Europe's Best Three Weeks
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Itinerary
This far-reaching itinerary makes most sense by train. Taking two night trains avoids two long travel days. The day trips from Munich to Salzburg and from Florence to Siena keep the hotel situation streamlined and take advantage of excellent public transportation services. While the route can be done by car (with certain adjustments), this plan is heavy on big cities where cars are worthless and expensive to park.
Day 1: Arrive at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, and stay in the nearby town of Haarlem (2 nights).
Day 2: Using Haarlem as a home base, day-trip to Amsterdam.
Day 3: Cross the German border to the Rhine River Valley; stay in the quaint riverside town of Bacharach (2 nights).
Day 4: Cruise the best stretch of the Rhine (between Bacharach and St. Goar, free or discounted with railpass), then tour St. Goar's Rheinfels Castle. Return to Bacharach by train.
Day 5: Take the train to Rothenburg and sightsee (1 night).
Day 6: After a morning in Rothenburg, take the train to Munich (1 night).
Day 7: Spend the day in Munich, or consider day trips: a bus tour to "Mad" King Ludwig's fairy-tale castles, or a train from Munich to Salzburg (2 hours each way). Take a night train to Venice.
Day 8: All day to enjoy Venice (1 night).
Day 9: Head from Venice to Florence (3 nights).
Day 10: Spend the day in Florence's museums.
Day 11: Using Florence as a home base, side-trip to Siena.
Day 12: Head for Rome (3 nights).
Day 13: Sightsee Rome.
Day 14: More time in Rome.
Day 15: Take the train to the Cinque Terre and set up in the village of Vernazza (2 nights).
Day 16: Today's a "vacation from your vacation" in the Cinque Terre. Hit the beach or hike cliffside trails.
Day 17: Train into the Swiss Alps to Interlaken; stay in the Lauterbrunnen Valley (2 nights).
Day 18: Alps Appreciation Day: Spend the day enjoying the hiking and high-mountain scenery.
Day 19: More time in the Alps, then a night train to Paris.
Day 20: Arrive in Paris, check into your hotel (3 nights).
Day 21: All day for Paris, maybe with a day trip to Versailles.
Day 22: More time in Paris.
Sightseeing Priorities
Whether you have a week — or longer — here are my recommended priorities. These itineraries are fast-paced but do-able by car or train and each budgets about two nights in each spot plus travel time. I've taken geographical proximity into account. The first four work best if you fly "open-jaw" (into one city and out of another). Any itinerary involving distant Athens works best open if you fly jaw as well.
5 days: Paris, Swiss Alps
7 days, add: London
10 days, add: Rome
14 days, add: Rhine, Amst/Haarlem
17 days, add: Venice, Florence
21 days, add: Cinque Terre, Rothenburg/Bavaria
28 days, add: Siena, Bath (a day each), Salzburg/Hallstatt, French Riviera
35 days, add: Provence, Barcelona, Madrid/Toledo
42 days, add: Vienna, Prague, Berlin
49 days, add: Copenhagen, York, Edinburgh
56 days add: Dublin, Dingle, Bruges
2 months, add: Athens — you can be splice it in from Rome or the tour can be designed to start or end in Greece.
For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' guidebooks — or join us on one of our free-spirited Europe tours!