Depending on the length of your trip, you might not have to eliminate anything… of course, if the trip is short enough, it would be a good idea to edit it well. But it’s easy to map out a logical route for all of these places, just pick out which cities/towns you’d most like to see, and start drawing the route on a map, it should become more clear. I incorporated all of these countries and it’s coming together nicely, so feel free to look at my posted eurotrip

Spain is out of the way if you’re planning to do a run through central europe. Save it and portugal for a separate trip

Shadowzid, I think you should also mention to people that you plan on taking this trip in 2011. You have plenty time to do some independent research, and find places that interest you and catch your eye. Half the fun is in planning your trip, and reading up and discovering places through books or the internet. Also, take some time and browse older threads here at Eurotrip. Use the search function if you need to. There’s also some great ideas on the non-forum part of the website.

i’m planning the same trip with the same countries! of course it looks like you’ll be going to a few more cities than we will
but we will be making a “U” shape. going from amsterdam -> paris -> barcelona -> rome -> munich. we’re probably going to purchase a 5 country select pass through eurail.com. and you can pick up 15 days of travel in 2 months, so that will offer you more flexibility!
i hope that was a little helpful…

You could see a bit more by flying into one destination, and flying home from another.

Most of your destinations are countries, with a lot to see, so you might consider fewer countries and more destinations within those countries. With so many destinations, you will be spending a lot of time packing, finding lodgings, unpacking, and adjusting to the languages.

My wife and I are older, and slower, but we spent a month this spring in Italy and Switzerland, and felt a bit rushed. A place like Rome, Paris, or Amsterdam cannot be seen in just a day or two, at least not to the extent that you will remember it.

Clev…you can see Amsterdam in 2 days, but you can’t experience it in two days. You could spend 3 days just hanging out in Brown Cafes

When I look at your itenary I would skip Frankfurt and Marseilles, there’s not much going on there….

Any itinerary decision will be strongly influenced by your Europe Port of Entry and/or Departure. If you fly ‘Open Jaw’ PHL-MAD and return CDG-PHL, you could avoid any backtracking. Or, maybe you would prefer to originate/terminate in Newark; sometimes you can get a better airline deal out of Newark.

Your point-to-point modes of transportation (and hours of travel) may factor into your travel plans. There are numerous Discount airlines in Europe, like Vueling & Click-Air out of Barcelona.
BTW
Amsterdam is a City in the Netherlands (Holland or Benelux), not a Country.

depends where you are going and for how long but, i’d chuck italy:

you could do spain to france to amsterdam to germany

it would be more continuous

Regarding the way you’ve used Amsterdam a title full of countries, I reckon I should point out that The Netherlands have plenty of great places outside JUST Amsterdam.

Use the great amount of time you have to investigate whereabouts in each country you’d like to go, it’s true planning is half the fun. Also don’t be afraid to leave the big cities.