note I am not trying to diss on anyone on this site by asking this one person a question. I am just asking her cause she seems to be incredibly knowledgeable about tranport. If anyone else has any contributions, please feel free to answer.

Nitsansh, I would have emailed you this but I did not know if you checked that email. I am writing you this because you seem to be a real expert in transportation issues in Europe. I am planning a trip to Europe for 2004. It will be traveling with my husband. He will be 26 when we start the trip and I will be 24. So as you can see youthpasses for the both of us are not an option. We had considered renting a car previously and mixing it up with point to point tickets. Then we thought maybe point to point tickets would be better than dealing with a car. But lastly we are leaning towards one of those 3 month unlimited passes. Do you think by reading our itinerary below that one of those passes are the best way to go. We know that the 3 month pass won’t cover our whole trip. So we will begin using the pass on our night train to Seville and it will last us until our train to Rome. What I am mostly concerned about these passes are all those supplements I have heard about. I have also heard you have to pay reservation fees. Will all those extra things amount to a huge amount of money? We really want the cheapest way to travel. I am also really concerned about those night trains in Spain. Some people told me those passes can’t be used on those trains. I am so confused with all these transportation options. I have honestly spent hours researching it from tons of sites here on the net. I have even calculated how much it cost from place to place for the whole trip. Please help me get some clarity. What would you recommend us doing? Here is our long and detailed itinerary. Sorry for all these questions but I would TRULY appreciate all your help.

Europe Trip 2004 Itinerary

Fly out of Miami to Madrid on March 8

SPAIN & PORTUGAL
(March 9 – March 29)

-Madrid spend 3 days and take 2 daytrips from there to Toledo and Segovia.. (total of 4 nights in Madrid)
Night train to Lisbon
-Lisbon spend 2 days there with a day trip to Sintra, Obidos, Nazare (total of 5 nights in Lisbon)
-Evora spend 2 days there (1 night in Evora)
Night train to Seville
– Seville spend 2 days there with 1 daytrip to Cordoba (total of 3 nights in Seville)
– Spend 2 days in Granada with 1 daytrip to Ronda (total of 2 nights)
night train to Barcelona
– Spend 3 days in Barcelona (total of 3 nights)

• This equals a total of 21 days and 21 nights in Spain and Portugal****

FRANCE
(March 30 – April 13)

-Train to Carcassonne; spend the rest of the day there and the following day (total of 2 nights)
-Avignon; spend 1 day in Avignon; take a daytrip to Arles and Nimes and a daytrip around the surrounding countryside (total of 3 nights)
-Antibes; spend 3 days in and around Antibes. Not sure yet what little towns around it I want to visit (total of 2 nights)
night train to Paris
-Paris spend 4 days there (total of 4 nights)
– Train to Rouen, spend day there, train to Bayeux. Spend night in Bayeux. Tour Bayeux in the morning and go on a tour of D-Day Beaches in the afternoon. Spend night in Bayeux. Go to Mont St. Micheal. Spend night in Bayeux (total of 3 nights)
Visit Normandy after 3 days in Paris, then come back to Paris for the last day to take a train the following day to Brugges. (total of 3 nights)
****This equals a total of 15 days and 15 nights in France****

BELGIUM & NETHERLANDS
(April 14 – April 21)

-Train to Brugges and spend the rest of that day there the following day take a daytrip possibly to Ypres to see “In Flanders Fields Museum” and the 3rd day in Brugges (total of 3 nights)
-Train to Amsterdam and spend 2 days in the city plus a daytrip to Keukenhof Gardens and surrounding tulip fields, and a daytrip around Amsterdam to bike through some windmills (total of 4 nights in Amsterdam)
-add on a day to an area we really like

• This equals a total of 8 days and 8 nights in Belgium and the Netherlands****

NORTHERN GERMANY
(April 22 – April 29)

-Train to Cochem spend the day there and the following day (total of 2 nights)
-Train to Bacharach spend day there. On the 2nd day spend day going around to the little towns on the ferry. On the 3rd day spend day going around to the little towns on the ferry (total of 2 nights)
night train to Berlin
-Berlin spend 3 days there (total of 2 nights because on the last night take the night train to Krakow)

• This equals a total of 8 days and 8 nights in this area of Germany (including the night train to Krakow)****

EASTERN EUROPE
(April 30 – May 13)

-Krakow, spend 2 days there and 1 daytrip to Aushchwitz (total of 2 nights because on last night take night train to Prague)
night train to Prague
-Prague, spend 4 days there plus 1 daytrip to Kutna Hora and another daytrip to one of the nearby castles (total of 6 nights)
-Cesky Krumlov, spend 2 days there (total of 2 nights)
-Train to Budapest, spend the rest of the day there plus 2 more days; possibly on one of the days take a daytrip to a nearby town (total of 3 nights)

• This equals a total of 14 days and 14 nights in this area of Eastern Europe****

AUSTRIA & SOUTHERN GERMANY
(May 14 – May 27)

-Vienna, spend 3 days there (total of 3 nights)
-Salzburg, spend 2 days there (total of 2 nights)
-Hallstat, spend 2 days there (total of 2 nights)
-Munich, spend 2 days there plus a daytrip to Fussen (total of 3 nights)
-Romantic Road, possibly the towns of Rothenburg and Bamberg, spend 4 days (total of 4 nights)

• This equals a total of 14 days and 14 nights in this region of Austria and Germany****

SWITZERLAND
(May 28 – June 1)

-Train to Luzern, spend the rest of the day there and the following day (total of 2 nights)
-Jungfrau Region, possibly the town of Gimmewald, spend 3 days in area (total of 3 nights)

• This gives me 5 days and 5 nights in Switzerland****

ITALY
(June 2 – June 21)

-Train to Verona; spend the rest of the day there and the following day (total of 2 nights)
-Venice, 3 days (total of 3 nights)
-Bologna, spend 2 day (total of 2 nights)
-Florence, spend 2 days there with a day trip to Pisa (total of 3 nights)
-Cinque Terre, spend 2 days there (total of 2 nights)
-Sienna, spend 2 days there (total of 2 nights)
-San Gimignano, spend 2 days there (total of 2 nights)
-Rome, spend 4 days (total of 4 nights)

• This equals a total of 20 days and 20 nights in Italy****

Fly out of Rome to Miami on June 22

AMOUNT OF TIME

Total amount of days: 105
Total amount of nights: 105
Total amount of weeks: 15