This partially depends on your interests (art, nightlife, cities, small towns, the outdoors etc.) and where you’ve thought you’d like to go; what/where appeals most to you? That said, I’ll give my usual plug for Barcelona

One thing I would do is buy a plane ticket where you fly into one city and home from another. Flying from Sacramento, it looks like various combinations of Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, London, Brussels, and Rome can be found in the mid $800’s.

YES..SPAIN is def a must Augustin25 (I read that many suggest to spend most of the time in Andalusia vs. Barcelona?!)….What I want is to feel the culture, people, traditions in each of the countries and of course museums, local famous attractions, one of a kind scienery, large cities yet plug in small cities, nightlife, possibly hike, etc. In perfect scenario i would love to do Spain, France, UK, Germany, Italy…but how realistic am I with tight budget and solo?! Do you think landing in London ending in Spain, using train all along? Thanks for the recommendation on the route…how much per day do you think would be my spending your case ($100+/-/day?). More and more I look I get lost with all this choices and options, how do people plan 1 month???

I had this detailed post all typed up and then Safari quit on me.

Basically, what I said was that in general, one week per country is recommended, but this is not a hard-and-fast rule. Also, I did agree that you would probably average out at $100+ a day, some days will be cheaper, some not. Your destinations depend on what really calls to you.

Look at the geography, research what appeals to you. You can take the train, and perhaps supplement with budget flights, check out WhichBudget.

What I was thinking is that you could start out in London, Eurostar to Paris, inserting some day trips into both those cities. From Paris you could TGV to Strasbourg, and sneak into Germany (Munich is a few hours away) if you like. From there you would go to either Italy or Spain.
I would probably head into southwest France, and then, from there, go to Spain. This is just a suggestion, but it sort of gives you an idea.

There are flights between Italy and Spain. That might be pushing your time and your budget, but I don’t think it is impossible.

so sorry Cil…thank you so much for retyping it all over again!! Awesome suggestions!!! Do you also recommend hostels and if so any particular ones you liked? What are the must tours to do in the places you have mentioned? What to avoid?
YOU ROCK!

Defiantly do hostels it’s the best way for a solo to travel, that way you can meet like minded people! Since you wanna go to the UK, spend at least 3 days in London, I would recommend Edinburgh too, but it might be too out of your way. A nice day trip from London would be Bath and/or Stonehenge.

If you plan to do Italy, don’t just settle for one city or town. Going to Rome for a few days and then just leaving would be a very unwise idea.

My two cents are to take a flight from Sacramento to Madrid, take a train to Barcelona, take a cheap flight to Rome, train it to Florence, Milan and Munich. Train to Paris, Eurostar to London and then back to Sacramento.

I don’t know too much about the smaller towns near these places but 3 nights in Madrid, Rome, Munich, Paris and London should do just fine and 2 nights apiece in Barcelona, Florence and Milan. Not quite 30 days but if you have your heart set on that number then you can surely plan some 1 or 2-night stays in addition to these destinations — such as a 2-nighter in Luxembourg between Munich and Paris.

I’m not an expert but this is at least a start. Good luck!

Make a list of some places that interest you and then do some research and narrow things down. Don’t try to cram in too much, but don’t feel bad if you just want to see one city in a country and move on to another one so long as it’s logistically feasible. I plan in terms of cities/towns, not lines on maps

While it’s hard for a first timer to skip the tourist haunts you’ve heard about forever, seriously consider some spots in Eastern Europe. It’s a huge generality, but Eastern Europe is often cheaper, friendlier and, IMO more interesting. Prague is a “must see” for me and I loved both the Baltic states and the Balkans.

I too am turning 30 in 2012 and am planning a 30 day whirlwind tour of Europe. I started planning with a MUST see list and marked them on my map. I found a feasible train pass that would see to my needs at an affordable price with flexibility. From there I am narrowing down my lists to what is most important to me and is covered on the map. Where I start and end was based on airfare.. I have managed to find a flight round trip from Dublin for under 1K bucks. I am still in the planning stages though..so I am sure there will be MANY more changes between now and next year!

I have also found that certain places offer free museum entry on certain days and am trying to plan my visits around then to get the best bang for my buck. (i.e. In Paris a lot of museums are free the 1st Sunday of the month and the last Sunday of the month in Rome the Vatican museums are free)

Good luck in your planning and please continue to share any info you find!