Draft itinerary – no, really, it is
by Chris on April 19, 2003
by Chris | April 19th, 2003
The following is a draft. It's not bad. It's fairly close. Chris, Sean and I hashed this out over about 3 pitchers at High Street. But it's still just a draft. Please do not take it too seriously.
Assuming an Aug 1 Departure
FLY FROM PORTLAND, LAND IN LONDON
EARLY AUGUST
Cambridge, 2 days, leave 8/4
Edinburgh, 4 days, leave 8/8
Glasgow, 1 day, leave 8/9
Manchester, 1 day, leave 8/10
Liverpool, 1 day, leave 8/11
Swansea, 1 day [optional], leave 8/12
Cardiff, 3 days, leave 8/15
[option: stop in places like Bath, Bristol, etc.?]
London, 3-4 days, leave 8/18
TOTAL: 17 days, 7-8 cities
MID-AUGUST
Eurostar
VALIDATE FIRST EUROPE RAILPASS
Brussels, 3 days [option: go to another small town, say for chocolate or beer?], leave 8/21
Amsterdam, 3 days, leave 8/24
Hamburg, 1 day, leave 8/25
Copenhagen, 3 days, leave 8/28
Oslo, 3 days, leave 8/31
EARLY SEPTEMBER
Stockholm, 3 days, leave 9/3
[possibly Copenhagen (doubleback), possibly Trelleborg ferry]]
Berlin, 4 days, leave 9/9
Warsaw, 4 days, leave 9/13
Krakow, 3 days, leave 9/17
MID-SEPTEMBER
Bratislava, 3-4 days, leave 9/21
Budapest, 3 days, leave 9/25
Vienna, 3 days, leave 9/28
EARLY OCTOBER
Prague, 4 days, leave 10/3
Munich, 3 days, leave 10/7
[Innsbruck, optional], 1/2-1 day leave 10/9
Zurich, 1 day leave 10/10
Bern, 1/2 day leave 10/10
MID-OCTOBER
Lausanne [including Geneva?], leave 10/15
Milan, 3-4 days, leave 10/18
Venice, 3 days, leave 10/21
Florence, 2 days, leave 10/23
Rome, 3-4 days [maybe my dad will come along for this?] leave 10/27
overnight through Milan [going through]?
Lyon, 2 days, leave 10/29
Marseille, 2 days, leave 10/31
EARLY NOVEMBER
Barcelona, 3 days, [1 train to Bar, leaves mid-arvo], leave 11/3
[Palma de Mallorca?]
Madrid, 3-4 days, leave 11/7
Lisbon [overnight, arr. 11/8], 4 days, leave 11/12
San Sebastian, 2 days, leave 11/14
MID-NOVEMBER
Bordeaux, 2 days, leave 11/16
Paris, 4 days, [or maybe Dad come along for this part?] leave 11/20
AT PARIS, CHECK PASS – USE THE HELL OUT OF WHAT’S LEFT!
Eurostar
London, 2-3 days, Or just head home straightaway.
Fly home.
TOTAL CITIES: 40
TOTAL COUNTRIES: 17
DATES: Aug 1-Nov 20
TOTAL TIME: just shy of 4 months
Now we’re getting somewhere.
{ 5 comments }
Don’t miss
EARLY AUGUST
•The Cathedral in Coventry, and the one in York
•The Wakeman in Ripon, and the nearby Fountains Abby
•The Abby ruin at Jedburg, on the Scots border
•Greenwich, near London, for obvious reasons
MID-AUGUST
•Forget the beer and chocolate, but don’t miss Brugga and Ghent. They are better than Brussels
•Between Brussels and Antwerp, the Breendonk prison.
•Giethoorn, only canals, foot or bike paths
•Oslo is not worth much of such a short time, but Bergan is very nice
EARLY SEPTEMBER
•Potsdam, near Berlin
•Posnan, on the way to Warsaw
•Wieliczka salt mine, east of Krakow
•Auschwitz, west of Krakow, of course
MID-SEPTEMBER
•Melk, 20 miles west of Vienna
EARLY OCTOBER
•Dachau, near Munich, must be seen
•Berchtesgaden, for the most beautiful scenery
•Thun and Spiez, east of Bern
MID-OCTOBER
•Siena and San Gimignano between Florence and Rome
•Villa d’Este fountains and the Villa Adriana at Tivoli, east of Rome
•Perouges, near Lyon
•Nimes, Arles, Avignon, are much better than Marseille
EARLY NOVEMBER
•Yes to Palma
•Toledo, south of Madrid
•Cascais, west of Lisbon (Lisbon not worth 4 days on this short of a trip)
•Country of Andorra, on Spain-French border
MID-NOVEMBER
•A hundred places in and near Paris, forget the “pass.”
And a million more, but you won’t see much of each, in just four months in this many countries.
Just a general comment: When on the road you will notice that you like some countries better that others.
I am fond of Spain and Italy and I think a day in Spain is worth a week in a place like Munich.
Personally I would not waste that much time in Central European large cities, only few of them is really more worth than a few days. City life is much the same everywhere. Paris is of course a must and Praque.
City life is most interesting in the South where people have big part of their social life in the open air cafes and streets.
Some comments on your timetable:
MID-AUGUST
Brussels, 3 days too much, so many other more interesting places nearby.
Copenhagen, 3 days too much, not that much to see.
Milan, 3-4 days. Interesting if you like fashion or design but otherwise I would recommend Bologna and San Marino (day trip) instead of this. Or Tuscany!! If you have possibility go to see mosaics in Ravenna as a day trip. They are out of this world.
EARLY NOVEMBER
[Palma de Mallorca?] Oh yes!! Stylish city, great beaches and nature, check the dolphin show and caves. This time you also get off-season prices.
Lisbon, not that much to see 2 days quite enough.
If you are going to Portugal- Porto is much more scenic, historical and unique. Lisbon has torn down alot of their historical buildings and replaced them with moden rectangular buildings. Besides, there are the port caves that are really worth a look-see across the river from Porto in Villa Nova de Gaia. Make sure you try the fejoida while there.
TOO MUCH TIME alotted for both Warsaw and Bratislava!!
Most of warsaw was bombed in WW2 and whats left of the old city can be seen in a day. Otherwise its just grim appartment blocks to look at…ditto for bratislava.
I don’t think theres much to see in warsaw area either so theres no reason to stay.
In slovakia I would take the train to Kosice in the east – 5 hours of the nicest alpine scenary I’d ever seen. Have a look around the town, its museums and the veggie restaurant and then move on to Budapest via rail. Use the extra days here.
Highly agree that 3 days is too much time in Brussels. I spent 2 1/2 in Brugge and regretted leaving for Brussels. But while in Brussels, check out the Musical Instrument Museum (I missed the last self walking tour by 15 minutes.)
And when in Spain, go to Bilbao! Guggenheim!
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