I’m really excited about taking off on this trip next May 2014. To create my itinerary for my grand tour this time around, I have the assistance of my trusty laptop. Imagine, the last time I took this trip, the Internet was not even invented yet. My, my. It’s interesting all that has changed in that small amount of time. Don’t even get me started on flat screen TVs. Anyway…this time around, I can sit down with my laptop and a glass of something well-aged and have at it. My first stop is to check out the Rail Europe website. This is the site where you can purchase your Eurail Pass and it has lots of nifty tools to help you plan your trip. Using their itinerary building tool under the “Europe Map & Guide” tab, I’m first going to bang out a general itinerary and then hone it as I get more of an idea when some of the can’t miss happenings are happening.
First, I have to chose where I wish to start. I have chosen to start in my old home town of Vienna, Austria. Vienna, the seat of power during the rule of the Habsburgs and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is a great place to take off from. With the old Eurail Pass way back when, Vienna used to be the end of the line, the furthest point east you could travel. A lot of folks traveling to Austria would hit Salzburg and Innsbruck and then head off somewhere else because Vienna was just too far east and took too much time to check out. But now, with all of the new countries added on the pass, Vienna is the perfect hub between east and west both by location and by culture. So much that is Viennese comes from Hungary. Try some goulash or stuffed bell pepper, or some reisfleisch (rice with meat mixed in it.) It also got a lot of its culinary staples from Italy. Wienerschnitzel is a breaded veal cutlet fried ever so carefully and served with a wedge of lemon and a side of potatoes. This the Viennese have from the Milanese and their famous Cotoletta alla Milanese. But I digress again and, besides I’m getting Hungary (get it?) Sorry. No more sappy jokes. Anyway, with Vienna’s new central location I’ve marked it as my starting point and I can check in with old friends there as a bonus.
Using this process, I have cobbled together the following itinerary:
Travel Beyond Borders Magazine 2014 Escapade
The Itinerary!
Day 1 to Day 2 – Austria
Vienna
Day 3 – Slovakia
Bratislava
Day 4 – Hungary
Budapest
Day 5 – Romania
Bucharest*
Day 6 – Bulgaria
Sofia*
Day 7 to Day 9 –Turkey
Istanbul*
Ankara*
Day 10 to Day 13 – Greece
Thessaloniki*
Athens*
Santorini*
Day 14 to day 19 – Italy
Naples* – 1 day
Rome – 2 days
Perugia – 1 day
Florence – 1 days
Venice – 1 day
Day 20 – Slovenia
Ljubjana*
Day 21 – Croatia
Zagreb*
Day 22 – Austria
Innsbruck
Day 23 to Day 24 – Switzerland
Zurich – 1 day
Bern – 1 day
Day 25 to Day 26 – Italy
Lake Como* – 1 day
Milan – 1 day
Day 27 – Monaco
Monte Carlo
Day 28 to Day 31 – France
Nice -2 days
Marseille* – 1 days
Montpellier* – 1 day
Day 32 to Day 36 Spain
Barcelona – 1 day
Granada – 1 day
Seville -1 day
Madrid – 2 days
Day 37 – Portugal
Lisbon*
Day 38 – Spain
Bilbao*
Day 39 to Day 41 – France
Bordeaux* – 1 day
Paris 2 days
Day 42 to Day 43 – Ireland
Dublin*
Day 44 to Day 45 – Northern Ireland
Belfast*
Day 46 – Belgium
Brussels*
Day 47 – Netherlands
Amsterdam*
Day 48 – Luxembourg
Luxembourg City
Day 49 to Day 50 Germany
Cologne
Hamburg
Day 51 – Denmark
Copenhagen
Day 52 – Sweden
Stockholm
Day 53 – Norway
Narvik
Day 54 – Finland
Helsinki*
Day 55 to Day 56 – Norway
Oslo
Bergen
Day 57 – Germany
Berlin
Day 58 – Czech Republic
Prague
Day 59 – Germany
Munich
Day 60 – Austria
Salzburg
Vienna
Done. Finis. Completo.
*The asterisks indicate places that I have not been to before.
Whew! Now that’s what I call a grand tour. That’s just about fifty places to hit in sixty days so it will definitely be somewhat fast and furious. I’m open to other suggestions for the itinerary from readers though so suggest away. I was pleased to add on several places that I had not been to before. These mixed with the places that I have been to previously will make it adventurous, but not torturous. There will definitely be some overnight train excursions. When I was living in Europe, I would often see people off on these types of grand tours and wondered why they didn’t just take on one country or region instead of “doing” Europe. Then I remembered the thrill of landing somewhere new every day or so and envied them their adventure. It’s so different there in Europe. Often times, if you drive for an hour in any direction you will be in another country. Here in the United States, if you drive for an hour in any direction you will most likely just be getting home from work. In Europe the countries are smaller so you can move about and get their various flavors very easily. It’s very intensive what with the differences in language and food. You get a lot of mileage in a lot fewer miles and its fun. I should mention that we will be dipping a toe in Asia as well when we head into Turkey. Lots of excitement coming up.
Some might argue that it would be better to head west instead of east at the very beginning of the journey. Tourist hoards in the month of June in the more popular parts of Europe are definitely formidable, but I do not relish being caught in the intense heat of summer in the eastern countries where the infrastructure is still a bit if-fy. Now the challenge is to find special activities in each of the places I hit, even if it’s just sitting on a beach in Greece soaking up the intense sun while drinking ouzo. Since it’s been a while, there will have to be some heavy duty research hours spent on the ‘net and talking with tourist bureaus, but all in all I know it’s going to be fantastic. Let me know if you have any suggestions on cool events happening in Europe while I am there and I will try to hit them.
Next comes a break down of each destination day by day. I must admit, that I am allowing myself to change it up as required to make it an amazing voyage so don’t be surprised if you see some of the days/destinations change. As always, each destination will be explored from the wonderful multicultural perspective of people of color. It’s the only way I go.
Until then…as always…travel well.
Travel Beyond Borders Magazine 