HELP ME PLAN MY EUROTRIP!

[Harlequin]

[FONT=Liberation Sans, sans-serif]FRANCE
--Paris (2 days?)
--Lille (on the way to Belgium, maybe an afternoon and then back on the train?)
BELGIUM
--Brussels (the train stops there, thinking maybe an afternoon or something?)
--Bruges (don't really know how much time, possibly spend the night? or if it can be managed spend the morning in Brussels and the afternoon in Bruges, and then we can sleep on the train to Amsterdam?)
THE NETHERLANDS[/FONT]
[FONT=Liberation Sans, sans-serif]--Rotterdam (maybe? is it worth it really?)[/FONT]
[FONT=Liberation Sans, sans-serif]--Amsterdam (2 days? I spend three days there in February so I already know where I'd like to go...)
GERMANY
--Berlin (I was thinking a day or two here, and then down to Dresden?)
--Dresden (afternoon, maybe a day? depending on train times)
CZECH REPUBLIC
--Prague (I'd like to spend maybe two days here?)
AUSTRIA
--Vienna (A day or two days, not really sure yet.)
ITALY
--Venice (maybe a day here, depending on expense two?)
--Bologna (this depends entirely on whether we're there when my friends are, and if we're not then we won't bother with Bologna at all, even though it's on the way to Florence from Venice)
--Florence (have to pass through on the way to Rome anyway, so might as well spend an afternoon)
--Rome (I think we should take at least two days in Rome, since there's so much to see. We'll definitely have to do the Vatican as well. Italy will probably be the most expensive part of the trip actually...)

This is all I have planned. From Rome we have two choices, really: go home through France or continue on to Spain. If we do Spain we'll have to jump on a ferry to Sardinia and then across to Barcelona.

I was also thinking about instead of going from Austria to Italy we could go from Austria to Hungary to visit Budapest, and then Croatia to visit Zagreb, and then Slovenia to see Ljubljana and then into Italy... I don't know!

It's looking like at least 13 days anyway, and we can definitely extend that. The only real barrier is expense and we're looking to do this as cheaply as possible. We'll be avoiding hotels in favour of hostels, and we're taking a tent, too, so if we find a good-looking field we can just pitch up and sleep there for free.
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[Tarvos]

[FONT=Liberation Sans, sans-serif]FRANCE
--Paris (2 days?) Paris is big. Take your time in Paris
--Lille (on the way to Belgium, maybe an afternoon and then back on the train?) Never been to Lille but it's not the biggest thing
BELGIUM
--Brussels (the train stops there, thinking maybe an afternoon or something?) Do an afternoon. Brussels has the Atomium, the Grand Place and the Wetstraat but it's not really that touristy, it's more a haven for good food and shopping
--Bruges (don't really know how much time, possibly spend the night? or if it can be managed spend the morning in Brussels and the afternoon in Bruges, and then we can sleep on the train to Amsterdam?) There is no overnight sleeper to Amsterdam from the Belgium/France direction. Spend the night in Brussels because Bruges has no direct connections to Amsterdam. Hint: DO NOT TAKE THE THALYS. TAKE THE REGULAR INTERCITY FROM BRUSSELS TO AMSTERDAM. IT'S CHEAPER. You also might consider not doing Bruges but doing Antwerp instead which is more on the way. Bruges is great though, that's not the problem. You can always change at Bruges for Antwerp though.
THE NETHERLANDS[/FONT]
[FONT=Liberation Sans, sans-serif]--Rotterdam (maybe? is it worth it really?)[/FONT] Rotterdam is crap for tourists, it got bombarded flat completely. The Hague is much more interesting and it's only 20-30 minutes north and on the way to Amsterdam
[FONT=Liberation Sans, sans-serif]--Amsterdam (2 days? I spend three days there in February so I already know where I'd like to go...) yeah sure
GERMANY
--Berlin (I was thinking a day or two here, and then down to Dresden?)
--Dresden (afternoon, maybe a day? depending on train times)
CZECH REPUBLIC
--Prague (I'd like to spend maybe two days here?)
AUSTRIA
--Vienna (A day or two days, not really sure yet.)
ITALY
--Venice (maybe a day here, depending on expense two?)
--Bologna (this depends entirely on whether we're there when my friends are, and if we're not then we won't bother with Bologna at all, even though it's on the way to Florence from Venice)
--Florence (have to pass through on the way to Rome anyway, so might as well spend an afternoon)
--Rome (I think we should take at least two days in Rome, since there's so much to see. We'll definitely have to do the Vatican as well. Italy will probably be the most expensive part of the trip actually...)


This is all I have planned. From Rome we have two choices, really: go home through France or continue on to Spain. If we do Spain we'll have to jump on a ferry to Sardinia and then across to Barcelona.

I was also thinking about instead of going from Austria to Italy we could go from Austria to Hungary to visit Budapest, and then Croatia to visit Zagreb, and then Slovenia to see Ljubljana and then into Italy... I don't know!

It's looking like at least 13 days anyway, and we can definitely extend that. The only real barrier is expense and we're looking to do this as cheaply as possible. We'll be avoiding hotels in favour of hostels, and we're taking a tent, too, so if we find a good-looking field we can just pitch up and sleep there for free.
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That's all. Prague and Rome are great cities. Dunno much about the rest. I've been to most of these countries but not that area.

 

[Seritinajii]

Just as a suggestion, you should ride a gondola in Venice! And get some gelato. yum.

Also, even though it is sort of far away from Vienna, Salzburg is a nice city to go to in Austria if you have enough time, or the money required. It has a gigantic chessboard somewhere, and a cool cable car thing up a mountain.

 

[H-land]

FRANCE
If you're only spending two days in Paris, that's probably okay, but don't expect to see everything. And if you expect to see the top of the Tour Eiffel... Well, I wouldn't get my hopes up. The Louvre alone can take a day, and though I haven't been inside, myself, the Musée d'Orsay could also eat up a good chunk of time. Versailles, another day.

FRANCE TO THE NETHERLANDS
When it comes to the rest of France on the way to Belgium and the Netherlands, I have to default to whatever Tarvos says. I've never been to Belgium or the Netherlands, while he's lived there.

GERMANY
As for Germany, I would say that yes, you can easily spend a day or two in Berlin (where I am right now, actually.) The TV tower, the Brandenberger Tor, the Rotes Rathaus, the Berliner Dom and several other attractions are within easy walking distance of each other, but there's a number of museums you could visit, including the Pergamon, which are generally more historical than artsy, but massive and potentially time consuming none the less. (As with Paris, the suburb with the old kings' famous palace deserves a day on its own. I'd probably visit Sans-Soucci again if I got to replan my first to Berin.)
I've not been to Dresden myself, but I've heard its reputation is primarily that of a city for the arts, so I might keep that in mind (until someone who's been there speaks up).

EAST OF GERMANY
I've not been to Prague or Vienna myself, but would like to visit both. I do however notice that you don't mention Salzburg, also in Austria, which I have also not visited, but am visiting in a few days and have been advised to visit for its cathedral and am inclined to visit for its salt mines, regardless of its status as the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (which is apparently its main tourist draw).

ITALY
In Venice, I would stay outside of town and catch a ferry in (and I know that's what our group did last time). It's a very, very nice place to just wander around, although I can't honestly remember if there even are any real draws to the city aside from Piazza San Marco, the cathedral (which is on the piazza), and gondolas (which are overpriced to ride on unless you take the gondola-ferry across the grand canal, though I forget exactly where that is). Although I'd like to go back, I'm not sure what I'd do there. Besides get gelato.
Bologna? I don't know if there's anything there but sandwich shops. I mean, honestly, if I were to visit Italy a second time (as I went once before), Bologna would still not be on my list of places to see.
Florence, though, does deserve a visit. I find both Santa Croche and the duomo to be particularly lovely churches, and the Ponteveccio is an interesting landmark, although I didn't find it particularly interesting, to be quite honest.If you want a workout, feel free to climb into the cupola of the duomo. Otherwise, feel free to deal with the view from the ground.
Rome was a pretty interesting place. It didn't feel as safe to walk around in as Florence to me, for some reason, and it was a lot bigger. (It also has the highest density distribution of McDonaldses I've seen in any European city, ever, and perhaps more than even in New York.) There were some pretty neat things to see there (though I'm bummed I wasn't in the Pantheon when it was pouring), but they all seem to be quite far apart, and I don't feel like public transit (even if we had used it) would have been much of a help, given the layout of it all. Popeland is neat to visit, although I wasn't too overwhelmed by the Sistine Chapel's ceiling (and in fact felt rather underwhelmed).
I was also mildly disappointed that they didn't sell giant foam pope hats like I half expected them to, though, so decide for yourself.
No debating that the Roman forums are hot, though. Like "is this a furnace who turned it on get me out of here" hot. It was bad enough when we went after the rain had just cooled everything down.


EDIT: Upon rereading on my post and reading the post above mine, I have decided it prudent to emphesize that gelato shouldn't just be eaten in Venice.
Eat it all the way across Italy. It's amazing the whole way across the country.
Anywhere in Italy, it seems they're bound to have amazing gelato. It's like pizza and pasta; it's just one of those things Italy is amazing at.

 

[Harlequin]

We've decided to start from Paris and then go down south to visit Italy first for a bunch of reasons. We're doing InterRail, so we'll already have all the train stuffs sorted out, I think -- thanks for the info on cheaper trains though!

As for Paris, I've already been once and I've seen all around the Louvre -- Emily doesn't want to go inside, so we can easily cut that out. What she does want to see are Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, both of which are doable since we're actually in Paris for three days and not two. I'd personally love to go see Versailles, so that's probably what we're going to do.

On our way down south we'll probably just take a walk around Marseilles since we don't want to visit anything in particular, but if anyone has any suggestions they're welcome!

As for Italy, we're no longer visiting Bologna but are instead looking at a village near Genova, since that's where my friends are going to be during the time frame we're in Italy. Also, we're totally going to take all of your other suggestions in mind -- Emily is particularly excited about real Italian pizza and gelato.

We totally might hit up the Hague instead of Rotterdam, especially since it'll be on the way from Amsterdam to Brussels on our way back.

We decided to reverse our direction because we want to end up back in Paris to catch the Eurostar to London so we can go see a West End show just before we go home.

 

[Flazeah]

I'd personally love to go see Versailles, so that's probably what we're going to do.

You should! I used to live very near there. I recommend walking around the lake as well as admiring the palace. Dunno whether they still do boat renting, but it was fun!

 

[H-land]

I'm afraid I haven't been to Marseilles and our coach didn't stop anywhere between Pisa and Monaco (aside from a rest stop near the Franco-Italian border), but I can say that Monaco is a nice place to make a stop and spend a couple hours just strolling around, depending on what route you take.
I can also say that I didn't care much for Nice, though, I suppose; the beach was rocky enough that I found it painful to walk on, with or without shoes, and the water wasn't as warm as I'd like either.

 

[Harlequin]

When we're in Italy we're going to visit a friend of mine who's out there visiting a friend of his, and they're going to be going to the beach so I expect we'll just be able to tag along there. France isn't a massive stop for us because I've been there before and Emily only really wants to go to Rome and Vienna out of everywhere we're going, so...

aaaaa I still need to finalise locations and get my hands on a timetable so I can plan everything out completely.

 

[Harlequin]

OKAY so I am currently in Toulouse and it's very nice here! We have a train to catch soon and then we're heading to Barcelona for two days, then on to Italy. Good times!

 

[Lorem Ipsum]

My personal view is that you should spend all of your time in Northern France and Southern Italy. The two most beautiful parts of Europe. But, either way, enjoy yourself :)

 

[Harlequin]

Northern France is okay I guess, but I really love the south. It's lovely. Italy is just nice all around! We spend a night at a friend's house in the north and it was just a really great time. Now we're in Rome and our next destination is Vienna!