So maybe this isn't a good time to post this... or maybe it's the perfect time...
Anyway, my wife and I are considering going on a roughly 14 day trip to Europe. Rough travel itinerary would be: Fly to Paris, train to Amsterdam, fly to Prague, fly to Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome, train/boat to Hvar, Croatia. There are obviously a ton of other places I want to go, but I'm considering adding Geneva, Berlin, and/or Vienna to the trip, however, I obviously don't want to stretch things too thin.
Do any of you have any Europe travel experience and want to share your experiences, tips, destinations, etc? We're in the very early planning stages, so we're completing open to anything, except Spain... I don't know, but my wife doesn't want to go to Spain.
Thanks in advance!
This itinerary is a huge mistake and you're cramming in WAY too much. Plan on it taking you two days to get over to Europe--definitely 1-1.5 days to travel and the remainder to be at reduced capacity due to sleeping on the plane and adjusting for time zone difference. I've been to Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Rome, Venice, and Florence. Each will take you 2-3 days
without factoring in travel. I haven't been to your other places, however each would probably cost you 2 days on average, again without travel. Finally expect one day to travel back to the US. You may even want a day off after your return to adjust back to your time zone, unpack, and take care of other tasks.
With that said, I made a similar mistake to you on my first trip to Europe. In 17 days, I saw London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, Salzberg, Prague, and Franfurt. My area was more condensed than yours and I had three extra days. It felt like I spent half of my time in the train station. I didn't do some cities any justice. My other two trips were more reasonable--part of Italy in 12 days and part of Britain/Ireland in 16 days.
If you're not convinced, I'll give some pointers--Paris to Brussels to Amsterdam required a lot of reserving for train seats rather than hop-on/hop-off like many routes. Book ahead when you want to travel that route, otherwise you'll wait and lose time.
We saved some time doing sleeper cars. While not the best condition or private, at least your travel is done while you're sleeping.
If you're going by train to smaller cities, it may take a lot longer than anticipated due to hub-and-spoke train systems. You can save time with a car rental or signing up for a local day tour. I wish I did that on my first trip.
Europe attractions can be quite popular and have long lines, sometimes possibly taking hours to get in. Look ahead about getting skip the line tickets. Another option if you're going to sightsee and have limited time is a day tour. Those companies (like a viator.com) pick you up from your hotel and will cram in the sights and usually have priority access to the sights. (This really saved us in Florence and Rome.)
For other travel tips or recommendations, I'd create an account on tripadvisor.com and post to their forums for ideas. Tripadvisor, Fodor, Frommers, Rick Steves, etc are good resources to see what are the "must-dos" and other ideas.
