European Travel Skills: Planning Your Itinerary

 Start your travel experience early by enjoying the planning stage. Talk to other travelers, and choose books and movies with your trip in mind. Nurture your travel dreams. Then, develop a thoughtful itinerary in steps.

Brainstorm a wish list of destinations and put them in a logical geographical order, then write in how many days you'd like to stay in each place and then tally it up. This heads up to 32 days. Now, it's got to fit into your vacation time. I've got 21 days off, so I've got some serious cutting. Minimize redundancy; I want to do something other than the Italian Riviera and the French Riviera. I'll cut the French Riviera to keep a balance between big cities and small towns. This itinerary is heavy on big cities. So I'll miss Rome. That'll save a few days.

 Greece takes too long to get to it, so we'll have to wait another trip. Rather than spend an entire day on the train. You can save a day of your itinerary by flying or taking the night train from Bavaria to Venice. I still have to cut one day. I could tighten up on Paris. I had given it for will do Paris in three days when I added it up. It fits 21 days. Now, fine-tune your itinerary and anticipate closed days. For instance, in Paris, museums are closed on Tuesdays. 

That's a good thing to keep in mind. You can take your trip to the next level by researching and planning for events along the way, concerts, sporting events, and festivals. It brightens your experience. Consider building in a few slack days and two days on the beach midway through the itinerary that will recharge those batteries. And one-night stops are hectic. Try your best to have two nights in a row at a minimum. And remember open jobs flying into one city and out of another. In this case, Amsterdam and London save time and money, which is efficient. Finally, be realistic about how much you can cover. You'll always find places you can't get to. I wanted to get to Greece, but squeezing in would rush my entire trip.

 I assume you will return. Travel is freedom. It's rich with choices and exciting decisions. That's part of the appeal—factor in your comfort level with doing things on the fly. Lots of people have a great trip with nothing planned at all. Others have a great trip by nailing down every detail before leaving home. I like to keep flexibility in my itinerary. I'll fall in love with Siena and stay an extra day. Also, plan thoughtfully to get the best weather and the least crowds. The most grueling thing about travel here is the summer heat and crowds, especially in Italy. Check the weather charts.

My rule of thumb north of the Alps is like Seattle or Boston, and south of the Alps is like Southern California or Florida. I prefer visiting the Mediterranean countries in spring or fall, and I travel north of the Alps in summer. We happened to be here in August, and it's hot. Winter travels are a whole different thing, with pros and cons. To museums, empty flights are cheaper. 

The high-culture symphony opera and so on is in full swing. But in the winter, it rains more and gets dark early, especially in the north, where many activities and sites are closed or run for shorter hours. At the same time, small towns' outdoor sites and resorts can be sleepy. Big cities are vibrant and festive throughout the year.