit munich. It is better to limit your number of cities to visit rather than the number of countries.

 

[styrx]

How do you intend to travel? touch and go or you want to really experience the cities?

- travel outside the summer season like may and october, and you will enjoy lesser crowd and cheaper accommodation
- get a eurail pass and you have the flexibility of traveling anywhere you want, it's not cheap but worth it if you utilise it for long distance journey.
- it is not dangerous if you are street smart and try not flash your expensive camera and phone especially in the train stations and touristy area. A very good advice is too act blur if someone for no reason bump to you and ask whether you speak english, from my experience 7 out of 10 times they are trying to sell you something or scam you, especially in popular places like rome, paris and barcelona.
-buy a good guide book like Rick Steves or lonely planet to research on what is your interest. Different people have different interest, doesn't mean I like to visit museum you will be interested in visiting the Lourve? So write down a list of the must see places and you will have more a less an itinerary!

IMHO, if you have 16-18 days in europe and is fit and ready to cheong. My itinerary will look something like this:

Fly in paris (3N)
-eiffel tower
-champs de elysee
-versailles
-lourve

Train to lucern (3N)
-cruise the lake
-daytrip to jungfrau/ interlaken

Train to venice (2N)
-st marco square
-burano

Train to florence (3N)
-duomo, piazza michaelanegelo
-daytrip to siena

Train to Rome (3N)
-coliseum
-vatican city
-pantheon

-Fly back from rome

This will give you a nice brief overview of europe, you can minus or add some days in the main cities