Planning a trip to Europe for 4.5 months Dec-April 07/08

WoW. 21! Sounds like he had better go to England first. If the passport de England takes very long.. he'll need that 90 days or so.

Lucky he's not dealing with Spanish beurocracy. I met lots of folks who just gave up...

Wow! Thanks guys. I must say that this forum is filled with some very VERY helpful people with great insight and willing to help out. Thank you so much!

The good news is that I have found a British passport in a box in my study (which I didn't know I had until now). It is my passport from when I came here as a kid, when I left NZ (as I lived there also). I have printed off the forms from online and sending it in early this week with my old passport to the British consulate in Canberra. Hopefully it won't take too long...It mentions less than 4 wks.


I guess I will then bring along my British passport and Australian passport with me. I assume as I will need to get back into Australia.

Anyhow hope my above schedule is not overly exhaustive for 4 and half months and in the right order including Poland...?!? The apportioned days Id say fits well, hopefully

my opinions:

-plan days per city, instead of days per country.
-everyone says dont rush through a long itinerary, "absorb" the trip, and i agree.... but, for those of us with time restriction (especially working folks from the US), we just dont have the vacation days the rest of the world gets, and planning a "shotgun" trip is fine. i averaged 2.5 days per city for my trip and i thought it was perfect.
-dont need 7 days in netherlands, sweden is kinda boring, 7 too much for switzerland, so how about allocating some days for other less touristed countries like Lithuania? personally id be very bored seeing too much of western europe

Thats fine. But this is my first time in Europe, and I dont think I cannot cover Earstern Europe when I will be doing Western Europe first. Later trips I can move on to other areas. eg eastern europe.

My reasoning for example spending a long time in Switzerland, is because it has always been somewhere which I have wanted to go. My friend spent 2 weeks of his 4 month trip there because he decided he loved it. It would be relaxing and i love the idea of taking in the scenery. That is why I want to visit Slovenia as well for the lakes etc..

In regards to travellign in Schengen with an Austrlian passport, my friend did this for over 4 months a few years ago and didnt even know about it and so did another freind why is coming back shortly over 4 months, never heard of it....They havent heard anything until I mentioned it, strange

Ok Have notched up an itinerary, Remember this is my first time, so big cities are in here. I just need to find out how to get around now, I can get half price Eurails, so maybe a 3 month one and 1 month pass will suffice (consecutive travel) + some flights. This leaves a couple of weeks spare as I can leave around mid April, bearing in mind some places I may stay less in some places more:

I have my B B Berocca with me! haha:

Europe Itinerary
November
Leave Melbourne 12/11
Arrive Tel Aviv 13/11 (Stay with family)
Depart Tel Aviv 2/12
December
Arrive London 2/12 See friends & family and depart before it chews up my savings
Depart London 7/12
Arrive Brussels 7/12
Depart Brussels 10/12 (incl. Brugge)
Arrive Amsterdam 10/12
Depart Amsterdam 14/12
Arrive Copenhagen (Flight) 14/12
Depart Copenhagen 17/12
Arrive Stockholm 17/12
Depart Stockholm 21/12
Arrive Talinn 21/12
Depart Talinn 24/12
Arrive Berlin (Flight) 24/12
Depart Berlin 28/12
Arrive Prague 29/12 New years?
Depart Prague 02/1

January
Arrive Krakow 3/1
Depart Krakow 6/1 (incl. Zakopane?)
Arrive Vienna 7/1
Depart Vienna 10/1
Arrive Budapest 11/1
Depart Budapest 15/1
Arrive Cluj-Napoca 16/1
Depart Cluj-Napoca 17/1
Arrive Brasov 17/1
Depart Brasov 20/1
Arrive Bucharest 20/1
Depart Bucharest 23/1
Arrive Belgrade 24/1
Depart Belgrade 27/1
Arrive Zagreb 28/1
Depart Zagreb 30/1
Arrive Ljubljana 30/1
Depart Ljubljana 1/2

February
Arrive Bled 1/2
Depart Bled 3/2
Arrive Venice 4/2
Depart Venice 7/2
Arrive Rome 7/2
Depart Rome 10/2
Arrive Florence 10/2
Depart Florence 12/2
Arrive Cinque Terre 12/2
Depart Cinque Terre 14/2
Arrive Milan 14/2
Depart Milan 15/2
Arrive Verona 15/2
Depart Verona 17/2
Arrive Munich 18/2
Depart Munich 21/2
Arrive Zurich 22/2
Depart Zurich 23/2
Arrive Lucerne 23/2
Depart Lucerne 25/2
Arrive Lausanne 25/2
Depart Lausanne 26/2
Arrive Gryon 26/2
Depart Gryon 29/2

March
Arrive Nice 2/3
Depart Nice 5/3
Arrive Barcelona 6/3
Depart Barcelona 10/3
Arrive Valencia 10/3
Depart Valencia 13/3
Arrive Grenada 13/3 Possible night at Paul’s (Costa Del Sol – Marbella)
Depart Grenada 17/3
Arrive Seville 17/3
Depart Seville 20/3
Arrive Cordoba 20/3
Depart Cordoba 21/3
Arrive Madrid 21/3
Depart Madrid 24/3
Arrive San Sebastian 24/3
Depart San Sebastian 26/3
Arrive Paris 27/3
Depart 31/3
Arrive/Depart London or Paris Leaves 2 weeks free. Can leave April 14ish

Just one idea for transport: If you have a gap in rail passes, try and have the gap be in January when you're in Eastern Europe. Trains there tend to be a bit cheaper than the ones in Western Europe.

Dave