Hi Coco,

I think your budget is going to be pretty tight. We just came back with a similar itinerary and we averaged around $120 per day. That was staying in a mix of hostels and hotel rooms, buying food in supermarkets, not eating out much and not paying much for attractions. Buses for sightseeing are going to be expensive. The price for a hop on/hop off bus in Madrid is €17 each.

You might want to consider shortening your trip a bit if you don’t have a larger budget. It would be better to really enjoy a shorter trip than to be disappointed on a longer one.

Madrid to Granada is 4.5 hours by train
Granada to Barcelona is backtracking and you will have to make a connection in Madrid, so you are looking at at least 7 or 8 hours
Barcelona to Paris on a night train is 12 hours
Then you’re backtracking again to go to Chamonix. Night train will be over 11 hours.

I think you should review your itinerary, because you will be spending way too much time on the train and backtracking.

You can check train schedules on raileurope.com to get a better idea of what’s workable and what’s not.

You should also check out some of the budget airlines as that might make your trip doable. Sometimes it can be cheaper and take less time.

What are you planning for 3 days in Milan? It’s a big, expensive, bustling business center — lots of Armani suits, Gucci loafers and cell phones but not much of interest for a tourist. Spend a day in Milan, (mostly to take advantage of the fact that it’s a major transportation hub, so easy to get to) and 3 days in Florence — taking a day trip to Pisa on one of them. You might save a little money by spending only 1 night in Venice. If you take an early train from Milan you can spend most of the day in Venice. Stay overnight and spend the next day there before catching an evening train to Florence.

Also, it’s a long trek to Granada…. is there a reason you’re willing to spend all the travel time involved?

As Reyvd says, you need to check out train schedules, as travel time is really going to cut into the first part of this. I recommend using the German national rail company website. http://reiseauskunft… It’s more complete and up to date than raileurope.

Look for a cheap flight from Barcelona to Paris. A cheap flight from France to Italy might work out, too if you rework your Italian itinerary to fit with the cheapest flight you find.

You can do Granada-Barcelona without backtracking to Madrid, but it’s an overnight train and perhaps a bit pricey, so it depends on if you are willing to do it that way. That said, Granada is gorgeous.

Thank you so much revyd. I actually know nothing about europe, thats why I ask so many questions, hoping to find the best way for me. Again I appreciate your reply. I dont have to route my trip that way, Im just trying to design my trip and will change it based on suggestions from people like you who have being there.
Thanks for the feedback

Hi oldlady! you are right I dont need no hussle buzzle or armani and gucci slapping me in the face. Good call. I can totally bypass Milan, I was just thinking I want to see the Tower of Pisa, Las Gondolas de Venezia y el Coliseo de Roma. I will look into the local airlines, thats a great idea. Can you recommend me any particular hostel in any of these countries?
Mahalo!

Gracias Augustin! appreciate any help I can get
La Coco

1. Read “hostels for a newbie” under “accommodations” on the “travel tips” tab, or on the home page for this site.
2. Check out our “hostels” forum — read the stickys and some old posts.
3. Look for specific hostels, read reviews and check pricing under “hostels” on the “booking” tab or on the home page, here. IMO, this site usually has good prices for hostels.
4. Read reviews and descriptions and check pricing at other hostel booking sites.

I agree with oldlady that 3 days in Milan is too much. We spent two days there and really enjoyed ourselves, but if it wasn’t for visiting a friend, we really could have seen everything in a day. Ironically it’s the only city we visited in Italy where we didn’t see the Gucci store.