Hey everyone…
 
(Great website here, by the way) I am going to Europe for the first time with a friend from June 29 until July 14 for a total of 2 weeks.  The goal of this trip for me is to see things I have only seen&nbspictures of and may never have another chance to see again.  I am not really too interested in immersing myself in someone else’s culture…. it might sound shallow but I only have 2 weeks to work with here, we’re going to try and cover as much ground as possible.  I am a big fan of history, so any chance I get to take in some historical sights I want to take advantage of.  For example, I’m not real interested in France in general, but I really want to see The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, etc.
 
I have played around with a few different itineraries (downloaded the timetables for eurail.com).  The one I have below is the one I like most so far.  Keep in mind our original plan was a 14 city/14 day trip that some friends of ours did 2 years ago and said they absolutely loved it… we’ve chopped the city count to half of that #.  We plan to do almost all of our travel on the Eurail, and possibly a flight from Rome to Madrid near the end of the 2 weeks.  I’m a pretty high energy person and so is my friend so I’m pretty sure we can handle a pretty hectic trip that’s a bit travel-heavy.
 
6.29 – (Friday) Leave Cincinnati, Layover NYC, Depart to Madrid
 
6.30 – (Saturday) Arrive Madrid 9:00 AM, Madrid all day, night train to Barcelona
 
7.1 – Barcelona
 
7.2 – Barcelona all day, night train to Paris
 
7.3 – Paris (possibly take train to Normandy for day and take WWII tour)
 
7.4 – Paris all day, night train to Munich
 
7.5 – Munich
 
7.6 – Munich
 
7.7 – Leave Munich in morning for Interlaken (connect in Zurich), spend second half of day in Interlaken (this will be the “outdoors” portion of our trip)
 
7.8 – Interlaken all day, leave in evening for Zurich and take night train to Rome OR Florence
 
7.9 to 7.12 - A mixture of Rome and Florence.  One variation of this is going to Florence first, then to Rome and taking a RyanAir flight from Rome to Madrid on 7.12 (found a flight for 25 euros).  The other variation was go to Rome first, then Florence, then take a series of trains back to Madrid, possibly stopping at a city on the Mediterrannean coast in Italy of France for a day along the way if we sacrifice a day in Florence.
 
7.13 – Madrid
 
7.14 – (Saturday) Leave Madrid airport in the AM
 
Please let me know what you think of this, any insight would be helpful.  I know it’s a hectic trip, but that’s kind of what we are going for.  Also, I was going to buy one of the standard Eurail packages.  Clearly, I’m all about the night trains as a means to make the most of my 2 weeks.  My plan right now is based off the assumption that I will be able to make the upgrades to the night train upon my arrival in that city.  So, for example, when I get to Munich, immediately book a spot on a train to Rome and pay the difference in price between the ticket my Eurail pass would have covered and the night train ticket.
 
Thanks.