European travelers and backpackers, please help!

to explore as much of Europe as I can
No offense please, but one of the commonest mistakes first-time travelers make is to list 15-25-35-75 big cities that are spread out all over the continent and travel 1000s of kilometers to reach the next famous town, meanwhile bypassing the 100s of less well-known yet equally interesting towns in between.
With your itinerary you'll be spending half your time riding trains and hanging around stations waiting for them to depart, while you do none of the countries on your list any justice by visiting only 1, 2 or 3 tourist magnets there. Keep in mind that "ticking off as many cities on your list as physically possible" is not the same as "seeing as much as you can" - in fact, by focussing on a smaller area you'll lose less time and money traveling and have more time and money left to enjoy whichever city or town you are in.

Then one of my pet peeves - Amsterdam and Brussels often show up in lists of countries on this forum. They aren't, nor are they the only places worth visiting in the Netherlands and Belgium, even though 90% or more of all foreign visitors seem to think they are. They really don't know what they're missing.

What currency is your budget in? Better yet, since none of the countries in Europe use "$", how much do you have in euros, and what is that supposed to include? (I assume the Eurail pass and your air ticket to/from Europe is excluded?)

So out of 2 months you're planning on 3 weeks in the UK - that leaves 5 or 6 weeks for the rest of your trip.

If you plan for a MINIMUM of 3 days per destination that's about 13 places - though you should plan on more time in some places so let's say 10 places (excluding the UK). I'd keep it simple and travel from Athens to Spain and then up to the UK via France making a few stops along the way.

Forget about Switzerland, Germany, Slovenia, Czech Rep, Netherlands and Belgium.

Even by sticking to Italy, Spain and France you're barely scratching the surface. In fact maybe you should just visit Italy and Spain and transit through France then fly to the UK.

Too late to warn you of your, almost certain, foolish waste of money and time purchasing a rail pass.

I would go even further than Toad and go head to only perhaps two of those countries and the UK. Then you might get an idea of what we mean.

You are biting off more than you can chew. Its never pretty. And you'll stare out that train window an awful lot.

Thanks for your comments - I guess the general consensus is that I plan to do too much with too little time. What countries, do you suggest I spend the most time in?
Why do people consider a rail ticket such a waste?
I have about 7000 Euros as a budget. I plan to stay in Hostels and friend's houses where I can.

'Why do people consider a rail ticket such a waste?' - No one said that. Rail Pass, is what I think you meant.

If you had any kind of itinerary, it probably could be proved, compared to point to point purchase of tickets from the national rail carriers, a rail pass, with it's attendant additional fees in a number of cases, is a rip off. Most especially if planning and purchasing well in advance.

Perhaps this might help - http://europetrainsguide.com/Advice/Rail-Passes/Rail-passes-%E2%80%93-to-buy-or-not-to-buy.html

Edited by: annemariet

I'm not sure if its been suggested yet, but have you thought about travelling in a logical order rather than zig zagging across mainland Europe. I would imagine it would save you a lot of time in transit and you would probably get to see more as well.

What countries, do you suggest I spend the most time in?

We can't answer this question seriously without know what are your interests.

What countries, do you suggest I spend the most time in?

Toad suggested 3 countries.....