Cheers for that
I’ve picked out particular cities for most countries, just didn’t want to rabbit on too much and bore everyone!  With Greece we’re only planning to do the islands, and really whichever ones are easiet to travel to on the way to Turkey but I’ll have a look around here and reaserch more (I’ve looked into Samos a while back)
 
With Italy we’re looking at Florence as the #1 priority, along with Venice, Rome (incl. Vatican), run through Pisa and after reading a friend’s blog this morning the Cinque Terre looks really nice, on the way to Nice where I’d like to day trip to Monaco and Cannes
 
Thanks again and I’ll take a look around this space…more advice from anyone is always appreciated

how do you know about the Eurovision Contest, assuming you live in Australia

Eurovision isn’t covered in the US either.
 

 
Then you’re already on the right track.  Try putting together a general itinerary.  It’s easier for us to take apart and reconstruct it, rather than suggest you a whole new one from scratch.  I’ve done that before for people, but never for such a large area. 
 

 
Samos is beautiful; very well-known to European tourists, and I think the island may have ferry connections to Turkey, but I’m not sure.  One thing you need to realize about Greece is that “the islands” are broken down into smaller island chains.  Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Syros, Andros, and all the islands that form a cluster immediately southeast of Athens, those are the Cyclades Island chain, and their administrative center is the island of Syros (and these are the islands mostly with those famous whitewashed houses).  Ferries within this chain are plentiful, but getting from this chain to the Dodecanese Islands (further southeast, includes Rhodes, Kos, Patmos, etc), you can’t ferry there from any Cycladic Island.  Then there’s the “Northeast Aegean Islans” (Includes Samos, which is near the Dodecanese), Crete (a region in and of itself), and the Ionian Islands (which are west of the mainland, and where I suggest you make a stop if you’re arriving in Greece from Italy by ferry).  So, keep this in mind, as it might not be possible to go directly from island A to island B, depending on the islands you’ve picked.  I know Mykonos is one of the few places in Greece that are well-known outside of Europe (USA, Canada, Australia, etc…), but don’t fret it if you can’t make it there; there’s so much more to Greece.


 
Your Italy itinerary sounds good; you’re covering the basics.  Pisa and Florence are both in Tuscany region (Toscana).  Cinque Terre is in the southernmost part of Liguria region, near Tuscany.  All of these can be a mini-itinerary within the itinerary.  Maybe stay in Florence and explore the rest of the region as day-trips, then hop on over to a Cinque Terre town for a few days, base yourself there, and explore the otehr CT towns as day trips as well.  I think that, in addition to power-sightseeing in Venice and Rome, that a more relaxed mini-vacation in the Tuscany-Luguria area is ideal.
 
Monaco: you’re not missing much, unless you have money, a yacht, you love to gamble, and you wear a red scarf inside your shirt collar.  There’s plenty more towns on the Côte d’Azur that will probably suit you MUCH better, trust me.  Like Antibes/Juan-les-Pins, or Cannes, or Menton…  I have written quite a bit about the Côte d’Azur and southern France, and from memory, Cil has too, and I think Basie too.  And I’m sure I’ve forgotten a name or two.
 
Any questions on Spain?

  I couldn’t agree more with Luv_the _Beach!  In my opinion, a mistake that’s often made is that people want to get between Nice and Barcelona as fast as possible, and end up missing lots between. For example, you might want to see Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Nimes, Caracassonne, Montpellier, and Collioure. In your case, you’ll have plenty of time to do some reading about these places, and decide which to see.
 Years ago, before Rick Steves wrote about the area, travelers would go right past Cinque Terre, while now it’s become almost a ritual to go there—- and some of the charm must inevitably get lost when there are swarms of tourists there. Collioure, in France (just north of the border between Spain and France) is a charming village with a small rail station right on the rail line that connects Nice with Barcelona (via Perpignan), and it’s fairly easy to stop just for a few hours, yet few tourists have ever heard of it, and go past as fast as possible, just as earlier tourists shot past Cinque Terre!
   In other regions of France, there are dozens of small cities/ towns that are very picuresque and interesting. Obviously, you can’t see everyplace during a single trip but, as your ideas become clearer, keep in mind the possiblity of seeing smaller places in France (and elsewhere in Europe, too)!

I’ve travelled that route Barca to Prague… pretty much sorted out the flight in a barca travel agents office… seamless.

Stop daydreaming and start learning, planning and educating yourself

Awesome.  How easy to use is the transport between Nice & Barca?  Looking into an extra stop or two along the way but it’s something we may do at our own leisure.
 
Can anyone pass on thoughts on how worthwile it is travelling to places like Corsica? Andorra?
 
(Also working on a solid week-plus Swiss itinerary that I’ll chuck on here soon)
Thanks!!

> I can’t stand Rick Steeves.
 
That’s worthy of another thread, but I’d be curious to hear why. I have mixed feelings about Rick Steves.

Cheers.  Recently I was of the mind of just hopping from town to town and hostel to hostel, but the more I read and think about it I’m realising that settling down in one town is the way to go, and make day trips.  For piece of mind, remembering I’ll be tripping for 3 months, it’s probably better to base a few days to a week in one town as opposed to seeing one place, moving a couple of hundred kms up the road for the next night.  

For example staying in Florence for a week, and depending on how we felt, wake up on the Tuesday and say “Let’s catch the train to Venice”. This’d be better than staying 2 days in Venice, 2 days in Florence, and shifting beds all the time?  I hope in that ramble I’ve made my point?

This being said, I’ll share a rough Swiss itinerary that’s pretty nomadic, and see what you think? Are the towns worthwhile? Should I stay longer in any of them or skip them altogether? This is planned for May/early June.

1. Start in Geneva and get out as soon as I can, spend the day in Lausanne, and stay the night in Montreaux
2. Day trip to Sion & Val d’Herens, maybe see some cow fights? (intriguing)
3. Move on to Bern, checking out Gruyeres on the way.  I like the look of Bern as a city
4. Train to Interlaken, spending an hour or so in Thun.
5. Stay 2 or 3 nights in this area…definitely with a return train ride around Murren & Gimmelwald.  Not sure which town to base in but isn’t that Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald fantastic? Worth staying here over Interlaken??

Let’s say day 8.  On to Lucerne via Brenz & Meiringen.
9. To Zurich.
10.  St. Gallen & Appenzell.  (Leichtenstein???)
11.  North to the lake then across to Freiburg Germany to start the next adventure.  (Or should I visit Basel first???)


Is this too long? Are there days I can cut out? I do wanna check out the country lifestyle along with the alpine and city living so I figure this is a good cross section, but am also wary that Switzerland is slightly more expensive than most other parts of Europe.  Thanks so much for your help and advice.

Thanks heaps for that!
Wow it’s been a long time since I’ve been to this forum.  I just moved from SE Australia to Darwin at the very top…been big! Now I can catch up on my Eurotrip ambitions again
 
Any more adivce about Switzerland/France/Germany for a 3 month trip in Spring?
 
Thankyou

Aussie and Jaysta,
 
You are right Aussie  it is GIMMELWALD    the Grindalwald is a very touristy area.
 
Walters at Gimmelwald is super and he is a pretty good cook  However, the cost to go up and down can run into $ over a period of time so you are better to plan a one   few day stop.  Recommend…... for sure
 
I am also in the process of planning a 1-2 year trip of travelling throughout the remainder of Europe I have not seen in addition to other parts of Asia and the Middle East, Africa – anything on that side of the world.  We are leaving in 2009 February probably.  Have been fortunate to have travelled throughout Europe and North Africa area in the 60’s for over six months and many trips since – not your 5 star type trips.  Glad to tell you what I know – any questions just ask.
\Taking a group of 8 throughout Germany, Austria, Holland Scandinavia in 2008 for 6-8 weeks.    I’m not an agent, just can satisfy the wanderlust.
 
Have already begun to book and everything for next May only because it involves 8 of us.  The around-the-world trip will be mostly spontaneous except for 2 months in Turkiye and one month in Greece.
 

Well it looks like you’ve come a long way from your original post, haha… good job I’m envious that you’ll actually be able to have this long to travel. What is it with Aussies and being able to take off a million days at a time?

I guess a few things I’d mention perhaps trying to see, since you’ll be there so long anyway:

See if you can’t work in a day or three for the cruise down the Rhine. I assume you’ll be getting a Eurail global pass or equivalent, in which case the cruise itself is free, and there’s a lot of unique little towns along the way you can stop and spend the day in, sleep there, etc…also a lot of castles along the Rhine to gawk at! I really enjoyed myself there. You can start in Cologne, which is really close to the Benelux region, since you’re going to be there. Technically speaking you could probably get on the cruise in Cologne or Dusseldorf and ride it to at least Mainz (near Frankfurt); not sure if you can ride upriver any further than that, but I wouldn’t doubt it. I just did the journey myself between Mainz and Koblenz, where most of the castles are. But yeah there are a ton of little towns you can stop in like, Bacharach, Bingen, Lorch, Saint Goar, Boppard, etc etc etc. Like I said, I highly recommend it Germany is quite a diverse country (it wasn’t even a “country” in the modern sense until the 1870s) so each region really has its own identity; you’ll find that the Rhineland almost feels like a different country altogether from southern Germany!

Another thing I’d mention is, why not try spending a bit more time in Switzerland?... it’s a really interesting place, and TONS of different cultures in one little country. I believe there are FOUR official languages spoken, and even if people speak the same language, sometimes they don’t even understand eachother from one valley to the next. Spending time in Graubunden area, Ticino, Zurich, and Neuchatel, you’d almost swear you were in four different countries.

If you’re going to be in Prague, I’d recommend maybe trying to get to Dresden, Germany on your way in or out. It’s only a little more than 2hrs away, and a beautiful old city that the Allies firebombed flat at the end of WWII, but has been subsequently rebuilt with precision accuracy. I loved it there. It’s worth at least a day-trip… and nearby is the Sächsische Schweiz (http://en.wikipedia….) national park with really neat rock formations and stuff, good for a hike.

Another thing, if you’re thinking of spending a few days in Gimmelwald, CH, it would be criminal not to reccomend you staying in Hallstatt, Austria (http://wikitravel.or…) for a few days. It’s only a couple hours’ journey from Salzburg or Vienna, and one of the most tranquil places I’ve ever been. It’s just a village on the edge of a lake really, and it can get a bit touristy, but most of them leave by 5pm and then you’re all by yourself with the locals, basically. It’s great. Lots of neat little restaurants and stuff, and not to mention if you walk about 10 minutes in any direction you’re in the woods literally completely alone. If you’re into mountaineering too there’s all sorts of stuff you can do up in the mountains there. So awesome…. I wish I was there right now

Anyway, just some suggestions, take it with a grain of salt, as only YOU know what YOU are most interested in

Aussie,

By now you’ve pretty much named every city, town, village, and settlement in Europe with a population over 5.