I know you guys get a lot of these posts, but it seems quite helpful and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

So I’ve decided to forgo employment this summer and head to Europe from roughly mid-June to mid-August. I know that’s the high season but I’m in school and so the times I can go are somewhat limited.

I’ll be coming from the east coast of the USA and arriving/departing from either Ireland or England. I have family friends in both those places so they will be my “base camp” of sorts. From there, I plan on heading to Paris (I heard the chunnel bus is much cheaper from London than train?). From Paris, I plan on using a rail pass to head to:

Bruges
Amsterdam
(Hamburg?)
Copenhagen
Berlin
Prague
Vienna
(Salzburg? Innsbruck?)
Munich
Switzerland
Provence
possibly Spain

I don’t know where in Ireland, Switzerland or Provence I should visit, and I’m completely open to suggestions. I’ll be going back to the UK or Ireland to fly home, and when I’m back I might go up to Scotland too.

So, what do you think? It seems like a long list, but I’ve got a decent amount of time and some money saved up. I’ve been to Italy and Greece on previous trips (with a short stop in London) so I’d like to concentrate on the large swaths I haven’t visited yet, but I hope to integrate a good deal of spontaneity into it.

Thanks!