1

I have to ask: why Liechtenstein? That sounds like country collection to me.

Have you already purchased the eurail pass? Are you asking for any particularly input?

2

It was on the way and I figured I would spend a day there I plan on splitting up my time not evenly between the stops. I have not purchased the pass but I am pretty set on doing so. The input I am looking for is mainly in the route if there is anything I am missing like Nuremberg that would really be worth going to or if there would be a better route to take and stuff like that.

3

It will be much more convenient to go directly to Zurich rather than make a stop in Liechtenstein. It seems like a stopping point on the map, but will be a detour by train.

I guess there's always someplace worth stopping that you'll be missing. My two cents;

• For Switzerland, I'd focus less on cities and get out into smaller towns or the mountains.

• Unless you have a compelling reason for Dusseldorf and Kassel, maybe you could fly Amsterdam>Prague and thus give you a straight shot through Austria? It would save a lot of time.

4

what are your interests and expectations? do you have certain objectives?

some places on your list seem highly specific (Düsseldorf, Kassel), others almost generic - so on what grounds did you select these? without knowing this, it's an impossible task to answer your question.

I'm further unsure about the 'constraints' of the Eurail pass: since you likely won't have a global pass we're to assume you chose a 'select' pass - yet how are we to know which countries you selected, or whether you're combining several passes or else. be aware that in some of your countries passes have a hard time paying off - check the excellent http://www.seat61.com/Railpass.htm for more.

5

I am going to get the global pass and I want to go to kassel to see the castle there I believe and my selection for most of the other ones are simply having heard they were not to be missed

6

misunderstanding here: I thought you meant you'll have to stick to the countries currently on your list - yet actually you meant all countries covered by an Eurail global pass, correct?

have you already checked this thread: Itinerary or budget question?

7

Yes but I do not want to go to france and am spending ten days in ireland and ten days in norway and sweden and yes I have done my research on the global pass and for the trip I want to take it seems to be the best choice

8

I'd skip Liechtenstein, Geneva (cos both are relatively boring), swap Duesseldorf for Cologne.

Good luck with the budget. After your flights in and transport are covered off, with these countries I reckon you're gonna need circa €3,500 absolute minimum due to the cost of the countries you're visiting.

9

Quite an expensive route. Why, after doing your research, does it seem to you that the global pass is the best choice?

10

things I am missing
All of the Netherlands except for Amsterdam, for starters. Ditto for Austria, Hungary and Slovakia minus their capitals.

The input I am looking for is mainly in the route if there is anything I am missing like Nuremberg that would really be worth going to or if there would be a better route to take and stuff like that
Yes, you are missing a lot that's really worth going for - in my own country alone, I would personally enjoy Leiden, Haarlem, Utrecht, Delft, Den Haag, Den Bosch, Maastricht, Amersfoort, Deventer, Texel, Hoge Veluwe etc. at least as much as Amsterdam.
But that's not the point. You're covering a lot of ground and, like many non-Europeans, seem to underestimate the density and variation of sights every country offers. So you will inevitably end up missing a lot of really interesting places. What matters though, is that you don't miss the places you find most appealing. It's very hard for any of us, who don't know anything about your interests, to suggest alterations to your current itinerary.

most of the other ones are simply having heard they were not to be missed
Did you confirm that these are indeed places you consider not to be missed? If not, I strongly recommend you research them and then decide which ones are to go. We can then, provided you tell us a bit more about what sort of sights and activities you're looking for, help you modify your itinerary.

11

Are you kidding? You're missing most of Europe. Basically, your concern with asking this question is useless. Don't worry about it.

Is Liechtenstein dropped from the map? Good. I doubt you would recognize one valley from the next (Austria, Switzerland ..). You can "see" half of Liechtenstein while standing in Switzerland anyway.

I think the main issue is that you are asking questions that most of the regulars here wouldn't even ask. There is no 'better' route in an abstract sense. There are different routes adjusted to different interests and/or destinations. That's why it's so difficult to give feedback in the way you seem to want.

On the map I now see there are 23 destinations over 70 days; that's 3 days per destination including travel time. You may be misled by the travel times on the map - they are, at best, computed from mode of travel for the calculated distance. But getting from A to B involves more than that .. all of the practicalities of getting out of and into hotels, to and from stations, waiting for connections, and so on. This is all time taken away from the sightseeing. You should double those travel time estimates.

Other things people don't take account of when contemplating their hours/days somewhere: Usually (I infer from their itineraries) they have some vague notion of the must-see attractions and this is what preoccupies them with concerns like "Is this enough time to 'see' must-see city X?" Practically, a lot of your time will be taken up eating, sleeping, and possibly relaxing and doing nothing in particular. Sometimes the 'relaxation' is forced on the enthusiast in the form of a fatigue collapse after 4 weeks.

Not a good reason, but if that's all you've got, make the best of what you see. Probably, it won't make any difference where you go.

An open question: what happens to a person if they don't see places not to be missed?

I notice that I have not been to 14 of the places on your list, and I've been living in Europe for 3 decades, including up to 8 weeks a year holidays. This does not include two other long trips of 2 and 6 months backpacking. Should I be worried?

12

I want to go to kassel to see the castle there I believe

Have you consulted a guidebook for Germany? There are undoubtedly better candidates for a neoclassical chateau. Like in Munich, where you're already going. If this were a 2 or 3 week trip focusing on Northern Germany, I'd say go ahead and stop someplace industrial or unexpected. But your itinerary needs more trimming if you're going to have anything more than the most superficial stops in places.

You've decided you're not persuadable on the rail pass - fine, but it feels like you've started with the idea of the pass and have tried to squeeze as much train travel as you can from it - rather than starting from a reasonable itinerary and finding the best transportation for it.