Allow 2-3 days in the big cities, 1 day in villages and small towns.
Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Cinque Terre and Interlaken are must-sees. But I’m not sure about the rest.
 
1-I’d skip Greece, it’s so out of the way, and expensive to fly to.
It’s also not that interesting, unless you’re considering a trip to Santorini. Don’t let your trip start with a disappointment.
 
2-Czech Republic is not included in the Global pass. But Prague is an awesome city, worth buying a seprate train ticket. Once in Prague, take a side trip to Cesky Krumlov a very nice medieval village.
 
3-Zagreb? Forget it. If you’re going to Croatia, head straight to Dubrovnik.
But much like Athens, Croatia is out of your way.
 
4-Unless you’re a fashionista, skip Milan. It’s an industrial city, without much to see or do. Consider Florence and Tuscany instead.
 
5-Hanover? Not worth a stopover. Stay on the train
 
6-Brussels is a nice city, but Brugges is even better. Best sight in Belgium.
 
By the way, Spain and England are wonderful. Why did you omit them?  Been there before?
 
Check this 2 months itinerary by Rick Steves. It’s perfect.
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0307/rickstevesonfirsteuropeantrip.shtml

Caspar, thank you so much for your reply!
 
Athens will be our starting location because we will be in Greece for 2 weeks with family, so it makes the most sense to ‘start’ there.
Yes, we’ve been to both Spain and England on separate trips so we’d like to encorperate more of Europe we haven’t seen.
 
Would you recommend flying from Athens to Rome and have the trip start in the opposite direction with Rome as the real ‘start’ (ie. Italy->Sitzerland->France…)? Would that make more sense? I’m guessing it would be cheap and wouldn’t take up much of our time. That way we could end in Vienna then take a cheap flight to London then home.
 
Now that I think about it, that does seem to make more sense than flying from Athens all the way to Croatia or Austria..
 
With regards to Amsterdam to Berlin, how long would this train ride be? It looks pretty far! Are there any other cities worth seeing along the way?
 
I will add Brugges to my list for sure! I’ll look into Florence and Tuscany, I really have no idea where to go in Italy, Milan just looked like it was a logical stop for the trip.
 
 

OKAY so here is the 2nd draft itinerary!

Athens, Greece
(Fly to)
Rome, Italy
Florence, Italy
Cinque Terre, Italy
Interlaken, Switzerland
(Day trip)Gimmelwald, Switzerland
Munich, Germany
Salzburg, Austria
Vienna, Austria
Prague, Czech Republic
Dresden, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Amsterdam, NL
Bruges, Belgium
Brussels, Belgium
Paris, France
Home (Canada)

All by train except Athens->Rome. To me this seems a lot more logical than my previous one and it all seems to be relatively time efficient!
Whatcha think?

I think it’s a&nbsperfect itinerary. The only flaw is Frankfurt  Frankfurt is just like any other metropole, not typically German.  It’s out of your way too. Skip it.
Go directly from Prague to Berlin. You can make a stopover in Dresden if you like. Very beautiful city.

The ride from Berlin to Amsterdam is 6 hours, not as long as you expected.
Use this website to check train schedules:
http://www.bahn.de
I also downloaded a map from the Eurail website, which is really helpful. It shows the travel time between the major cities.
https://www.europrail.net/content/documents/eurailmap.pdf
 
Try to squeeze Venice somewhere. Maybe take a day trip. I don’t think a visit to Italy would be complete without seeing Venice.
 

6 hours from Berlin to Amsterdam isn’t bad at all! A lot shorter than I expected.
I can’t see how that second map shows travel times? Hmmm..

Looks a fairly decent itinerary and well planned. although if your going to vienna which i found a little boreing. Why not go and see Bratislava only an hour or so away and in my view cheaper and nicer than prague. As a fair number of the city’s your going to are on the dear side.

Sorry I gave you the wrong link.
This is the one.
http://www.eurail.co…

I don’t agree with Davy about Bratislava being nicer than Prague. Cheaper, maybe but nicer? No way! It’s such a dull place, I wouldn’t bother going there. But then again, to each his taste.
In my opinion, Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

I agree with the opinion that Vienna is dull. May be architectonically rich, but I dislike this place. But Bratislava is NOWHERE NEAR the beauty of Prague or Vienna, really.

Personally, I would trade Vienna for Cesky Krumlov. It seems weird, I know, Vienna is an almost two-million metropolis, while Cesky Krumlov is a small town, but I’m sure you’ll like it a lot. Plus, when traveling from Salzburg to Prague, Vienna is far off to the East. But do as you wish, I wouldn’t want you to miss something you have long desired to see

But here’s an alternative plan to travel from Salzburg to Prague:
Take a train to Linz. Visit the cash desk at the train station and buy yourself a ticket from Summerau Grenze (A/CZ borderpoint – your Eurail is still valid while in Austria but not in CZ) to Ceske Budejovice. Take a train to Ceske Budejovice. This is a cute town, and, as its German name is Budweis, you know what it is famous for From Ceske Budejovice, it is a short 30 km (20 mi) ride to Cesky Krumlov. That town is small but very picturesque (google images of it). Return to Ceske Budejovice and take another train to Prague (160 km, 100 mi). Stay in Prague for a couple of days. From Prague, take train to Berlin. Buy all your domestic (Czech republic) train tickets in Czech republic, it’s very cheap. Also, when leaving Prague for Berlin, buy yourself a domestic Czech ticket from Prague to Bad Schandau Grenze (again, CZ/D borderpoint).

If you decide you don’t like this alternative plan to travel via Cesky Krumlov and Budweis, then I may strongly advice you to take a ridiculously cheap but very well equipped bus ride (stewardess, movies, free hot drinks) by a carrier named Student Agency. The duration is 5 hours, same as train ride, but it’s less than half price (12 euros per person by bus, 35 by train) and the comfort is much higher.
The bus departs from Wien-Nord Praterstern at 8:35, 11:35 and 18:35. The stop is located by the underground line U1 station Praterstern, just outside Billa supermarket, on Nordbahnstrasse. Tickets can be bought at Global Bridge agency, No.40 Heinestrasse, just a few feet away from the boarding stop (see maps.google.com for position of Heinestrasse, Nordbahnstrasse and U1 station Praterstern, they are really close to each other).

Thank you for such a wonderful idea papyr!
I’m definitely going to have to do some research into Vienna and the towns you have suggested. We are travelling to see amazing sights and get soaked in the local culture, so whichever fits the best

Yeah well thats it each to there own. Dont get me wrong Prague is a brilliant place to go and see just over rated in my view. I personaly prefered Bratislava for going out at night and not getting surrounded by all the stag nights you have in Prague and is a great place to get out of the over crowded tourest path.

I think it just goes to prove that everybody has there own places where they would rather be and nobody is wrong, except that is for anyone who prefers Vienna []

 
There’s the Rhine River Valley. You can stay in Bacharach and take a cruise along the Rhine river (free or discounted with railpass). Highly recommended.

 
Because the rest of Europe is just so much closer to Canada.
 

 
…or Rhodes, or Metéora, or Monemvasía, or Mykonos, or Corfu, or Zákynthos, or Máni, or Cephalonia, or Paros, or Crete, or Delphi, or Zagoria, or Sporades, or Sifnos, or Párga, or Hydra, or Paxoi, or Pátmos, or Olympia…
 

 
Well, you’re the first person to call the country “a disappointment”.   Unless you’ve spent considerable time there, I advise people to take your opinion with a grain of salt.
 
Rmur,
 
You mentioned that you’re spending two weeks in Greece “wtih family”.  I’m curious if you’ll be traveling within the country during those two weeks, because I have some amazing suggested destinations for you.  The only way you would be disappointed in Greece would be if you never left Athens. 
 
Additionally, I think that you can add another destination within France.   
 

luv_the_beach : London, Paris, Amsterdam are way cheaper to fly to than Athens. The flight between Toronto and London costs 650$ whereas the flight between Toronto and Athens costs 1250$. Check it on http://www.momondo.com
 
Also, misquoting people is not very civil, must I say.
I didn’t say Greece is a disappointment. It’s wonderful. I meant Athens in particular. Honestly, Athens isn’t a very charming city. Greece is more spectacular in other regions (santorini, corfu…). I bet many people agree.
And I think it’s fair to be subjective when recommending places to someone.
I’d be lying to him if I said all places were equally beautiful.
 
Judging by your bitterness and your misinformation, I think you’re the one whose opinion should be taken with a grain of salt.

Haha well I’m staying out of the scuffle here…
 
But rmur if you were really hoping to see Croatia, and your starting point is Greece, you may be able to hunt down a ferry for a good price.  Lots of ferry lines give discounted (or free!) tickets to Eurail holders.  From Greece (not sure what city exactly) to Dubrovnik/Split/Zagreb/Brac/Hvar(whatever you want on the coast) and then another ferry across to Bari, Italy, might be pretty affordable.  Compared to a bus/plane/train, it also might be a pretty gorgeous way to travel: out on the sunny deck of a trans-Adriatic ferry

if you can spend an extra day in Bruges, add skip Brussels if you don’t have the time, i’d do it so you can use Bruges as the base for a day trip into Flanders Fields…….there are guided minibus tours that give you an awesome WWI tour

Caspar,

I’m not quoting you out of context.  These were your exact words:

You were referring to the entire country as “a disappointment” and “not that interesting”.  You never elaborated that only going to Athens would be a disappointment (and I would have agreed with you). 

It seems to me that when you visited Greece, you only went to Athens and now you’re telling people to avoid the entire country.  Oh…unless they want to visit Santoríni.  Well…maybe rmur wants to visit Santoríni.



Yes, I know.  Part of the reason is that Greece has very high taxes: high airport fees are added to the price of all flights to/from Greek airports.  But if someone wants to go to Greece, then he wants to go to Greece.  If he wanted to visit Mongolia, would you have told him to go to Florida instead?



Anyone in Greece will tell you that Athens isn’t exactly their country’s best.  You’re not telling me something new.  (I’ll gladly give you a list of my 10 favorite Greek cities; Athens isn’t one of them.  Although, the city is going through major changes, but that’s not the point). 

But again, this is not what you originally said.



I think that just by doing a simple search here at Eurotrip people see that I’m a very reliable source of information. 

I think that you are getting a bit defensive and are now retracting what you said because I countered your statement as something completely subjective, and hence unreliable.  Yes, opinions matter too, but calling an entire country “a disappointment” (which is what you said), is too subjective to be reliable, especially given the fact that most visitors tend to enjoy the country.  Additionally, when other experienced&nbsposters suggest to someone that they put off Greece for another trip, they do so from the perspective that Greece is too far from the rest of the itinerary, and that they wouldn’t be giving the country enough time.  By contrast, you are telling someone that the entire country is “a disappointment” and “not that interesting”.  Huge difference, and highly subjective.

Maybe, to avoid future confusion, you should try elaborating from now on.

Thanks.

I used a ferry Igoumenitsa (Greece) – Bari (Italy) in 2004 and adult ticket cost me € 29. The carrier was Ventouris Ferries and journey time was 12 hours. As I am from a landlocked country, it was a big event for me and I enjoyed it very much And the Adriatic Sea is really very beautifully blue.

Most ferries to Italy depart from Igoumenitsa in the north-west of Greece (no railroad there) or they start from Patra and usually then go via Igoumenitsa. Ferries from Croatia also go to Italy, but I have not found a single ferry between Croatia and Greece directly.

Useful links to ferry companies:
www.ferries.gr (Greece)
www.jadrolinija.hr (Croatia)
directferries.co.uk
www.snavali.com (Italy, operates fast catamaran between Ancona and Split)

heh
I have to back up Luv here, I assume Caspar meant to say Athens rather than Greece but that’s a fairly major error. Early on, Ryan says he has family in Greece, it doesn’t sound like skipping it is an option.
Furthermore, I found Hanover to be a charming town. []
Okay, enough piling on poor Caspar.

Papyr
I too tried to find ferries (futile effort) between Croatia and Greece; my husband took one out of Dubrovnik, but that was a long time ago when it was Yugoslavia.
If I had the time, it might be fun to just poke around the port cities and sort out a way to do it.
this site takes a look at various routes
Actually, covering the area by land would be quite interesting if time-consuming.
I agree with you about the Adriatic, it really is exceptionally beautiful.

Luv_the_beach, Cil and all other greek gods, sorry for upsetting you. Athens is fabulous!
Hannover is nice, but not the most interesting city in Germany. It was hardly hit during WWII.
Only few historical sights remain. A worthier stop between Amsterdam and Berlin would be the Rhine Valley. Backpacking is about using your time wisely.
In regards to Greece, I thought this website was dedicated to BUDGET travelling, that’s why I advised him to skip Athens. Sticking to Western and Central Europe and flying into and out of London would save him both money and time.
I was ignorant of the fact he had parents there. He didn’t mention it until later in the discussion.